Yearly Archives: 2009

“Greece – A Line in the Sand?”

By Bruce Krasting, a former foreign exchange and derivatives trader and hedge fund manager. On December 10th I raised the possibility of Greece breaking the connection with the Euro. On the likelihood of this black swan type of event happening I said, “This is not a high probability outcome.” A week later the possibility of […]

Sen. Merkley, Dem. on Banking Committee, to Vote Against Bernanke

This morning, Senator Jeff Merkley, a freshman Senator from Oregon, announced he would vote against Bernanke’s confirmation: Tomorrow, I will vote against confirming Ben Bernanke as Chairman of the Federal Reserve. The reason, in short, is that as Chairman, Dr. Bernanke failed to recognize or remedy the factors that paved the road to this dark […]

Links 12/16/09

Italy investigates pasta makers over ‘price-fixing’ BBC 22 million missing Bush White House e-mails found Associated Press Bernanke’s Saving’s Glut Hypothesis. Contradiction Number One EconoSpeak Battle of the Bulge, from Scott Brooks Daily Speculations Handing Over Goods for Promises David Merkel Late Night: Democrats More Likely to Believe in Ghosts, Past Lives, Mediums FireDogLake. This […]

Guest Post: $38 Billion Tax Break Granted to Citigroup to Help Improve the TARP Results

Served by Jesse of Le Café Américain Maybe it’s a mistake. Did Timmy have time to run their return on TurboTax? Well, at least it will make the results of the TARP program look better on paper if it drives up Citi’s stock price by inflating their financial results. That’s a plus, right? I guess […]

Bernanke Stonewalls and Prevaricates in Response to Questions by Sen. Bunning

Senator Jim Bunning gave a long, detailed, specific, and very good list of questions to Fed chair Ben Bernanke, and Bunning has posted the resulting Q&A on his website. I find this a pretty remarkable document. While a certain amount of bureaucratic jousting is to be expected (ie, there is a level of artful dodging […]

Guest Post: Any Climate Treaty Which Does Not Dramatically Reduce Soot Is Not Worth the Paper It’s Written On

Note to NC Readers: This essay deals with cost and benefit. As such, it is relevant to business and economics. Preface: I studied global warming at a top university in the early 1980’s. I was taught – as Al Gore was taught in college – that temperatures are directly correlated with CO2 levels. This essay […]

Quelle Surprise! Banks See Meeting With Obama as a “PR Stunt” for Administration

We weren’t impressed by Obama’s supposedly tough rhetoric on bankers on 60 Minutes (it pales next to what FDR dished out in his 1933 inaugural address, and discourse was more elevated then than now). It was namby pamby at best. That limp-wristed effort to look more determined to Do Something to mask the fact that […]

Obama’s demand that fat cats lend is no ode to Samuelson

This is a guest post by Edward Harrison. There has been quite a lot of to-do about President Obama’s fat cat remarks and his meeting with bankers exhorting them to lend (which some attended via conference call only, ouch). Let me tie these events in with a few other themes into a comprehensive picture of […]

Guest Post: The Fed’s “Independence” Argument Is False

The House has passed a bill to audit the Federal Reserve. 79% of the American people support a full audit. In response, the Fed says that an audit would interfere with its “independence”. However, the Constitution does not empower a central bank. And Congress – which created the Federal Reserve in 1913 and which has […]

Links 12/15/09

In Pictures: Maturing meerkats BBC. A nice selection. Japan’s Recovery Too Weak to Spur Domestic Demand, Tankan Shows Bloomberg (hat tip DoctoRx) Room for Debate New York Times. Bill Black, Ed Harrison, and yours truly, among others. Larry Summers Would Remind Banks They Owe Us; Cantor Says Banks Too Regulated FireDogLake (hat tip reader John […]

“Bankers Support Regulation? Au Contraire”

By Tim Duncan, Chairman of American Business Leaders for Financial Reform The Wall Street Journal tells us tonight that the banking industry has agreed to push for regulation after Monday’s White House meeting: Chief executives of the largest U.S. banks acknowledged Monday the “disconnect” between their expressed support for re-regulating financial markets and the work […]

“Obama’s Newfound Populism: All Hat, No Cattle”

By Marshall Auerback, a fund manager and investment strategist who writes for New Deal 2.0. President Obama is taking a sharp, populist tone with Wall Street and scolding the ways of Washington. Once again, he is looking to the Senate to follow the House and pass a top legislative priority: sweeping financial regulatory reform. It […]

Guest Post: Larry Summers Is Like a Guy Who Yells That the Sun Really DOES Revolve Around the Earth and that the Current Orbit is Just a Temporary Aberration . . . and That If We Just Wait a Little While, “Everything Will Return to Normal”

Two leading White House economic advisors – Larry Summers and Christina Romer – are giving very different views on the economy. As Fox news summarizes: “Everybody agrees that the recession is over,” said Larry Summers, director of the National Economic Council. “Of course not,” countered Council of Economic Advisers Chairwoman Christina Romer in a separate […]