The NYTimes has a story today that Barack Obama has finally been declared the winner in North Carolina. It hardly seems to matter since Obama already has well over the needed 270 electoral votes as well as an 8 million popular vote plurality. But there is something satisfying about Obama winning in North Carolina – […]
Obama Wins North Carolina Read More »
The reason that stock prices continue to gyrate so much as they head down and the credit markets still are frozen – even after unprecedented action by the Fed and worldwide central banks – all is captured in a single phrase – the derivative mess. The Size of the Problem That is why I am
The Derivative Mess Read More »
The World Finance industry and especially the Wall Street Branch has been able to fend off most monitoring and regulation under the guise that a)financial institutions and markets are Darwinian effective – as long as they remain unfettered by regulations, financial markets will be transparent and efficient at reaching very risk balanced valuations of any
Finance Self Regulation Read More »
NYTimes is leading the charge in re-examining the nature and worth of the influence Alan Greenspan had on broad US Economic and Financial policy. As long serving chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, Mr. Greenspan set monetary policy as FedCharman from 1987 to 2006 under Republican and Democratic Presidents. As seen in the article Mr.
Re-examining Greenspan’s Era Read More »
There is a news item at the NYTimes that confirms in no uncertain terms what has become abundantly obvious – Wall Street will not regulate itself. Not only that but Wall Street cannot rescue itself when it gets into trouble. The whole reason the banking system is failing now is that a)no financial institution trusts
Wall Street’s Incompetencies Read More »
In a daring but also partisan fear-laden column, Frank Rich advances the notion that Sarah Palin is doing a Dick Cheney to the McCain-Palin campaign. She and her handlers are providing the more energetic thrusts and are now, de facto, steering the McCain campaign. And the Republican elites, who are on notice from the Maverick
Palin Really for President Read More »
The Media appear to be working overtime to earn the hated “liberal” or “recklessly biased” epithets. In the latter case, Fox News Hannity and Colmes program is lately acting as a RNC-Republican National Committee cable channel conduit for strictly RNC viewpoints despite trumpeting that “the fair and balanced debate is only on ‘Hannity and Colmes’
Mackubin Thomas Owens in the September 24th 2008 issue on the Opinions page in the Wall Street Journal raises the issue that the US Generals in command in Iraq acted out of hand when the decision was made to have a Surge. These remarks are made based on his reading of Bob Woodward’s book The
Our Generals Almost Cost Us Iraq Read More »
After the VP debate, it is becoming obvious that Barack Obama and Joe Biden are shaping up to win a landslide victory in the Presidential election. Despite doing much better than in the Katie Couric interviews, Governor Palin simply could not deflect (and almost every time switched the subject) on Joe Biden’s telling criticisms of
After the VP Debate Read More »
Stephen Colbert’s comedy show won the Emmy award this past week for writing. And this edition of the show underlines why. You will have to endure a movie commercial – but endure at least to The Word = “Future Perfect” – this is satire at its very best!Kudos to the writers and ongrats to Stephen
Colbert Comedy – High Satire Read More »
The Presidential Debates were proof positive that both candidates are hopelessly caught up in “PCS-Polically Correct Speak”. Even with Jim Leher’s promptings, both candidates backed away from spelling out: 1)the causes of the bailout problem ; 2)the what should be done in the short term and why it makes sense; 3)what has to be done
The Presidential Debates: Economic Tricklings Read More »
One would hardly know based on the coverage in the Press and on TV – Economic and Political Revolutions are taking place right before the pundits eyes and they have scarcely acknowledged them. 1)The Web as a shaper of direct governance rose significantly. The Web through blogs and business webstes a)carried the latest news of
Economic and Political Revolutions Read More »
The advisories on regulation of the Wall Street seem to be of the “deeply vested interest” type. I wish that news sources like BBC, Barrons, The Economist, Forbes, Fortune, NYTimes, Washington Post and many other adhered to the disclosure rules required of financial “experts” on TV programs like Nightly Business Report and MSNBC. And these
Regulation of Finance Read More »
Since the likliehood of the US electorate being hoodwinked a third time in Presidential elections is a dead-heat possibility , I have to look at John McCain and Sarah Palin and see if there is sustainng substance that will make their possible election something more than a repeat of George Bush. The going is very
What is happening in the rest of the World outside Wall Street ? Well judging from the features and Apps Google’s new Android mobile phone may be more competition to iPhone then anticipated. Information Week gives the phone a solid thumbs up while eWeek spotlights some of the phones features. In sum, Google has a
Thanks heavens that Congress, Democratic Senator Chris Dowd and Republican SenatorRichard Shelby, have taken a whoa, wait a minute view on this bailout measure. Under the guise of an emergency, the Bush Administration is doing a Financial Iraq – let us in with no controls or otherwise the system will meltdown and there will be
Moral Hazard V – Blank Cheque Bailout ? Read More »
Time magazine adds a little levity to an otherwise shrill political scene with its weekly political cartoons. See them all here.
The day after assesments of the Wall Street Fix are not sanguine. The essence of the argument is that the government has still not done the right thing because all the derivative based bad debt has: 1)Not been identified and reported completely to the SEC+Fed by the investment banks and other bad funds holders; 2)the
The deal is not done yet, but Bernanke and Paulson (SEC Chairman Cox seems to have no credibility) appear to have sold Congress on the idea that the total US Financial System was in the throes of completely freezing up. Now taxpayers as Moral Hazard Insurance providers are on the hook for probably a sweet
You have probably guessed it – you have a gut instinct for numbers. Sometimes the exact number of things up to 7-9. But also large collections of things such that distinguishing quickly which are most numerous is of survival import – are there more women then men at a party or more black pieces than
Perception of Numbers And Irrationality Read More »
The article has a tinge of shadenfreude and reads like a clever Steven Colbert rant, but the punchline is literally the lethal level of truth – see Rosa Brooks column in the LATimes here.
USA gets a letter from the World Bank Read More »
I have been arguing in this column that Executive pay has no correlation with the real risks taken. And measured against the real life or death decisions made by doctors, service men, captains of ships both air and nautical – CEO’s pay vis a vis their performance seems to be great outliers – almost ridiculous
It appeared that with the refusal of FedAid to Lehman and the shotgun wedding of Merrill to Bank of Captain America, Treasury Secretary Paulson had closed the Moral Hazard Insurance window for your friendly Investment Bankers-only service. But I demurred here. And sure enough, two days later, the Moral Hazard Insurance window is open again
There is no doubt in my mind that Maureen Dowd, OpEd columnist for the New York Times, would have made an exquisite torcheress during the Spanish Inquisition. Take a look at her latest flogging of Sarah Palin. But the problem with torturers is they don’t know ‘enough’. Flogging Sarah Palin is counter-productive because it just
In a significant political opinion, NYTimes columnist David Brooks acknowledges what was manifest – Sarah Palin is not ready to become President: “But a few commentators, like George Will, Charles Krauthammer, David Frum and Ross Douthat demur, suggesting in different ways that she is unready….I would have more sympathy for this view [that Sarah’s ready]
Fire Ready Aim from the Right Read More »
Before the US Presidential Elections become the victim of the game of who can can best navigate through the reefs and dangers of a Deliberately Damn Nasty Silly Season, here are some questions for the presidential aspirants which should prove illuminating. The questions start identically the same for both candidates – alternating such that each
Questions for the Presidential Candidates Read More »
Two days ago I raised the question of whether US Secretary Paulson and the Treasury would be able to stop Wall Streets run on the Moral Hazard Insurance Company – that is as Paul Krugman of the New York Time’s calls it: “[Federal] officials are worried that their rescue efforts will encourage even more risky
The Moral Hazard Denoument Read More »
Up until recently, the Financial Community has been spurning participating in a solution to the financial problems plaguing capital markets due to the leverage, derivative and sub-prime fiascoes. But now the Adminsitartion is supposedly reading the riot act to the big banks and financial houses regarding the fall of Lehman Brothers. See here. Now, this
Greedy Guts vs Moral Hazard Read More »
There is a TV show that a lot of friends are trying to get me to watch. Its Durham, about a serial killer in Durham Ontario on the Showcase channel. Despite the upscale action and attractive cinematography, I have no interest in it. I am tired of serial killers on TV’s many Justice Is Rendered
TV’s Serial Killers Read More »
I have been arguing here that there is a Capital Investment Crisis in the US because organizations and especially private equity firms are routing investments to self-aggrandizing, sure-thing takeovers which add nothing new to the economy except old line companies stripped of personnel, debt capacity, and no financial ability to adapt a long term innovation
Innovation Investments Trickling Down … Read More »
The Republican party is engaged in a massive campaign of Revanchism. They hope to rescue their wrecked political brand by hiding/disavowing their Still President and rewriting recent Presidential history + motivations. Forget for a moment that Still President Bush in his 2000 campaign promised a)to a be “a uniter and not a divider”, b) not
Republican Revanchism Read More »
John McCain in the Republican corridors of power is like Rodney Dangerfield, he doesn’t get any respect. He has become the RNC-reformed maverick as seen here on the Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show. In brief summary, John McCain has been forced to reverse himeself by Republican elites on many critical positions. This includes on the role
McCain Takes Charge Read More »
