Economy

By Annaly Capital Management Lost in the headlines over the state of the expense side of municipal finances is the fact that tax revenues are rising at the state and local level. The U.S. Census Bureau tracks the various line items of…

By William K. Black (cross-posted with Benzinga.com) Honest accounting is essential for effective regulation – and for integrity. It is also very helpful to prosecuting accounting fraud. The banking industry lobbyists, including the…

By William K. Black (cross-posted from Benzinga.com) When Reputation becomes Ineffective or even Perverse Control fraud also makes reputation perverse. Theoclassical economists predict that reputation trumps everything, even auditors'…

By William K. Black (cross-posted from Benzinga.com) “Regulating” and “deregulating” are terms that often mislead. My next three columns discuss how to regulate two diverse activities that are critical to our economy – residential…

The Dodd-Frank Act is supposed to reform the way Wall Street works. It is supposed to correct abuses that led the world to the brink of disaster. After passage the intricate details to be implemented required the formation numerous study…

The Bank of Spain is to force the cajas, Spanish savings banks to reveal the extent of their property losses. The thinking behind this move is the same as the thinking that prompted the stress tests in both the US and Europe; officials…

By William K. Black President Obama's Executive Order on regulatory review was originally set in motion by his February 3, 2009 direction to OMB to create an improved regulatory review process. The fundamental principles and structures…

On Monday I first learned that Spain was to partially nationalise its banking system via the Financial Times Deutschland. The title of this article is the most appropriate I have seen discussing the issue, "Madrid riskiert für Cajas…

by Michael Pettis Once again I am starting to hear investors tell me that they have been advised by bank analysts not to worry too much about the impact of a banking crisis in China.  According to this argument, China has developed a…

On the back of 10+% growth in 2010, it is now apparent that China has a burgeoning inflation problem. A whole confluence of factors may come into play here. A labour shortage in China, food price inflation, and out of control money supply…