Economy

Since the possibility of further social tensions leading to nationalism is something on my radar screen, I thought I would post these videos from Euronews. In a good economy, these issues are nothing to get concerned about. But in a bad…

The following is the text of the S&P ratings statement associated with a review of the euro area sovereign credit ratings.

A chart of gasoline consumption and oil prices for the years 2000-2011.

Is there any government body having a harder time of it these days than the SEC? Sometimes it feels like someone pinned a giant “Kick me” sign to its collective back. I’ve written previously about a key factor that I think is partly…

The myth that Greeks are lazy and Germans are industrious and that this has some significance in the sovereign debt crisis is everywhere one turns. It is false. The issues for Greece are not about working longer hours but are ones of…

Colbert says "clearly, my fellow South Caroliniacs see me as the only viable "Mitt-ternative". Take a look.

There is less mobility in the work force because the computers are not simply displacing jobs, they are taking out the middle. Because they take out the middle, it is a lot harder to pursue the American dream by working your way up the…

Stephen Roach told Bloomberg television earlier today that he does not expect the recession in Europe to be severe. Therefore, he believes the impact on other economies, particularly in Asia that depends on Europe for external demand for…

So why are these big name retailers suing the big banks. It's this chart that appears to be the smoking gun. Credit card interchange fees are the highest by a large margin. Clearly those charges that go into the bank and credit card…

Central Banks, whenever they buy any asset create new reserves. Commercial banks and people do NOT have the capacity to destroy those reserves. Once the Fed or ECB wires the money or creates that asset line item on its spreadsheet, there is…