Category Archives: The Global Economy

Bad Meat

MAD MEAT! How Securitized Lending Collapsed the Financial System, Eric Von Berg (a commercial property mortgage banker and was the President of the California Mortgage Bankers Association during the heat of the market who has been watching “Regulatory Reform” as … Continue reading

Posted in Secularized Lending, The End of American Capitalism As We Know It? - Discuss, The Financial Elite, The Geithner Resignation Watch, The Global Economy, The Habits of Hedge Funds, The Importance of Strategic Planning, The Inherent Disorder of Empires, The Intrusion of UNLAWFUL Authority, The Joy of Being A Bank, The Judeo-Christian Political Coalition, The New American Socialism, The Sorry State Of American Manufacturing, The Suffering Poor, The Summers Exit Watch, The excellent adventures of Ben Bernanke, Time For A New Third Party | Leave a comment

Greenspan helps create the problem and then explains it?

Washington’s Blog Greenspan’s big defense is that the financial crisis was caused by a “once-in-a-century” event. Forget about the fact that the “once-in-a-century event” couldn’t have happened if Greenspan’s Fed hadn’t: Turned its cheek and allowed massive fraud Acted as … Continue reading

Posted in Greenspan is kind of stupid, History of Finance, IT'S ALL ABOUT POWER AND MONEY, It Is Nice To Be Part of the Elite!, Jacksonian Democracy, Monetary Policy - Discussion, Moral Hazard, Obama Bingo, Our phony middle class, Patience is a virtue...Delusion is a vice, Politicians, Ron Paul Stands Tall, TARP fruit loops, The Arrogance of Power, The Bear Facts, The Consequences of Greed, The Global Economy, The Importance of Strategic Planning, The Intrusion of UNLAWFUL Authority, The excellent adventures of Ben Bernanke | Leave a comment

ECONed: Sic Transit Gloria Americanus

Richard Smith, a London-based capital markets information technology manager, was kind enough to provide an advance copy of his review for the book ECONned: How Unenlightened Self Interest Undermined Democracy and Corrupted Capitalism by Yves Smith, the author of the … Continue reading

Posted in A Saturday Break, A State of Distress, Analysis & Commentary, Bilderbergers 1 USA 0, Book Reviews, Patience is a virtue...Delusion is a vice, The Consequences of Greed, The End of American Capitalism As We Know It? - Discuss, The Financial Elite, The Geithner Resignation Watch, The Global Economy, The Inherent Disorder of Empires, The Intrusion of UNLAWFUL Authority, The Suffering Poor, The excellent adventures of Ben Bernanke, Unindicted Co-Conspiritors, We Are All Cooked, We Are All Guilty, We Have Become Beggars To The World, What Is An Investment Asset?, Who Guarantees the Guarantor?-You Do!, Who owns Congress-Still!, “the Greenspan doctrine” | Leave a comment

Sic transit America?

Flagging: a US sailor stands on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington If a week is a long time in politics, a decade is starting to look like an age in geopolitics. Comparing the America that … Continue reading

Posted in A Growing List Of One Term Presidents, A State of Distress, A Time To Repent, AIG and all that....., Back to the basics, Collateral Damage, Coming Social Unrest, Commercial Real Estate Bust, Consumption Ran the Old Economy, Coup d'etat in America, Death of the Dollar, Deflation-Inflation-Stagflation, Devaluation, Dismal Science-Ignorant Scientists?, Even the Terminator Can't Help California, Federal Reserve-Discussion, Figures don't lie but Liars can figure, IT'S ALL ABOUT POWER AND MONEY, Integrity and Responsibility, Is The Market Rally Real?, It Is Nice To Be Part of the Elite!, It starts with a foundation, Monetary Policy - Discussion, Our phony middle class, Patience is a virtue...Delusion is a vice, Political Chaos, Politicians, Prostitutes and Pimps All Rhyme, Small Business-Bedrock of America, Sub-Prime anytime, TARP fruit loops, The Arrogance of Power, The Consequences of Greed, The Democrats Blew It Again, The End of American Capitalism As We Know It? - Discuss, The Financial Elite, The Global Economy, The Habits of Hedge Funds, The Importance of Strategic Planning, The Inherent Disorder of Empires, The Intrusion of UNLAWFUL Authority, The Judeo-Christian Political Coalition, The New American Socialism, The Sorry State Of American Manufacturing, The excellent adventures of Ben Bernanke, Time For A New Third Party, Truth In Charity, US Trade Imbalance, USA Is the New Japan, Unemployment Catastrophe, We Are All Cooked, We Are All Guilty, We Have Become Beggars To The World, “the Greenspan doctrine” | Leave a comment

Bernanke Versus the Austrians

My essay in today’s American Spectator Online looks at why Ben Bernanke should not be confirmed to a second term as Chairman of the Federal Reserve: Two planks in Bernanke’s recovery strategy: Expand the money supply like a banana republic … Continue reading

Posted in The Arrogance of Power, The Austrian School of Economics, The Consequences of Greed, The Economics of Schumpeter, The End of American Capitalism As We Know It? - Discuss, The Global Economy, The Importance of Strategic Planning, The Inherent Disorder of Empires, The Intrusion of UNLAWFUL Authority, The New American Socialism, The excellent adventures of Ben Bernanke | Leave a comment

The growing debt bomb – Facing a one- to three-year countdown

By Richard W. Rahn Assume you had put much of your savings into U.S. government bonds and then you learned the following. In just the last eight months, the Congressional Budget Office estimates of the amount of additional federal debt … Continue reading

Posted in The China Dilemma, The Global Economy, The Importance of Strategic Planning, The Inherent Disorder of Empires, The Intrusion of UNLAWFUL Authority, Time For A New Third Party, Wage Deflation, Watch The China Market, We Are All Cooked, We Are All Guilty, We Have Become Beggars To The World, Who Guarantees the Guarantor?-You Do! | Leave a comment

Economic recovery in Europe?

On the Peterson Institute for International Economics Monitor, Michael Mussa sits down with Steve Weisman and says that while Asia surges economically, the recession appears to be bottoming out in Europe as well as the United States, but it is … Continue reading

Posted in Analysis & Commentary, IMF Issues - Discussion, The Global Economy | Leave a comment

AUF WIEDERSEHEN RECESSION

Economic Freefall Ends in Germany and France Germany and France, Europe’s two largest economies, on Thursday revealed they are officially no longer in recession. Signs of economic green shoots bolstered the euro — and surprised both policymakers and economists. The … Continue reading

Posted in Global Trade, The Global Economy | Leave a comment

HARBINGER OF CHANGE?

Export Jump Brings Hope for End of Crisis German’s Federal Statistics Office released export figures for June on Friday, and they have a lot of people smiling. Exports grew to 68.5 billion euros, a 7 percent rise over May’s figure. … Continue reading

Posted in The Global Economy | Leave a comment

Spain: Bleak forecast puts unemployment at 22% in 2010

In Spain: Bleak forecast puts unemployment at 22% in 2010, Edward Harrison relates that the recovery in Spain will be later than elsewhere in Europe because of the extent of deleveraging, and unemployment will continue to rise.

Posted in Coming Social Unrest, Global Trade, Political Chaos, The Global Economy, Unemployment Catastrophe | Leave a comment

Protectionism Never Works In A global Economy

Gary Clyde Hufbauer and Jeffrey J. Schott provide detailed analysis in a policy brief on the Buy American provisions of the economic stimulus plan. They look into the three main issues that arise from the provisions in each bill: U.S. … Continue reading

Posted in The Global Economy | Leave a comment

Latin American Outlook

Bertrand Delgado and Italo Lombardi analyze economic events in Latin America for the weeks between July 20th and the 31st and their impact on macroeconomic conditions moving forward. They focus on monetary policy, inflation, economic activity, labor dynamics, trade accounts, … Continue reading

Posted in A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words, The Global Economy | Leave a comment

Sic Transit Gloria America

As U.S. deficits increased, global investors edged away from the dollar into the German mark, the Japanese yen, the Swiss franc, the Euro, and more recently baskets of Asian currencies. Which brings us to today. Only goodwill (defined both as … Continue reading

Posted in A Growing List Of One Term Presidents, China and the Treasuries - A Dependency Relationship, Death of the Dollar, Dollar Musings, Even the Terminator Can't Help California, Global Trade, Insolvency, Our phony middle class, The China Dilemma, The Democrats Blew It Again, The End of American Capitalism As We Know It? - Discuss, The Global Economy, The Importance of Strategic Planning, The Sorry State Of American Manufacturing, US Trade Imbalance, Watch The China Market, We Are All Cooked, We Have Become Beggars To The World | Leave a comment

The Peking-Washington connection: is it real?

Is there a clandestine understanding between the world’s two most powerful central banks, the Federal Reserve and the People’s Bank of China? Naturally, no one can talk about it, let alone confirm or deny anything. But it’s not too difficult … Continue reading

Posted in A Growing List Of One Term Presidents, China and the Treasuries - A Dependency Relationship, Global Trade, Obama's Hypocrisy, The Geithner Resignation Watch, The Global Economy, The excellent adventures of Ben Bernanke, US Trade Imbalance, Unindicted Co-Conspiritors, We Have Become Beggars To The World | Leave a comment

Obama’s Economic Box

Despite the administration’s aggressive and costly economic policy initiatives, there is trouble all around. Barely six months in office, President Obama already finds himself in an economic box. For despite his aggressive and costly economic policy initiatives, the jobs market … Continue reading

Posted in A Growing List Of One Term Presidents, A State of Distress, Coming Social Unrest, Death of the Dollar, Deflation-Inflation-Stagflation, Deleveraging, IMF Issues - Discussion, Let's Call What It Is - DEPRESSION, Obama's Hypocrisy, Our phony middle class, Patience is a virtue...Delusion is a vice, Political Chaos, The End of American Capitalism As We Know It? - Discuss, The Global Economy, The Importance of Strategic Planning, The excellent adventures of Ben Bernanke, Truth In Charity, Unemployment Catastrophe, Unindicted Co-Conspiritors, We Have Become Beggars To The World, Who Guarantees the Guarantor?-You Do! | Leave a comment

What Depression?

Our current economic crisis has revived economic and political discussions about the Great Depression. One reader wrote to me that Google citations for both the “Great Depression” and the “New Deal” have increased by several million since just last year. … Continue reading

Posted in Let's Call What It Is - DEPRESSION, The Global Economy | Leave a comment

We’ve Wiped Out All The New Jobs Of The 21st Century

What’s the best way to express just how bad the job market is? You could look at the soaring unemployment rate, or perhaps the ever-shortening work week. How about this: Total nonfarm payrolls, notes economist James Hamilton, are now back … Continue reading

Posted in A Growing List Of One Term Presidents, A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words, A State of Distress, Back to the basics, Coming Social Unrest, Deflation-Inflation-Stagflation, Our phony middle class, PANDEMIC, Patience is a virtue...Delusion is a vice, The End of American Capitalism As We Know It? - Discuss, The Global Economy, The Importance of Strategic Planning, The New American Socialism | Leave a comment

‘Buy China’ Pesticide Withers Those Green Shoots

uly 3 (Bloomberg) — So you think China’s 6 percent growth will power a global recovery. Think again. Economists, for example, can’t put a gloss on how ugly Japan’s data are getting. Exports and output are plunging, unemployment is at … Continue reading

Posted in Global Trade, Green But Good, The Global Economy, Watch The China Market | Leave a comment

The Dollar’s New Best Friend

Last Tuesday, Brazil, Russia, India, and China–the so-called BRIC nations–met in Yekaterinburg, Russia, for what was supposed to be an anti-American gabfest. The main agenda item for the first formal meeting of the four largest developing economies was the future … Continue reading

Posted in China and the Treasuries - A Dependency Relationship, Our phony middle class, The Global Economy, The Importance of Strategic Planning, The New American Socialism, The Sorry State Of American Manufacturing, US Trade Imbalance, We Have Become Beggars To The World | Leave a comment

The basic story of China’s foreign portfolio is simple…..

Keith Bradsher’s New York Times story on the recent evolution of China’s foreign portfolio gets — at least in my view — the story right. Of course, that may be because I was — rather obviously — a source for … Continue reading

Posted in China and the Treasuries - A Dependency Relationship, Global Trade, The Global Economy, US Trade Imbalance, We Have Become Beggars To The World | Leave a comment

It’s Official: Worst Recession in Five Decades

This recession is now the worst since at least 1958, which is as far back as the index of coincident indicators stretches back. The Conference Board reported today that the index, which is intended to measure how the economy is … Continue reading

Posted in Back to the basics, Coming Social Unrest, Coup d'etat in America, History of Finance, Insolvency, Integrity and Responsibility, Let's Call What It Is - DEPRESSION, Negative Cash Flow, Political Chaos, The End of American Capitalism As We Know It? - Discuss, The Financial Elite, The Geithner Resignation Watch, The Global Economy, The New American Socialism, The excellent adventures of Ben Bernanke, Those Quarky Accounting Rules, US Trade Imbalance, Unemployment Catastrophe, Wage Deflation, We Have Become Beggars To The World, Who Guarantees the Guarantor?-You Do! | Leave a comment

‘People Are Losing Their Faith in the State’

A total of 1 million people get help every day from Germany’s “Deutsche Tafel” food banks — and that number is set to increase because of the recession. The organization’s head, Gerd Häuser, talks to SPIEGEL ONLINE about Germany’s new … Continue reading

Posted in Coming Social Unrest, Political Chaos, The Global Economy, Unemployment Catastrophe | Leave a comment

Global Crisis ‘Vastly Worse’ Than 1930s, Taleb Says

From Bloomberg: May 7 (Bloomberg) — The current global crisis is “vastly worse” than the 1930s because financial systems and economies worldwide have become more interdependent, “Black Swan” author Nassim Nicholas Taleb said. “This is the most difficult period of … Continue reading

Posted in Let's Call What It Is - DEPRESSION, Political Chaos, TARP fruit loops, The End of American Capitalism As We Know It? - Discuss, The Financial Elite, The Global Economy, The Importance of Strategic Planning | Leave a comment

Why this will not be a normal cyclical recovery

AT THE FINANCIAL TIMES:     http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3d89a930-220d-11de-8380-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1 The rare nature of this recession precludes a cyclically normal US recovery. Instead, we are consigned to a slow, painful climb-out, as are nations such as Japan and Mexico that depend on US demand. The … Continue reading

Posted in Analysis & Commentary, The End of American Capitalism As We Know It? - Discuss, The Geithner Resignation Watch, The Global Economy | Leave a comment

Barack Obama: end of the beginning

The United States treasury’s plan to deal with “toxic assets” relies on the very financial institutions that created the economic whirlwind. The young presidency is already in a vice, says Godfrey Hodgson. President Barack Obama joked in his press conference … Continue reading

Posted in Analysis & Commentary, Political Chaos, The End of American Capitalism As We Know It? - Discuss, The Geithner Resignation Watch, The Global Economy | Leave a comment