Author Archives: George Washington

About George Washington

George Washington is the head writer at Washington’s Blog. A busy professional and former adjunct professor, George’s insatiable curiousity causes him to write on a wide variety of topics, including economics, finance, the environment and politics. For further details, ask Keith Alexander… http://www.washingtonsblog.com

Guest Post: The Real Reason the Giant, Insolvent Banks Aren’t Being Broken Up

By George Washington of Washington’s Blog. Why isn’t the government breaking up the giant, insolvent banks? We Need Them To Help the Economy Recover? Do we need the Too Big to Fails to help the economy recover? No. The following top economists and financial experts believe that the economy cannot recover unless the big, insolvent […]

Guest Post: Simon Johnson – “If Everyone Involved Is Using the Same Roadmap of Risks, We Will All Drive off the Cliff Again Together”

(I was going to take a week off, but Yves suggested I post this.) By George Washington of Washington’s Blog. We have to change our risk models, and not just defer to the big banks’ inaccurate models which got us into this mess. Says who? Nassim Taleb: I have been fighting risk models both as […]

Guest Post: Credit Default Swaps – Love ‘Em, Ban ‘Em, or Tax ‘Em?

(Yves should be back – and so the site should return to normal – tomorrow. If all goes according to plan, you’ll be hearing a lot less from me for a week or so. Yves’ book – Econned – will be quite valuable, and so well worth the wait. ) By George Washington of Washington’s […]

Guest Post: Is Gold A Reasonable Investment?

By George Washington of Washington’s Blog. (Rest assured that once Yves is done writing her book, and back posting, or other guest posters write more, I will post less often! ) This essay rounds up arguments for gold as a reasonable investment. China Commentators such as Ambrose Evans-Pritchard and Byron King argue that China’s hunger […]

Guest Post: The Case for Inflation

By George Washington of Washington’s Blog. As I have recently pointed out, there are strong arguments for ongoing deflation. But even deflationists think that – after a period of deflation – we might eventually get inflation. For example, in October, I guessed 1 1/2 to 2 years of deflation, followed by inflation. Moreover, noted deflationist […]

Guest Post: How Well Has The Federal Reserve Performed for America?

By George Washington of Washington’s Blog. How well has the Federal Reserve performed for America? Mainstream pundits, of course, say that Bernanke has saved the world . . . . but they said the same thing about Greenspan. So let’s look at the actual historical record to determine how well the Fed has done. Initially, […]

Guest Post: Why Concentration in the Banking Industry Threatens Our Economy

By George Washington of Washington’s Blog. As everyone knows, the big banks have gotten bigger and bigger. Noted economist Mark Zandi says we have an oligopoly of banks, and that “the oligopoly has tightened”. The TARP Inspector – Neil Barofsky – told Huffington Post yesterday that, because of the consolidation in the banking industry: I […]

Guest Post: William K. Black’s Proposal for “Systemically Dangerous Institutions”

By George Washington of Washington’s Blog. William K. Black, Associate Professor of Economics and Law at the University of Missouri – Kansas City, and the former head S&L regulator, has written the following fantastic new proposal concerning the giant, insolvent banks. Posted/reprinted with Professor Black’s permission. William K. Black Associate Professor of Economics and Law […]

Guest Post: Deflation?

By George Washington of Washington’s Blog. As Absolute Return Partners wrote in its July newsletter: The most important investment decision you will have to make this year and possibly for years to come is whether to structure your portfolio for deflation or inflation. So which is it, inflation or deflation? This is obviously a hot […]

Guest Post: If Credit is Not Created Out of Excess Reserves, What Does That Mean?

By George Washington of Washington’s Blog. We’ve all been taught that banks first build up deposits, and then extend credit and loan out their excess reserves. But critics of the current banking system claim that this is not true, and that the order is actually reversed. Sounds crazy, right? Certainly. But as PhD economist Steve […]

Guest Post: Steve Keen Out-Thinks Larry Summers

By George Washington of Washington’s Blog. Inside the beltway and among mainstream economists, Larry Summers has the reputation of being a genius. But Australian PhD economist Steve Keen points out a huge gap in the thinking of Summers – and all neoclassical economists. Specifically, in an essay written today, Keen explains the weakness in the […]

Guest Post: Are Financial Blogs Trustworthy?

By George Washington of Washington’s Blog. The talking heads say that financial blogs aren’t trustworthy. But the whole debate about blogs versus mainstream media is nonsense. In fact, many of the world’s top PhD economics professors and financial advisors have their own blogs. For example (in no particular order): Nouriel Roubini Paul Krugman Nassim Nicholas […]

Guest Post: We Can’t Break Up the Giant Banks, Can We? Yes We Can!

By George Washington of Washington’s Blog. Top economists and financial experts believe that the economy cannot recover unless the big, insolvent banks are broken up in an orderly fashion. Even the Bank of International Settlements – the “Central Banks’ Central Bank” – has slammed too big to fail. As summarized by the Financial Times: The […]

Guest Post: Top Economists Say We Must Break Up the Insolvent Banks (Government Says Let’s Make Them Bigger)

By George Washington of Washington’s Blog. The following top economists and financial experts believe that the economy cannot recover unless the big, insolvent banks are broken up in an orderly fashion: Nobel prize-winning economist, Joseph Stiglitz Nobel prize-winning economist, Ed Prescott Dean and professor of finance and economics at Columbia Business School, and chairman of […]