Economy

This is just in from the FDIC (emphasis added below). It should make clear that the banking system is still weak: Credit quality declined sharply for loan commitments of $20 million or more held by multiple federally supervised…

I have to admit to hyping the debate now swirling about protectionism. I believe that tariffs are not a very good solution to a trade problem as they are likely to result in retaliation and/or escalation. Moreover, they end up protecting…

The latest jobless claims data is in, with initial claims registering 530,000 and continuing claims coming in at 6.1 million.  These figures are well off the business cycle highs of a few months ago but still quite elevated. …

At issue here is the news that the Obama Administration dropped plans to force financial institutions to offer “plain vanilla” financial products that are simple enough for consumers to understand. My headline is editorial enough on this…

Below is a Market Watch video showing what ordinary Germans think heading into the general election.  Right now it’s looking like a right of center government of the CDU/CSU/FDP.  But, it will be down to the wire. Likely, there…

Today, Moody’s warned that Iceland, Latvia and Hungary were stabilizing but that their economies remained fragile. The problem is high debt levels, which is restraining consumer spending. Recovery in the Eurozone has been the main aid to…

Sarah Palin the populist has become Sarah Palin the free trader. In a wide-ranging and well-received speech in Hong Kong, Palin supported a more Libertarian free-market approach, slamming the recent imposition of tariffs on Chinese tires by…

In the latest inexplicable move to extricate the U.S. banking system from crisis, the FDIC is reportedly close to asking the very banks it regulates for a loan to top up its balances. The plan is “strongly supported by bankers and their…

Sheila Bair has run out of options to seize banks because the FDIC’s coffers are running dry.  Now she either needs to tap taxpayer money via a loan from the Treasury or she has to raise funds through a special assessment on banks, who…

Back in April I told you I anticipated an uptick in GDP in part because of changes in inventories - massive change in the inventories. At the time, I thought I was going out on a limb by suggesting we could see positive GDP numbers in Q3…