Post Tagged with: "Greenspan Put"
Readers of this blog expect the recession to last redux
Back in June I asked you all “When will the U.S. economy recover?.” The response was basically either “there will be no recovery to speak of” or “recovery is a long way off.” The poll results are embedded below. [poll id="9"] I asked a similar question as the new year began since arguably a ‘technical
On kleptocracy and the sense that we have a one-party system
As a writer, Matt Taibbi is a lot more vitriolic than I am. He curses, makes some pretty over-the-top personal attacks, and divines a policymaker’s intent where I don’t think he can. But, this goes mostly to style. Substantively speaking, he has a lot to say and we should take notice. I wanted to highlight
Obama forgot Samuelson when he told fat cats to start lending
There has been quite a lot of hub-bub today about President Obama’s fat cat remarks and his meeting with bankers exhorting them to lend. Let me tie these events in with a few other themes into a comprehensive picture of what is happening in politics and banking. In a nutshell, we are getting a bunch
Reaching for yield in the post-TARP era
When I read Yves Smith’s recent comments on Bank of America’s repayment of its TARP funds, I couldn’t help but think of a post I wrote six months ago called "Asymmetric information and corporate governance in bank bailouts." The gist is of the post is about the same as Yves’ and it was inspired by
All bubbles are equal, but some bubbles are more equal than others
Columbia University Professor and former Federal Reserve official Frederic Mishkin wrote a much-discussed Op-Ed in the Financial Times yesterday. In it, he asks Are potential asset-price bubbles always dangerous? He answers this question with a no, noting that some asset bubbles are more dangerous than others because of their connection to debt and credit. I
Did Gordon Gekko inspire Wall Street or the other way around?
This contribution from Daniel Berger is a letter to Michael Smerconish in response to a commentary Smerconish wrote on 10 May 2009 in the Philadelphia Inquirer “Head Strong: Did Hollywood inspire the meltdown men?” A shorter version of Berger’s piece appeared at New Deal 2.0 in July. Given my recent two posts on greed (“More
The next crisis is already under way
Wolfgang Munchau of the Financial Times wrote a very important comment piece in today’s Financial Times. In it he said that central banks are targeting asset prices to avoid the brunt of cyclical downturns. This policy is inducing asset bubbles and creating a more volatile real economy with unpredictable negative consequences. I want to expand
Federal Reserve’s Fisher says tightening will be aggressive
Marshall Auerback pointed out a statement from Dallas Fed Chief Richard Fisher today that is not getting a lot of attention despite its importance. He said: I expect that when it comes time to tighten monetary policy, my colleagues and I will move with an alacrity that, if needed, will be equal in speed and
Is economic boom around the corner?
This September 2009 post still describes my general view on the U.S. economy. If I wrote it today, I would be more bearish medium-term because it is obvious that in 2010 fiscal and monetary policy will become less supportive of recovery. Political pressures to remove fiscal and monetary stimulus are too much to bear. As a result, I give a double dip recession slightly better odds than a multi-year recovery now. But the analysis framing my thinking is largely the same
Stephen Roach: The case against Bernanke
While most economists have come out in favor of Barack Obama’s decision to re-appoint Ben Bernanke as Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, Stephen Roach has penned an Op-Ed in today’s Financial Times which highlights the case against Bernanke. It is must reading. Roach has three main points. Before the Lehman bankruptcy, Bernanke was an
A brief philosophical argument about the role of government, stimulus and recession
I was chatting with Marshall Auerback about some of my recent posts on Keynesianism and Austrian Economics — Marshall is a Keynesian — and he convinced me that my posts were somewhat misleading and that I had only presented half of the argument for stimulus. This led me to thinking about the role of government, stimulus and recession which I felt compelled to present here
Barack Obama ushers in a new era in America
Barack Obama has won the U.S. presidential election in convincing fashion. While I am clearly not a liberal nor a Democrat, I am pleased with the election’s outcome. It signals a new beginning – a new era in American politics and in American society that is much needed