Political Economy

Which economy might then be the second most rapidly ageing economy in the world? Right, you guessed it: Germany! The question which seems to whisper in the wind is just how Germany is going to be able to shoulder all those bailouts when the…

The under-current from Putin's remarks has much to do with anti-US Dollar sentiment because he said specifically that having the U.S. dollar as the sole reserve currency "is definitely something negative." Putin is serious about ditching…

The decision by EU Commissioner Olli Rehn to appear before the world's press today, and inform the assembled throngs that, as far as the EU Commission could see, Spain will not be sticking to its 6% of GDP fiscal deficit commitment next…

Marshall Auerback argues that despite a 'blame-a-thon' on Ireleand, Germans banks are really at the core of the eurozone catastrophe.

This is an analysis of the remaining options in the euro zone post-Ireland bailout. This period in Europe reminds me very much of the period after the Indy Mac failure in the U.S. after which markets were in a permanent state of stress.…

Below are some monthly lists of items removed from the monthly Consumer Price Index Summary calculation and the excuses for doing so. (The lists were cut-and-pasted from the BLS website at the time. It looks as though the BLS only posts…

The 30-year campaign of the wealthy to rig our economic system – especially the tax component – for their own benefit will accelerate with the GOP capture of the House of Representatives and the likely capture of the presidency and Senate…

Part 1.  Will Europe face defaults? Its official – Spain and Portugal will need to be bailed out soon.  How do I know? In one of my favorite TV shows, Yes Minister, the all-knowing civil servant Sir Humphrey explains to cabinet…

Here's a great graphic on the Irish bailout, quantifying the exposure of foreign banks to Ireland as well as the pots of money from which the 85 billion euros for the Irish bailout is coming. My understanding about the ' funds which Ireland…

The Federal Reserve's Open Market Committee met in secret by videoconference on October 15th to hash out policy issues ahead of the official November 2-3. The most extraordinary development at that meeting was discussion around whether the…