Without a doubt, the Federal Reserve now faces the most difficult financial and economic climate in our collective memory. And it is increasingly apparent that its options are constrained. Although it is premature to arrive at definitive judgments, it’s nevertheless worth asking whether some of these limitations were unwittingly self-created. Friday’s market rout, triggered by […]
Read more...So many bad numbers have come out about residential real estate that they all begin to blend together. But a figure as grim as “50% decline”, applied to an entire market, even if in real rather than nominal terms, is a stunner. This grim forecast for UK real estate comes from a futures index based […]
Read more...Natural lab shows sea’s acid path BBC. See here and here for more on the danger of rising ocean acidity. Audit pans Iraq and U.S. efforts to account for oil, fuel and revenue flow… Iraq Oil Report Ben Stein Watch: June 8, 2008 Felix Salmon Ken Rogoff is also confused by the US policy towards […]
Read more...I suppose I should be pleased, since readers wrote to inform me that Charles Gasparino of CNBC made mention of us on Friday (this clip, starting at 1:30) for our coverage of Lehman. However, I would have been happier if the statements made were correct. It’s remarkable that a seasoned journalist would assert that a […]
Read more...As much as I respect and am in agreement with Nouriel Roubini’s views, he often, no doubt unintentionally, comes off as unduly enthusiastic about the prospect of carnage. His last offering goes through the litany of bad news that hit Friday: the rise in unemployment, the rise in oil (stoked in part by fear that […]
Read more...Bloomberg reports (hat tip Calculated Risk) that the US, Japan, China, India, and South Korea agreed on the need to cut energy subsidies and take other measures: The U.S. and the four Asian nations, together accounting for half the world’s energy consumption, said today wider use of alternative fuels such as clean coal, nuclear power, […]
Read more...How the Mind Works: Revelations The New York Review of Books Serotonin may affect our sense of fairness, scientists report PhysOrg A post just for Obamistas and Clintonistas Willer Buiter Barron’s Asks: Bear Market Rally? Barry Ritholtz Are You On or Off The Bus?? Cassandra Happy Birthday Proposition 13 San Francisco Chronicle (hat tip Jojo) […]
Read more...I’ve been quite taken with Thomas Palley’s few but very high quality posts, particularly since they have often made bold, persuasive arguments. Today, however, he does himself a disservice by giving a well written but conventional (among US academic economists) defense of the central bank’s conduct. Note that he deals only with monetary policy (he […]
Read more...The International Energy Agency has determined that for greenhouse gas emissions to be reduced to the level recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (and some contend that report was too conservative), carbon prices would need to be $200 a ton, more than four time the price now in effect for the EU carbon […]
Read more...Ocean life under threat from climate change PhysOrg City’s Chief Crane Inspector Accused of Taking Bribes New York Times Ratings Raised a Red Flag: Moody’s Analyst Aired Concerns on CDOs to No Avail Wall Street Journal More Downgrades to Monoline Bond Insurers Show Worst of Mortgage Crisis May Yet Lie Ahead Housing Wire What happened […]
Read more...This chart, courtesy Menzie Chinn at Econbrowser, says a lot: SDR is Special Drawing Rights,. Note the dollar is 44% of an SDR.
Read more...Now one might ask why there is anyone trying to move development forward in California, given the impressive downward price trajectory of real estate over the last year. We’ll take as a given that such a big state can have pocket of opportunity even in a bad market. But this article highlights an issue that […]
Read more...An article in today’s Wall Street Journal, “Insider Joins Critics of the Fed, Faulting Credit-Crisis Programs,” discusses at some length a recent speech by Richmond Fed president Jeffrey Lacker in which he took issue with some of the Fed’s recent financial services industry rescue efforts. The article itself failed to do justice to his speech, […]
Read more...In a nutshell, yes, but not in the way the industry hopes. In a Financial Times article. Gillian Tett files a somewhat dumbfounded report from the European Securitization Forum in Cannes. While the event has gone wildly downscale from last year’s bash, the participants were hopeful that the return of good times was just around […]
Read more...Perhaps I am jaded, but consider: 1. Lehman leaks an internal memo to CNBC’s Charles Gasparino which says that the firm’s net leverage and liquidity are considerable better than that of Goldman and Morgan Stanley 2. Lehman is nevertheless looking to raise a lot of equity, most likely common at a price that would be […]
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