derivatives

In handwriting: Note that there should be no discussion or suggestion that AIG and the NY Fed are asking to structure anything else at this point. It will be enlightening to hear him explain what this statement means. See…

Damaging e-mails have revealed that Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner urged AIG to withhold crucial information about the deterioration of its financial condition in the lead up to its demise.  This will put further political…

I mentioned comments by former Morgan Stanley economist Andy Xie on reckless monetary policy earlier today. Below are interviews Xie gave with the Financial Times in Shanghai back in September which give a more comprehensive look at his…

That is the question Newsweek asked of the Democratic Congressman from Massachusetts in charge of banking reform efforts in the U.S. House of Representatives in an interview.  Rather than answer the question fairly, Frank attacked the…

Below are three videos from a talk at the 2009 Economics of Peace Conference in Sonoma, CA, where James Galbraith talks about the Hyman Minsky concept of the instability of stability. This concept is fundamental to the behavioural…

This story is on the front page of Business Week: Detroit Mayor Dave Bing is struggling to save his city from fiscal calamity. Unemployment is at a record 28% and rising, while home prices have plunged 39% since 2007. The 66-year-old…

Bond insurer Ambac Financial has warned bankruptcy is a distinct possibility, sending its shares plummeting more than 30% today. What is intriguing about this pending bankruptcy is how this company escaped bankruptcy in 2008, was…

Financial Armageddon: In-Your-Face Influence Peddling FT.com - Not all bubbles present a risk to the economy (Blinkered Fed thinking on asset bubbles. Reminiscent of the Greenspan era.) Fitch Says U.K. Rating Most at Risk Among…

Robert Johnson, director of the Economic Policy Initiative of the Roosevelt Institute, has been extremely critical of the US Government’s handling of matters related to financial services. This past October 7, he gave testimony at the…

This comes via the FT: Saudi Arabia on Wednesday decided to drop the widely used West Texas Intermediate oil contract as the benchmark for pricing its oil, dealing a serious blow to the New York Mercantile Exchange. The decision by…