This morning’s headlines include some important follow-ups to recent posts:
- I recently cheered the Obama administration’s success (so far) in fighting off excess spending on the F-22 fighter. However, business-as-usual is still the rule in Washington, as the Washington Post reports that the House will soon vote on a defense appropriations bill that is loaded with $6.9 billion in spending that President Obama and Defense Secretary Gates don’t want.
- On Tuesday, I discussed the difficult economics of mortgage modifications. This morning, the New York Times suggests another challenge: some servicers have a financial incentive to encourage delinquencies and defaults.
- I also welcomed the news that Yahoo and Microsoft had finally struck a deal to bring Bing to the Yahoo home page. It’s not surprising, however, that this deal among internet titans will attract close antitrust scrutiny, including from Congress and European regulators.