The recent controversies about the private conduct of Prime Minister Berlusconi did not highlight one crucial issue at stake: the economic costs of the scandals. The Premier’s personal affairs are likely to result in considerable public outlays. First, there are the direct costs of the “entertainments”, by now public knowledge: fees for escort “services”, air-transportation … Read more
In the last few months the world economy has been saved from a near depression. That feat has been achieved by a range of extraordinary government stimulus measures: In the U.S. and in China, and to a lesser extent in Europe, Japan and other countries, governments have pumped liquidity, slashed policy rates, cut taxes, primed … Read more
I was intrigued by the early announcements of Alan Beattie’s book ‘False Economy: A Surprising Economic History of the World.’ So I read with interest his shorter piece summarizing the opening chapter of the book that presents his interpretation of the history of USA and Argentina (“Argentina: The superpower that never was” May 23 2009, … Read more
OK, our title is false advertising. The Bureau of Labor Statistics crew is not allowed to surf the Net making comments on blogs, nor do they have a blog of their own. It might be a good idea, but it is an unlikely move given budget constraints.This is too bad, since there is near-universal criticism … Read more
After a recent failed public debt auction, the authorities in Latvia are desperately trying to prevent a depreciation of the currency, the lat. The country’s predicament is similar to the one that faced Argentina in 2000-01: a severe recession driven by global financial shocks, a sudden drying up of capital inflows and the need to … Read more
On Sunday night I had dinner with World Bank economist Branko Milanovic, one of the leading experts in income inequality. Branko authored a book in 2005 called “Worlds Apart”. It is after Branko’s inspiring book that this article is entitled. Branko’s book describes the immense income gap between Hemispheres. This article describes the immense opinion … Read more
From The New York Review of Books: By Bill Bradley, Niall Ferguson, Paul Krugman, Nouriel Roubini, George Soros, Robin Wells et al. Following are excerpts from a symposium on the economic crisis presented by The New York Review of Books and PEN World Voices at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on April 30. The participants … Read more
From The New York Times: THE 19th century was dominated by the British Empire, the 20th century by the United States. We may now be entering the Asian century, dominated by a rising China and its currency. While the dollar’s status as the major reserve currency will not vanish overnight, we can no longer take … Read more
Aggressive and innovative monetary and financial sector policy actions in developed economies have pulled the global financial system back from the brink of an abyss. But impaired assets are not yet properly valued and neutralized. And new negative feedback loops may be forming between the financial and real sectors. In any case, even after banking … Read more
By now everyone knows about this past year’s Wall Street bonuses: $18.4 billion total, the fifth-highest total ever; the $4 billion in bonuses rushed through by Merrill Lynch before its acquisition by Bank of America; and John Thain’s demand for a personal $10 million bonus (which was initially a demand for $30-40 million, according to … Read more