capital

Sorry, the post title is over the top. Actually, let's hope there are no riots. There is certainly anger on display in the Guardian video clip below.  So far these are pretty tame protests.     Here are the things I…

This video is based on the cover story from this week's Economist.  See the written version here.

All eyes are on the Fed today because markets across the globe in bonds, equities, commodities and forex want to know how much quantitative easing (QE) the Federal Reserve will do and what assets they will buy. As US short-term interest…

by William K. Black William K. Black is an Associate Professor of Economics and Law at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He is a white-collar criminologist and was a senior financial regulator. He is the author of The Best Way to Rob…

(Chris Wood filling in for David Galland) Dear Reader, Stock buybacks have been in the news a lot lately. Sitting on piles of cash and too nervous to invest in new workers or plant and equipment, many companies have started to deploy…

John Hussman has a piece out today that dissects the current economic environment in two parts. In part one, Hussman puts a spotlight on quantitative easing (QE) and why it is unlikely to have the intentioned effect on the U.S. economy. And…

by Annaly Capital Management Lest anyone think we missed it, on August 31st the FDIC put out its Quarterly Banking Profile for the second quarter of 2010. The headline was glowing: “Quarterly Earnings Are Highest in Almost Three Years.”…

by John Lounsbury The BIS (Bank for International Settlements) reported Sunday that it has reached an agreement to increase key capital ratios for banks. The announcement was made by the Group of Governors and Heads of Supervision, the…

By John Lounsbury. I was privileged to attend a meeting at the Treasury Department in Washington on Monday afternoon, August 16. The two hour plus meeting was hosted by Senior Treasury Officials. There were three discussion leaders:…

In a recent post on the money multiplier, a reader Luis Enrique asked about bank lending and capital constraints. Anecdotally, much of the reduction in credit is supply-constrained as well as demand-constrained. That means it's a matter of…