Hear: Who's Driving This?
Protesting a sales tax increase, maybe, in Bothell, Wash. /Seven_Null7 Planet Money Flickr pool hide caption
On today's Planet Money:
-- The Obama Administration plans to convert its preferred stock in bailed-out banks to common stock. Simon Johnson, of Baseline Scenario (and now The Hearing, on the Washington Post's site), says it's mostly an accounting game, but one that signals the government's thinking about the health of banks.
-- General Motors announced 1,600 layoffs today, part of its efforts to stave off bankruptcy. But with the White House setting a deadline of June 1, says Steve Jakubowski of the Bankruptcy Litigation Blog, GM is not exactly in the driver's seat.
-- Ali Velshi's Gimme My Money Back: Your Guide to Beating the Financial Markets showed up at the office recently. Mike Pesca reviews it, with gusto.
Bonus: What the heck is glabrous?
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In his book review for this podcast, Mike Pesca calls Ali Velshi a "glabrous imp of fiduciary acumen." The glabrous part means bald, basically. Or as Merriam-Webster puts it, "smooth, especially: having a surface without hairs or projections."
See?