Author Archives: Yves Smith
China Economic Paradigm Nearing End Game
GMO, in a compelling analysis, not only confirms the skeptics’ case but provides reasons why the Chinese growth model faces an end game. While it may not be nigh, it seems to be closer than most people think.
Read more...The Persistent Power of Finance, Um, JP Morgan
By C.P. Chandrasekhar, Professor of Economics, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Cross posted from Triple Crisis
In a move that went contrary to what is expected of regulators, the Securities and Exchange Commission of the US approved in mid-December a controversial JP Morgan-created exchange-traded fund (ETF) backed by physical supplies of copper.
Read more...Bank of America Foreclosure Reviews: Whistleblowers Reveal Extensive Borrower Harm and Orchestrated Coverup (Part II)
In the executive summary to this series, we provided an overview of OCC/Federal Reserve foreclosure reviews which were abruptly settled at the beginning of January. Critics anticipated that the flawed design, of having supposedly “independent” review firms hired by the banks themselves, meant the reviews were highly unlikely to find much if any damage to homeowners. Leaks during the course of the reviews confirmed these concerns, revealing that the review process at many of the major servicers was chaotic and the reviews were designed and scored so as to make a finding of harm virtually impossible.
As bad as that sounds, the reality is even worse.
Read more...Bank of America Foreclosure Reviews: Whistleblowers Reveal Extensive Borrower Harm and Orchestrated Coverup (Part I – Executive Summary)
After extensive debriefing of Bank of America whistleblowers, we found overwhelming evidence that the bank engaged in certain abuses frequently, in some cases pervasively, in its servicing of delinquent mortgages. This is the first in a series of posts discussing our findings and providing support for these charges.
Read more...Links 1/21/13
Philip Pilkington: The Degenerating Discourse of Mainstream Economics
By Philip Pilkington, a writer and research assistant at Kingston University in London. You can follow him on Twitter @pilkingtonphil
The blogoshpere includes quite a few mainstream academic economic blogs. Most of the “debate” on these blogs, together with that in the mainstream academic departments that they mirror, focuses issues of aggregation; issues that have become central to the research paradigm of mainstream economics, which has been falling to ever new lows since the 1970s Rational Expectations “Revolution”.
Read more...Links 1/20/13
Reader Critical Thinking Test! How Many Things Can You Find Wrong with Adam Davidson’s Latest Article?
As much as I thoroughly enjoy shredding Adam Davidson’s Sunday columns in the New York Times, why should I have all the fun?
Read more...Mirabile Dictu! Obama Likely to Nominate Mary Jo White to Head SEC
Obama’s likely nomination of Mary Jo White to head the SEC is such a departure from his normal picks that it is enough to make me believe in the claims that he plays 11 dimensional chess. There must be more here than meets the eye.
Read more...Links 1/19/13
All Good Democrats Applaud Republicans Rearranging Battle Lines in Austerity Phony War
As we anticipated, the Republicans have climbed down on making the debt ceiling the key battle line in their plan to impose spending cuts. Good Democrats applauded that move as a sign that Obama had displayed toughness and prevailed.
It’s not quite that simple.
Read more...What are the German Bankers Thinking?
Some readers would probably come up with less polite versions of the question above, but regardless of how one states it, policy in the Eurozone is very much driven by both the needs and the wants of German banks.
Read more...Links 1/18/13
New Ruling on Mortgage Putbacks a Potential Huge Win for Banks
Even though, for most people, the housing crisis is a thing of the past, the fight over who should bear the cost of sloppy and openly fraudulent mortgage origination and securities sales continues to grind through the courts.
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