January 2012

This is a great chart below via the Wall Street Journal. It shows the total debt to GDP ratios for the largest developed economies in the world broken down into four sectors: households, non-financial corporations, financial institutions…

I have been saying for a few months now that all of the periphery would miss their targets as depression took hold. Belgian newspaper De Standaard reports that the new Spanish government is fearful. My translation from Dutch below.

Dollar pares back some of its recent losses ahead of the weekend; focus on Greek debt negotiations. A leaked draft of the new EZ fiscal pact contains tougher rules; growth sensitive currencies top performers. We, along with the consensus,…

You have probably heard a lot of noise about what was said about the housing bubble at Federal Reserve meetings in 2006. There is a quote from Timothy Geithner, then the NY Fed chief, that I think is quite revealing.

Below is the link to my latest appearance on BNN with Howard Green and Ryan Avent. Quick thoughts here

US money markets have dramatically cut their exposure to European bank paper. This has been widely reported and has intensified the dollar funding needs of some European, especially French and Italian banks. When we talk about European…

We’re more than 3 years out from a crisis caused in part by these very same decision-making processes on compensation. So why is it that we don’t fully understand them yet?

Does Austerity Promote Economic Growth? - Robert J. Shiller - Project Syndicate Policymakers cannot afford to wait decades for economists to figure out a definitive answer, which may never be found at all. But, judging by the…

Just as Europe and the US are suffering massive downgrades, other countries are seeing their risk profiles improve. Indonesia is a perfect example.

Hi Everyone, I just wanted to update you on the goings-on here at Credit Writedowns in the new year.