Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Elizabeth Warren: Middle Class Lacks Security - Alpha Consumer (usnews.com)
Elizabeth Warren: Middle Class Lacks Security - Alpha Consumer (usnews.com): "This recession started years ago with declining wages and rising core expenses. Families tried to adjust by working more jobs and longer hours, depleting their savings, and taking on debt. Now, the American family is crushed by debt, and job problems will make the problem worse. ... The financial system can't be stabilized without stabilizing families."
Why going meatless saves the planet
Why going meatless saves the planet: "going vegetarian is the single most powerful action you can take to save energy and reduce pollution. That's because meat production requires staggering amounts of land, water, and energy."
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Perth Mint Gold sales triple
Bloomberg.com: U.S.: "U.S. investors are increasing their holdings of gold at the Perth Mint in Western Australia at an unprecedented pace as they seek to preserve the value of assets.
“We’re seeing a continuing, but heavy bias toward investors out of the U.S.” in the past three months, said Nigel Moffatt, 59, treasurer and manager of the mint’s depository. The value of gold held by all investors at the Mint has doubled to “comfortably over $2 billion” in the past year, with 80 percent from overseas, he said in an interview in Perth.
Gold jumped to a sixth-month high yesterday on soaring demand as investor confidence in financial assets erodes and central banks spend trillions of dollars to prop up the banking system. The U.S. Treasury will likely borrow a record $2.5 trillion this fiscal year ending Sept. 30, almost triple the $892 billion in notes and bonds sold in fiscal 2008, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
“The world at large does seem to understand innately that governments are bankrupting themselves and destroying paper currency,” said investor Jim Rogers, chairman of Singapore- based Rogers Holdings"
“We’re seeing a continuing, but heavy bias toward investors out of the U.S.” in the past three months, said Nigel Moffatt, 59, treasurer and manager of the mint’s depository. The value of gold held by all investors at the Mint has doubled to “comfortably over $2 billion” in the past year, with 80 percent from overseas, he said in an interview in Perth.
Gold jumped to a sixth-month high yesterday on soaring demand as investor confidence in financial assets erodes and central banks spend trillions of dollars to prop up the banking system. The U.S. Treasury will likely borrow a record $2.5 trillion this fiscal year ending Sept. 30, almost triple the $892 billion in notes and bonds sold in fiscal 2008, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
“The world at large does seem to understand innately that governments are bankrupting themselves and destroying paper currency,” said investor Jim Rogers, chairman of Singapore- based Rogers Holdings"
Grayson Grills Citigroup CEO | American News Project
American New Project video-- the Citibank ripoff. Head you lose tails I win
Yale’s Financial Wizard, David Swensen, Says Most Endowments Shouldn’t Try to Be Like Yale - ProPublica
Yale’s Financial Wizard, David Swensen, Says Most Endowments Shouldn’t Try to Be Like Yale - ProPublica: "ight now, the credit markets are completely broken. You can't talk about a resolution of the crisis, you can't talk about a sustained recovery in the markets, and you can't talk about a recovery in the economy until the credit markets are fixed. Right now, I think we're a ways away from seeing a healing in the credit markets."
CDOs - The terror beneath the TARP
Business Spectator - The terror beneath the TARP: "The subprime mortgages that started all the trouble have mostly been written down already and the capital replaced. What’s left on the balance sheets – the problem US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is now trying to grapple with – are the collateralised debt obligations, and especially the synthetic ones.
Three months ago I wrote an article about synthetic CDOs called A tsunami of hope or terror? that is once again at the top of Business Spectator’s most-read hit parade. It seems it is time, once again, to try to figure them out. Perhaps all the new hits on the article are from US Treasury staffers working on the Geithner bailout plan.
To recap, CDOs are collections of loans assembled into various tranches that are then rated according to the underlying loans in each tranche; synthetic CDOs are securities that are not based on actual loans but on credit default swaps (CDS). That is, they are derivatives of derivatives.
The CDO entity writes CDS with the issuing bank covering a large number of unrelated companies. This can be anything from 50 to several hundred – some banks, some industrials. The deal is that if a certain number of those firms default – usually between seven and nine – the money invested in the CDO goes to the bank.
It’s essentially an insurance contract – otherwise known as a bet, or rather a series of bets – a bit like a quaddie."
Three months ago I wrote an article about synthetic CDOs called A tsunami of hope or terror? that is once again at the top of Business Spectator’s most-read hit parade. It seems it is time, once again, to try to figure them out. Perhaps all the new hits on the article are from US Treasury staffers working on the Geithner bailout plan.
To recap, CDOs are collections of loans assembled into various tranches that are then rated according to the underlying loans in each tranche; synthetic CDOs are securities that are not based on actual loans but on credit default swaps (CDS). That is, they are derivatives of derivatives.
The CDO entity writes CDS with the issuing bank covering a large number of unrelated companies. This can be anything from 50 to several hundred – some banks, some industrials. The deal is that if a certain number of those firms default – usually between seven and nine – the money invested in the CDO goes to the bank.
It’s essentially an insurance contract – otherwise known as a bet, or rather a series of bets – a bit like a quaddie."
Business Spectator - 21st century banking
Business Spectator - 21st century banking: "September when Lehman Brothers collapsed. We now know that the world went perilously close to a complete breakdown of the banking system which would have ended globalisation as we know it and led to unemployment of over 50 per cent in most countries. Global leaders looked into the abyss then and they are now determined to do whatever is required to avoid a global banking breakdown."
David Dreessen
Haas School: The Lester Center: "David Dreessen is Partner of Battery Ventures. David joined Battery in 2006 and focuses on investments in the clean technology sector. Before joining Battery, David spent seven years at Nth Power, where he completed 16 clean technology investments including Evergreen Solar (Nasdaq: ESLR), Northern Power [acquired by Distributed Energy (Nasdaq: DESC)], and Lion Cells. David also served in interim senior management positions for three portfolio companies. Before starting his venture capital career, David was a founding member of the Structure Group, which he helped build into a leading consulting and software firm serving the power industry. Prior to that, David worked for Accenture where he focused on strategic, process, and system consulting for the deregulating power markets. Earlier in his career, David was a Naval officer and engineering program manager for the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program Headquarters, which is responsible for all aspects of the design, operation, repair and disposal of U.S. Navy nuclear propulsion plants. David holds bachelor's degrees in chemical engineering and economics from the University of California at Davis, and an MBA from Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley."
Growing Up Green VCs in the new energy business
Growing Up Green - Forbes.com: "Spending to meet global energy demand will exceed $15 trillion through 2030, dwarfing the capital deployed in the global electronics industry."
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Only World War II was costlier than Iraq war
Only World War II was costlier than Iraq war
WW2 cost about $5 tillion on today's dollars. Stiglitz says iraq was $3trillion
So how much is the bailout costing?
WW2 cost about $5 tillion on today's dollars. Stiglitz says iraq was $3trillion
So how much is the bailout costing?
Friday, February 20, 2009
Obama Calls for Further Economic Stimulus
RealClearPolitics - Articles - Obama Calls for Further Economic Stimulus
Obama on deflation and the Green economy (video available)
Obama on deflation and the Green economy (video available)
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Middle Class debt: Gain in Household Wealth a Mirage - NYTimes.com
Fed Calls Gain in Household Wealth a Mirage - NYTimes.com: "The leap in wealth that Americans thought they were enjoying over the last several years has already turned out to be a mirage, according to new estimates by the Federal Reserve.
In its triennial survey of consumer finances, released Thursday, the Fed found that the median net worth of American households increased by a seemingly healthy 17 percent between the end of 2004 and the end of 2007.
But the gains were wiped out by the collapse in housing and stock prices last year."
In its triennial survey of consumer finances, released Thursday, the Fed found that the median net worth of American households increased by a seemingly healthy 17 percent between the end of 2004 and the end of 2007.
But the gains were wiped out by the collapse in housing and stock prices last year."
The Power of Green - Video Library - The New York Times
The Power of Green
Tom Friedman on how America can regain its international stature by taking the lead in alternative energy and environmentalism.
Tom Friedman on how America can regain its international stature by taking the lead in alternative energy and environmentalism.
Large U.S. banks on brink of insolvency, experts say - International Herald Tribune
Large U.S. banks on brink of insolvency, experts say - International Herald Tribune: "'At this moment, the liabilities they have far exceed their assets,' said Posen of the Peterson institute. 'They are insolvent.'"
New Statesman - The New Depression
New Statesman - The New Depression: "The political class, from New Labour to the Conservatives, is standing naked. They are still clinging to the wreckage of their old ideas while acknowledging in the next breath that these no longer work. The financial crisis is a matter of force majeure; political ideas and discourse change much more slowly, even when it is obvious that the old ways of thinking have become obsolete. Meanwhile, there is no political alternative waiting in the wings"
Nationalize the Banks! We're all Swedes Now
Nationalize the Banks! We're all Swedes Now: "Basically, we're all Swedes now. We have used all our bullets, and the boogeyman is still coming. Let's pull out the bazooka and be done with it."
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
The crunch generation Jobs Fair Background
The crunch generation | Education | The Guardian
A generation of young people - Generation Crunch, perhaps - is experiencing unemployment for the first time, a sinking, scarring sensation that completely escaped the generation above them. David Blanchflower, the influential economist and member of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee who predicted the recession, believes that 3 million people will be out of work by the end of this year. Of these, more than 1 million are likely to be under 25.
A generation of young people - Generation Crunch, perhaps - is experiencing unemployment for the first time, a sinking, scarring sensation that completely escaped the generation above them. David Blanchflower, the influential economist and member of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee who predicted the recession, believes that 3 million people will be out of work by the end of this year. Of these, more than 1 million are likely to be under 25.
Bankruptcy With A Twist - Altman on Detroit
Bankruptcy With A Twist - Forbes.com: "Some fear that a GM bankruptcy announcement will cause immeasurable harm to the economy and to financial markets. The current situation of 'waiting for another shoe to drop' in the credit market meltdown includes a possible GM-Chrysler bankruptcy filing--and no doubt there will be some negative consumer and vendor fallout should they file.
But pointing out the high likelihood of bankruptcy, something that I and the credit-default swap market have been forecasting for some time, will help reduce the surprise impact. And the indication of guaranteed government support via the post-bankruptcy DIP financing route could help blunt consumer fears of liquidation, lost warranties, spare-parts availability and other bankruptcy costs that the management and board of GM worry about. Face it, those costs, in the form of lost sales and profits, have already mostly taken place as potential customers assess the health of the major auto companies in their purchase decisions.
The management and board"
But pointing out the high likelihood of bankruptcy, something that I and the credit-default swap market have been forecasting for some time, will help reduce the surprise impact. And the indication of guaranteed government support via the post-bankruptcy DIP financing route could help blunt consumer fears of liquidation, lost warranties, spare-parts availability and other bankruptcy costs that the management and board of GM worry about. Face it, those costs, in the form of lost sales and profits, have already mostly taken place as potential customers assess the health of the major auto companies in their purchase decisions.
The management and board"
Bankruptcy With A Twist - Forbes.com
Bankruptcy With A Twist - Forbes.com: "Some fear that a GM bankruptcy announcement will cause immeasurable harm to the economy and to financial markets. The current situation of 'waiting for another shoe to drop' in the credit market meltdown includes a possible GM-Chrysler bankruptcy filing--and no doubt there will be some negative consumer and vendor fallout should they file.
But pointing out the high likelihood of bankruptcy, something that I and the credit-default swap market have been forecasting for some time, will help reduce the surprise impact. And the indication of guaranteed government support via the post-bankruptcy DIP financing route could help blunt consumer fears of liquidation, lost warranties, spare-parts availability and other bankruptcy costs that the management and board of GM worry about. Face it, those costs, in the form of lost sales and profits, have already mostly taken place as potential customers assess the health of the major auto companies in their purchase decisions.
The management and board"
But pointing out the high likelihood of bankruptcy, something that I and the credit-default swap market have been forecasting for some time, will help reduce the surprise impact. And the indication of guaranteed government support via the post-bankruptcy DIP financing route could help blunt consumer fears of liquidation, lost warranties, spare-parts availability and other bankruptcy costs that the management and board of GM worry about. Face it, those costs, in the form of lost sales and profits, have already mostly taken place as potential customers assess the health of the major auto companies in their purchase decisions.
The management and board"
Bridge Loan to Nowhere - Altman
Bridge Loan to Nowhere - WSJ.com: "NYU's Edward Altman said the company proposals were 'doomed to fail.' He proposed a prepackaged bankruptcy for GM and Chrysler, with the government providing the debtor-in-possession financing if necessary. His point, which ought to be sobering, was that outside of bankruptcy there is no way to make these taxpayer loans senior to existing secured debt -- meaning the government might never get paid back if the companies go bankrupt later.
Mr. Altman's suggestion has a lot of things going for it. Instead of the politically driven 'car czar' being mooted to oversee the bailout, you'd have a bankruptcy judge to make sure that the companies did, in fact, emerge as more viable businesses. The resulting restructuring would be far more likely to be driven by business considerations than political and environmental ones."
Mr. Altman's suggestion has a lot of things going for it. Instead of the politically driven 'car czar' being mooted to oversee the bailout, you'd have a bankruptcy judge to make sure that the companies did, in fact, emerge as more viable businesses. The resulting restructuring would be far more likely to be driven by business considerations than political and environmental ones."
Martin Wolf - Choices made in 2009 will shape the globe’s destiny
FT.com / Columnists / Martin Wolf - Choices made in 2009 will shape the globe’s destiny: "Welcome to 2009. This is a year in which the fate of the world economy will be determined, maybe for generations. Some entertain hopes that we can restore the globally unbalanced economic growth of the middle years of this decade. They are wrong. Our choice is only over what will replace it. It is between a better balanced world economy and disintegration. That choice cannot be postponed. It must be made this year."
Give me affluenza over poverty any day | News
Give me affluenza over poverty any day | News: "This week Dr William Shanahan, from London's Nightingale Hospital, said he was seeing a vast increase in the number of 'very depressed' and 'near suicidal' City workers suffering from what he called 'Square Mile syndrome'."
PJ O'Rourke- Adam Smith gets the last laugh
FT.com / Comment / Opinion - Adam Smith gets the last laugh: "How then would Adam Smith fix the present mess? Sorry, but it is fixed already. The answer to a decline in the value of speculative assets is to pay less for them. Job done."
The return of economic nationalism | The Economist
The return of economic nationalism | The Economist: "Economic nationalism—the urge to keep jobs and capital at home—is both turning the economic crisis into a political one and threatening the world with depression. If it is not buried again forthwith, the consequences will be dire."
Bloomberg.com: Worldwide
Bloomberg.com: Worldwide: "Starbucks Corp., the world’s largest chain of coffee shops, said it will cut 6,700 jobs and close 300 more stores"
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Dubai dries up Ireland disappears
Dubai dries up - The Irish Times - Sat, Feb 14, 2009: What Next? "One of the projects on hold is the island of Ireland which, as part of The World development, will feature Irish-themed homes and a hotel resort when finished. The future of the Ireland project was thrown into doubt after Larionovo, an Irish property investment company leading the consortium of investors that bought the island in 2007, went into liquidation in November."
Monday, February 16, 2009
Failure to save East Europe will lead to worldwide meltdown - Telegraph
Failure to save East Europe will lead to worldwide meltdown - Telegraph: "This is much worse than the East Asia crisis in the 1990s,' said Lars Christensen, at Danske Bank.
'There are accidents waiting to happen across the region, but the EU institutions don't have any framework for dealing with this. The day they decide not to save one of these one countries will be the trigger for a massive crisis with contagion spreading into the EU.'"
'There are accidents waiting to happen across the region, but the EU institutions don't have any framework for dealing with this. The day they decide not to save one of these one countries will be the trigger for a massive crisis with contagion spreading into the EU.'"
Failure to save East Europe will lead to worldwide meltdown - Telegraph
Failure to save East Europe will lead to worldwide meltdown - Telegraph: "Whether it takes months, or just weeks, the world is going to discover that Europe's financial system is sunk, and that there is no EU Federal Reserve yet ready to act as a lender of last resort or to flood the markets with emergency stimulus."
A sorry parade of UK bankers can't put things right - Telegraph
A sorry parade of bankers can't put things right - Telegraph: "This isn’t a crisis of capitalism. It is governments that control credit through their central banks and control capital through their regulators. It was this Government that encouraged borrowing, neglected saving, and ran up such a huge deficit in the public finances"
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Cina Makes, We Take
The Atlantic Online | July/August 2007 | China Makes, The World Takes | James Fallows
Liam Casery, Shenzen and the rise of southern China
Liam Casery, Shenzen and the rise of southern China
Elizabeth Warren: Middle Class Lacks Security - Alpha Consumer (usnews.com)
Elizabeth Warren: Middle Class Lacks Security - Alpha Consumer (usnews.com): "Now, the American family is crushed by debt, and job problems will make the problem worse. ... The financial system can't be stabilized without stabilizing families. If families continue to choke on debt they cannot pay, the whole system will continue to falter."
How Banks Are Worsening the Foreclosure Crisis
How Banks Are Worsening the Foreclosure Crisis: And Industry in Denial-- how the banks prevented changes that might have staved off disaster"
The Small Bank Bust - Demise of a Las Vegas Bank
The Small Bank Bust - ProPublica: "In the past decade, an acre of Las Vegas desert scrub without utilities rose in price from about $40,000 to as much as $1 million"
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Friday, February 13, 2009
The King of Green Investing |Vinod Khosla
The King of Green Investing | Page 3 | Fast Company: "The presentation he shows me, his favorite, is entitled 'Mostly Convenient Truths From a Technology Optimist' -- among them that global warming is 'a technology crisis, not a resource crisis' and that solutions to large problems require 'a dash of greed.'
To mainstream environmentalists, some of his views are heretical. He contends that hydrogen fuels are a dead end. Although he drives a hybrid car, he believes that hybrids won't significantly slow global warming. And he's convinced that, in most places, energy from solar panels will for many years be much too expensive. 'There are only four problems with global warming,' he tells me, 'oil, coal, cement, and steel. If we do those four, we're done.'"
To mainstream environmentalists, some of his views are heretical. He contends that hydrogen fuels are a dead end. Although he drives a hybrid car, he believes that hybrids won't significantly slow global warming. And he's convinced that, in most places, energy from solar panels will for many years be much too expensive. 'There are only four problems with global warming,' he tells me, 'oil, coal, cement, and steel. If we do those four, we're done.'"
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Iceland on the Thames: Can Countries Really Go Bankrupt? - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International
Iceland on the Thames: Can Countries Really Go Bankrupt? - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International: "There's a rumor going around that states cannot go bankrupt,' German Chancellor Angela Merkel said recently at a private bank event in Frankfurt. 'This rumor is not true.'"
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Geithner's grand illusion-the bauilout is a ponzi scheme
Business Spectator - Geithner's grand illusion: "In other words, and to sum up, the focus of official policy in the US now is to keep the great Ponzi scheme of the US financial system going."
Monday, February 9, 2009
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Meltdown: Iceland on the brink - Europe, World - The Independent
Meltdown: Iceland on the brink - Europe, World - The Independent: "'The feeling is we are unable to look after our own affairs' says Hallgrimur Helgason, one of the country's leading novelists. 'We were on our own for years and we went too far, too fast, in too little time. We behaved like children and the first thing we did when the stock market opened 10 years ago was go to London and buy toy stores and candy stores. Now we are bankrupt and there will be no money for years to come and we have more debts than we can ever repay.
'We're just like kids whose parents went away for the weekend and we trashed the entire house.'"
'We're just like kids whose parents went away for the weekend and we trashed the entire house.'"
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Jim Rogers: China’s Economic Advance is All But Unstoppable
Jim Rogers: China’s Economic Advance is All But Unstoppable: "The only thing that worries me permanently about the China story is water.
I’ve been around the world twice. I’ve seen many cities, societies, [and] nations that disappeared because the water disappeared. China has a huge water problem. In Northern China, they’re running out of water. They know this and they’re working on it, big time. But if they don’t solve it, or if they don’t solve it in time, then China - as you put it - has failed.
By the way, Northern India has the same problem, only worse. Many places have it now. Water is becoming a huge problem worldwide. T"
I’ve been around the world twice. I’ve seen many cities, societies, [and] nations that disappeared because the water disappeared. China has a huge water problem. In Northern China, they’re running out of water. They know this and they’re working on it, big time. But if they don’t solve it, or if they don’t solve it in time, then China - as you put it - has failed.
By the way, Northern India has the same problem, only worse. Many places have it now. Water is becoming a huge problem worldwide. T"
FT.com | | Narrow Banking
FT.com | The Economists’ Forum | Putting an end to financial crises: "Some overpaid chief executive thousands of miles away is deciding whether to foreclose your home and shutter your business. The clerk running your branch isn’t applying personal knowledge in deciding to lend you money or call your loan. He’s plugging your credit rating, collateral, and loan amounts in a computer and conveying the answer."
Friday, February 6, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Will Green Enterprises Survive the Economic Crisis? - TIME
Will Green Enterprises Survive the Economic Crisis? - TIME: "f governments truly decided to tackle climate change — and with Obama in charge, they're poised to do so — the potential is unlimited. 'By 2015 we'll be talking about energy in a very different way,' says Vinod Khosla, the veteran Silicon Valley venture capitalist. 'Smart entrepreneurs are poised to thrive.'"
IEA: World's energy use is 'patently unsustainable' | Green Tech - CNET News
IEA: World's energy use is 'patently unsustainable' | Green Tech - CNET News: "Current trends in energy supply and consumption are patently unsustainable--environmentally, economically and socially--they can and must be altered"
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Richard Bookstaber, Wall Street: "A Demon of Our Own Design" | Salon Books
Richard Bookstaber, Wall Street: "A Demon of Our Own Design" | Salon Books: "Markets, Hedge Funds, and the Perils of Financial Innovation"
Monday, February 2, 2009
Jim Rogers on UKs bleak future
Business Feed Article | Business | guardian.co.uk: "'zombie' banks.
'Take the pain, clean out the assets and start again,' Rogers advised. He said joining the euro could make Britain more competitive but he did not have much long-term faith in that currency either. 'I expect the euro won't be around in 20 years.'"
'Take the pain, clean out the assets and start again,' Rogers advised. He said joining the euro could make Britain more competitive but he did not have much long-term faith in that currency either. 'I expect the euro won't be around in 20 years.'"
Elvis Has Left the Mountain
Op-Ed Columnist - Elvis Has Left the Mountain - NYTimes.com: "there is no magic bullet for this economic crisis, no magic bailout package, no magic stimulus. We have woven such a tangled financial mess with subprime mortgages wrapped in complex bonds and derivatives, pumped up with leverage, and then globalized to the far corners of the earth that, much as we want to think this will soon be over, that is highly unlikely."
Iceland in Crisis
Iceland in Crisis « On The Scene « FOXNews.com: "With the global credit crunch…..
We are all Icelanders. Feeling our savings go away, angry at the folks who did this to us, helpless in the feeling that nothing can be done, but determined to get through it."
We are all Icelanders. Feeling our savings go away, angry at the folks who did this to us, helpless in the feeling that nothing can be done, but determined to get through it."
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