Category Archives: Banking industry

Facebook’s Libra Faceplant: Beware of CEO Bright Ideas

Libra is going nowhere fast.

The People’s Money (Part 1)

An explanation of the Federal Reserve money system.

The IMF Convenes in Washington, Deaf to the Suffering It Causes Across the Planet

A brief reminder of the IMF record of failure and harm.

Bad Debts Make Good Profits – But What Are the Social Costs?

As European borrowers choke on debts they can’t repay, due to a significant degree to austerity-induced weak economies, financial profiteers swoop in to take advantage of the distress.

Mark Carney’s Trojan Unicorn — Are Central Banks Considering Stealth Nationalization in Sovereign Digital Currencies?

Mark Carney talks about digital soverign currencies. But is he really describing nationalization? And if so, whither the commercial banks?

The End of Super Imperialism?

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney’s proposal to invent to replace the US dollar as the key reserve currency with a “synthetic hegemonic currency.”

Interest Rate Derivatives Trading Explodes to $6.5 Trillion/Day

Interest rate derivatives trading spikes over last 3 years; the UK currently dominates. Will this continue post-Brexit?

The Financial Times’ Martin Wolf Discovers that Rentier Capitalism and Financialization Increase Inequality and Hurt Growth

Martin Wolf has a big think about what is wrong in and discovers rentier activity.

The Two Sides of Government Guarantees for Banks

Not all guarantees are created equal, and what that means for banks.

Marshall Auerback: We Are Clearly Living in a Bizarro Capitalism Era—And It’s Time to Change How the World Manages Economies

Central banks don’t have the tools to address our problems. It will take well-constructed fiscal policy to set right our topsy-turvy economy.

How Richard Vague Discovered Gravity: An Interview + Book Review of A Brief History of Doom: Two Hundred Years of Financial Crises

Richard Vague extends his work on the dangers of private debt via his new book, A Brief History of Doom, on the role of debt in financial crises.

Bretton Woods Institutions: Enforcers, Not Saviours?

The two Bretton Woods institutions the have huge credibility deficits due to the policy conditionalities and advice they have dispensed to developing countries in recent decades.

Michael Hudson: Why Frances Coppola’s “The Case for the People’s Quantitative Easing” Is for Banks, Not the People

A dubious proposal to continue over-reliance on monetary policy, this time with a quantitative easing scheme, instead of fiscal spending.

Signs of Recession Are Hitting Europe—And Its New Central Bank President May Not Be Up for the Challenge

Europe, or more specifically the Eurozone, has a deficient bank regulatory framework which may be tested by economic weakness and wobbly banks. Having Christine Lagarde at the ECB’s helm is not likely to be a plus.