Credit Writedowns

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia released its monthly Business Outlook Survey for August 2009. The numbers showed that the manufacturing sector in the region is in recovery mode right now, with the survey recording its highest level…

According to the results of a study by the Spanish savings bank Caixa Catalunya, consumption will fall 4.1% this year, making the reaction to this downturn four times as severe as during the last big downturn in 1993.  Back then…

The data from the most recent Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report are not particularly bullish. Claims are up for the second week in a row, dragging the 4-week average up with them. Year over-year comparisons continue to drop, but…

The misunderstanding of "debt-fueled consumption" - Rebecca Wilder Economist's View: "The Rationing Canard" Bronte Capital: Health Care Reform and single payer – an Australian perspective Obama should shift on…

Spain has been a laggard in the search for improving economic fundamentals.  The news coming out of Spain has been dreadful from employment to house prices to mortgages and banking. But the first ray of hope appeared yesterday when it…

This is a long list of posts from around the web.  Yesterday, I had pretty limited Internet access, so I doubled up on my links today. Enjoy. Edward United States Inequality in the Recovery Period - The Baseline Scenario PIMCO'S…

Yesterday I wrote a healthcare polemic which was mostly designed to discuss the politics of healthcare for the President. The essence of my argument was that Barack Obama has not shown enough willingness to fight for specific policies he…

I have a lot more to add but I have a horrendous Internet connection where I now am. So I will provide more tomorrow. Sorry for the delay in answering emails and comments. “Just because the conventional economists are drinking the…

The conventional wisdom is that the US is beholden to foreign agents as they hold much of the US government debt.  In this view, if these agents sell their securities, interest rates in America should increase as demand for US public debt…

In the video below, William Black, a well-known Associate Professor of Economics and Law at the University of Missouri – Kansas City and former top regulator at of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board during the S&L crisis, holds court.…