Economy

Here’s a nice little graphic from the site Visualizing Economics on the US income distribution as measured by income from 2008 tax returns.

This is an update of a post I wrote at the beginning of September about European political dysfunction.

Italy argues that the ECB has made the crisis worse because it refuses to stand at the ready as a lender of last resort like other central banks, an argument I have also made. However, the Italians suggest that the EU is facing a liquidity…

This video of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy has stirred a sense of nationalistic pride in Italy. Everyone seems to be talking about it.

The quantity of debt grows as the quality recedes. The problem of bad loans is no longer just the pre-2008 mortgages, CDOs, and LBOs. Debt issued after the bust is defaulting, such as Greek sovereign bonds, issued in June 2010. Some…

Key points: German Flash Composite Index at 2-month high; Flash Services Index at 3-month high; French Flash Composite Index at 29-month low; Flash Services Index at 27-month low

As the US is well short of full employment and the economy is at a low ebb, there has been considerable discussion about what the Fed should do, especially given the lack of fiscal support for the economy. I have a view here, but I am not…

Madrid, October 19, 2011 -- Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the long-term ratings of nine Spanish regions, two Basque provinces and five government-related ratings by one or two notches. The outlook on the ratings is negative. At…

"Moody's Investors Service has today downgraded the long-term senior debt and deposit ratings of five Spanish banks by one notch. These rating actions follow yesterday's downgrade of the Kingdom of Spain's government bond rating to A1 from…

Bob Ivry, Hugh Son and Christine Harper have written an article that needs to be read by everyone interested in the financial crisis. The article (available here) is entitled: BofA Said to Split Regulators Over Moving Merrill Derivatives…