Crowding Out
From Bloomberg: June 15 (Bloomberg) — The Federal Reserve isn’t capable of offsetting the “flood” of U.S. Treasury borrowing with its bond-purchase program, which is helping to revive credit markets, Dallas district-bank President Richard Fisher said. “The program has had its impact,” Fisher said today in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “At the same time, .. read more
Paying for Healthcare Reform
The biggest hurdle for healthcare reform is the cost. President Obama is trying to convince everyone that he can cut enough costs out of current expenditures to pay for the uninsured, but that math is getting more and more difficult to believe. In fact, the CBO released its analysis today of Ted Kennedy’s plan and .. read more
Robert Murphy Makes the Stagflation Case
Robert Murphy has added another title to the Politically Incorrect Guides, The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Great Depression and the New Deal (The Politically Incorrect Guides). When asked if the current situation will turn out like the Great Depression, he answers: My standard answer is typical for an economist: “yes and no.” On the .. read more
A Bankruptcy Judge With a Spine
Judge Robert Drain, the judge for the Delphi bankruptcy case, has stopped another government sanctioned bankruptcy deal that short changes creditors (via WSJ): A U.S. bankruptcy court Wednesday sided with a group of Delphi Corp. lenders who said a government-led plan to sell the auto-parts maker’s operations to a private-equity fund trampled on their rights. .. read more
Who Will Lead the Recovery
Don Coxe, who for many years toiled as the strategist at BMO and now at his own firm Coxe Advisors, has released his summer reading in the form of a 43 page opus about the attractions of commodities and emerging markets. Coxe is a grizzled veteran with an enviable track record. Since we agree with most of what Don .. read more
Maiden Lane Losses
In a post yesterday about the losses in the Maiden Lane portfolios set up by the Fed to take on Bear Stearns and AIG assets, I reported the losses to the Fed of $5.254 billion. Unfortunately, I read the report wrong (and may still be doing so; the Fed is not known for its clarity) .. read more
Ritholz on Compensation
Barry Ritholz has a new book out called Bailout Nation: How Greed and Easy Money Corrupted Wall Street and Shook the World Economy which he excerpts today on his blog, The Big Picture: “We’ve come a long way from the days when the man atop the organizational chart made 40 times what the person on the .. read more
Retail Sales Rise, Jobless Claims Fall Again
Retail sales rebounded a bit in April, up 0.5%. Much of the gain can be attributed to rising gas prices, although there was also a slight uptick in auto sales: June 11 (Bloomberg) — Retail sales rose in May for the first time in three months as U.S. shoppers returned to showrooms seeking bargains from .. read more
