Category: Credit Crisis 2012
The analysis published under this category are as follows.
Monday, August 06, 2012
Fallacies of Pearlstein's WaPo op-ed on Glass-Steagall / Politics / Credit Crisis 2012
By: ECB_Watch
While not an expert on banking legislation, I've come across sufficiently visible fallacies in rejecting the notion that the repeal of Glass-Steagall was a factor of crisis, I felt confident enough to write a post describing them (jump to 'Also see'). The Washington Post now publishes an article by Steven Pearlstein repeating the same fallacies: 'Let's shatter the myth on Glass Steagall' (WP). Both Sorkin and Pearlstein are recipient of prestigious awards (Gerald Loeb and Pulitzer).
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Fractional Reserve Banking, Let Unsound Money Wither Away / Politics / Credit Crisis 2012
By: Joseph_T_Salerno
[This is a revised version of written testimony submitted to the the Subcommittee on Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology of the Committee on Financial Services, US House of Representatives "Fractional Reserve Banking and Central Banking as Sources of Economic Instability: The Sound Money Alternative,"]
Chairman Paul and members of the subcommittee, I am deeply honored to appear before you to testify on the topic of fractional-reserve banking. Thank you for your invitation and attention.
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Sunday, July 15, 2012
A Better Way To Finance Public Projects / Politics / Credit Crisis 2012
By: Rudy_Avizius
In a local newspaper I recently read an article regarding how a school district was looking to “refinance” their outstanding bonds in an effort to reduce the interest burden on their debt. In the same issue I read how another school district expends nearly $2,000,000 yearly just to pay the interest burden on their debt. Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, July 13, 2012
Moves to Make Right Now to Protect Your Financial Future / Personal_Finance / Credit Crisis 2012
By: Money_Morning
Keith Fitz-Gerald writes:
I hear from countless investors around the world every week. Many of them want to know what "else" they can do to protect their financial future, especially now that the markets could get ugly (again).
Friday, July 13, 2012
Can Bernanke Force Banks to Lend by Halting Interest on Excess Reserves? / Interest-Rates / Credit Crisis 2012
By: Mike_Shedlock
Several readers have ask me to comment on a King World interview of Michael Pento.
Before I offer my comments on Pento's thoughts, let me say upfront that Eric King is a world-class interviewer. King lets his interviewees have their say, no matter what it is.
It is up to listeners to decide whether the message makes any sense or not. King merely wants the position to be well stated.
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Friday, July 13, 2012
Swiss Banking: Asymmetric Threats Mount? / Interest-Rates / Credit Crisis 2012
By: DK_Matai
Total client assets managed by Swiss banks stood at 5.3 trillion Swiss francs or 5,300 billion Swiss francs at the end of last year according to the latest data compiled by the Swiss Bankers Association (SBA), the apex body of banks in Switzerland. This includes 2,700 billion Swiss francs (51 per cent) of foreign client assets and the remainder 2,600 billion Swiss francs (49 per cent) of domestic client assets. The drop to 51 per cent of total foreign assets-under-management is the lowest recorded in four years. Titled “Banking in transition - Future prospects for banks in Switzerland”, the latest SBA study notes that the share of foreign client assets in the Swiss wealth management industry has fallen for four successive years: from 56% at the end of 2008 to 55% in 2009 to 52% in 2010 and 51% in 2011. The quantum of overseas assets under management at the end of 2008 stood at 3 trillion Swiss francs and this includes the value of securities held in client portfolios, fiduciary deposits, amounts due to clients in savings and investment accounts, and as also from time deposits.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Global Debt Crisis 101 / Interest-Rates / Credit Crisis 2012
By: Richard_Mills
Our financial predicament explained, from reszatonline.wordpress.com
Helga is the proprietor of a bar. She realizes that virtually all of her customers are unemployed alcoholics and, as such, can no longer afford to patronize her bar. To solve this problem, she comes up with a new marketing plan that allows her customers to drink now, pay later.
Helga keeps track of the drinks consumed on a ledger (thereby granting the customers' loans).
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Friday, June 22, 2012
Did RBS Hit the Greece Election Eurogeddon Bank Holiday Panic Button by Mistake? / Companies / Credit Crisis 2012
By: Nadeem_Walayat
RBS Bank and its subsidiary Nat West have effectively been closed all week to all of their customers, freezing them out of control of day to day banking operations. The shutdown appears fairly complete, with thus far RBS being unable to get the system going again.
Friday, June 22, 2012
How America Screwed Europe And Why The Road To Recovery Lies in Securitization / Interest-Rates / Credit Crisis 2012
By: Andrew_Butter
The Dutch call it, “Doing-an-English”. That’s when someone takes a liberty real soft and sweet and so-so-polite you hardly even noticed…until you find out you’re pregnant, or worse.
Looks like the Europeans finally noticed. Jose Manuel Barroso’s news at the G-20 summit was… "This crisis was not originated in Europe".
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Thursday, June 21, 2012
How Wall Street Financial Companies Stole Billions From Main Street / Politics / Credit Crisis 2012
By: Jesse
Funny how these stories of widespread and systematic financial corruption are so undercovered by the main stream media. Maybe it is because 'truth is a dagger pointed at their heart, which is their pocketbook.'
This is a long piece of investigative journalism, but well worth reading.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Meredith Whitney: Jamie Dimon is the Antithesis of Blankfein / Politics / Credit Crisis 2012
By: Bloomberg
Meredith Whitney appeared on Bloomberg Surveillance with Tom Keene this morning and talked about Jamie Dimon's testimony before Congress, saying that "He is, like nobody else, the antithesis of Blankfein. He charms. He's incredible. He gave the senators a massage and they gave him a massage back."
Whitney also said that, "I don't think this could have happened at a worse time for the banking industry."
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Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Ending of Extend and Pretend Means Capital Flight, Capital Controls and Capital Fear / Stock-Markets / Credit Crisis 2012
By: Nicole_Foss
The ending of extend-and-pretend is ushering in a new era of fear and uncertainty which is rapidly evolving into the next phase of the on-going credit crunch.
It is becoming clearer to many that the problems run much deeper than they had perceived, and more people all the time are realizing the systemic nature of the risks we are facing. Fear leads to knee-jerk reactions. In financial markets, it leads to volatility and self-fulfilling prophecies to the downside. It leads to capital flight, and then to capital controls.
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Wednesday, June 13, 2012
EU Banking-Union Proposal Dead Before Arrival, Lessons the EU Needs to Learn / Politics / Credit Crisis 2012
By: Mike_Shedlock
A group of eurozone Nannycrats has agreed to meet later this month to devise a master plan for a eurozone fiscal and banking union. Here is a synopsis from my post on Sunday Details of the Secret "Nannyplan" Emerge; Proposed Nannygroup Uniforms
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Credit Continues to Shrink in Euroland / Interest-Rates / Credit Crisis 2012
By: Asha_Bangalore
Total monetary financial institutional (MFI) lending has dropped in five out of the last six months. In April, MFI lending fell 0.2% from a year ago after stalling in February and March (see Chart 1).
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Are Capital Controls Coming to America? / Stock-Markets / Credit Crisis 2012
By: Gary_North
Are capital controls coming to the United States? They may be for Switzerland, The Swiss National Bank has announced that it is considering the imposition of controls. But these will be controls on euro accounts being shifted into Swiss francs.
Why would a central bank impose controls on money flowing in? Because this will raise the market price of francs in relation to euros. The central bank is dominated by mercantilist thinking. A rising currency is seen as a liability. Why? Because exporters are hit by the falling value of the foreign currency. Foreigners must pay more to buy francs to buy Swiss goods.
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Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Economic Recovery or Collapse? Bet on Collapse - Financial Crisis Could Destroy Western Civilization / Politics / Credit Crisis 2012
By: Paul_Craig_Roberts
The US financial system and, probably, the financial system of Europe, like the police, no longer serves a useful social purpose.
In the US the police have proven themselves to be a greater threat to public safety than private sector criminals. I just googled “police brutality” and up came 183,000,000 results.
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Monday, May 21, 2012
Full-Fledged European Bank Run Underway; Monetarist Fools are Everywhere; Believe in Gold / Politics / Credit Crisis 2012
By: Mike_Shedlock
One chart is all it takes to prove a full-fledged European bank run on the banks is well underway in the Club-Med countries and Ireland.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Get Ready for Another 2008-Style Financial Crisis / Stock-Markets / Credit Crisis 2012
By: Dr_Martenson
Well, my hat is off to the global central planners for averting the next stage of the unfolding financial crisis for as long as they have. I guess there’s some solace in having had a nice break between the events of 2008/09 and today, which afforded us all the opportunity to attend to our various preparations and enjoy our lives.
Alas, all good things come to an end, and a crisis rooted in ‘too much debt’ with a nice undercurrent of ‘persistently high and rising energy costs’ was never going to be solved by providing cheap liquidity to the largest and most reckless financial institutions. And it has not.
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Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Financial Crisis 2012, No, None of This Makes Any Sense / Stock-Markets / Credit Crisis 2012
By: Fred_Sheehan
After the financial crisis in 2008, "Too-Big-To-Fail" banks had to go. In 2006, the four largest banks - J.P. Morgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, and Wells Fargo - held 33% of U.S. bank assets. Now, they hold 41% of U.S. bank assets and grow by the minute.
The Federal Reserve is, at least on paper, the country's leading bank regulator. Instead, it behaves like the TBTF banks' turbocharger. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke is full of talk, and nothing else:
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Wednesday, May 09, 2012
Bankruptcy Trends in the Post Meltdown Era / Politics / Credit Crisis 2012
By: BATR
Economic dislocation is an inherent element in any financial system. One way to deal with balance sheet imbalances is to declare bankruptcy. The most common examples of liquidating default without payment are to petition the court to absolve debt obligations. Personal bankruptcy is tragic, but is common in a culture where immediate consumer gratification is the end all of a private excess society. Business bankruptcy is different because the underlying enterprise assumes all the risks of engaging in commerce. Even prudent expenditures and sound business activities can go sour that ultimately results in insolvency.