Sound Banking
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Why No Tea Parties in Europe?
“I’ve been doing a little reading this morning about the Greek crisis and related problems in Europe. One take, and it makes sense to me, is that many European countries have such low fertility rates that even with some degree of immigration, they simply will not have the future population levels necessary to pay for…
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Regulating the Financial Industry
Wednesday’s Washington Post featured a column by Steven Pearlstein that sums up the ongoing debate over the regulation of the financial industry, or at least it attempts to do so. As we all know, the collapse of the financial industry played a major role in what has now become a worldwide recession. The obvious response…
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Put Housing GSEs in the Budget and then Privatize
“The two large housing government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, have been in government receivership since September 2008. The U.S. Treasury has given the housing GSEs $112 billion in cash infusions, and this past Christmas Eve it quietly announced it would cover all of Fannie and Freddie’s losses beyond the original $400 billion limit…
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“Four Biggest Greek Banks Downgraded”
“Fitch Ratings, citing concerns about Greek banks’ funding costs and profitability, downgraded the country’s four major banks to triple-B, or two notches above “junk” status. Fitch characterized its outlook for Greek banks as ‘negative’… The cost of funding for the four banks in question—National Bank of Greece, Alpha Bank, Efg Eurobank Ergasias and Piraeus Bank—has…
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“The United States: Debtor and Leader?”
“China sees a clear link between America’s ability to stand up for human rights and its economic interests—and Beijing isn’t afraid to exploit it. Mr. Weiqun was bluntly reminding the U.S. to take a close look at its balance sheet before indulging in any displays of moral support for an exiled Buddhist monk deemed a…
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“Stimulus Measures May Lead to Another Crisis”
“Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor D Subbarao expressed is fears that the stimulus packages rolled out by central banks and governments to resolve the global financial meltdown, could lead to another financial debacle. This could be in the form of currency or fiscal crisis, the Governor said, reports PTI.” Read more. “Stimulus Measures May…
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Change Policy, Not Blame
The Obama administration thinks it has found the cure all for its economic woes. The solution: regulate, restrict and play God in the economy. (Not exactly a new strategy for government.) In usual fashion, government regulations and Fed policies bring about unintended consequences, and the blame is pushed elsewhere. With the economy still limping, the…
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Price “Stability” for Venezuela
In something of a reversal of the usual government policies to keep prices high, the government of Venezuela is going to great lengths to keep prices low, even in the face of inflation. According to CNN, The Venezuelan bolivar currency, which had been fixed at 2.15 to the U.S. dollar since 2005, was devalued to…
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Why No Tea Parties in Europe?
“I’ve been doing a little reading this morning about the Greek crisis and related problems in Europe. One take, and it makes sense to me, is that many European countries have such low fertility rates that even with some degree of immigration, they simply will not have the future population levels necessary to pay for…
-
Regulating the Financial Industry
Wednesday’s Washington Post featured a column by Steven Pearlstein that sums up the ongoing debate over the regulation of the financial industry, or at least it attempts to do so. As we all know, the collapse of the financial industry played a major role in what has now become a worldwide recession. The obvious response…
-
Put Housing GSEs in the Budget and then Privatize
“The two large housing government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, have been in government receivership since September 2008. The U.S. Treasury has given the housing GSEs $112 billion in cash infusions, and this past Christmas Eve it quietly announced it would cover all of Fannie and Freddie’s losses beyond the original $400 billion limit…
-
“Four Biggest Greek Banks Downgraded”
“Fitch Ratings, citing concerns about Greek banks’ funding costs and profitability, downgraded the country’s four major banks to triple-B, or two notches above “junk” status. Fitch characterized its outlook for Greek banks as ‘negative’… The cost of funding for the four banks in question—National Bank of Greece, Alpha Bank, Efg Eurobank Ergasias and Piraeus Bank—has…
-
“The United States: Debtor and Leader?”
“China sees a clear link between America’s ability to stand up for human rights and its economic interests—and Beijing isn’t afraid to exploit it. Mr. Weiqun was bluntly reminding the U.S. to take a close look at its balance sheet before indulging in any displays of moral support for an exiled Buddhist monk deemed a…
-
“Stimulus Measures May Lead to Another Crisis”
“Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor D Subbarao expressed is fears that the stimulus packages rolled out by central banks and governments to resolve the global financial meltdown, could lead to another financial debacle. This could be in the form of currency or fiscal crisis, the Governor said, reports PTI.” Read more. “Stimulus Measures May…
-
Change Policy, Not Blame
The Obama administration thinks it has found the cure all for its economic woes. The solution: regulate, restrict and play God in the economy. (Not exactly a new strategy for government.) In usual fashion, government regulations and Fed policies bring about unintended consequences, and the blame is pushed elsewhere. With the economy still limping, the…
-
Price “Stability” for Venezuela
In something of a reversal of the usual government policies to keep prices high, the government of Venezuela is going to great lengths to keep prices low, even in the face of inflation. According to CNN, The Venezuelan bolivar currency, which had been fixed at 2.15 to the U.S. dollar since 2005, was devalued to…
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