United States

Tim Geithner has issued a Code Red on the U.S. dollar, but he doesn’t think Americans can handle it. I believe deeply that it’s very important to the United States, to the economic health of the United States, that we maintain a strong…

For those of us interested in seeing more robust and knowledgeable regulators in government service, the recent news that Rick Bookstaber is joining the SEC is quite welcome. While I disagree vigorously with much of recent economic policy,…

The Canadian daily National Post has a good piece out today that highlights how the ‘Buy American’ provision is being seen in Canada.  Many see it as an affront that America could and would favor domestic firms over those of its…

China on Friday accused the US of protectionist and biased trade policies less than a week before president Barack Obama’s first visit to Beijing. In a stinging rebuke to Washington, China’s commerce ministry promised to take…

The sale to Canadian auto parts maker Magna International and its partner, Russian lender Sberbank is off. With bankruptcy now behind it, General Motors now feels confident it can proceed with Opel under the GM umbrella. From the GM press…

When it comes to the housing meltdowns in the richest economies, the US has been matched only by Spain, Ireland and the UK. All four countries have seen spectacular losses of wealth in the housing sector over the last two years. The…

Annaly Capital Management’s blog has a good piece up on foreclosures, inspired by yesterday’s Case-Shiller data (hat tip Scott). If you missed it, The S&P/Case-Shiller index showed a pretty steep 1.2% month-on-month increase in U.S.…

Nouriel Roubini seems to think so. In remarks quoted via Bloomberg, he called the enormous increase in asset prices “the mother of all carry trades.” Investors worldwide are borrowing dollars to buy assets including equities and…

The latest data from the S&P/Case-Shiller house price indices shows house prices increasing in 17 of 20 major residential markets. The overall composite index are up for the fourth month in a row but year-over-year comparisons still…

The number is zero.  According to a recent Harvard study, two of every three bankruptcies in the US are medical-related. That’s why at least catastrophic coverage for everyone is the real purpose of healthcare reform. Why some…