The Fed's affirmation that it still needs to keep the fed funds rate low is an admission that things aren't working and they don't know what to do. Ben maybe a bit premature with his talk about an exit strategy.
The credit rating agencies have given both China and the U.S. credit warnings. How can the U.S. prevent a downgrading? Hint: it won't be from a reduction in spending.
China: When you build roads so fast, sometimes you never know what you may run into at the end of the road. A very short story for your Sunday reading.
As promised, here is the complete article, "China's Fragile Economy, Its Housing Bubble, and What It Means To Us," in a downloadable PDF. You can download it, print it out, and read the entire piece at your leisure. The conclusions aren't encouraging, for them or us.
The fact that Google will not kowtow to Bejing and will walk away from the market of greatest potential is to me a commendable act. This is a companion piece to my series, "China's Fragile Economy, Its Housing Bubble, and What It Means To Us." China is not a liberal country, by far.
We think that China is an indestructible economic juggernaut but its economy is very fragile and it is sitting on a property bubble which will burst. What China does in response has major implications for their economy and the rest of the world. This is the third part of a three-part series on this topic: The Consequences.
We think that China is an indestructible economic juggernaut but its economy is very fragile and it is sitting on a property bubble which will burst. What China does in response has major implications for their economy and the rest of the world. This is the second part of a three-part series on this topic.
We think that China is an indestructible economic juggernaut but its economy is very fragile and it is sitting on a property bubble which will burst. What China does in response has major implications for their economy and the rest of the world. This is the first part of a three-part series on this topic.
My favorite party boy economist, Nouriel Roubini, just came out with his analysis for the second half and he notes that we may be heading toward a double-dip recession. Too much negative news, he frets. I have been saying this for some time.
A lot of conflicting data came in last week. There is a lot of positive news, but does it all add up to a recovery or is the cyclical recovery headed for a stall? Nothing has changed the underlying conditions that would relieve the credit freeze. And without credit, the economy will stall.
Here are two horror stories about UK and Canadian health care systems that exemplify what is wrong with government-run health care systems. The dirty secret is that these systems are deteriorating as they run out of money. The result is death to thousands of patients. Our foot-in-the-door health care "reforms" are just the beginning of the end of what is left of the world's best health care system.
Why is it that the data of the current economic reports coming out are "unexpected" by most economists? Today new unemployment claims and durable goods orders came out and were termed "unexpected." There is a reason. You should learn to ignore (most) economists.
Team Obama wants us consumers to spend, spend, spend. Somehow Comptroller of the Currency John Dugan didn't get the message since he supports 'America Saves Week' and wants us to save and feel financially secure. I like this guy.
The Case Shiller housing report, the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index, and the FDIC Q4 bank report came out Tuesday with mostly negative results. Things like the biggest loan contraction since 1942 ought to grab your attention. These are significant numbers.
