March 26

“What you need to know to navigate today’s economic debate.”

U.S. Plans Big Expansion in Effort to Aid Homeowners (NYT)
The Obama administration on Friday will announce broad new initiatives to help troubled homeowners, potentially refinancing several million of them into fresh government-backed mortgages with lower payments.

JPMorgan, Lehman, UBS Named as Conspirators in Muni Bid-Rigging (Bloomberg)
JPMorgan Chase & Co., Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and UBS AG were among more than a dozen Wall Street firms involved in a conspiracy to pay below-market interest rates to U.S. state and local governments on investments.

Congress Approves ‘Fixes’ to Health-Care Law (WaPo)
Congress agreed Thursday to amend the nation’s new health-care law, concluding its long and contentious quest to pass major reforms.

Greek Aid Plan Reassures Debt Markets (WSJ)
The European Union’s agreement Thursday to set up a safety net for Greece as it weathers its debt crisis boosted the country’s government bond prices Friday, paving the way for a new bond issue as early as next week.

Debt Fears Send Rates Up (WSJ)
A sudden drop-off in investor demand for U.S. Treasury notes is raising questions about whether interest rates will finally begin a march higher-a climb that would jack up the government’s borrowing costs and spell trouble for the fragile housing market.

The Difference Between Liberalism and Progressivism (TruthDig)
Even as the word progressive is now ubiquitous, a perverted form of liberalism has almost completely snuffed out genuine progressivism.

The Canadian Banking Fallacy (BaselineScenario)
Peter Boon and Simon Johnson draw parallels between the American and Canadian banking sectors, probing the connection between the number of big banks and the risk for financial collapse.