February 2010

The December 2009 data for the widely followed S&P/Case-Shiller Indices were released this morning.  The data are showing a mixed picture. On the one hand, the unadjusted numbers are down on both a month-to-month and year-over-year…

How Paul Krugman found politics : The New Yorker Morgan Stanley – Richard Berner – We Can't Inflate Our Way Out Recession hits older blacks in what should be their prime | McClatchy Greece should try a fiscal devaluation, not…

Michael Pettis really gets at the heart of the fallacious argument that China is somehow bankrolling the United States government. The fact is the Chinese have fixed their currency at an exchange rate which induces a current account surplus…

Edward wrote a piece about Japan’s government net asset value falling below zero. He thought it would make sense if I gave you an alternative view using Richard Koo’s latest thinking about the Japanese experience, especially given the…

Marshall Auerback here with a post which I originally co-wrote at New Deal 2.0 with Randall Wray. In recent weeks, there has been much discussion about what to do about Greece. These questions become all the more relevant as the country…

The Woman Behind Greece's Debt Deal - WSJ.com Bailout Anger Hurts Geithner's Public Image, Effectiveness - WSJ.com BBC News - Judge backs Bank of America's Merrill Lynch deal fine Porsche May Struggle to Comply With U.S. Fuel…

Bloomberg reports: The Japanese government’s net assets in 2009 may have fallen below zero for the first time, the Nikkei newspaper reported, citing an unidentified government official. The result, which includes the central and…

In another blow to a quick resolution of the Greek sovereign debt crisis, reports are surfacing that multiple banks may have arranged swap contracts with Greece to hide their fiscal shortfalls. Bloomberg is now reporting that up to fifteen…

The following is a post by Marc Chandler, head of Brown Brother Harriman’s Currency Strategy Team. For more of BBH’s currency views, visit the website here. The Dutch government collapsed over the weekend as the Labor Party withdrew from…

I referenced Matt Taibbi’s latest work at Rolling Stone “Wall Street’s Bailout Hustle” recently when talking about a movie on Ponzi schemes and fraud that aired on 60 Minutes. I liked the piece and recommend you read it – fully aware of the…