Low, Dishonest Decade
The press and politicians were asleep at the switch.
By THOMAS FRANK

Stock-market indices are not much good as yardsticks of social progress, but as another low, dishonest decade expires let us note that, on 2000s first day of trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at 11357 while the Nasdaq Composite Index stood at 4131, both substantially higher than where they are today. The Nasdaq went on to hit 5000 before collapsing with the dot-com bubble, the first great Wall Street disaster of this unhappy decade. The Dow got north of 14000 before the real-estate bubble imploded.

Mike Florio

Once upon a time, Chan Gailey occupied a spot near the top of the "A" list for NFL head-coaching candidates.

He was running the Pittsburgh Steelers offense, a hard-nosed attack with a penchant for trick plays and, as of 1995, one of the first Wildcat-type looks, with rookie Kordell Stewart taking periodic snaps en route to a Super Bowl berth.

The night belongs to "Avatar."

The sci-fi blockbuster -- the most expensive movie ever made and on track to become the highest-grossing film ever made – won the Golden Globe tonight for best dramatic film and best director for James Cameron

Op-Ed Columnist
Bankers Without a Clue
By PAUL KRUGMAN
The official Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission — the group that aims to hold a modern version of the Pecora hearings of the 1930s, whose investigations set the stage for New Deal bank regulation — began taking testimony on Wednesday. In its first panel, the commission grilled four major financial-industry honchos. What did we learn?