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Fed chairman Bernanke estimates the impact of "Operation Twist," will be to bring down long term rates by about 20 basis points, or one fifth of a percentage point. This he said is equivalent to reducing the Fed's benchmark short term rates by half a point. The Fed chairman said he is not ruling out expanding the Fed's portfolio by buying securities, but has no immediate plans for this action.

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Mr Carney's calm demeanor and performance as head of the Bank of Canada, Canada's central bank, during the period before and after the financial crisis of 2008, and his 13 years of private sector experience at Goldman Sachs including handling of sovereign debt and emerging market debt, were part of the invaluable experience considered in the selection process for the next Governor of the Bank of England. Britain's chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Osborne, encouraged Mr. Carney to apply for the position. Carney is head of the Financial Stability Board, which has responsibilities to reduce systemic risk. This experience is also considered valuable because of the expanded responsibilities of the Bank of England, Britain's central bank, which now include overseeing and regulating British financial institutions. The Financial Services Authority was scrapped and its responsibilities placed in the central bank with the Governor overseeing a committe inside the bank that is in charge of regulatory affairs....

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The home price decline is shifting from Las Vegas, Miami and Phoenix to other U.S. cities in 2011. Seattle, Minneapolis and Atlanta are seeing large declines in home prices. Seattle is down 31% from the mid-2007 peak and still has 10 percent to fall, according to real estate site Zillow.

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Karl Case, co-author with Shiller, of the Case-Shiller housing index, describes what the American dream of owning a house was always all about- having a safe long-term investment with the happiness gained from ownership of one's own home. It was never really meant to become a way to pay bills, and enjoy an artificially high standard of living based on artificially high speculative returns of 30% a year. Based on the authentic verson of this dream, it is still alive, says Case. Buying a house today costs less because of lower interest rates, the costs of a house are lower, and it provides a return in the form of rent that the owner doesn't have to pay for the home. Case has not factored in unemployment and job uncertainty, especially with the worsening economic outlook in 2011. This may still depress housing markets.

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Spiegel Online's interview with Emmanuel Macron, on the TGV 8434 train from Bordeaux to Paris. He is joined by Mrs. Macron. Macron says he is aware that he does not have a bloc of core support like Ms. Le Pen, yet he says this means he will try that much harder for voters on the right and the left. He says their is no political renewal in the political class in France and that it remains closed. He says particular attention must be paid to rural France outside big cities like Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille and Paris, where people have had a different encounter with globalization. On the European Union he sees the need to revitalize it by having a closer union focussed on countries that are interested in this. He sees the need for a joint finance minister and permanent head of Euro Group. This might be a smaller EU without countries such as Britain, and others who are not interested in a closer union. He does not agree with the idea that any member state of the EU can stop other member states from proceeding. Macron does not believe in moving to the right as in the Dutch election because he says people are "not idiots" and in France this has not worked for Nicholas Sarkozy, which has some truth to it as authenticity (and humility) matters to French voters. A personal approach worked for Fillon early on till the scandal over payments he received. Macron brings to this personal approach and relative youthfulness, his sense that he must appeal to all segments, rural and urban, educated and less educated, and at the same time be true to core values such as preserving the European Union, and authenticity in terms of views on Algeria. He also says he is aware he faces risks but that this is something he believes in deeply.   Macron has not hesitated to express his views on topics such as Algeria, calling it a crime against humanity, and later elaborating on what he meant. Macron says his movement En Marche is different in style and manner from the closed nature of French politics. He believes in transparency, term limits, and removing conflicts of interest in French politics, as a way to make a fresh start. The first round of voting is on April 23, 2017, followed by a second round of voting between two candidates.  ...

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Ms. Le Pen of the National Front called her going into the second round runoff against Macron's En Marche movement, "an act of French pride." Emmanuel Macron has his own way of looking at this. As this NYT editorial points out Macron says his is a movement "of patriots fighting the threat of nationalism." At his rallies and the rally following coming out the front runner in the first round of elections Macron is shown with people waving French flags all around him. The message- that in today's world of global cooperation for economic progress nationalist feeling has to be balanced with healthy cooperation and integration into the regional community, the European Union. That he is a patriot who also has in him a feeling for the communities in his wider region. That real economic progress can only be achieved working in cooperation with neighboring countries and regional community, and around new ideas for renewal.

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This NYT editorial points out that the cuts to Medicaid amount to taking out a fourth of its budget and are sure to hurt low income Americans. The cuts are about $880 billion over 10 years for Medicaid. The $300 billion less in subsidies over ten years is likely to hurt the elderly. It also points out that removing the individual mandate will make it harder to reduce premiums as fewer healthy adults offset the costs of sick patients.

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Santorum's loss by a large margin of the U.S. Senate election in 2006 raises doubts about his electability.

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The inaction of the first President Bush during the Shia revolt in Iraq in 1991 is deeply embedded in the Shia psyche in Iraq. It is seen by the Iraqi Shiites as the original event of the Arab Spring, ten years before before the democracy movement in Tunisia. What is less known is that the revolt in Benghazi, Libya, faced the same fate of inaction by President Obama, and his administration. It was saved only by the decisive and early action of France and Britain, with French president Sarkozy leading the way. Only when the tide began to turn after the French-British action did the Americans reluctantly follow the Europeans. Germany did not participate in the NATO action and worked to slow NATO action.

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Karl Case, who jointly developed the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index says there is that downward stickiness thats keeping the housing market fragile. Its basically flat right now, with a lot of inventory waiting to be cleared. And it isn't going to bring this economy out of a recession in the manner it has done in previous recessions.