government

Win Thin of Brown Brothers Harriman is out with a note, remarking on the Eurozone contagion now moving to the core.  Questions about France and a potential ratings downgrade are now circulating. Thin says: France is coming under…

Last year I told you that Berkshire had 62 derivative contracts that I manage. (We also have a few left in the General Re runoff book.) Today, we have 94 of these, and they fall into two categories. First, we have written 54 contracts…

New York is one of the states at highest risk of default and budget cuts are coming. However, for now, those cuts will be limited to service cuts, dismissals and furloughs. Public sector pensions remain an intractable issue that will move…

Below is an excerpt of a Barron's interview with Bridgewater Associates' Ray Dalio which I first highlighted in February 2009 in A conversation with Bridgewater Associates’ Ray Dalio. Back then I highlighted the first part which…

The following is a guest post by Polyvios Petropoulos, a former university professor of economics and management in the US. Petropoulos contends that the austerity package drawn up by the IMF is not credible and that everyone knows Greece…

You saw my Stat of the Day: California now in top ten for highest government default probabilities in the world. Here's a look at those CDS spreads for California over time - Michigan and Illinois are in the mix here too.

Econ 101 Imagine you and I are the only two people in an economy. For the sake of argument, say we use sea shells as a currency and we trade with no one else but each other. So when we do trade, we exchange goods and services with each…

With the liquidity crisis surrounding the rollover of Greek debt subsiding, the probability of default for that country has plummeted from nearly even odds to just over one in three. Last Week's Numbers: 06 May 2010 Meanwhile, other…

  Hat tip Scott.

Tax revenue at state and local governments has plummeted. With house prices in California down substantially, it is even more dire for municipalities there. The result will be widespread budget cuts and, where possible, income tax hikes.…