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Credit is still tight despite the low Libor rates and other signs that market stress has died down. Case and point is an item I ran across on the Norwegian site E24. Apparently, Amsterdam is losing revenue as its prostitutes in the red light district cannot get credit.  Here is my translation of the story:
The [...]

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Let’s say you’re an American named Maria living in Southern California.  The year is 2006.  You make $45,000 and your husband David makes another $40,000.  You have two children aged six and four and your two-bedroom apartment is getting too small.  So you decide to consider buying a house.  Eventually, you and your husband find [...]

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Credit in Spain is contracting at an unprecedented rate, down 33% in the first quarter as Spain faces a housing bust and near 20% unemployment. Below is my translation of part of a Spanish-language article explaining the situation.
Consumer credit fell by 33.7% in the first quarter, to €5.796 billion, and late payments rose to 17.54%, [...]

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Apparently the answer to this question is yes.  CNBC is reporting that home ‘owners’ who refinance their mortgages through loans backed by Fannie and Freddie will be able to borrow up to 125% of their homes’ value (hat tip Marshall Auerback).  That’s not a typo: we’re talking no-money down and 25% cash back.  Sign me [...]

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FT Alphaville is reporting that the credit rating agency Fitch puts credit card losses at 10.4% of outstanding loans.  This is a record.  Bad news if you are a credit card company.  So, what does one do in that situation?  You raise rates on customers that are paying, silly.
Citi’s rate increases emerged on the day [...]

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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 these issues because I think they are significant in regards to savings, debt and other [...]

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Late last year, I predicted that China, as a major exporter to the West, would feel a huge impact from the meltdown in the global economy, taking it’s growth rate down to 2% (See Top ten predictions for the 2009 global economy). Forgetting about the fact that data are highly suspect in China, I see [...]

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Alan Blinder, David Leonhardt, and Alan Auerbach talk about deficits.  Leonhardt had a well-regarded piece in the New York Times on the issue linked below.

There are two basic truths about the enormous deficits that the federal government will run in the coming years.
The first is that President Obama’s agenda, ambitious as it may be, [...]

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PIMCO’s founder Bill Gross is out with his latest monthly missive.  It makes for interesting reading, especially in regards to the captains of finance and their desire to stay rich using other people’s money.
I remember as a child my parents telling me, perhaps resentfully, that only a doctor, airline pilot, or a car dealer could [...]

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Dollar bears are getting their way in the currency markets right now.  While most eyes are peeled on Sterling (up 3 big figures since Friday) and the Euro, all currencies are rising against the Dollar (including the Commodity Dollar Complex – Auusie, Kiwi, and Loonie).  For me, the most interesting currency is the Swiss Franc [...]