Business barometer

From day to day I assess the state of the economy based on the facial expressions of Betsy Stark, business correspondent for ABC News. She delivers financial reports on "World News With Charles Gibson," and the outlook lately has been bad:


Some relief came on Tuesday, when the Fed cut interest rates and the stock market rallied. It wasn't all good news, of course, but Betsy finally allowed herself a wry, tight smile:

Keep smiling, Betsy Stark! When you're happy, everyone's happy.

Good word

"Torture, among its other applications, was part of Stalin's war against the truth. He tortured, not to force you to reveal a fact, but to force you to collude in a fiction."

Martin Amis, Koba the Dread

Good word

"Eisman knew subprime lenders could be scumbags. What he underestimated was the total unabashed complicity of the upper class of American capitalism."

-- Michael Lewis, "The End"