In case you managed to miss it, Japan has taken a huge fall in its relative economic standing by more or less standing still for almost a generation. The comparative fall is 30%. And even though visitors to Japan do not see the superficial signs of distress (infrastructure is well maintained, people are neatly dressed, […]
Read more...Juan Enriquez: How mindboggling science will outlast the crisis Exchange (hat tip reader doc holiday) Storm brews between US and Israel Jim Lobe, Asia Times. The headline is not news, but provides some useful detail. Bloggers fight for Hollywood supremacy Financial Times Tall Paul is Not Happy! Video of Columbia presentation (hat tip reader Ilja); […]
Read more...Click here to view the clip from CNBCs’ Fast Money. Enjoy!
Read more...Dear readers, this is a bit of an experiment (think of it as the econblog analogy to open source). When Geithner presented his bank plan, such as it was, I was particularly disgusted by the “public/private partnership plan rubbish. It struck me as a costly way to paper over the irresolvable conundrum with Paulson’s two […]
Read more...Lordie, is this crowd in denial? From the Wall Street Journal (hat tip reader Dwight): Amid fears that Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. could be on the verge of being nationalized, the White House gave assurances that it prefers banks to remain out of the government’s hands. “This administration continues to strongly believe […]
Read more...You can’t blame all the pressure on Citi on evil short sellers and the credit default swaps market. From Dow Jones, via Clusterstock (hat tip reader Tim): Many bankers in the US believe nationalization of banks in general and Citi in particular is not on the agenda, but staffers in Asia, far away from the […]
Read more...Danton wreck found in deep water BBC After the inferno Guardian Crop Scientists Say Biotechnology Seed Companies Are Thwarting Research New York Times Obama anti-trust chief: Google is a monopoly threat, not Microsoft ComputerWorld Alan Greenspan: The Oracle Or The Master Of Disaster? Huffington Post (hat tip reader Carlos) Citibank has cut all lending in […]
Read more...I’ve been asserting for some time, based on the comments from mortgage counsellors, that mortgage mods that do not substantially reduce principal balances don’t make enough of a difference to the borrower to change outcomes. And with banks and servicers looking at 40%+ losses on many foreclosures, they can reduce principal a lot and still […]
Read more...The digging by the New York attorney general, Andrew Cuomo, into the bonuses paid by Merrill Lynch immediately prior to the closing of its acquisition by Bank of America, are starting to take an interesting turn. The proximate cause is that the bonuses were unseemly and unwarranted, which doesn’t form the basis for legal action., […]
Read more...Some readers may take issue with the headline, but bear me out. Within ten days of 1987 stock market crash, President Reagan established what was popularly called the Brady Commission to investigate the causes of the meltdown and recommend remedies. A little more than two months after it was created, the Commission submitted its report. […]
Read more...Grizzlies reveal ‘fancy footwork’ BBC The Agreeable Cat Anne Loucks. This is actually a geek post. Fraternity In Danger Of Losing House Launches Harebrained Scheme To Fix Economy The Onion (hat tip reader Brad) Helicopter crash: 18 rescued from North Sea Times Online Against Maturity Eliezer Yudkowsky Goldman warns on commodity returns Financial Times Food […]
Read more...So much for the theory that the rise in the Baltic Dry Index meant that trade volumes were recovering. From Lloyd’s List (hat tip reader Michael): Asian container ports are bracing themselves for a grim year ahead as they report alarming drops in volumes in January. Box throughput at Singapore, the world’s largest container port […]
Read more...Economy could begin to recover in April, claims Gordon Brown Telegraph. Subhead: “The economy could begin to recover as early as April 2, Gordon Brown has signaled.” If by “recover” one means “temporarily looks as if it is no longer getting worse,” even I might agree that is possible. From Merrill Lynch’s Fund Manager Survey […]
Read more...Greg Mankiw today addresses an issue which has been nagging at me, but I have neglected to address. I’ve gotten a fair number of comments along the lines of “I’m opposed to bank nationalization, but I agree we need to do something, so put them in bankruptcy.” Aargh. No one seems to have a problem […]
Read more...Although fuel supply trends are only a crude (no pun intended) indicator of economic activity, the reversal of China from stockpiling diesel to being a net exporter is considerable, and demand for diesel is weak. While the steep contango for diesel indicates that traders believe the low prices are temporary, the glut is so large […]
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