Monetary System

When a bank with $2.2 trillion in assets is saved from potential ruin, it is big news. So, as you can imagine, every one and his brother has a take on what went wrong at Citigroup and whether the solution to 'fix' Citi was the right one.…

It looks like we have a solution to Citi's crisis. The U.S. Government agreed to bailout Citigroup, backing $306 billion of debt in exchange for preferred equity and warrants plus a host of other details I will enumerate below. On the whole…

Citigroup is in serious trouble. The storied institution with $2 trillion in assets has seen its shares collapse and its reputation is in tatters as it goes cap in hand to the U.S. government for a bailout. Indeed, a solution must be…

Reuters is reporting that persons familiar with the matter have indicated that Citigroup began talks with the U.S. Government as contingency planning. With Citigroup's share price having plunged dramatically in recent days, rumors have…

Another Friday and another three FDIC Friday Night Specials. This time, the notables were Downey Savings and Loan Association and PFF Bank & Trust which were seized by the FDIC. Downey is especially notable as it has been in the news…

Recently, deficit hawks have been pushing a nefarious line of argument that I need to debunk right here and right now. The line goes as follows: we need to spend government monies now to get the economy back on its feet. In a couple of…

Citibank has to be the worst run of the major banks. The result of ridiculous mergers of Citicorp, Travelers, Smith Barney, Salomon Brothers, this unwieldly mess was a disaster that should never have happened. Now, Citigroup has a market…

Here in Washington, DC, we are preparing for the G-20 summit, the largest gathering of foreign leaders in this own since the 50th anniversary of NATO in 1999. The event has been billed as a latter-day Bretton Woods, a forum to reform the…

The latest news in bailouts involves GE Capital. Apparently, the company has gone begging to the FDIC for a bailout. In fact, the FDIC has offered to back $139 billion in GE Capital debt. I have serious reservations about this move by…

The big news this week is that writedowns have moved near trillion dollar territory. As all of the banks report earnings and come clean about losses, the figures are staggering. The largest writedowns came from the GSEs with Fannie Mae…