crisis

Germany has moved center stage in the credit crisis despite having not experienced a housing bubble in the run-up to the bust. Switzerland and Japan, along with Germany are three countries I find notable in not having participated in the…

On the heels of weekend trouble at European banks, markets in Asia and Europe are selling off this morning. At the weekend, we learned that Hypo Real Estate, a finance behemoth in Germany with $700 billion in assets was feared to collapse.…

EU governments have woken up to the need to defend the banking system by guaranteeing all or some of their citizens' bank deposits. After Germany, Ireland and Greece, Denmark is the latest to do so. And Denmark may also be the one country…

Fortis, the nationalised Belgo-Dutch bank and largest private employer in Belgium. This is a good thing as I have a distinct preference for mergers over bankruptcy or long-term nationalisation as a way to hep consolidate and rationalize…

I have been a bit on edge of late because of the credit crisis that is making headlines. Recently, a lot of people have been duped into believing that the economic crisis we are experiencing is not critical and have their eyes focused…

Facing a potential breakdown in its banking system, the German government has decided to offer a blanket guarantee to private savings deposits (see comments below from German blogger egghat about this distinction), much as Ireland and…

The Europeans have no idea what is about to hit them. Their banking system is collapsing and European politicians are fighting amongst themselves. At French President Nicolas Sarkozy's crisis summit, the politicians were unable to craft a…

A week into the European leg of the meltdown of the global financial system, Germany has hit major turbulence. Hypo Real Estate, a member of the DAX-30, Germany's equivalent of the Dow Jones Industrial Average looks to be on the verge of…

The deed is done. Despite huge voter disquiet about the terms of the bailout package, Congress has passed the bill and it awaits the U.S. President's signature. The house vote was 263 to 171, with a huge number of Congress members moving…

Marshall Auerback here. I have a quick thought regarding the credit crisis and bank lending in the US. If the real purpose of the Paulson Plan is recapitalization more than reliquification, and if the Scandinavian public recaps of their…