2012

I was on BNN's headline yesterday (video here) talking to Howard Green and Brian Milner about the IMF and China. Fed Chairman Bernanke's defense of QE and zero rates was a big piece of that conversation. I believe Bernanke's defense is…

I was reading through an article at Reuters on the problem that public pension plans are having with shortfalls that can only be made up via increased tax revenue, increased investment returns, or decreased benefits. The Reuters article…

The following is the text of a speech Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke delivered at a high-level seminar sponsored by the International Monetary Fund on Sunday. Thank you. It is a pleasure to be here. This morning I will first…

Josh Barro has written a very comprehensive post at Bloomberg analsying Mitt Romney's tax plan. His conclusion is that the plan is mathematically impossible, leading one to assume that a President Romney would have to break his pledge on…

The latest information out of Europe comes via the Financial Times where Miles Johnson writes that the Spanish are geared up to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Troika. Other countries are holding things up, according to this…

At this point, I think the main weekly will end up being a comprehensive technology and tech stock overview. There have been a lot of stories in the computer and mobile space that deserve comprehensive treatment to pull a bunch of different…

Mired in the worst recession since the 1970s, Portugal's governing coalition is going to turn up the austerity dial even higher. The goal is to reduce the Portuguese deficit to 4.5% of GDP in 2013 in order to be in a position to switch out…

According to a questionnaire given by the leftist German party "Die Linke", German pensioners have seen a significant erosion of their purchasing power over the last twelve years. Average pension payments this year after deducting all…

In Europe, Spain is expected to formally apply for a Troika bailout in November. Despite the Rajoy's government's denials that it has not sought a bailout, Rajoy and his ministers have never specifically said that they refused to consider a…

Do you remember when Europe used to say the IMF would get involved in Europe over the euro's dead body? Well I certainly do. Back before Greece got its bailout deathwish, it wasn't even clear there would be a bailout, let alone one with…