The recent "voluntary recall" by Maclaren of a million strollers whose scissoring hinges could chop off kids' fingers is just another example of poor regulation of industry, if court papers cited by the NY Post this morning are true.

The Post dug up a suit showing that the British company knew five years ago that the strollers posed a possible threat. The Consumer Products Safety Commission says companies are required to report "immediately" when they learn of even a "potential hazard."

The Post story, however, puts all the blame on the company and none on the federal government's CPSC.

If there was a 2004 lawsuit in Connecticut accusing the company of a serious defect in the China-made strollers, why couldn't the CPSC have been proactive enough to find out about it and force a recall back then? There was a Web back then. That kind of thing is easy to keep track of, especially if you're a federal agency. And especially if the company is one of the U.K.'s biggest exporters to the U.S. of a product used by millions of Americans.

Depending on companies to report their own misdeeds is the kind of volunteerism that's not going to happen. So-called "voluntary regulation" doesn't work, as the Wall Street meltdown showed. Just one example: The Street's "self-regulatory" Securities Industry Association (actually a lobby) featured Bernie Madoff on its board of directors.

This season's entertainment blockbuster, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, is the whole shooting match: Your chance to shoot Russians (or, if you prefer, innocent civilians), investors' opportunity to score off game maker Activision, and jingoists answering a call to glory on Veterans' Day.

Already hailed as the biggest videogame launch ever (even worldwide), MW2 is shipping out up to 8 million units this week, probably a record. The Street already gave its approval last Friday: Activision's stock rose in anticipation of the game's release. (See GamePro's review here.)

As I pointed out in June, marketers vowed the biggest entertainment-industry launch ever for the game. Call of Duty veterans may be pissed off that MW2 tries too hard to lure first-timers, but that's the war business for you.

Forget film offerings like the next Twilight or James Cameron's Avatar, Reuters says. This is your week to celebrate war. As one analyst says, "This is the one game that could buck the economic trend for the holiday season."

Unemployment Hits 10.3% in New York City (NYT)

Focuses on Wall Street layoffs. "Still-shrinking financial sector ... has essentially been declared to be in a state of emergency." On down the food chain, college kids aren't quite as eager to become financiers, says the WSJ in "As Riches Fade, So does Finance's Allure."

Bill Upends System for College Loans (WSJ)

Major move for the next generation of college kids. Private lenders would be removed from the system, saving taxpayers billions by ending the ridiculous payment of fees by the government to private lenders. Why the same principle — universal college-funding help — shouldn't be applied to health care (and thus remove the influence of the insurance industry middlemen in health care) is not mentioned in this story.

Why Didn't The Major Bank CEOs Show Up On Monday? (Baseline Scenario, Simon Johnson)

Obama's Wall Street reform plans "look lame," and not one major bank CEO even showed up to listen to him. After all the money we gave them, they didn't even show up to hear Obama's weak-ass reform plans?

Google Aims to Wrest Display Ads From Yahoo (NYT)

Today, it unveils its own ad exchange, like a stock market but for advertisers and publishers to buy and sell ads. Search giant's credo, "Don't be evil," doesn't apply to Yahoo.

Household Wealth Advances by 3.9% (WSJ)

An increase for the first time in two years, but U.S. households "have a long way to go to recover what they've lost in the downturn." No shit. See "Fed: Household Net Worth Off $12.2 Trillion From Peak."

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Start creaming in your jeans. Here's the trailer for Microsoft's Halo 3: ODST that last week's shorter trailer for Halo 3: ODST was touting.

The jingoistic, colonialistic, dead-soldier-mentality Xbox game itself is having its sorta debut tonight, though parts of it have already "leaked" out. It's a bigger deal than Barack Obama's speech last night, if you're talking about who the hell is moving the economy forward. Coupled with other new videogame releases this month — The Beatles: Rock Band and Guitar Hero 5 among them — the videogame industry may rake in $400 million in September just from new releases. Coupled with $300 million from sales of previously released games, the industry may be recovering its health after a period of decreased sales. If games are an indicator of the recession, that's good news.

If you're in the film business, the news might not be so good. It wouldn't be out of the question if games eclipsed film and TV.

You may recall that Peter Jackson intended to do a film/game version of Halo, but it crashed, and he moved on to mentor District 9. So here's the new Halo videogame, being marketed by a violent, stupid, pretentious, expensive, live-action trailer, which is assessed here at Big Money. The Big Money boys ask: "Does the trailer make the game seem disturbing or does it make you want to play along?" Answer: Both. But I'll always have a soft spot for Microsoft's Blue Screen of Death, which you don't need an Xbox to play.

Disney Nabs Marvel Heroes (WSJ)

The L.A. Times, in its very first paragraph of a hometown big-news story, calls Disney's conquest of Marvel's superheroes a "reinvention" — no wonder that readers are flocking away from dull daily newspapers. Much better, as usual, is the Wall Street Journal's take: "By bringing in macho types such as Iron Man, Thor and Captain America, the Marvel deal would expand Disney's audience, adding properties that appeal to boys from their preteen years into young adulthood. That demographic group hasn't been swept up by Disney's recent hot properties, such as High School Musical and the Jonas Brothers." Marvel becomes a Mickey Mouse operation as Disney tries to jump-start flagging DVD sales. The film industry is in deep trouble from all sorts of Web-based diversions, and the WSJ sees more consolidation in Hollywood. Meanwhile, Disney's Bob Iger sounds like a pedophile: "We view this as an opportunity to attract more boys and older kids." The Big Money's Chadwick Matlin spoofs "Exclusive Disney-Marvel Synergy Memo." Click on video above (or here) for Disney's subliminal messages.

The Systemic Threat Posed by Megabanks (Felix Salmon, Reuters)

Riffing on David Cho's scary story last weekend in the Washington Post, "Banks 'Too Big to Fail' Have Grown Even Bigger," Salmon urges that someone has to force Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, and BofA "to start shrinking today."

Take the 'L' Out of LBO (Reuters, Matthew Goldstein)

"In a perfect world, we would simply ban leveraged buyouts. The vast majority of these debt-laden corporate takeovers are no less predatory and value-destroying to a company than a loan shark who charges usurious rates of interest." However, it's an imperfect world, so why not force private equity buyers "to pony up at least 50 percent of the purchase price"?

Is a Crash Impending? (Seeking Alpha, Karl Denninger)

Sounding like Jeremiah, Denninger warns that "the market is currently being levitated on literal trash."

TARP Repayments: Media Continues to Trumpet Unjustified Positive Economic Spin (Seeking Alpha, Kid Dynamite)

Puts the lie to current spin. With links. Behind all this is that sharks are using corporate welfare to churn shitty banks, and that's not going to accomplish anything but profits for individual sharks. His conclusion: "Recognize bad debt instead of continuing to pretend it will work itself out eventually. Stop funding insolvent institutions and use those funds to seed new, healthy banks instead."

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It sounds a little goofy, but Disney's purchase of the Marvel Comics mega-merchandising empire makes perfect business sense. Disney's buying 5,000 characters for $4 billion in cash and stock.

The WSJ wonders whether that's a "superhuman price." But it's the Disneyfication that's worrisome. Walt's old company is the very definition of bland. And Marvel? As the N.Y. Times puts it, "Marvel's intellectual property tends to be more popular with boys."

Do reporters have to write like lawyers? If those comic book characters are intellectual property, then Hannah Montana is Kierkegaard.

Basketball player Jeremy Tyler will skip his senior year in high school in San Diego to play pro basketball in Israel. Tyler signed a contract for a reported $140,000 annually to play for Maccabi Haifa, which is owned by American businessman Jeffrey Rosen.

Stop your whining, sports fans. It is unusual for a U.S. kid to skip his last year in high school to go pro (Tyler's said to be the first), but this is probably an excellent business decision for the big young fella. Sports commentators in the U.S. tend to argue that it's a crying shame that a kid would sacrifice school for his athletic career.

But young hockey players leave home in their mid-teens to sharpen their skills in what are essentially professional junior leagues. And in Europe, it's extremely common for talented athletes to turn semi-pro or pro in their teens. Star French guard Tony Parker (now with the San Antonio Spurs) turned pro when he was 17.

LeBron James was all business off the court before he proved that he is all business on the court. There was never a question whether he would play college basketball — no way. Why sacrifice the money? And why play for free for a college that will make millions of dollars off you?

Pushing product: It's kind of like the relationship that MSNBC already has with its parent, G.E. (Ask Keith Olbermann.)

The mind-boggling Hasbro/Discovery deal, aiming at those of you 14 and under, has been in the works for a few months, drawing heavy fire before G.I. Joe and My Little Pony trampled critics. Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood — good luck with that — had said of the deal:

And push product it will. Very true that there's no pretense whatsoever. Hasbro President and CEO Brian Goldner says: "We look forward to creating fun, stimulating and educational content that will allow us to deliver all-new brand experiences to the young and 'young at heart' - anywhere and anytime they want."

Discovery's already making a profit, so it wasn't exactly forced into the deal. The rebranded network is scheduled to debut in late 2010.

Big bad Walmart is trying to muscle in on Girl Scout cookies by peddling cookies that taste and look like Thin Mints and Tagalongs on its "Great Value" label. Yeah, knockoffs!

Those bastards!

Mommy blogger C.V. Harquail breaks the story on her Authentic Organizations site:

Maybe Michael Jackson's will really did run out, but the estate documents he left behind may live forever.

Curious about MJ's will and the fight over his estate? Don't stop till you get enough info from Death and Taxes - The Blog ), where Chicago-area estates lawyer Joel Schoenmeyer breaks it down.

While you're at it, click on the above video for MJ and James Brown sharing a stage.