Note that the headline above was on a Wall Street Journal story about the new taxpayer-raping improved version of the AIG bailout. The current headline is anodyne: “New AIG Rescue Is Bank Blessing.” Just as one wonders why the government backed down on a deal that was appropriately punitive to AIG (at worst, it was […]
Read more...Famed hedge fund investor and round-the-world motorbiker Jim Rogers is not very keen about financial assets these days, which is not entirely surprising given that he runs a commodities fund. Maybe the bearish outlook has to do with the view of the world from Singapore. Marc Faber, who makes most of his TV appearances from […]
Read more...We had pointed out that usage of oil had dropped over 10% during the first oil shock. While the price hike itself led directly to conservation, and this time we have an easing price environment, global economic conditions were not as difficult as today’s. From Bloomberg: Crude oil fell below $59 a barrel in New […]
Read more...Maine lobstermen suffer as prices fall Financial Times. I am related to lobstermen, so this is (almost) personal. Not such a hero after all Guardian. Aung San Suu Kyi’s star has dimmed. Champagne sales lose their sparkle Guardian Australian business confidence at record low MarketWatch More A.I.G. Floyd Norris, New York Times. A very good […]
Read more...There are some cool charts, and a useful discussion of the continuing travails of Fannie Mae, at EconomPic Data. Let me give you the high points to induce you to read the rest of the post: Fannie Mae lost a reported $29 Billion in Q3. Over the past 7 quarters, they have now lost ALL […]
Read more...Many years ago, when I was in business school, one of the courses was taught by George Cabot Lodge. He said he could remember distinctly the day in 1968 that it occurred to him that the US could not simultaneously end poverty, send a man to the moon, and fight a ground war in Asia, […]
Read more...James Carville said that when he died, he wanted to come back as the bond market, that way he could intimidate everybody. If asked today, i suspect he’d ask to come back as a bank. They get all the bennies. Seriously, Amex becoming a bank? This is patently ludicrous. Amex poses no systemic risk, so […]
Read more...As this Bloomberg article discusses in detail, the Fed has violated promises it made to Congress, both regarding the amount it would lend (the amounts are vastly in excess of anything envisaged) and its commitments about transparency (which have gone completely by the wayside). Bloomberg has petitioned to get certain details disclosed via a Freedom […]
Read more...Credit crunch could boost science sector: analysts PhysOrg Study: iPhones Twice As Reliable As BlackBerries MobileCrunch Condoms Trump Abstinence in Obama Global AIDS Policy, Aide Says Bloomberg Market’s Collapse Echoes in a Manhattan Tower New York Times The Mini Depression and the Maximum-Strength Remedy Robert Reich Time to pull the plug on AIG? Willem Buiter. […]
Read more...A Wall Street Journal article, “Japan Worries It Faces the Return of Deflation,” contained an argument I found unconvincing: In the U.S., some economists say deflation may occur if market conditions deteriorate much further and job losses proliferate. But Teizo Taya, an adviser for Daiwa Institute of Research and a former policy board member of […]
Read more...The Wall Street Journal reports, as was rumored on Friday, that AIG appears on the verge of approving a considerably enlarged and sweetened rescue package from the government. We were less than happy with the idea when it first surfaced (see our rant “The Black Hole Gets Bigger: AIG Back for Yet Another Bailout“). Let […]
Read more...We have been reporting from time to time on the impact of the credit crisis on international trade. The main focus has been on how buyers and sellers of cargos are finding it increasingly difficult and costly to obtain letters of credit. However, a second effect is on shipowners themselves, both directly (via plunging freight […]
Read more...We have gotten so large to throwing large numbers around in the US thanks to the various Fed facilities that the significance of the Chinese move may not be as obvious as it would otherwise be. $586 billion is a massive number for an economy the size of China’s. Recall our first stimulus package here […]
Read more...I must confess that there are certain types of human activity that are a complete mystery to me, and much of the column ink spilled this weekend serves as a vivid reminder. There are two types of articles very much on display: 1. Who will key members of Obama’s cabinet be (with the financial press […]
Read more...How the Thundering Herd Faltered and Fell Gretchen Morgenson, New York Times. There is a thread in this story of Merrill’s demise which is either new information or inaccurate, and any readers who have insight are encouraged to speak up. Morgenson focuses on the role of CDOs, and says Merrill was writing more synthetic CDOs […]
Read more...