Category Archives: Credit markets

Payday Lenders Offering Installment Loans to Evade Regulations – But They May Be Even Worse

When is a payday loan still pretty much a payday loan? When it’s an installment loan with annual interest rates over 100%.

Misunderstanding Volcker

A reappraisal of Volcker, who was more hostile to workers and less hard on financiers than the press would have you believe.

Why the UK Needs a Financial Transaction Tax

Claims that a financial transaction tax would be difficult to implement and raise little revenue are fake news.

What’s Behind the Subprime Consumer Loan Implosion?

Subprime loan repayment continues to deteriorate. What is going on?

Repo Madness: Fed Plumbing Gone Awry

How the Fed’s fingerprints are all over the repo mess.

Wolf Richter: The Fed Slaps Down Negative Interest Rates

The first major discussion of negative interest rates recounted in the FOMC minutes show serious disapproval.

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.