credit-boom
The Culture of Debt
I have something that I’m quite proud of to share with you this afternoon. It’s an essay called The Culture of Debt, and I wrote it about three years ago. At the time, the credit bubble was still growing, feeding a boom in real estate and fueling all manner of mindless consumption. I wrote this [...]
The World According to Gordon Brown
It was all smiles at the conclusion of the G20 summit held in London yesterday. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown babbled on about the emergence of a new world order – which will be composed of the very same self-serving politicians that he was bickering with just a few hours before this laughable announcement of [...]
Fed Buys U.S. Debt!
I believe that a disproportionate amount of media attention has focused on political squabbles inspired by the latest mega-billion dollar economic stimulus package, the continuing costs of bailing out financial institutions, and the recent show trials of A.I.G. employees. In my opinion, far too little attention is set upon the Federal Reserve, which is embarking [...]
Where did America’s Wealth go?
Where did America’s wealth go? That is the question being asked from Washington state to Washington DC. The Federal Reserve reported yesterday that U.S. household net worth plummeted by $11.2 trillion, equivalent to a loss of close to 18 percent, during 2008. Household net worth – which is assets owned minus liabilities owed – of [...]
Feds Toss More Money Down AIG Hole
American International Group (AIG) made history this week by declaring a $61.7 billion loss for the fourth quarter of 2008. That equates to $22.95 per share, compare that to a stock price of less than a buck, (it was quoted at $0.34 today) and one can see the absurdity of our nation’s current financial situation. [...]
Feds Scheme to Nationalize Citigroup
It’s round three in the federal government’s fight to save Citigroup. Last weekend, officials from the Obama administration and Citigroup discussed the possibility of expanding the government’s ownership stake in the troubled banking giant by converting existing preferred shares into common stock. This development makes the question of nationalizing large, troubled commercial banks a matter [...]
Stop Digging! – A Criticism of Economic Stimulus
Over the past two decades, the U.S. has shifted from a nation of producers and savers to one of shoppers and spendthrifts. Now, our collective recklessness is plunging our economy into its darkest period since the Great Depression. It’s time for politicians to create policies that promote fiscal responsibility as opposed to ones that encourage [...]
Employment Report Lands with a Thud
Thud! That was the sound of January’s dismal payroll number as it landed in the collective face of overly
optimistic Wall Street economists early Friday morning.
Non-farm payrolls contracted by 17,000 last month, marking the first decline since the summer of 2003. The “thud” that was heard around the world’s trading salons was the result of reality [...]
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