One indicator of commercial activity is shipments, such as train and truck traffic. Reader Marshall Auerback provided this sighting which shows that the decline in shipments is accelerating. Note that one of the general reasons for optimism is that many indicators are getting worse less quickly and some appear to be stabilizing. Now this is […]
Read more...Submitted by Edward Harrison of Credit Writedowns In the latest inexplicable move to extricate the U.S. banking system from crisis, the FDIC is reportedly close to asking the very banks it regulates for a loan to top up its balances. The plan is “strongly supported by bankers and their lobbyists” according to the New York […]
Read more...Submitted by Edward Harrison of Credit Writedowns I have been very interested in the concept of legal tender of late because of the revelation this summer that the State of California was issuing I.O.U.’s to honour its debts instead of paying in U.S. Dollars, which are legal tender and I.O.U.’s from the U.S. government (see […]
Read more...Submitted by Edward Harrison of Credit Writedowns. Hi all. Yves is getting slammed because of her book project, so I am stepping in with a few additional posts over the next few days. I may have a few investment posts (which Yves usually avoids) to run by you. Below is the first investment-oriented one, a […]
Read more...Dear patient readers, I have to drop out for a week. The book stuff is just too much. I have not even looked at Bloomberg today. I have a hard deadline of next Tuesday (publisher is bizarrely rigid, you do not want the shaggy dog story, but trust me, I have tried every leverage point […]
Read more...By George Washington of Washington’s Blog. We’ve all been taught that banks first build up deposits, and then extend credit and loan out their excess reserves. But critics of the current banking system claim that this is not true, and that the order is actually reversed. Sounds crazy, right? Certainly. But as PhD economist Steve […]
Read more...Reader Barbara pointed out this Tom Paxton rendition, which did not get the attention it deserved during the throes of the crisis. Enjoy!
Read more...Submitted by Edward Harrison of Credit Writedowns Last week, I highlighted some of the ideas of Australian economist Steve Keen in my post, “Politics and reform: Say I’m a politician….” Keen is of the Minsky camp and he believes that an unsustainable debt bubble has build up in the industrialized world which can only be […]
Read more...By Satyajit Das, a risk consultant and author of Traders, Guns & Money: Knowns and Unknowns in the Dazzling World of Derivatives: One year ago, AIG was brought to the brink of bankruptcy as a result its exposure under credit default swaps (“CDS”) (a form of credit insurance). Asset backed securities and Collateralised Debt Obligations […]
Read more...Scanning Dead Salmon in fMRI Machine Highlights Risk of Red Herrings Wired Meet the Afghan Army Ann Jones G-20 Push on Banks Threatens Profits From Goldman to Barclays Bloomberg Even With Growth, A Long, Hard Road Tim Duy BIS regulator urges caution FT Alphaville Obama to Tell the G20 to Fix the US By Changing […]
Read more...Given how beleagured ratings agencies are, you would expect them to adopt the usual best policy when in trouble with authority figures: act terribly contrite and use all sorts of apologetic language without admitting to much and/or admit profusely to stuff you cannot deny, and make extremely vague but very earnest promises to do better. […]
Read more...Squirrel seen savaging fruit bat BBC Regulation in Defense of Capitalism Richard Bookstaber Strategic Default Data Suggests Foreclosure Prevention Tactics Useless Michael Shedlock Volcker Launches Bombshell on Wall Street and Washington Sense on Cents (hat tip Crocodile Chuck) Jim Grant: Ringing the Bell at the Top? Michael Panzner Dodd to push for single U.S. bank […]
Read more...During the tense months of the crisis, every so often there would be a story on the looming threat of mounting corporate debt defaults. With more than half the corporate bonds rated junk, thanks to highly-levered takeovers, it wasn’t hard to imagine that a protracted economic bad spell could lead to a lot of defaults. […]
Read more...By George Washington of Washington’s Blog. Inside the beltway and among mainstream economists, Larry Summers has the reputation of being a genius. But Australian PhD economist Steve Keen points out a huge gap in the thinking of Summers – and all neoclassical economists. Specifically, in an essay written today, Keen explains the weakness in the […]
Read more...Tuna Town in Japan Sees Fish Falloff New York Times. Ahem, we’ve been saying “don’t eat bluefin” for a while, species is on verge of collapse (and yours truly is a sushiholic). Suit Alleges Trusted Blacks Drew Minorities to High-Rate Loans Washington Independent Memories of the Carter Administration Paul Krugman Credit Stock Growth versus New […]
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