Yearly Archives: 2011

Video: The Bankers as the Enemy of Humanity

This video is stunning, in that it is a very articulate and well done rant that will resonate with many readers. The fact that it appeared on Karl Denninger’s site (hat tip reader Scott, Denninger’s been very critical of the TBTF banks) is an indication that the level of frustration with the major banks’ refusal to take responsibility for wrecking the global economy and their efforts to preserve their ability to loot is moving to a new level.

Links 8/15/11

Quelle Surprise! New York Fed Director Shills for Bank of New York, Argues Against Rule of Law

Given the Federal Reserve’s abysmal regulatory record in the runup to the crisis (even the uber bank friendly Office of the Comptroller of the Currency was more aggressive in going after subprime abuses, for instance), it should be no surprise that some of its directors are utterly lacking in propriety and common sense when it comes to defending the rights of banks to profit at the expense of customers and society at large.

The only good news about the latest example is that it was so ineptly done that it appears to be backfiring.

Summer rerun: Misunderstanding Modern Monetary Theory

This is a post I wrote last summer clarifying some points that I have learned about Modern Monetary Theory. The genesis of the post was a gross mischaracterization of Modern Money Theory (MMT) by Paul Krugman in a piece called “I Would Do Anything For Stimulus, But I Won’t Do That (Wonkish)”, which Paul Krugman […]

Satyajit Das: The Real Debt Crisis is in Europe – Part 1 – “Solvency But Not In Our Time”

By Satyajit Das, the author of Extreme Money: The Masters of the Universe and the Cult of Risk (published in August/ September 2011)

Despite the media hyperventilation and pundit hyperbole about the downgrade of US’s credit rating, the real issue remains Europe.

There is no imminent danger that the US cannot finance its requirements. The US’s cost of debt will not increase significantly as a result of the marginal downgrade, by one of the three major rating agencies. Despite the shrill rhetoric, the Chinese and other foreign investors will continue to buy US dollars and government bonds to protect their existing

For many European countries, the inability to access markets is a clear and present danger, which threatens financial markets and the global economy.

Why “Business Needs Certainty” is Destructive

This is the start of my final guest post in Glenn Greenwald’s slot at Salon:

If you read the business and even the political press, you’ve doubtless encountered the claim that the economy is a mess because the threat to reregulate in the wake of a global-economy-wrecking financial crisis is creating “uncertainty.” That is touted as the reason why corporations are sitting on their hands and not doing much in the way of hiring and investing.

This is propaganda that needs to be laughed out of the room.
Read more...

On the ECB and the sovereign debt crisis

Cross-posted from Credit Writedowns Last month I wrote an article called “The ECB is the difference” which claimed the ECB was the pivotal institution in the European sovereign debt crisis. I presented two options that the European Central Bank had in relieving pressure on European sovereign debt markets. Option A was monetisation i.e. buying up […]

Links 8/14/11

Bank of America’s Moynihan Begs Geithner to Give Him a Positive Mortgage Talking Point

Matt Stoller pointed out this Bank of America story on Bloomberg, “BofA’s Moynihan Said to Press Geithner on Foreclosure Agreement,” which has the perverse effect of revealing how desperate the beleaguered Charlotte bank is:

Guest Post: Austerity and Runaway Inequality Lead to Violence And Instability

A new study shows that austerity leads to violence and instability

Rob Johnson and Tom Ferguson on the Real Meaning of the S&P Downgrade and the Market Reaction

I feel as if I am too often making excuses for coming across good material on the late side, but between being distracted by the market gyrations of last week and figuring out how to write to Salon readers, I’m even more behind the eight ball than usual. But our initial reader comments confirm our instincts that this material is very relevant.

Readers have responded well in the past to Tom Ferguson’s cut-to-the-chase, curmudgeonly style, but I also wanted to call your attention to Rob Johnson’s observations. Rob, by contrast, is a very measured speaker, so on his scale of discourse, his remarks about Obama are remarkably blunt.

Links 8/13/11

“Freedom Versus Markets”

Yves here. Blogger Sell on News echoes an argument made in ECONNED, namely, that “free markets” are a contradictory and incoherent construct, albeit from a different perspective. He also advocates another view near and dear to our heart, namely getting rid of economists (actually, that is overkill and will never happen. Keynes had it right: “If economists could manage to get themselves thought of as humble, competent people on a level with dentists, that would be splendid.”)

By Sell on News, a macro equities analyst . Cross posted from MacroBusiness

Probably the most wicked intellectual subterfuge of the last three decades — and goodness knows there have been many — has been the pretence that democracy and markets are two sides of the same coin.

New Zealand Company Registry Whack-a-Mole!

More old and new delights from the little shop of horrors that is the New Zealand Company Registry

New Zealand Government comatose, NZ Parliament surprisingly perky though

Written answers requested in New Zealand’s Parliament, triggered by reporting of the NZ companies register from Naked Capitalism and the NZ National Business Review