This Week’s Most Popular Posts: 2010-10-16

By Edward Harrison On Oct 16, 2010

Krugman: We Need $8-10 Trillion Worth of Quantitative Easing: Paul Krugman says the Fed would have to print multiple trillions of dollars to close the output gap. That’s not going to happen. The implication is that money printing is all that is left as stimulus because fiscal policy, a more effective means of closing an output gap, is off the table.
Krugman: China is ‘Really the Bad Guy’ in Currency War: Paul Krugman argues that the Chinese should take the lion’s share of the blame for the so-called ‘currency war.’
Bank Holiday is Best Solution for Epidemic of Mortgage Fraud: Randy Wray argues that the US needs a bank holiday similar to what we saw in the 1930s to resolve potentially insolvent too-big-to-fail banks in the wake of the foreclosure crisis.
Foreclosure crisis much deeper than robo-signers: The foreclosure crisis is more of an end-to-end breakdown in the mortgage process as a result of securitization; there are problems every step along the way. It is not just about false affidavits and robo-signers. Evidence is now coming to light on this.
Bankruptcy attorney on robo-signing fraud and mortgage mod litigation: A video offering first-hand evidence of robo-signing fraud and how expedited foreclosure processes deny home owners greater potential for loan modification.
Scarface: "Say Good Night To The Bad Guy": A spoof take-off on Paul Krugman’s designation of China as "the bad guy." Here Al Pacino, as Tony Montana in Scarface, plays the role of the Chinese. What he says is VERY rude but also VERY applicable.
Foreclosure Moratorium – What Does it Mean for the Housing Market?: John Lounsbury goes through some possibilities that would arise from a foreclosure moratorium. The verdict is not good for the housing market.
Cash is King: Claus Vistesen doubts whether the cash Ireland now has on hand will be enough to see them through the financial crisis. The deficit reduction numbers are just too great.
Hitler finds out Obama won’t sign HR3808: Another spoof take-off. This time we have a clip from the German movie "Der Untergang" when Hitler finds out all is lost and goes ballistic. This scene has been dubbed for so many events but this is the best one ever.
Soros on the Economy: George Soros talks about the economy in this video, arguing that more stimulus is needed.
Stiglitz on the Fed: "The flood of liquidity is going abroad and causing problems all over the world": Joseph Stiglitz argues that the Federal Reserve’s releasing a tidal wave of money into the US economy has caused excess liquidity to pour into emerging markets, creating the building blocks for asset bubbles in those economies.
Yellen: "It is conceivable that accommodative monetary policy could provide tinder for a buildup of leverage": Fed Vice Chair Yellen recognizes that easy money creates the pre-conditions for a build-up of leverage and excessive risk. Much of this excess is now headed into emerging markets which are putting up capital controls.
My thoughts on the ‘currency war’: Edward Harrison explains why the currency war is undesirable and why China bashing is misguided.
Xin Fa’an: A modest proposal to resolve the coming trade war: Michael Pettis has an out-of-the-box proposal on how to defuse currency tensions and recycle external imbalances between China and the US in a mutually beneficial way.
Currency Wars: A View from the Trenches: Marc Chandler explains his view on the so-called ‘currency war’ as a forex market veteran. In his view, seeing this as a war is dangerous especially since those countries with fixed pegs have not devalued and there has been no retaliation.