Articles By: Edward Harrison
The stark contrast between European economic policy and US economic policy
I was on CNBC yesterday ahead of Ben Bernanke’s speech explaining the FOMC’s recent decision to add an explicit inflation target to its decision to extend its rate easing/permanent zero policy. My conclusion: the Obama mortgage plan and Bernanke easing campaign are bullish for the US economy
[PREMIUM] The Fed’s Rate easing and Obama’s Mortgage refi plan are bullish
Investors must still be worried about the fallout from the European meltdown. However, the situation in the US is looking much better than it did last week because of this aggressive policy response
News Links 01/26/2012
Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal meet in Australian Open semifinal – Bruce Jenkins – SI.com they’ve drawn distinct lines in the sand when it comes to the punishing grind of the men’s tour. Nadal, fearing his body is approaching its expiration date, wants it shortened. Federer, that model of fitness and longevity, sees no need for
Geithner tells Bloomberg that Obama will give him the sack if Obama is re-elected
I had a bet with a bunch of fellow market watchers back in early 2010 when Geithner was getting it from all sides as to how long he would last. Some people were saying he couldn’t make it through the second year. Geithner outlasted Summers, Goolsbee, Romer, and Orszag. Wow!
Chart of the Day: Gold reacts to FOMC rate easing
The Fed has come out 9-1 in favor of rate easing i.e. capping medium-term treasury rates. The interesting bit is that while the Fed did the exact same thing in August out to two years, this announcement takes permanent zero out to nearly three years. That’s rate easing. Some people call it financial repression. And it’s gold bullish
Why I am not optimistic about Europe
I am not at all optimistic about the euro zone in terms of policy makers fashioning a solution to the problem. The euro leaders have the diagnosis all wrong. They keep harping on government debt and deficits as if that’s the problem. And this has caused them to go all in for austerity without a backup plan. The reality is that the sovereign debt crisis in Europe is not about government debt; it’s about private debt and intra-euro zone imbalances
News Links 01/23/2012
New York Times Tells Us Only Chinese Near Slave Labor Could Handle Steve Jobs’ Demands « naked capitalism
Roubini: we will see a Greece credit event, regardless of deal
Roubini said that the “probability of a recession in the United States is lower than 60 percent right now.” On Europe, he said that even if an agreement is reached on Greece, “there are going to be so many holdouts that then they’ll have a problem” and “either way you’re going to get a credit event.”
This is my take as well. In Europe, the concern has to be more Italy and Spain and whether the periphery can meet deficit targets given the poor economic outlook in the euro zone