Credit Writedowns

Here's a brief, late Friday post to follow up on the jobs number. If you look at recoveries from past recessions in the United States, what you usually see is a fall in the year-over-year unemployment rate as the economy gathers steam. And…

There has been a lot of controversy about today's employment situation summary because of comments by Jack Welch, the former GE CEO. Welch suggested on Twitter that the Obama Administration had manipulated the household survey data to give…

When it comes to the euro zone, most eyes are fixed on Spain and Greece where a debt deflationary death spiral has begun. But the economic situation remains fragile in other countries of the so-called periphery. Italy is the largest…

By Marc Chandler The US jobs report was decidedly mixed. There was good and bad news but the bottom line is that the data is still too weak for the Fed to even consider ending its unconventional policy. The economy created a net 114k jobs…

There were a lot of media reactions to the Wednesday night US Presidential debate to sift through. The general consensus seems to be that Mitt Romney 'won' the debate and that this win makes the Presidential race closer. I think that's…

By Win Thin Recent developments in Iran are worth discussing.  We feel that with Middle Eastern political risk on the rise lately, Iran is more likely to have the largest impact on global markets, while escalating tensions between Syria…

I have been an observer of financial markets, and of those who operate within the markets, for almost 30 years. I have never before experienced investors paying more attention to career risk than they do at present. A preoccupation with…

By Marc Chandler The most important thing that ECB President Draghi has said in his prepared remarks was the reluctance to reschedule Greek bond holdings on grounds that would be tantamount to monetary financing.    Really?  Buying the…

By Andrew G Haldane, Executive Director, Financial Stability, Bank of England There is a long list of culprits when it comes to assigning blame for the financial crisis. This column argues economists are among the guilty, having succumbed…

This crisis has broken a lot of economic taboos, with central banks buying up assets and expanding their balance sheets in a desperate effort  to reflate a debt-laden private sector. The goal is to maintain economic growth, even at the risk…