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.

Political Economy

Quote of the day: TARP not based on any facts

Edward Harrison Sep 25, 2008

I caught this quote via Political Wire. It reminds me of Paul Wolfowiz's quote for why the Bush Administration used WMDs as the rationale for war in Iraq.Some of the most basic details, including the $700 billion figure Treasury would use…

News

News round-up: 25 Sep 2008

Edward Harrison Sep 25, 2008

The big news is about Paulson's Economic Patriot Act, which looks set to pass Congress. The ultimate question is in what guise the plan passes. Will it give the U.S. Treasury carte blanche or will Congress have oversight? What provisions…

Economy

Gateway Bank sold, hurt by Frannie preferreds

Edward Harrison Sep 25, 2008

When Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac went bust, a number of major players were stung as the value of Fannie and Freddie preferred shares plummeted. Principal amongst these players was Gateway Bank, which had a huge percentage of bank capital…

Markets

Jim Chanos: short sellers are heroes

Edward Harrison Sep 25, 2008

I just watched a great clip of an interview Jim Chanos, the famous head of hedge fund Kynikos Associates, did with the FT's Gillian Tett (Hat tip FT Alphaville). Chanos does a very good job of arguing hat short sellers are being unfairly…

Economy

Paulson’s Economic Patriot Act is about marking to market

Edward Harrison Sep 25, 2008

The interesting thing about the Paulson proposal is that it gives the U.S. Treasury carte blanche to buy any of these toxic assets at any price it chooses. This is relevant because of mark to market rules in FAS 157. I have posted a few…

Economy

Durable goods orders down 4.5%, double expectations

Edward Harrison Sep 25, 2008

Economists had expected the durable goods report for August 2008 to be weak, but the report showing durable goods orders down 4.5% was much weaker than expected.While I do believe that the United States is in recession and the durable goods…

Political Economy

Covered bonds are not the answer

Edward Harrison Sep 25, 2008

As Hank Paulson looks to push through his Economic Patriot Act, it bears remembering that just a few months ago he saw Covered Bonds as a potential solution to U.S. problems with declining home prices. They are not the solution. This…

Markets

Libor-OIS spread at an all-time high

Edward Harrison Sep 25, 2008

Further proof that the credit markets are on the brink of systemic collapse is the fact that the widely followed risk spread Libor-OIS is at a record high. In the year before August 2007 when the credit crisis began, this spread averaged 8…

Economy

US unemployment claims way up: consistent with recession

Edward Harrison Sep 25, 2008

U.S. jobless claims registered an increase to 493,000, bringing the widely followed 4-week average to 462,500, its highest level since just after 9/11. Recently, the jobless claims numbers have been creeping up indicating the labor market…

Political Economy

Congress does need to act on the Economic Patriot Act

Edward Harrison Sep 25, 2008

If you hadn't been following it, credit markets are still seized up -- even more than when Paulson first presented his bailout plan the Economic Patriot Act for Congressional approval. The fact of the matter is Paulson has shown…

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