2009

Initial jobless claims of 432,000 for the week ended 26 Dec 2009 were the lowest since July 2008. The 4-week average is now 460,250, the lowest since September 2008. If you look at the following two graphs, you can see that initial claims…

Holiday people, as we head into the new year, I’d like to get the pulse of Credit Writedowns readers on the state of the economy. Last night, I started a poll asking how long the recovery will last. I am not sure whether the poll…

I wrote a post yesterday (The Fed’s exit strategy) to explain the mechanics surrounding Monday’s Federal Reserve announcement that it is offering CD accounts to banks. The Federal Reserve does not control the demand for credit and therefore…

The S&P/Case-Shiller October 2009 house price index came out yesterday. The data showed plenty of reason to worry about the sustainability of the recent stabilization of house prices. While both the Composite-10 and Composite-20 indices…

Randy Wray says: The Federal Reserve on Monday proposed allowing banks to park their reserves at the central bank, a move aimed at weaning the economy off extraordinary infusions of cash and curbing inflation. The Fed would create the…

Finance Business Spectator - Was the GFC a mathematical error? - Blog - Steve Keen (hat tip Rolfe Winkler) Keep a "Clean" Credit Card to Dig Out of Debt - Debt - Lifehacker GM ups discounts to sell Pontiac, Saturn inventory|…

Robin Hanson makes this assertion in a recent post in his blog “Overcoming Bias.” I found his argument as to why this is so pretty provocative. Yesterday, I had actually linked out to an article at Science Daily on why powerful people don’t…

From Bloomberg: GMAC Inc., the home and auto lender, is discussing with the Obama administration an additional aid package of about $3 billion to $4 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter. The size of the assistance…

While many companies can use the huge increase in market returns to mask a looming pension crisis, the problem is still acute. Because of actuarial accounting, pension funding problems are pro-cyclical.  Companies look flush with cash…

42 year-old banker fired for being too old wins age discrimination case - Telegraph FT.com - Obama under fire on national security  (This charade only helps beat the drum for further foreign wars. Dems are always beaten up for…