2011

Here’s what Germany’s largest daily newspaper Bild Zeitung has to say about the politics in the US around the debt ceiling.

8 banks out 90 banks fail: Five in Spain, two from Greece and one from Austria (Spain's CAM, CatalunyaCaixa, Banco Pastor, Unnim & Grupo Caja; Austria's Volksbanken; Greece's Eurobank & ATEBank). One additional bank, Helaba, the…

I flagged the inevitability of deficit fatigue as early as November 2008. I am sympathetic to the view that these deficits are an attempt to prop up excess credit growth and thus retard full recovery. But I also fear the consequences of a…

As we have said numerous times, economic growth following major credit crises is always slower than average, while recessions occur more often as consumers deleverage the vast amount of debt built up during the boom. In our view it will…

If you were reading the newspaper back in May, you might have seen a small reference to a statement from Treasury Secretary Geithner to the effect that he could delay the day of reckoning until August. You probably didn't see any specifics,…

This comes from the Washington post: Since 1980, the debt ceiling has been raised 39 times. It was raised 17 times under Ronald Reagan, four times under Bill Clinton and seven times under George W. Bush. Congress is currently in a…

Gary Shilling sees a hard landing in China as they try to deal with the bad debt problem there. But note, when he says 'hard landing', he says this would "knock their growth rate in half." That's still almost 5% annualised GDP growth. Video…

If economic crises make the short-run pains of reforms easier to bear, then crises could yield considerable long-run benefits. But this column argues that the recent global financial crisis has been wasted thus far. It suggests that it is…

One thing I like about the Fed Chairman is that he speaks in understandable prose, unlike his predecessor. Why did everyone think the Fed will ride to the rescue? It’s wishful thinking.

Tom Ferguson gives a comprehensive view of the politicss of the European sovereign debt crisis.