Gernot Wagner’s But Will the Planet Notice? is the book I would like to get my neighbors to read. The ones who use canvas shopping bags, take short showers, recycle, and think that is enough. The ones who think “environmental economics” is an oxymoron. The ones who think concepts like markets, incentives, and property are … Read more
In the runup to the crisis, it was striking to read the undertone of worry in quite a few of the articles in the Financial Times, and I don’t mean only Gillian Tett’s fixation on collateralized debt obligations. It was palpable that a lot of writers were uncomfortable with how frothy the markets were, yet … Read more
Ever notice nothing is ever said in the mainstream media about Argentina’s economy, save that it had a big default? You’d never know the following about Argentina: From 2002 onward, Argentina has grown nearly twice as fast as Brazil, and has sported one of the highest growth rates in the world. Its success is not … Read more
German industry is plugging away. Ending in August, the 3-month average of the seasonally- and calendar-day adjusted volume of industrial production (excluding construction) maintained a quick 8.3% annualized pace. Even if this core measure of industrial activity falls another 1% in September, the Q3 quarterly annualized pace would be 10.5% – a robust acceleration from Q2 (6.3%). … Read more
Over the past 2 years, I have warned repeatedly about the dangers to American property rights caused by massive bank fraud, A deadly combination of MERS, robo-signing, and illegal shortcuts have created a horrific situation. A bedrock of our society — the ability for the owner of a piece of real estate to confidently convey … Read more
Yes, yes I will come to yesterday’s Central Bank of Turkey direct intervention, but I have a few things to say on the tax hikes and the Medium-Term Program, or MTP, as sort of a complement to Monday’s Hurriyet Daily News column, which was also posted here at the blog. Let’s start with the tax … Read more
Below is a link to a video from today’s talk about earnings at Goldman and Bank of America. Before you watch the video, let me say a few words about Fed policy and net interest margins plus a bit on Goldman and BofA. Last November, in anticipation of QE2, I wrote a post called “How … Read more
The other day, we looked at percentage of debt by US President. Today, we are looking at debt by nation: Source: Pressure Is Rising in the Search for a Euro Solution Spiegel Online, October 14, 2011 This post originally appeared at The Big Picture and is reproduced with permission. Also Read: The Russian Economic Crisis: … Read more
This segment of yesterday’s Dylan Ratigan show features William K. Black and David DeGraw of AmpedStatus.com. Black argues that we need, “fire Geithner, fire Holder, and demand Bernanke’s resignation, and … replace them with people who will actually enforce the laws for the 99[%].” This meets with David DeGraw’s approval, who then enlists our favorite … Read more
The following piece of analysis was summarized in a recent OpEd on Project Syndicate. This year has been characterized by social and political turmoil and instability throughout the world, with masses of people in the real and virtual streets protesting: The Arab uprising and revolts; the recent riots in England as well as the earlier … Read more