Any time you have a market, there’s some opportunity for speculation. Even if the good being traded isn’t storable, there may be a futures market, so you can bet on the future price. … For example, the fact that wheat is traded means that there’s also a wheat futures market; and because wheat can be… Continue reading Is the threat of speculation a reason to shun cap and trade?
Category: economics
Brad DeLong: Robert Reich Writes About the Debt Scare
Back in 1992 the real interest rate on a ten-year U.S. Treasury bond was 5% per year. Right now the real interest rate on a ten-year U.S. Treasury bond is more or less zero. Borrow back in 1992 thinking that the government is going to repay its borrowings ten years down the road and ten… Continue reading Brad DeLong: Robert Reich Writes About the Debt Scare
Apportioning Blame for the Deficit
David Leonhardt’s column breaking down the “causes” of the budget deficit has been widely reported and the bottom line repeated many times: President Obama’s agenda, ambitious as it may be, is responsible for only a sliver of the deficits, despite what many of his Republican critics are saying. Marginal Revolution: Apportioning Blame for the Deficit… Continue reading Apportioning Blame for the Deficit
A Short Citizen’s Guide to Kooks, Demagogues, and Right-Wingers On Tax Day
No one likes to pay taxes, so tax day typically attracts a range of right-wing Republicans, kooks, and demagogues, all of whom tell us how awful we have it. Herewith a short citizen’s guide (that is, a citizen’s guide that’s short rather than a guide for short citizens) responding to the predictable charges: From A… Continue reading A Short Citizen’s Guide to Kooks, Demagogues, and Right-Wingers On Tax Day
Banking on the Brink
Lately the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation has been seizing banks it deems insolvent at the rate of about two a week. When the F.D.I.C. seizes a bank, it takes over the bank’s bad assets, pays off some of its debt, and resells the cleaned-up institution to private investors. And that’s exactly what advocates of temporary… Continue reading Banking on the Brink
Lessons From Japan in Stemming a Crisis
“I thought America had studied Japan’s failures,” said Hirofumi Gomi, a top official at Japan’s Financial Services Agency during the crisis. “Why is it making the same mistakes?” From Lessons From Japan in Stemming a Crisis – NYTimes.com Good question.
Scare of the day
Paul Krugman said it best when it said this isn’t your father’s recession. This is your grandfather’s recession. This looks really bad.
Who’s Running TARP? You Might Not Wanna Know
Last week, Congress’s oversight panel for the TARP funds confirmed in a report that the Treasury Department essentially has no idea what banks have done with the astronomical sums they’ve been handed. From TPMMuckraker | Talking Points Memo | Who’s Running TARP? You Might Not Wanna Know Nice jumping off point for discussions on what… Continue reading Who’s Running TARP? You Might Not Wanna Know
U.S. recession began in December 2007
Now that it is clear that the U.S. recession began in December 2007 I wonder how the GOPers could possibly blame it on Clinton or Obama. I’m sure that there will be some oddball who will find some convoluted way to blame some democratic administration.
Follow the money
Where will the money for the big bailout come from? I keep being asked that. In the long run, of course, it will come from you — the taxpayer. But what about the immediate cash flow? From Follow the money – Paul Krugman – Op-Ed Columnist – New York Times Blog Krugman provides a handy… Continue reading Follow the money