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.

Economy

Unemployment: U-6 data versus the Great Depression

Edward Harrison Apr 3, 2009

Because of changes in the way the unemployment rate is calculated, the figures today are apple to oranges comparisons to the ones quoted for the Great Depression or even the 1970s. Further, changes in the economy (less manufacturing) and…

Daily

Think outside the box: ten outrageous predictions for 2009

Edward Harrison Apr 3, 2009

Update: 3 Apr 2009: I have been getting more positive about the possibility of a cyclical upturn before 2009 is over (what I like to call a fake recovery). Meanwhile, the punderati are seeing black when they should be seeing shades of…

Blogs

Traveling: Mexico and Germany

Edward Harrison Apr 3, 2009

Over the next two weeks I will be traveling and will have a pretty sparse and sporadic posting schedule. Next week is Mexico and then the week after is Germany. I am definitely looking to post but it probably will not be in the quantity…

Economy

Spain’s savings banks may have 40 billion in writedowns

Edward Harrison Apr 3, 2009

We should consider Spain one of the four original bubble markets where residential property markets soared to ridiculous levels during the housing bubble. The bubble has now popped and those countries, the U.K., the U.S., Ireland and…

Economy

Switzerland gets deflation too

Edward Harrison Apr 3, 2009

First Spain, now Switzerland: Consumer prices in March were down 0.4% from a year ago, the Federal Statistics Office said, a 50-year low. The country has been close to deflation all year, with inflation having fallen from a peak of 3.1%…

Economy

Employment situation report paints grim picture

Edward Harrison Apr 3, 2009

I have just finished looking at the latest employment situation report and there is absolutely no good news there. This report is miles apart from the jobless claims data I reviewed yesterday and does not cofirm we are anywhere close to a…

Economy

A few comments about mark-to-market

Edward Harrison Apr 3, 2009

Because I received a message via e-mail that my previous post on mark-to-market was misleading, I thought I would clarify what is happening with FAS 157 and provide some good links. The long and short of the rule is it gives more…

News

Links: 2009-04-03

Edward Harrison Apr 3, 2009

M2M Change = Time to buy banks? - FT Alphaville Recession Hits Social Security Increases “The banks” versus “some banks” - Paul Krugman Blog - NYTimes.com Medvedev Renews Call for Alternatives to Dollar - Real Time Economics - WSJ…

Economy

A note on government statistics and unemployment

Edward Harrison Apr 3, 2009

Update 31 Mar 2009: I am re-posting this post about unemployment figures from November 2008 because I think it relevant. The next unemployment number is coming out on Friday and I expect a large number. If you read this analysis, you can…

Markets

House prices in the U.K. up for first time since Oct 2007

Edward Harrison Apr 2, 2009

House prices increased in March in the U.K. according to Nationwide Building Society. Below is what Nationwide's Chief Economist Fionnuala Earley had to say about this surprise good news: “Spring brought a surprise bounce to house prices…

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