Author Archives: Yves Smith

Michael Hudson Discusses the Federal Reserve and the Global Fracture

Explaining how the Federal Reserve and central bank policies like QE, saved the banks at the expense of wrecking the real economy.

Hard Times for Italian Banks

The overview: “They argue that rather than spending time revising rules that have already been agreed, alternatives should be considered to make the guarantee schemes as effective as possible.” Translation: “Time to go back to the drawing board.”

Links 2/18/16

Wolf Richter: Sudden Death? Junk-Rated Companies Headed for Biggest “Refinancing Cliff” Ever – Moody’s

A refinancing bulge is coming awfully soon.

A Modest Proposal for an Efficient Rental Market

How to make the housing market conform to mainstream economists’ ideals.

Randy Wray: American Colonial Currency (Debt Free Money, Part 4)

The American Colonial experience with note issue is consistent with what MMT has been saying for the past quarter century.

Links 2/17/16

Ex-Goldmanite , Now Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari Calls for “Transformative” Changes to Banks, Ending TBTF, Even Regulating Them as Utilities

Astonishingly, Neel Kashkari really might mean a fair bit of his bold financial services industry reform talk.

Cyber Security and the Financial System – Why Technology Snake Oil Sells

How banks finesse cyber security risks despite hand waiving by governments and exhortations for the industry to “do something”.

Michael Hudson Discusses the New Global Financial Cold War

Michael Hudson discusses his paper, The IMF Changes Its Rules To Isolate China and Russia, and how jockeying among the big power players is becoming more visible and higher stakes.

Randy Wray: The Value of Redemption (Debt Free Money, Part 3)

Repeat after me: creation comes before redemption. Always!

Links 2/16/16

Will German Sovereign Debt “Bail In” Scheme Destroy the Eurozone?

Germany is keen on implementing a sovereign bail-in plan that is certain to precipitate a crisis, but more likely a banking crisis than a breakup.

Cyber Security and the Financial System – What Do Governments Want from the Banks?

Governments are combining aggressive, ambitious talk with a curious helplessness in warning banks they really should be Doing Something about terrorist risk.