Perhaps the time has come to re-think the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act which created barriers between commercial banking and investment banking?

Here’s the how the final vote went for the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which President Bill Clinton signed into law in 1999, and which several economists and politicians are pointing to as a cause of the financial meltown late last year.  As Dealbook notes, AIG and Citigroup would not have run into trouble but for the repeal of Glass-Steagall.

In the Senate, Blanche Lincoln (D) voted against the bill; Tim Hutchinson (R) voted for it. In the House, all four Arkansas congressman (2 Democrats, 2 Republicans) voted in favor of the bill.

With then-Texas Sen. Phil Gramm (of “whiner” fame) as the lead sponsor, the virtue of the bill automatically comes into question. At least Ms. Lincoln recognized it.

And I wish President Barack Obama would act on his campaign rhetoric on the subject.

Wind energy, new industry entering the state, expansion of the River Market district, rise in median home sale prices, and a concerted effort to step up workforce education and training have things “going better in central Arkansas than in other parts of the country,” writes El Nasser.

Companies are using it to manage reputations and obtain feedback from customers. News organizations are using it to report breaking news and to gather information.  And everyone else is using it to talk and share whatever’s on their mind.

It’s hot in the world of social media, but it’s also time consuming, and many companies aren’t equipped to staff it effectively. After all, Twitter posts have to have some personality; you can’t just put some chump in front a laptop and say go at it. “”I’m not engaged unless you’re putting a real person behind the brand and making them 100 percent accessible,” says Jennifer Van Grove, an editor at Mashable.com in this piece in Newsweek.

Over at Lance Turner’s blog you can find a link to many Arkansans and Arkansas companies currently using Twitter.

You can catch The Think Tank on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/blakerutherford

UPDATE: Here’s an interesting study that shows of all the social media sites, Twitter suffers from the most “downtime.” Yet, users are still flocking to it in large numbers.

Barack Obama and John McCain weigh in.

Essentially, he believes that newspapers have gotten away from the type of information that helps people connect and interact with each other.  He continues, “For as long as anybody can remember, the newspaper has been the primary info-hub through which people interacted. Oh, people might have talked to the shoe-shine man or their broker about what they heard on the radio or saw on television, but nothing could beat the newspaper as a source for socially lubricating conversation. How many times have you heard a conversation start, “Didja see that article …”?”

Shafer notes that Facebook is picking up where newspapers are failing.  “What is Facebook but the Federal Reserve Bank of social currency? And it’s all social currency you can use! Like cocktail chatter, a Facebook posting—be it a link, a list, a photo, or travel plans—conveys the message, I am here. Listen to me. A well-executed Facebook presence, like a superb pontification at the bar or a great phone-in to sports talk radio, demonstrates one’s status within one’s existing social network. If skillfully wielded, a Facebook page can increase a person’s status by attracting “cooler” or more influential friends.”

He concludes, “The social networking that takes place via instant messaging, microblogging, or e-mail further steals from newspapers the mindshare they once owned. You no longer need to rely on a paper for the social currency that a weather report, movie listings, classified ads, shopping bargains, sports info, stock listings, television listings, gossip, or entertainment news provide.”

But Shafer also makes an important point.  The decline of newspapers (and also of radio) doesn’t have anything to do with journalism.  The world is changing, and they have to find a way to keep up.

How do they do that?  That’s the billion dollar question.  The AP has issued a study titled “A New Model for News: Studying the Deep Structure of Young Adult News Consumption.”

Thanks for voting and thanks for reading.

His rationale:  “I made this decision on my own as the result of the general frustration I have with members of our fellowship who want to make a spiritual judgment about me based on my political views. One of those views is my public support for Barack Obama for president. In the last few days, much of that angst has been directed toward my employer and, as a result, toward me as well.”

Sorry to hear it, Mark.

The story continues: “The Office of Special Counsel is in charge of investigating whistleblower complaints by federal employees. Late this morning, the entire office’s email system was shut down — a fact that the San Francisco field office confirmed.”

This story is still developing . . .

Her ideas, her comeback in New Hampshire and strong showing in Nevada, her new openness to explaining herself and not just her programs, and her abiding, powerful intellect show she is fully capable of doing just that. She is the best choice for the Democratic Party as it tries to regain the White House.

On Senator McCain:

In 2006, however, Mr. McCain stood up for the humane treatment of prisoners and for a ban on torture. We said then that he was being conned by Mr. Bush, who had no intention of following the rules. But Mr. McCain took a stand, just as he did in recognizing the threat of global warming early. He has been a staunch advocate of campaign finance reform, working with Senator Russ Feingold, among the most liberal of Democrats, on groundbreaking legislation, just as he worked with Senator Edward Kennedy on immigration reform.

That doesn’t make him a moderate, but it makes him the best choice for the party’s presidential nomination.

You can find continuous links to these blogs and many others over on the right hand side of the site under “My Community.”

Citigroup promptly named former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin Chairman, and his immediate task will be to find Prince’s replacement.