Submitted by Edward Harrison of Credit Writedowns. This morning I was reading Simon Johnson’s excellent post “President Obama’s Regulatory Reforms Announcement: A Viewer’s Guide” about what Barack Obama should say when he makes his regulatory reform pitch today at 12:30 PM. I agree with what he has to say about the need to re-assure us […]
Read more...You cannot make this stuff up. Even as of last summer, there were reports that gold at retail was priced at a hefty premium, often 20% or more, to professional prices. Greater convenience comes with a greater markup. The German gold vending machine reportedly update prices every few minutes and add a 30% upcharge. The […]
Read more...Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. Jack Dean of PensionWatch sent me this article by Larry Brown of NUPGE, A convenient untruth about public pension plans: Our popular media has been filled lately with rote repetition of a convenient untruth: that public sector workers have a huge advantage over most others because they […]
Read more...Obama frets on debt, sees U.S. unemployment rising BBC News MySpace cuts ‘bloated’ staff FT. We’re talking 30% here. Think of MySpace as the Yahoo to Facebook’s Google. The recession tracks the Great Depression Martin Wolf, FT High Housing Starts Do not Reflect Reality CNBC. We saw a lot of spec building that doesn’t necessarily […]
Read more...Submitted by Tyler Durden of Zero Hedge If there is one post you read today, this month, or this year, this should be it. Absolutely brilliant summary of the predicament interventionism has gotten us into. If you are looking for insight that will save you money when the market turns, this is it.
Read more...Edward Harrison is the main writer at Credit Writedowns. Yesterday, I argued that the United States faced a policy dilemma in avoiding debt deflationary forces while maintaining fiscal prudence. The reality is that President Obama faces political constraints in Washington right now in regards to budget deficits. He is not likely to get another stimulus […]
Read more...Submitted by Leo Kolivakis, publisher of Pension Pulse. On Monday, the Washington Post published an op-ed piece by Tim Geithner and Lawrence Summers, A New Financial Foundation: Over the past two years, we have faced the most severe financial crisis since the Great Depression. The financial system failed to perform its function as a reducer […]
Read more...The Treasury Department’s plans for securitization reform are being bandied about in the press. A key question is whether it can or will fix the now-broken private securitization process. Credit became more dependent on securitization than many realize. By pretty much any metric, the role of banks relative to other players has declined since 1980, […]
Read more...Dear Readers, As you may know from my occasional grumbles of the last week or so, I am currently abroad and bandwidth-impaired, yet trying to keep the blog and book moving forward. I wondered therefore if you might be able to provide me with some leads on a topic I would like to discuss: the […]
Read more...Moody’s bank downgrades, pain in Spain edition – FT Alphaville. 25 banks get downgrades. Santander gets negative watch. Was I too early on Santander or just plain wrong? Lincoln National to Take Federal Bailout Funds DealBook. Is this getting any press? They are not a bank. Marijuana Damages DNA And May Cause Cancer, New Test […]
Read more...Submitted by Edward Harrison of the site Credit Writedowns. Last night I wrote an article reminding you that downside risk remains in the global economy. While I have been singing a more bullish tune in regards to the prospect of a technical recovery in 2009, I am concerned about a double dip as a likely […]
Read more...Dear readers, I am in Regensburg, Germany, which seems to be a nice place. However, the ship in parked in a satellite dead zone, and I have had to repair to an Internet cafe, which is not my preferred way to work. Fortunately, reader Paul S. provided a useful sighting. Media mavens may recall that […]
Read more...Frankly, it is hard to know what to make of the ongoing noise form China regarding the dollar. The most sensible explanation is that China is playing to a domestic audience. China, after all, purchased dollar assets as a integral part of its development strategy. Independent of the fate of the dollar, successful developing economies […]
Read more...The crucifixion of Latvia Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, Telegraph Optimism is not enough for a global recovery Wolfgang Munchau, FT China’s recovery still isn’t supporting (much) global demand Brad Setser German credit crunch deepens Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, Telegraph Cantona kick fan still hated 14yrs on The Sun Silk Road threatened by melting glaciers New Scientist How the world’s […]
Read more...Submitted by Edward Harrison of the site Credit Writedowns. With more and more major economists predicting recovery sometime later this year, many have forgotten that downside risks remain. Berner, Roubini, Volcker, Krugman and Bernanke have all come out essentially saying they would not be surprised to see a ‘technical’ recovery at some point later this […]
Read more...