Debt Has Not Been Caused by Low Interest Rates, but Higher Rates Would Topple the Whole World Economy
Yet more official hand-wringing about interest rates…when they aren’t the core economic problem.
Read more...Category Archives: Credit markets
Student Loans, Meet Greece: Extend and Pretend Bond Maturities
Shed a crocodile tear for investors in student loans: they are sometimes discomfited by short-lived downgrades when loan maturities are pushed out.
Read more...Credit Cycles and Asset Returns
Yves here. I’m clearly not in touch. I am surprised that this finding, that credit booms predict equity busts, is novel. Of course, given that manias last way longer than cooler heads deem possible, judging the peak of a credit cycle is tricky business. Nevertheless, when a wee summer associate at bond trading powerhouse Salomon […]
Read more...Wolf Richter: How Ratings Agencies Inflate Credit Ratings to Get Deals & Fees
Haven’t we already seen this movie? Race to the bottom in gaming credit ratings agencies for commercial real estate Collateralized Loan Obligation deals.
Read more...After the Argentina Debacle, the IMF Endorses Weakening Capital Controls in Ecuador
The IMF is backing a tax reform bill in Ecuador that will enable capital flight and further austerity.
Read more...Sweden Retreats from Negative Interest Rate Experiment
Sweden throws in the towel on its negative interest rate policy as inflation stays stubbornly low.
Read more...There is No Economics Without Politics
Debunking the pretense that the economics discipline is neutral or objective.
Read more...Payday Lenders Offering Installment Loans to Evade Regulations – But They May Be Even Worse
When is a payday loan still pretty much a payday loan? When it’s an installment loan with annual interest rates over 100%.
Read more...Misunderstanding Volcker
A reappraisal of Volcker, who was more hostile to workers and less hard on financiers than the press would have you believe.
Read more...Why the UK Needs a Financial Transaction Tax
Claims that a financial transaction tax would be difficult to implement and raise little revenue are fake news.
Read more...What’s Behind the Subprime Consumer Loan Implosion?
Subprime loan repayment continues to deteriorate. What is going on?
Read more...Repo Madness: Fed Plumbing Gone Awry
How the Fed’s fingerprints are all over the repo mess.
Read more...Wolf Richter: The Fed Slaps Down Negative Interest Rates
The first major discussion of negative interest rates recounted in the FOMC minutes show serious disapproval.
Read more...The Rich Under Stress as Asset Prices Wobble
Some of the rich are feeling the pinch. Is this a passing phenomenon or a sign of things to come?
Read more...Non-Financial Private Debt Overhang: Post War German Debt Reforms as a Model for a Modern Debt Jubilee?
Private debt levels are even higher than in 2008 but super low interest rates make that look less worrisome than it arguably should be. T. Sabri Öncü ponders how to go about large scale debt relief.
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