Credit Writedowns

Here is some anecdotal evidence of the return of euphoria  in housing via Jim the Realtor.  Check out these videos of Carlsbad (North County section of San Diego) and the surrounding community to see what I mean – many but not all…

Last year at this time I posted “The Economy’s Four Horsemen,” which described macro cause and effect leading into and out of recessions.  When looking at income, spending, output and employment, it is income which is the steer…

You have probably heard a lot of chatter from the media about a newfound thrift amongst American consumers. The general take is that Americans, faced with lost incomes and wealth and burdened by record levels of debt, have moved away…

FT.com - Latvian contagion There will be contagion: Lithuania and Estonia at a minimum. bubbleinfo.com » Only The Shadow Gives you a taste of the extent of the shadow inventory overhang “Capitalism: A Love Story” « naked…

Marshall Auerback here.  I want to add a few thoughts on the situation in Latvia which Ed has highlighted on several occasions. His allusion to Argentina to describe the situation in the Baltics last July was on the money. I have a solution…

General Motors' car sales surge in China | Business | guardian.co.uk "GM sold a record number of cars in China last month, with sales up 55% so far this year." Latvian PM rules out devaluation "The worst of Latvia's…

I tend to think so. Yesterday, Ben Bernanke made what some media outlets are calling hawkish statements.  This, combined with heavy currency intervention by Asian central banks, helped to strengthen the U.S. dollar. However one must…

Paul Krugman has noticed that trade has absolutely collapsed with this economic downturn. It is worse than the Great Depression. Question: is this aiding global re-balancing? Here are two data points from Europe today which lead to that…

Via the Telegraph: From the moment that President Barack Obama - who has won the Nobel peace prize - entered the Oval Office, he made clear that resolving the conflict in the Middle East would be a key priority of his foreign policy.…

I found the recent consumer credit data unsatisfying because the data seemed to point in two directions. The seasonally-adjusted data showed a large $12 billion decrease in consumer credit which received headlines. Meanwhile, the…