Category Archives: Credit markets

Housing Market Takes Another Body Blow with Sharp Interest Rate Rise

A short update on the housing market.

Suddenly Here Comes the Inventory: Homes Listed for Sale Jump Amid Price Reductions and Sagging Sales

In most US markets, there are more homes waiting to be sold than last year, How long will it take for overhang to lead to lower prices?

‘Public Bank’ Bill Blocked From State Senate Vote After Industry Pushback

Why is a modest public bank plan for New York going nowhere?

What Blew Our Financial Bubble So Big?

Why it’s more fun and profitable to be in the bubble economy than the real one.

Sri Lanka Economic Crisis Inflicted by Self-Serving Elite

How the Sri Lanka debt crisis was decades in the making.

China’s Overseas Lending and the War in Ukraine

Why lending to emerging economies may be collateral damage of the war in Ukraine.

The IMF Connection with the Ukraine Crisis

You can’t quite say the IMF is the root of all evil. But it sure made a lot of bad situations worse.

War or Peace, Barbarism or Hope: War Threatens World with Stagflation

A short hisory of stagflation and why it’s a pressing risk now.

Stagflation Threat: Be Pragmatic, Not Dogmatic

More discussion of the current, misguided central bank use of interest rates to combat inflation, and what will probably become stagflation.

Is China Socialist or State Capitalist? – Michael Hudson and Patrick Bond

Michael Hudson and Patrick Bond: Will China resist financialization and lead the way on climate policy, or is it practicing capitalism lite?

Reader Apologies re Highlighting Out of Date Scott Ritter Video; Wall Street Buys Russian Bonds, MbS Snubs US Investments, Biden Tries to Arm-Twist India, and Putin Can Still Blow the Peace

Some updates on Ukraine, including having gotten caught in the fog of misinformation.

Fog of Financial Sanctions: Visa and Mastercard Shutdown in Russia Whacks Consumers

Russia is scrambling to deal with being shut off Visa and Mastercard.

A Very Preliminary Look at the Partial Suspension of Russia’s Access to SWIFT

News on the partial SWIFT cutoff for Russia was fuzzy. Despite being included, its central bank intervened in FX markets this AM. What gives?

The Private Equity Industry in the New Interest Rate Environment

Private equity has been a big winner thanks to a long-term trend of falling interest rates. What happens in a less favorable environment?

Financialization at Heart of Economic Malaise

Sadly, finacialization is still very much with us, even though policy-makers know better by now.