financial history

While this bear market has been difficult, it does not compare to the 1930s as the graphs in this post indicate. And it's time to consider that the 2007-2009 bear market is almost over.

The political realities of solving a financial crisis have often meant circumventing legislative approval to meet the exigencies of a particular situation.  This was certainly the case in 1995 during the so-called Tequila Crisis in Mexico.…

James Montier has a very good piece out via John Mauldin ([email protected]) on the need for real economy stimulus over financial sector stimulus. The quote I find most memorable goes to the heart of our debate about the…

Yesterday, I posted an item on Naked Capitalism about the bankruptcy of Yamaichi Securities in 1996 as testament to lingering weakness in a country's financial sector if sick financial institutions are not dealt with swiftly. In essence,…

This account bears remembering because we can see the 1929-1933 descent as a two-part episode, with the second part starting here. It should be noted that there were a lot of positive economic signs before the Creditanstalt ruined this.…

Rohatyn, a Democrat, talks about the role of government in crisis, infrastructure spending and lessons from New York City's near economic collapse n the 1970s from his perspective. Royatyn is widely credited with saving New York City from…

Paul Kasriel of Northern Trust is one of the few economists to have warned about the present economic malaise. So his analysis of present events carries weight. In making recommendations about our future economic path, Kasriel leans heavily…

While job losses of 598,000 in today's report for January 2009 were more than the 525,000 expected, it was within the expected range. Evidence of this comes from the increase in long-term treasury yields and stock futures prices immediately…

Politicians in Washington D.c. have cooked up a nice way to re-create the mistakes of the Great Depression by attaching a 'Buy American' provision onto the stimulus bill making its way through Congress. Apparently the Canadians and…

Marshall Auerback here. Now that Barack Obama has been inaugurated, we should actually look back to 1933 to get a sense of perspective. How did Americans see the economy at the Inauguration of Franklin Roosevelt? The short answer is…