Links: 2009-06-20

Always late to the party.

"Few developments rode the wave of high prices in the Manhattan residential real estate the way the 181 condominium apartments at the Plaza Hotel did, and few have chilled as much in the downturn."

Protectionism is a rising threat. Again, we have not beaten entirely back a Depression scenario. This outcome on tires, along with the Rio-BHP-Chinalco triangle is likely to get China to retaliate. "Buy China" is already happening. What’s next?

I think the real headline should read, "Gartman: I am an idiot." Calling Warren Buffett an idiot is not something that can be taken seriously.

The more bankers leave BofA, the more it looks like the Merrill deal was stinker. Why did they pay $44 billion? Pathetic.

Even porn and liquor are taking it on the chin too. A friend tells me there is an increase in off-premise drinking (that’s industry-speak for at home or in the parking lot)

This is the same company that was feared near bankruptcy at the height of the downturn in December and January. With commodity prices recovered those fears are over.

This is a good cross-section of views expressed in response to Christina Romer’s excellent piece in the economist on how not to repeat a 1937 double dip recession.

Good analysis and nice anecdotes in the excerpted stories.

A very cogent analysis of the gaps in the present banking reform proposal in the U.S. and why it does not need to be executed immediately.

"Most analysts maintain that Poland stands to ride the financial storm better than any other country in emerging Europe. The country in some ways seen as the quasi China of Europe. Yet indicators suggesting the opposite are mounting up."

Expect a Tienanmen Square style crackdown if things get out of control.

It is looking ever more likely that Porsche will be bought by VW and Wedeking will be fired, thanks to his burdening the company with billions in debt.

"The toughly-worded comments by Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, an ECB executive board member, came as European Union leaders approved plans for a new regulatory framework that will include a “European systemic risk council” and a European system of financial supervisors"

The rise in unemployment in Spain could have a deflationary impact for a long time according to the French. Why the French are making pronouncements on the Spanish, I don’t know.

"In 2007, worried about the growing size of current account imbalances, the International Monetary Fund organised multilateral consultations to see what should be done about it. There was wide agreement that the solution was conceptually straightforward. To caricature: get US consumers to spend less. Get Chinese consumers to spend more. This would be good for the US, good for China, and good for the world"

"So I think of the pursuit of a world in which everyone is small enough to fail as the pursuit of a golden age that never was. Regulate and supervise, then rescue if necessary; there’s no way to make this automatic."