recession

Here’s the joke of the day via Steve Keen: Ten reasons the economy is so bad (I suggest this as a top ten for David Letterman?): #10: I got a pre-declined credit card in the mail. #9: I ordered a burger at McDonalds and the kid…

The banks have been the ones benefitting most from free money via the Federal Government and U.S. taxpayers.  Given 9.8% base unemployment and 17.0% comprehensive unemployment, it is a bit galling for ordinary Americans that these same…

Today, Moody’s warned that Iceland, Latvia and Hungary were stabilizing but that their economies remained fragile. The problem is high debt levels, which is restraining consumer spending. Recovery in the Eurozone has been the main aid to…

I have been very interested in the concept of legal tender of late because of the revelation this summer that the State of California was issuing I.O.U.’s to honour its debts instead of paying in U.S. Dollars, which are legal tender and…

via the Hartford Courant (Hat tip Scott).

In 2002, the global economy was weak and equity markets around the world were at multi-year lows following the greatest equity bubble and bust in world history. Many policy makers including Alan Greenspan, chairman of the U.S. Federal…

This September 2009 post still describes my general view on the U.S. economy. If I wrote it today, I would be more bearish medium-term because it is obvious that in 2010 fiscal and monetary policy will become less supportive of recovery.…

This comes from the blog News from 1930: An out-of-work broker asked a friend who owned a circus for work. His friend said the circus gorilla had recently died, and if the broker wanted to get into the gorilla's skin, swing around,…

Refining margins have been absolutely decimated, especially for refiners of heavy, sour crude like Valero Energy (VLO) and Tesoro Petroleum (TSO).  This is taking a toll on profits in the oil and gas sector, with both oil majors highly…

Recently Allan Meltzer, a former Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve, wrote a widely noted and provocative article in the Wall Street Journal called “What Happened to the ‘Depression?’” He called for an end to deficit-inducing stimulus…