→ Washington’s Blog (Videos at WashingtonsBlog.com) A number of different chemists are finding elevated levels of toxic hydrocarbons in the bloodstream of Gulf coast residents. What is most disturbing about these results is that people who simply live near the water are showing higher than normal levels of toxic chemicals. These are not fishermen, shrimpers, […]
Read more...The end of the US summer holiday period is upon us, and with it, a return to reality. The markets are again concerned re Eurobanks, as the fears registered in EU periphery country bond spreads are now registering with investors in other markets. Per Bloomberg: The gaps between 10- year German bond yields and those […]
Read more...Study examines association between urban living and psychotic disorders PhysOrg Freakonomics: The Movie Out Today on iTunes Only Freakonomics Money Can Buy Happiness, Study Finds — But Only Up To $75,000 Associated Press. Even though the Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman was involved in this study, the idea of using survey research to reach this […]
Read more...Wow, the EU is increasingly taking steps to force foreign, meaning US and UK firms, to play by its rules or not have access to its investors. The first salvo occurred over private equity funds and hedge funds, where the EU will limit its investors to funds located in the EU, and is also limiting […]
Read more...John Cassidy, and following him, Felix Salmon. took aim at Ben Bernanke’s testimony last week at the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission explaining why the central bank and Treasury stood aside in Lehman’s extremis. The problem is that both get two fundamental, and critical facts wrong, and that error makes the rest of their claims dubious. […]
Read more...An interesting paper at VoxEU provides some empirical support for a commonsensical observation: that the pervasive use of limited liability structures for virtually all financial services activities creates “heads I win, tails you lose” dynamics. If you have no downside and can earn more by taking risk, then why not? While bad incentives like these […]
Read more...Reading Arabic ‘hard for brain‘ BBC Rare colour footage of Blitz unearthed Telegraph What America Has Lost Fareed Zakaria, Newsweek (hat tip reader Paul S) Religious Outlier New York times (hat tip reader John D) The Death of Cash? All Over the World Governments Are Banning Large Cash Transactions Lew Rockwell (hat tip reader John […]
Read more...By William C. Black, Associate Professor of Economics and Law, University of Missouri-Kansas City, the author of The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One, who also posts at New Economic Perspectives. The New York Times, in a story entitled “Afghanistan Tries to Help Nation’s Biggest Bank” issued the following correction: Correction: […]
Read more...During the global financial crisis, after each acute phase, there would be a period of relief in which conditions returned to a semblance of normalcy, and policymakers and investors carried on as if acting as if all was well would make it so. Unfortunately, positive thinking provided only temporary relief from the undertow of rising […]
Read more...This post first appeared on March 24, 2008 The comments in the Financial Times by Yoshimi Watanabe, Japan’s financial services minister, are extraordinary. He ventured to give the US advice on its credit crunch based on Japan’s experience during its post-bubble-years banking crisis. And it’s not pretty. Why are these remarks so unusual? Consider: Most […]
Read more...Apologies for thin links, I am supposed to be having a holiday and need to be up early to drive from Bailey Island, Maine, to Camden. HIGHEST-PAID ATHLETE HAILED FROM ANCIENT ROME Discovery (hat tip reader John M) The Medicare Headline You Didn’t See (and won’t) Bruce Webb, Angry Bear Analysts: Iraq war ‘partly to […]
Read more...By William C. Black, Associate Professor of Economics and Law, University of Missouri-Kansas City, and the author of The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One On February 6, 2010 I wrote an open letter to Dr. Walter E. Massey, who was then Chairman of the Board of Directors of Bank of […]
Read more...This post first appeared on March 13, 2008 Never expect a group with members ideologically opposed to regulation to come up with a wide ranging reform program, no matter how badly one is needed. An individual can have a Nixon-goes-to-China moment, but not a committee. Later today, no doubt with great fanfare, Hank Paulson will […]
Read more...I’ve got my hands full aping Mum: Orangutan cradles lion cubs in unlikely babysitter role Daily Mail (hat tip reader dearieme) Strong earthquake rocks New Zealand’s South Island BBC Viking Experiment May Have Found Life’s Building Blocks on Mars After All Universe Today Ancient Brew Masters Tapped Antibiotic Secret Science Daily (hat tip reader John […]
Read more...This post first appeared on March 11, 2008 Oooh, the week has barely started and we’ve already had an overdose of adrenaline-generating news. Thornburg Mortgage and Carlyle Capital, both twisting in the wind, battered by margin calls, look unlikely to escape bankruptcy (Thornburg has already defaulted on financing agreements; Carlyle is seeking a standstill). Freddie […]
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