Author Archives: Edward Harrison

About Edward Harrison

I am a banking and finance specialist at the economic consultancy Global Macro Advisors. Previously, I worked at Deutsche Bank, Bain, the Corporate Executive Board and Yahoo. I have a BA in Economics from Dartmouth College and an MBA in Finance from Columbia University. As to ideology, I would call myself a libertarian realist - believer in the primacy of markets over a statist approach. However, I am no ideologue who believes that markets can solve all problems. Having lived in a lot of different places, I tend to take a global approach to economics and politics. I started my career as a diplomat in the foreign service and speak German, Dutch, Swedish, Spanish and French as well as English and can read a number of other European languages. I enjoy a good debate on these issues and I hope you enjoy my blogs. Please do sign up for the Email and RSS feeds on my blog pages. Cheers. Edward http://www.creditwritedowns.com

Guest post: Repayments will make banks weaker and could lead to more failures

Submitted by Edward Harrison of the site Credit Writedowns. Yesterday, I argued that allowing banks to repay TARP funds meant a continuation of overcapacity in financial services, which was a direct contributor to the credit crisis through its dampening impact on unlevered returns. Some of the banks now free of the TARP restrictions are arguably […]

Links 6/10/09

Supreme Court allows Chrysler sale to Fiat Reuters Speeding up brain networks might boost IQ New Scientist ECB Official Warns on Europe’s Banks WSJ.com Waving Goodbye to the TARP DealBook Chart of the day: Household equity Felix Salmon (You can see the bubble-like rise and fall in equity. Pretty dramatic chart. You should notice the […]

Guest post: Ten big banks receive approval to repay TARP funds

Submitted by Edward Harrison of the site Credit Writedowns. If you thought the bailout of too big to fail institutions was a massive gift from taxpayers to captains of Wall Street, the news that TARP funds are being repaid should confirm your beliefs. Just today the U.S. Treasury has agreed to allow 10 financial institutions […]

Links 6/9/09

This is Ed Harrison submitting the links for Yves today. It’s the usual economic fare with a few technology, political and science stories to boot. Of course, there is always the antidote du jour. Enjoy. Citigroup Gains Geithner Backing as Pandit Bucks Bair Bloomberg (hat tip DoctoRx) The Economy Is Still at the Brink Sandy […]

Guest post: The mega Jeremy Grantham interview

Submitted by Edward Harrison of the site Credit Writedowns. Hi everyone. I will be cross-posting a lot more this week as Yves is out on holiday. I want to start things off with a video that outlines a bear market rally point of view that is very much consistent with my market view (For more, […]

Guest post: Payroll data mixed despite the bullish headline job loss figure

Submitted by Edward Harrison of the site Credit Writedowns The payroll data this morning were pretty good given the job losses came in nearly 200,000 less than expected. But further digging suggests the number is not nearly as bullish when parsing the data. Below are a few data points. ESTABLISHMENT SURVEY BULLISH: The headline jobs […]

Guest post: Former Countrywide head Mozilo is charged by the SEC

Submitted by Edward Harrison of the site Credit Writedowns .It’s about time. The SEC has finally charged a high level executive in the banking industry in connection with activities that led to the largest bubble in U.S. history. The accused, as expected, is Angelo Mozilo, otherwise known as “The Man with the Tan.” You will […]

Guest post: Bill Gross: “Staying Rich in the New Normal”

Submitted by Edward Harrison of the site Credit Writedowns. 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 […]

Guest post: What personal consumption data means for the stock market

Submitted by Edward Harrison of the site Credit Writedowns. The data for personal consumption came out yesterday. However, I have not had a chance to look at the data and write a post until now. What I see right now is not good for a sustainable recovery. Let me tell you why and how this […]

Guest post: Central banks will face a Scylla and Charybdis flation challenge for years

Submitted by Edward Harrison of the site Credit Writedowns. Nearly a month ago, back on May 5th, I highlighted some testimony by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke before congress in a post labelled, “Bernanke expects recovery later this year". In his testimony, Bernanke used the phrase ‘Scylla and Charybdis’ to describe the Federal Reserve’s policy […]

Guest post: Dollar weakness continues

Submitted by Edward Harrison of the site Credit Writedowns. As I write this, the U.S. dollar has fallen to new 8-month lows against the British Pound and oil. Sterling is up over 2 big figures to 1.6371 while oil (WTI crude front month contract) has marched up near $68 a barrel. Clearly the sell the […]

Guest post: A finance view of the political nature of the coming GM bankruptcy

Submitted by Edward Harrison of the site Credit Writedowns. I was on the BBC yesterday talking autos and my commentary was almost entirely political. So, as we await the likely General Motors bankruptcy, I think it bears discussing how political this process has been and will continue to be. General Motors is a monster company […]

Guest post: Marc Faber says “I am 100% sure that the U.S. will go into hyperinflation”

Submitted by Edward Harrison of the site Credit Writedowns. You have to hand it to Marc Faber; he knows how to grab your attention. Earlier this year, I posted a video of him saying “don’t underestimate the power of printing money“, a quote that has become mantra for me. Basically, he believes a rising tide […]

Guest post: More thoughts on the fake recovery

Submitted by Edward Harrison of the site Credit Writedowns. A recent post I published on both Credit Writedowns and Naked Capitalism, “Both initial claims and continuing claims now pointing to recovery,” has left the impression that I am a wild-eyed bull – for which I have been duly smacked about the head. This is far […]

Guest post: Both initial claims and continuing claims now pointing to recovery

Submitted by Edward Harrison of the site Credit Writedowns. I’m back after a brief hiatus. I would like to present you with some data on jobless claims, an economic data series that will become increasingly important in the weeks and months ahead. The data suggest that a recovery is imminent. This should come as no […]