Interest rates are a poor substitute for fiscal spending and as we’ve seen, over-reliance on monetary policy produces speculative booms and busts. More and more people recognize this formula isn’t working, but what will it take to change course?
Read more...By John Siman, who is also the author of Part 1 and Part 2 in this series John Siman: It seems that unless there’s a Hammurabi-style “divine king” or some elected civic regulatory authority, oligarchies will arise and exploit their societies as much as they can, while trying to prevent the victimized economy from defending […]
Read more...How mixed economies have mixed it up over time.
Read more...Why having public sector development funds “leverage” private capital is a bad idea.
Read more...Not surprisingly, given economic weakness in Europe and China plus Trump trade war saber-rattling, the Fed seems less gung ho about the health of the economy than it was last summer.
Read more...A worrying update about China’s corporate debt.
Read more...Yves here. This article pre-supposes that readers understand that most leveraged lending is taking place as a result of private equity, via two routes. First, private equity funds use a great deal of borrowed money when buying companies. One of the biggest sources is so-called leveraged loans, which are normally originally made by banks, but […]
Read more...China gets a cold and California real estate gets pneumonia.
Read more...Central bankers pursue a “neutral” rate that doesn’t exist.
Read more...Another go at clearing up press and pundit misrepresentations of MMT.
Read more...Why China is fragile and starting to look wobbly.
Read more...Australia looks to be on the verge of a nasty unwind of its housing bubble. A plunge would damage not only its banks but also retirement funds, since banks play an outsized role in the Australian stock market.
Read more...The World Uncertainty Index reveals how uncertainty in the world has evolved over time, whether it is synchronised across countries, and how it compares across income groups and political regimes.
Read more...Concerns are building over the extent of leveraged lending, among regulators and politicians and the private sector alike. Some, such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren see troubling signs that recall risks that triggered the Great Financial Crisis.
Read more...Some emerging-market economies look wobbly. How likely are we to see more crises?
Read more...