Category Archives: Credit markets

The Rich Under Stress as Asset Prices Wobble

Some of the rich are feeling the pinch. Is this a passing phenomenon or a sign of things to come?

Non-Financial Private Debt Overhang: Post War German Debt Reforms as a Model for a Modern Debt Jubilee?

Private debt levels are even higher than in 2008 but super low interest rates make that look less worrisome than it arguably should be. T. Sabri Öncü ponders how to go about large scale debt relief.

Roiled Repo Markets: Looking for Answers in All the Wrong Places

If you are worried about repo, you are worried about the wrong thing. If anything, it’s a symptom of too much liquidity demand from the FX swaps market.

Wall Street Has Been Gambling With Student Loan Debt For Decades

As the student debt crisis continues to mount, major financial institutions are making record profits from student loan asset backed securities.

How Europe’s Greedy Lending to Africa Is Driving the Migration Wave That Fuels the EU’s Xenophobic Politics

How Europe is creating the conditions in Africa that lead to migration….and the underlying stresses are set to get worse.

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.

Long Term Real Interest Rates Fell Below Zero in all Euro Area Countries

Is praise of negative real interest rates in Europe making a virtue out of (mis)perceived necessity?

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.

Trump’s Fannie/Freddie Privatization Giveaway: Why GSE Reform Is Hard

GSE reform is baack! Or not.

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.

Even Larry Summers Denounces World Bank’s “PEF” Ebola Bonds That Enriched Investors at Expense of the Sick in the Congo

The World Bank wants to double down on financial gimmickry rather than develop the public health infrastructure to combat pandemics.

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.

Bleak Financial Outlook for US Fracking Industry

The poor economics of fracking may finally be coming home to roost.