Author

Edward Harrison 7783 posts 575 comments

Edward Harrison is a senior Editor at Bloomberg. He is also the founder of Credit Writedowns newsletter, a former career diplomat, investment banker and technology executive with over twenty five years of business experience. He speaks six languages and reads another five, skills he uses to provide a more global perspective. Edward holds an MBA in Finance from Columbia University and a BA in Economics from Dartmouth College.

News

Links: 2009-04-27

Edward Harrison Apr 27, 2009

FT Alphaville » Just how big a problem is falling capacity utilisation? Nice reference to Austrian School economist Josef Steindl. "Former commodity mega-bulls Goldman Sachs are expecting markets to continue to pull back from current…

Business

GM offers a debt for equity swap to bondholders

Edward Harrison Apr 27, 2009

As the possibility of bankruptcy draws nearer, General Motors is moving to sell non-core assets and to broker arrangements with bondholders and unions alike which will keep it out of bankruptcy. In a 9AM press conference today, new General…

Economy

Swine Flu has Mexican peso bears feeding at the trough

Edward Harrison Apr 27, 2009

After a good run-up in the last month, the Mexican Peso is getting crushed in the currency markets today. How much of the pullback is a result of the news regarding Swine Flu and how much is technical, due to the prior run up, is hard to…

Monetary System

The Age of the Fiat Currency: A 38-year experiment in inflation

Edward Harrison Apr 27, 2009

When the United States closed the gold window in 1971, the world entered a new era in which nearly all money was supported by nothing more than the full faith and credit of the governments issuing it. If one looks back to the history of…

Economy

BofA saga continues as John Thain calls Lewis a liar

Edward Harrison Apr 27, 2009

The Wall Street Journal is running a front-page story about John Thain today in which he accuses Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis of lying about events surrounding the Bank of America - Merrill transaction and the ouster of Thain as a top…

Economy

German banks loaded with 816 billion in toxic paper

Edward Harrison Apr 26, 2009

On Friday, the German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) leaked a bombshell - a confidential report by Bafin, the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, found that German banks were sitting on over 800 billion euros in toxic assets. Just…

Economy

Spain begs to be at upcoming G-20, Brazil says no

Edward Harrison Apr 26, 2009

We are starting to get a sense of who the winners and losers of the Great Unraveling are. Spain is definitely a loser. Just think, a few years ago Spain was the envy of Western Europe with a dynamic and booming property market and…

Economy

The horrible self-dealing of Ken Lewis and the principal-agent problem

Edward Harrison Apr 26, 2009

I don't much like Ken Lewis. It should be fairly obvious to everyone that he is a man who has only his own interests at heart. But, his revelation that BofA bought Merrill Lynch for the agreed-upon September price, despite Merrill's having…

News

Links: 2009-04-26

Edward Harrison Apr 26, 2009

Optimism and the world economy | A glimmer of hope? | The Economist Apparently the Economist thinks this is a Fake Recovery too. "Optimism is one thing, but hubris that the world economy is returning to normal could hinder recovery and…

News

Links: 2009-04-25

Edward Harrison Apr 25, 2009

Markets Cheer Stress Test Double Speak - Yves Smith I think the title speaks for itself. Auctions for Troubled Property Loans Jump to the Web - NY Times Perhaps this additional channel for the loans will help clear the underlying…

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