United States

I listened to the first day of the Sonia Sotomayor confirmation hearings for a spot as a US Supreme Court justice. I was very impressed.  The three who impressed me the most were Al Franken (D-MN), Arlen Specter (D-PA), and Sotomayor…

It is refreshing to read the foreign press because they have decidedly different takes on issues.Whether you agree or not, it is important to hear those views. The Swiss are very negative on the U.S. and their tax fight against UBS. This…

Marshall Auerback sent me this joke about Mark Sanford. Mark Sanford’s staff thought he was hiking in the mountains. In fairness to his aides, "I'm getting some Argentinian tail." sounds a lot like "I'm hiking the…

10-Year TIPS were sold with a Bid/Cover ratio of 2.51.  Almost half of the securities went to indirect bidders, meaning central banks are still bidding for U.S. government debt. Obviously, there is no problem for Treasuries despite…

I think a technical recovery will happen in the Q4 to Q1 timeframe.  But this recovery is likely to be weak, if it happens at all.  Downside risk remains. Unfortunately, the Obama administration has fired all its bullets, spending…

When we saw the Case-Shiller data for April on Tuesday, I noted that New York was the most overpriced metro area in the Composite-20 as prices there were still 70% above January 2000 levels.  This is changing fast.  Bloomberg…

As Americans ponder the health care reform initiatives now coming from Congress and the Obama Administration, I want to say a few words about what the subject means to me. America is often touted as the richest country in the world.  It…

I happened upon an article about shops being closed in France that highlighted a larger issue about cultural attitudes in the U.S. and Europe regarding work, leisure and material wealth.  I would like to share some thoughts with you on…

The S&P/Case Shiller Home Price Indices for April 2009 were released today.  The Composite-10 and Composite-20 indices showed a 18.0% and 18.1% decline respectively, making the data less bad than in the previous month.  Nevertheless,…

Since so many economists are signing up to the second-half recovery meme (Berner, Gordon, Krugman, Bernanke), I am going to ask you whether you believe them or not. What say ye? (If you can't read the above it is a poll asking you…