How many times have we heard the warning that if the government in Washington doesn’t change its ways, the United States could become another Greece? Three years ago, when the crisis in Greece was just getting underway, I wrote a post making some comparisons between Greek and U.S. fiscal performance, along with a separate slideshow … Read more
A reader was not “happy” that I used the word “heathen” for Jews and Christians in my latest Hurriyet Daily News (HDN) column, which was also posted here. Here’s his/her email to the newspaper editor, with me conveniently in the cc: How could you seriously let Emre Deliveli’s article “Seder’s Four Passover questions” go to … Read more
Some readers have encouraged me to provide an MMT perspective on Cyprus. First a caveat: I have no special expertise on that country. However, as all of you know, MMTers have been warning about the fate of Euroland for almost two decades. As you watch one after another of those dominoes fall, you cannot help … Read more
Yep, at least according to the Central Bank of Turkey: Jeremy Irons’ character in the movie Margin Call, the CEO of an investment bank, reveals at one point why he “earns the big bucks”: “I’m here for one reason and one reason alone. I’m here to guess what the music might do a week, a … Read more
The latest data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis confirm that the U.S. economy barely grew in Q4 2012. However, despite the weak economy, corporate profits as a share of GDP hit their second highest level ever.Based on the latest data, the BEA revised Q4 real GDP growth upward from an annual rate of 0.1 … Read more
The Central Bank of Turkey managed to surprise again by cutting its overnight lending rate, the ceiling of the interest rare corridor, a full one percentage point and not hiking reserve requirement ratios (RRRs). Of the 16economists surveyed by business channel CNBC-e, only 3 were expecting a cut, and all only 25bp. Similarly, only 2 … Read more
In an excellent piece, Lawyer Roy Oppenheim warns that the Florida Legislature is moving to legalize bank theft of homes. See his piece here. As I’ve been writing for years, foreclosure is theft in most cases. You see, in their hurry to package mortgages into securities, the banksters virtually never followed the law. I won’t … Read more
Ireland, Iceland, now Cyprus—the story of small countries with oversized banking systems is all too familiar. There is never a shortage of commentary when a crisis erupts, but much of it assumes a working knowledge of financial terms and concepts. General readers are left wondering—What is a haircut? What is the difference between a bailout … Read more
Whew! Cyprus parliament began the week rejecting the tax on depositors. It has been scrambling to find an alternative source of funds. As a percentage of GDP, the 10 bln euro EU package that has been offered to Cyprus is larger than the initial package for Greece, Ireland and Portugal. Still 5.8 bln euros that … Read more
It’s official. The nation’s top cop, Attorney General Eric Holder, has clearly articulated the administration’s policy on crime at the biggest banks: it will not be prosecuted. Indeed, as we’ve long expected, the criminals in top management will not be investigated, they will not be indicted, they will not be prosecuted, and they will not … Read more