Credit Writedowns

This video from the Wall Street Journal demonstrates what happens when governments go bankrupt.

Nouriel Roubini, nicknamed Dr. Doom by the media for his accurate but downbeat calls on the economy, is not presenting a very upbeat scenario here. He says that even if everything goes well, growth in 2010 will be very poor. It will feel…

It seems that the Obama Administration is playing hardball with GM and Chrysler. They may force the companies into bankruptcy to protect American taxpayers from having to pony up yet more money for the beleaguered automakers. I see this…

Depression is a taboo word in the English language. Its mention conjures up images of bread lines, shanty towns an general misery from the 1930's. Yet, the D-word is making a comeback amidst the backdrop of a weak global economy. In fact, a…

You may have picked up on my change in terminology recently. I have gone from calling this rough patch in the global economy a rough patch, downturn, recession or some other euphemism to labeling it a Depression. Now, I am doing that for…

Last week, Willem Buiter sized up the U.S. and the U.K. and found their desire to enact deficit-financed fiscal stimulus not credible. The attached video does a better job of summing up the mood Buiter invokes and the need for prophylactic…

Just over a decade ago, the Bank of England was given full monetary independence from the British government, making it one of the last major central banks to achieve this status. The move was heralded as critical for maintaining…

Jim Leng, the new Chairman of troubled mining giant Rio Tinto has quit abruptly despite having been employed by the company for only one month. This does not bode well as the company's mountainous debt is at the core of why Leng is leaving…

Bill Gross, the man who controls the largest bond fund in the world, believes that trillions of dollars in government spending will be necessary to get the economy going again. He warns that if the government does not spend trillions of…

Marc Faber thinks it would better to nationalize the banks rather than bail them out. In his view, we are seeing special interests feeding at the trough.