Category Archives: Credit markets

The Bizarre and Widely Disparaged Fitch Downgrade of US Government Debt to AA+

The financial press and Mr. Market shrugged off the Fitch downgrade of US government debt from AAA to AA+. Why?

Two Overlapping Takes on Inflation

MMT backer Richard Murphy and London finance organ City A.M. have surprisingly simliar views on the causes of inflation but differ on remedies

The United States’ Financial Quandary: ZIRP’s Only Exit Path Is a Crash

Michael Hudson takes a long, hard look at the origins and costs of the Fed’s ZIRP policy.

Climate Risk Stress Tests Underestimate Potential Financial Sector Losses

Given the complexity of the link between climate shocks and financial sector outcomes, the authors argue that current methods have several key limitations that may lead to significant underestimation of potential financial sector losses.

‘We’re Not Doing That’: Why a Black Couple Wouldn’t Crowdfund to Pay Off Medical Debts

Why black patients burdened by medical debt are reluctant to solicit for funds.

A New Third World Debt Crisis? The Need for System Change

Emerging economies look to be on the verge of a whole lotta debt hurt. Why does this happen to them so often?

Michael Hudson at Global University, Hong Kong, on Ukraine, Europe, China, and the Dollar’s Future

Michael Hudson gives a globe-spanning look at recent economic and geopolitical events.

Wall Street Journal Aids Vulture Investors Threatening Second Mortgage Borrowers With Foreclosure….on (Nearly Always) Legally Unenforceable Debt

Mortgage predation is baaack! And the Wall Street Journal aids and abets it by choosing not to undertand the issues.

No Bargain: Big Money and the Debt Ceiling Deal

What is the real reason Democratic party leaders go along with the debt ceiling ritual?

The Debt Ceiling End-Game

So what can the Administration do, instead of blink, in the debt ceiling staredown?

The Fed’s Interest Rates Are Still Fueling Inflation Rather Than Dousing it, and People Getting Used to this Inflation

Contrary to popular opinion, Fed interest rate policy is still permissive, if not quite as permissive as before.

Why I’m Skeptical of Powell’s Claim Red-Hot Rent CPI Will Just Vanish: Landlords Report the Opposite, Even for April

Oopsie! Still perceived-to-be-high housing prices, thanks to higher mortgage rates, is a landlord’s wet dream. Who’d have thunk it?

Peter Pan Bonds to the Debt Ceiling Rescue?

Yet another way to circumvent debt ceilng restrictions isn’t getting the consideration it warrants.

Is There Motive Behind the Fed Making Such a Mess of the US Bank Wobbles?

The Fed seems awfully indifferent to the (so far) low level bank crisis it has created.

What is Section 4 of the 14th Amendment, “The Validity of the Public Debt of the United States?”

As the Republicans are digging on raising the debt ceilings, the idea of a constitutional challenge is starting to get traction.