Economy

This column argues that while Bernanke will want to show that the Fed still has options at its disposal, with various trade-offs associated, perhaps he may want to also underscore the limitations of monetary policy. If current conditions…

The over-indebted American consumer will be hard pressed to simultaneously reduce debt and maintain levels of consumption that support economic growth. On CNBC today, Stephen Roach of Morgan Stanley says, we need a debt jubilee for…

The latest round of EU GDP data, brought to light a reality which many who have been closely following the economies of Eastern Europe already suspected: that the heavily export dependent economies in the region would almost inevitably be…

By Michael Hudson The State and Local Budget Crisis The cost of the 2011 cutbacks in federal spending will fall most directly on consumers and retirees by scaling back Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and social spending programs.…

We should observe a blowout in Eurozone interbank spreads. And while we may still see this in the coming weeks, we have not seen anything resembling 2008 levels of panic.

The ABC Radio National program Rear Vision is a current affairs program that presents “contemporary events and people in their historical context”. I was recently interviewed by Rear Vision for a retrospective on the crisis, entitled “Here…

Households are in far worse shape now than in the 1930s, with a peak debt level that is two and a half times as high as it was in 1930. That’s why the crisis now is manifesting itself in stagnant consumer demand. It doesn’t involve the same…

On Monday, Warren Buffett wrote a widely-discussed New York Times opinion piece, “Stop Coddling the Super-Rich” about taxes in America. I think his subsequent appearance on the Charlie Rose show was really good at explaining his views and…

Forget about ‘pivoting’ to jobs when right now the President is going to be forced to focus on deficits. The House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has already said he will broker no stimulus and the deficit panel will be in full swing before…

The Italian debt markets are a lot calmer this week than they were the week before last because the level of Italian bond yields is now more or less completely guaranteed by the European Central Bank (the ECB). However, Italy’s problem is…