Political Economy

Since everyone and his sister can become a bank, why not a central banker cum professor and his wife? Willem Buiter understands the absurdity of granting any financial institution in America bank holding status. He understands this is one…

The issue of GM cannot be divorced from the broader issue of health care. Companies like Honda operate out of countries that made health and retirement benefits a national responsibility. And the perennially high price of gasoline, a…

If you are wondering why the stock market has been declining, you only need to flip your TV to C-SPAN and see Hank Paulson explaining why he has abandoned his original plan to save America from depression. Basically, Paulson has done a…

The tag line from the Obama campaign was "Change We Can Believe In." However, an increasing number of people are becoming skeptical as to whether Obama will actually change anything. I, for one, have always felt his cautious approach meant…

Why not? Everyone else is getting something. Aegon, a Dutch company, is trying the same maneuver that Genworth Financial and Hartford, two American companies, are trying -- it's buying a small depositary institution. This will give it…

Just a few moments ago I caught a very interesting post on Alice Cook's site UK Bubble. The gist of the post was that things are falling apart in Ireland very quickly. Given what we saw with Iceland, I have to ask: is Ireland next? I…

The video below comes via the Daily Kos and YouTube.Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) has said that Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) needs to publicly apologize for his actions during the recent U.S. Presidential Campaign in order to retain his seat as…

I am listening to the Congressional hearings with Sheila Bair, Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke recounting what they have done to restore the economy with the $700 billion that Congress gave the Bush Administration. The hearing is pretty…

A reader has recently corrected a claim I made on a recent blog entry regarding GE Capital. I would like to bring this error to your attention and make a few comments. The first statement is actually not correct. Looking at the FDIC…

In a surprising move, the Bush Administration has decided not to seek the $350 billion still to be used under the TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program). Instead, they will allow Barack Obama's Administration to distribute the monies as they…