loss socialization

By Michael Pettis I just got back from a very interesting but hectic week in New York and Washington, followed by two days at a conference in Hangzhou. During my meetings I noticed that much of the discussion, and many of the questions I…

By Michael Pettis Barry Eichengreen had a very interesting piece in last week’s Wall Street Journal. In it he argues that we are approaching the end of the period in which the US dollar is the world’s dominant reserve currency, and…

Noam Scheiber's recent article on Tim Geithner is a good piece for understanding Geithner's thinking. He wants American banks to penetrate emerging markets and get even bigger. How this benefits the U.S. economy is unclear, however. It…

Here are some quick thoughts on what's happening in Ireland. The Irish situation is mostly about the collapse in the economy due to a huge run-up in private sector debts. This has been complicated by Iceland-style bailouts for an outsized…

by Michael Pettis After three weeks of traveling it is good to be back in Beijing, even though now I have to work through the mountain of very fattening mooncakes my very kind students have given me for Mid-Autumn Festival Day.  While…

When people talk about the recent sovereign debt crisis they make a lot of sweeping statements about debt and currency which allow them to make false analogies. This does us all a disservice because it creates a false impression about the…

Recently Press Secretary Robert Gibbs made an unsuccessful attempt to pin blame for the Obama Administration's failed economic policies on the "professional left." Gibbs said "those people ought to be drug tested" and…

By Paul Brodsky and Lee Quaintance of QB Partners (Hat tip Barry Ritholtz) • Deflation • Quantitative Easing (QE2 & QE3) • A nod to Christopher Hitchens • The G7 financial system must deleverage to regain a semblance…

Excerpts from Comstock's latest weekly: Debt is discussed by the pundits on financial TV also, but in almost every case the discussion revolves around government deficits relative to GDP or government debt relative to GDP.  They…

Kenneth Rogoff, a professor at Harvard University and former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, talks with Bloomberg's Susan Li i Hong Kong about the global economy and China's real estate market and economy. Rogoff also…