First of all, a special note of thanks to a good friend (IKM) who recently reminded me of the concept of Seisachtheia. Thus, a historical reference is needed first (please […]

They did it again. They rolled the dice again in favor of $600 billion in purchases, and when we count the repurchases of other paper-instruments (e.g. mortgages and MBS), the […]

Just a few days ago the auction for TIPS (Treasury Inflation Protection Securities) produced for the first time ever negative yields. When we take into account that TIPS’ correlation with […]

The securitization problems seem to be making another comeback in the form of “foreclosuregate”, as the Economist newspaper has labeled its latest phase. Banks seem to be admitting to subpar […]

Today China decided to raise its lending and deposit rates. How could we interpret such a move? In the near future we will draft a commentary on Icarus, but let […]

Have you seen him lately? He is still rolling that stone up to the hill. He is my good friend, Sisyphus. He was condemned to roll the stone up the […]

The second phase of the global economic crisis (fiscal and consequently sovereign debt) is rearing its ugly head again. News broke on Friday that the government of Ireland would stand […]

“The world was all before them where to choose their place of rest and Providence their guide. They hand in hand with wandering steps and slow through Eden took, their […]

A few days ago, Vladimir Putin called his annual gathering of academics, journalists, and other analysts a.k.a. the Valdai meetings, at his vacation home in Sotsji, Russia. The leader of […]

Just a few days ago, Jurgen Stark, a member of the Executive Board of the ECB (European Central Bank) said that German banks would require more capital. According to Basel […]