Paul Krugman may not have blogged anything today, but he was quite prolific over the weekend. Krugman's been sightseeing in London and making grand predictions suggesting an economic recovery by summer's end at a London School of Economics lecture. In between crystal-ballin' and taking Newt Gingrich down a peg for claiming we're "living in a period where we are surrounded by paganism," Krugman also found time to poke fun at Niall Ferguson. The aftershock surrounding Krugman's recession-ending prophecy is far more compelling than anything he blogged this weekend, but all the same it's great to see Krug back.

Like many of his ilk, Brad DeLong remains transfixed by the grim unemployment numbers that surfaced last week. Today he offered up "a DRAFT of a letter [he] might send next week" directed at the White House. In it, he scoffs at early Obama administration projections "that recession would bottom out" in August with an unemployment rate no higher than 7.9 percent. DeLong argues that an 11 percent unemployment rate is not unthinkable at this point and that a 10 percent jobless figure "is a nearly foregone conclusion." But don't worry: If the states could get just an extra $500 billion more in federal aid, everything will work out, DeLong assures. Excellent.

Felix Salmon argues that financial institutions rushing to repay TARP funds are foolish. The surge in the stock market and a few optimistic economic indicators do not mean that banks are suddenly strong again and able to thrive on their own, he argues. He points out that the administration's favorite emotion—hope—"is not a regulatory strategy." Salmon also offers his thoughts on panda bonds and kindly links to the Wikipedia definition for those who need it. Panda bonds are debt (in Chinese currency) issued by foreign banks and organizations that are sold to Chinese financial institutions. Salmon doesn't think it's smart for the United States to break tradition and start borrowing in a foreign currency, but he does think that it's a "great idea" for the World Bank to try it.

Barry Ritholz was fantastically prolific today, offering his opinion on green shoots and letting us all know that he'll be on Bloomberg Radio tonight. Ritholz takes the unique approach of gauging green shoots by the health of the trucking industry. If retail sales are rising, that'll be reflected in the trucking industry—fair enough. Unfortunately, there's been little sign of growth there. "If retail sales are going to tick up, iof inventories are going to be restocked, it has to be physically delivered," said Ritholz. "Only not so much. The ATA Tonnage Index declined a seasonally adjusted 2.2% in April. This is better than the  4.5% contraction in March, but still negative."

Additionally, he offered up alternately hilarious and so-obvious-you'd-smack-your-head-and-say-‘duh' advice on how to "fix financial television." "Stop Yelling. Stop interrupting. Stop Talking Over Each Other," Ritholz implored. Amen, brother.