Author Archives: Yves Smith

Michael Hudson: William Goetzmann’s Money Changes Everything – A Travesty of Financial History Which Bank Lobbyists Will Applaud

Why William Goetzmann’s Money Changes Everything is unadulterated Austrian twattle.

Links 7/15/16

Warren, Sanders, Brown, Merkley, Reed, 4 Other Senators, Ask the SEC to Get Out of Bed on Private Equity

As strange as it may seem, eight Senators ganging up on the SEC over yet another private equity lapse is a sign of a change in the zeitgeist.

Did the New York Times Really Need to Let Jamie Dimon Crow About the Measly Raise He Is Granting Employees?

Jamie Dimon throws JP Morgan workers some crumbs.

Instability in Capitalist Economies and a Better Way to Think About Credit Risk

Instability in capitalist economies comes from the quest for profit. And that has implications for credit ratings that are often ignored.

How Treasurer Chiang’s Designee Grant Boyken Duped CalPERS’ Board to the Detriment of Taxpayers and Beneficiaries

How California Treasurer John Chiang’s deputy, Grant Bokyen, snookered CalPERS’ board to facilitate gutting a private equity reform bill.

Private Equity Industry Offers Intelligence-Insulting Defenses for Long-Standing Grifting Due to Refusal to Register as Broker-Dealers

Private equity firms insist that they continue to violate broker-dealer requirements. Why? So they can carry on looting.

Links 7/14/16

How Private Credit Rating Agencies Reinforce Global Economic Instability—and What We Can Do About It

A look at a fundamental point of failure in our financial system, rating agencies, and potential remedies.

Financial Times Picks Up on Irish Growth Blarney Story…. That We Reported Months Ago

Irish growth is even phonier than the media would have you believe.

IEA: Gasoline Glut Could Cause Oil Price Rout

More confirmation of inventory overhang in gasoline.

Gluttony and Sloth

Sloth, as in lower levels of physical activity, are a much bigger contributor to population-wide gains in weight levels than caloric intake.

Links 7/13/16

OC Register: CalPERS Expected to Show Multi-Billion Loss for Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2016

CalPERS at best laid a big goose egg for its 2015-2016 results. It remains in denial about its return prospects, to the detriment of beneficiaries and taxpayers.