Fed Watch: No Clothes

Tim Duy|

Unless every able American pitches in, Congress and I cannot do the job. Winning our fight against inflation and waste involves total mobilization of America’s greatest resources—the brains, the skills, and the willpower of the American people. “Whip Inflation Now” Speech (October 8, 1974) President Gerald Rudolph Ford Falling into... Read »

Why A Civil Society Extends Unemployment Benefits

Robert Reich|1

I have the questionable distinction of appearing on Larry Kudlow’s CNBC program several times a week, arguing with people whose positions under normal circumstances would get no serious attention, and defending policies I would have thought so clearly and obviously defensible they should need no justification. But we are living through strange times.... Read »

Why We Struggle: Too Much Housing, Too Little Information Technology

Michael Mandel|

Here’s a chart that to me sums up the past decade. This was supposed to be the Information Revolution…but what we mostly did was build homes. Private fixed assets are things like machinery, computers, factories, power plants, housing–all the privately-owned productive assets of the country. From 1999 to 2009, the real net stock of private fixed... Read »

Break Up the Big Banks

Mark Thoma|Sep 2, 2010, 3:23 PM|

Adair Turner, Chairman of Britain’s Financial Services Authority, on the too big... Read »

A Moderate and Pragmatic Proposal for Monetary Stimulus

Scott Sumner|Sep 2, 2010, 2:59 PM|

In March of 2009 I presented a proposal for monetary stimulus, in the form of a petition. ... Read »

  • 4:14 PM Royal Bank of Scotland, the bank controlled by the British government, said Thursday it plans to cut... Read »
  • 3:55 PM Samsung Electronics' first tablet computer, the Galaxy Tab, will go on sale in two weeks, the co. sa... Read »
  • 3:46 PM Mariner Energy Inc. (ME) reported one of its rigs has exploded 80 miles off the coast of Louisiana, ... Read »

FDIC Problem Banks

Eric Falkenstein|Sep 2, 2010, 2:24 PM|

The FDIC keeps raising the number of ‘problem’ banks, kind of like Moody’s lowering the rating on senior CMO tranches to BB when they are trading at less than 80% of par. They added a bar to this chart,... Read »

The Trendless Trend in Jobless Claims

James Picerno|Sep 2, 2010, 1:55 PM|

Jobless claims fell slightly last week, dropping by 6,000. That’s good news. The trouble is that we’re still at an elevated 472,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis. One data point doesn’t say much, of course.... Read »

EU, Euro Zone GDP Growth Fastest in Four Years

editor|Sep 2, 2010, 12:43 PM|

The European Union Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet announced Thursday that economic growth in the EU and in the Eurozone reached 1 percent in the second quarter, the fastest in four years. Mr. Trichet said the... Read »

2Q Productivity Falls 1.8%

Dirk van Dijk|Sep 2, 2010, 12:25 PM|

Non-Farm Business Productivity in the second quarter was revised down to a decline of 1.8% from the previous estimate of a 0.9% drop (seasonally adjusted annual rate). This is a very significant slowdown from the 3.9% rate... Read »

The Stock Market Rally Versus the World’s Economic Fundamentals

Robert Reich|Sep 1, 2010, 8:04 PM|

What passes for business reporting in the United States is too often a series of breathless reports about the stock market. When the Dow rises precipitously, as it did today (Wednesday), the business press predicts an end... Read »

FCIC Chair: JPMorgan Collateral Calls ‘Critically Depleted’ Lehman Brother’s Liquidity

editor|Sep 1, 2010, 4:42 PM|

Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission [FCIC] Chairman Phil Angelides and Vice-Chairman Bill Thomas spoke to FOX Business Network’s Liz Claman regarding the hearing today and their findings on what was behind the economic... Read »

A Warning Sign from “Sticky” Inflation?

James Picerno|Sep 1, 2010, 3:35 PM|

When we last checked in with the monthly consumer price index, headline inflation was running at an annualized 1.2% pace as of this past July, off sharply from 2.7% in January, the Labor Department reported. Clearly, the... Read »

Broken Banks, Durable Delusions

Chidem Kurdas|Sep 1, 2010, 2:32 PM|

Some 829 commercial banks are at risk of failure, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. This year 118 banks already failed and were taken over by the FDIC. At this rate, more banks will fail in 2010 than in 2009.... Read »

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