On Debt Contagion and Banks’ Balance Sheets
For some odd reason there exists a split among even the most well-known economists regarding what the current Greek debt crisis means in the grand scheme of things, both for the country itself as well as the Eurozone as a whole. On one side are those who tout the...
On Recovery, Escape Velocity, “Death Crosses” and Market Developments
The job report last Friday was dismal. Payrolls fell for the first time this year, indicating that the private sector feels uncertain about the depth of this recovery. We remember that it was in early April when Larry Summers (head of National Economic Council) was...
Securitization, Credit Constraints, and the Chinese Dilemma
In our posting last week we pointed to the fact that while monetary reserves are rising, money supply is contracting due to the inability of banks to identify credit-worthy customers, and/or due to the anorexia of customers to accumulate more debt. The debt explosion...
Institutionalizing a Stable Instability
The G-20 meeting took place last Saturday. We think it's an oxymoron that world leaders try to address in one-day conferences serious problems that took years to be created. The agenda was vast, but could be summarized into three main issues: First, the diverging...
On Alarm Clocks and Dreams: Are we on the Bus?
It's a fact: Alarm clocks destroy dreams. Let's destroy the alarm clocks. They wake us up from our dreams; interrupt our narcissistic visions of high flying markets and rosy paths of a prosperity bought on credit and paper assets. As we are drafting this,...
On the Verge of Major Monetary Changes
The recent announcement that the Chinese will allow their currency (RMB a.k.a. Yuan) to be more flexible against the greenback was welcomed by US and other monetary authorities. The RMB was fixed during the last two years at 6.83 to the greenback. That helped the...
Commentary on Spanish Upcoming Tremors and its European Implications
As we are drafting this commentary, we are hearing that the Spanish auction of 10-year notes went well. We choose to differ on the situation in Spain. Spanish banks have significant problems. Just this past week they borrowed from the European Central Bank (ECB) at...
