This VoxEU article by Charles Goodhart examines the tensions between central banks’ responsibilities, namely price stability and financial stability. Not only does this piece do a nice job of distilling the issues but it also works through one of the pet remedies being bandied about, namely, implementing counter-cyclical regulatory measures, such as increasing capital requirements […]
Read more...Have you ever watched a movie and suddenly hit a section that doesn’t quite make sense? Usually, I figure I missed a crucial twist, like a envelope being slipped to the chief baddie, or the fact that the receptionist is the detective in the opening scene. I’m throwing this one open to readers, because it […]
Read more...Chicago locals beware the birds BBC Renewed respect as geisha make a comeback – and take to cyberspace Guardian Japan Requires Mandatory Obesity Exams for Employees CNN (video) The Weapon of Mass Destruction Is Cancer R.B. Stuart, Huffington Post Report Assails Political Hiring in Justice Dept. New York Times. Quelle surprise! The Great Pendulum of […]
Read more...Ooh, the blood sport of watching Countrywide come under attack for its predatory mortgage practices is getting even more gripping. Gretchen Morgenson of the New York Times reports that the Illinois attorney general is suing the lender for not simply selling a toxic product, but other fraudulent practices, including falsifying borrower income and making bogus […]
Read more...More signs of high gas prices leading to reduced demand. The Bloomberg article is written somewhat unclearly. The 2.7% fall in retail gas purchases is in comparison to the prior year.. From Bloomberg: U.S. gasoline demand fell 2.7 percent last week, a sign motorists are cutting back on vacation plans as pump prices touchrecords, a […]
Read more...There has been ample speculation on whether the Saudis are truly close to tapped out as far as current oil production is concerned. The overwhelming majority believes that declining production is due to falling yields from their biggest oilfield, Gwahar, which has not been fully compensated for by increased output from other fields. A minority […]
Read more...When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it. Matthew 27:24 It no doubt sounds extreme to compare the SEC’s proposed changes in regulation […]
Read more...Yes, now it’s official. We can now worry about global imbalances because they have come to the attention of the Wall Street Journal, the same paper that, for instance, told its readers about the quant hedge fund meltdown of last August a month late, in September. But the Journal may have set a new record […]
Read more...Although a Bloomberg article, “Bernanke Plays `Dangerous Game’ Balancing Rate Talk With Action,” focused on the Fed’s rate dilemma, it also in passing revealed a sharp difference of opinion on the central bank’s likely actions later this year between economists and market participants: While Bernanke’s warning that the Fed will “strongly resist” a jump in […]
Read more...Whale ‘duets’ with a clarinet BBC Bizarre Properties of Glass Revealed Live Science The myth of ‘weapons-grade’ enrichment Asia Times. Key paragraph: Instead, the US media in particular have allowed themselves to become an unwitting accomplice of Israel’s anti-Iran propaganda machine, dutifully recycling the line that Iran is actively pursuing nuclear weapons, has amassed “weapons-grade” […]
Read more...A comment in the Financial Times, “Our need to sustain the ‘great moderation’,”by Stephen Cecchetti, professor of global finance at Brandeis, set my teeth on edge. I suspect many readers will react the same way. Let’s start: The US housing market has collapsed, placing severe strains on the financial system and, as a direct consequence, […]
Read more...Readers may recall that last we ran a post last week on Lehman’s 2Q earnings announcement, its conference call, and some questions raised by an e-mail from a former Lehman managing director. To recap: the investment bank reported a gross asset reduction of $147 billion, net of $70 billion (we consider the $70 billion the […]
Read more...As reader Tom pointed out in comments today, perhaps the most important story in today’s Wall Street Journal didn’t get front page treatment. Banks are finding it hard to raise new equity. We’re not surprised at this outcome, in fact, we’re taken aback that this outcome was not foreseen. But despite the downturn in the […]
Read more...Bidding begins on ‘entire life’ BBC Gas Crisis Grips Australia’s Boomtown, Threatens Jobs, Beef, Beer Bloomberg Time for OPEC to defend its rights Arab News (hat tip Across the Curve). A different vantage on the runup of oil. Dymaxion Man:The visions of Buckminster Fuller Elizabeth Kolbert, The New Yorker. Study Finds Imbalance on 3 Newspapers’ […]
Read more...The story in today’s Financial Times, “Bond insurers want $125bn of cover wiped out,” seems more that an tad inconsistent with bond insurers’, particularly MBIA’s, claim that everything is hunk-dory with their financial condition and contention that the rating agencies were mean and capricious. The story in brief: Bond insurers such as Ambac, MBIA and […]
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