Political Economy

This morning I was reading Simon Johnson’s excellent post “President Obama’s Regulatory Reforms Announcement: A Viewer’s Guide” about what Barack Obama should say when he makes his regulatory reform pitch today at 12:30 PM.  I agree…

This comes via the Financial Times: China has introduced an explicit “Buy Chinese” policy as part of its economic stimulus programme in a move that will amplify tensions with trade partners and increase the likelihood of protectionism…

The video below comes via FORA.tv (FORA stands for Feed Your Inner Genius).  It is of Christina Romer making the case for Obama’s health care plan at the Commonwealth Club.  This video runs over one hour, and so, should give you a fairly…

Yesterday, I argued that the United States faced a policy dilemma in avoiding debt deflationary forces while maintaining fiscal prudence. The reality is that President Obama faces political constraints in Washington right now regarding…

Marc Chandler, Global Head of Currency Strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman has a good piece out today highlighting the differing economic policy agendas of the BRIC group (Brazil, Russia, India and China).  In it he suggests CRIBS is a…

"In many ways the effect of the crash on embezzlement was more significant than on suicide. To the economist embezzlement is the most interesting of crimes. Alone among the various forms of larceny it has a time parameter. Weeks,…

The drama at Bank of America continues with Ken Lewis testifying before Congress today.  Most of the events surround claims by Lewis that he was coerced into doing the Merrill deal by Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke.   I…

From Charlie Rose’s site: “Reaction to President Obama's speech in Cairo with Mohamad Bazzi, Roger Cohen, David Ignatius and Robin Wright.”

This case is going to the Supreme Court of the United States.  It will be a landmark ruling when the issue is decided. Take a look at what David Boies has to say about the issue.