Archive for November, 2008
The German Question
An interesting take on a conundrum all-too-rarely faced in discussions of the crisis: how to revive demand without pumping up the kind of credit excess that will almost certainly lead to another crisis. Bertrand Benoit, the Berlin correspondent for the Financial Times, writes that this issue has turned into a big point of contention between ...Read more.
The Other Crisis: More Bad News
From The Independent. Main point: “Their findings–which contradict a widespread belief that the atmosphere would recover quickly once humanity stopped polluting it…”Greenhouse gases will heat up planet ‘for ever’ New study shows the effects of CO2 pollution will be felt for hundreds of thousands of years By Geoffrey Lean, Environment EditorSunday, 30 November 2008 Global ...Read more.
Commercial Loans: Another Soft Spot?
Note the threat to JP Morgan Chase. By Henny Sender, in FT Weekend (via The Penninsula): Economy bears brunt of the biggest banks’ miscalculationsWeb posted at: 11/29/2008 1:14:57FINANCIAL TIMES By Henny Sender Economic forecasts are being revised down with each new data point. On Wednesday, durable goods orders became the latest harbinger of gloom–down more ...Read more.
Hedge Funds: All You Need To Know
A fine basic history and survey of hedge funds, including a disturbing concluding outlook. From Donald MacKenzie in the London Review of Books: LRB4 December 2008 An Address in MayfairDonald MacKenzie on Hedge Funds You could walk around Mayfair all day and not notice them. Hedge funds don’t–can’t –advertise. The most you’ll see is a ...Read more.
Michael Perleman's Thanksgiving Rant
Cute piece, especially for a rant. From his Unsettling Economics siteMatter and Antimatter: How to Create a Crisis: A Thanksgiving RantPosted November 27, 2008Filed under: economics Skilled physicists do not know how to take nothing and turn it into matter and antimatter, but finance behaves as if it had the capacity to do something similar. ...Read more.
Interesting Piece on Mobility
From the December issue of Britain’s Prospect magazine. A pretty good, easy-to-read treatment of some of the complications of measuring mobility over long periods involving much political, economic and demographic change.More mobile than we think December 2008 | 153 Essays Britain has more upward social mobility than is often assumed–on some measures more than Germany. ...Read more.
More on the Fed's Balance Sheet
From Credit Writedowns via Yves Smith at Naked Capitalism: If the Fed were a commercial bank, it might be declared insolvent Recently, I have written quite a few posts highlighting the U.S. Federal Reserve’s ballooning balance sheet. It has increased purchases of assets at an unprecedented clip. In fact, that balance sheet had $900 billion ...Read more.
He's Making a List, and Checking It Twice
Not Santa (yet), but New Labour’s loathsome Peter (now Lord) Mandelson. The idea of Lord M. being turned into some sort of industrial Dr. Mengele is not a salubrious thought. He’s also saying some pretty stupid things, like “Internationally people say to me your prime minister has been transformed. His standing has soared. People really ...Read more.
Weaponizing Credit Default Swaps
Another lovely investment strategy for tough times. From Friday’s Financial Times: Speculators are being armed by banks to hurt Main St By Mark SunshinePublished: November 28 2008 02:00 | Last updated: November 28 2008 02:00 Warren Buffett called credit default swaps “financial weapons of mass destruction” and they are about to annihilate Main Street. In ...Read more.
Bank of America Next?
Found this Reuters link on LBO Talk: After Citi, is Bank of America next? Mon Nov 24, 2008 6:52pm ESTBy Elinor Comlay NEW YORK (Reuters) A government rescue plan has eased investors’ concerns about Citigroup Inc, but mines lurking in the balance sheets of rivals including Bank of America Corp could still tempt short-sellers. Bank ...Read more.
