Credit Writedowns

The global economy is in the relatively unique but unenviable position of being bullied by both recession and inflation at the same time. This leaves central banks in a bit of bind. The Federal Reserve has thrown all caution to the wind…

The last place in the world you wold expect to hear support of Ben Bernanke is hear. The Bernanke Fed has been as reckless in its attempts to reflate the economy as the Greenspan Fed - probably more so. Nevertheless, when Willem Buiter, a…

The bankrupt Danish Bank Roskilde received no bidders as the Central Bank of Denmark looked to unload the bank as quickly as possible. Roskilde got into trouble after the Danish economy turned down and loans it had made to home builders…

At first glance, a flair-up in the Caucasus region seems to have little meaning for Americans. But just as the collapse of the subprime mortgage market ultimately came to symbolize the beginning of the end of an American credit system run…

I am happy to announce that I am going to feature a guest blogger every week at the weekend. My guest host will be none other than Marshall Auerback of Prudent Bear fame.Many of you may recall, Marshall wrote the international column at…

I was listening to a money programme about the credit crunch in the UK this morning on my iPod Wake Up To Money (Podcast). They were discussing ways in which the credit crunch was made manifest to home buyers in the UK. In the broadcast,…

When we think about outsourcing, we usually think about Call centers in India or manufacturing jobs in China. Well, what about automatic cashiers?I went to the local CVS (Shoppers Drug Mart or Boots for Canadian and British readers) this…

Yesterday and overnight, there was a ton of news in Europe, in banking and in geopolitics. So, I am going to alter the format of the round-up slightly and give you a rundown with links mixed in.The long and short is that the banking sector…

A year into the crisis, it's time to let banks start to fend for themselves -- or at least let their shareholders do the heavy lifting. That's what the President of the Dutch Central Bank Nout Wellink had to say earlier today. Below is my…

Since June, bond yields have fallen to the point where the U.S. government is getting paid to borrow money right across the entire yield curve. The 10-year is 3.8%, while inflation in the U.S. is 5.6% . What gives? This is either a flight…