Race Over: Why Venezuela Should Default
Supposedly paying Lotus $40m/year for a non-competitive drive is only the start of Venezuela's folly. Amidst the wider economic turbulence worldwide, among the very first to get hit are energy ex…
Showing posts with the label Cheneynomics
Tens of Trillions of Yen Later, Abenomics is a Dud
The plight of the developed world is of massive interest to developing countries such as ours for the simple reason that, since we aspire to being developed status, what comes next is of consequence.…
Is US Suing S&P Payback for Ratings Downgrade?
In run-of-the-mill stories, there are heroes and villains : I've been in this town so long that back in the city I've been taken for lost and gone and unknown for a long, long time. Today, ho…
So, Why are China, Japan, ROW Dumping Treasuries?
There is a debate going on here in the rest of the world concerning the United States. It isn't really whether American officials are trustworthy, but whether they are more of BS artists or ripof…
In Detroit We Glimpse America's Future
Just a city boy, born and raised in south Detroit He took the midnight train goin' anywhere... I have been to Detroit and it is not an experience I fondly remember. So, I do not question the moti…
IMF Agrees w/Cheney: Deficits Don't Matter for US
Here we go again: for everyone else--especially the likes of Egypt, Pakistan and so forth, deficits do matter. But for the United States which (they say) has little funding its current account defic…
Tim Geithner, I Dub Thee 'Pantywaist of Globalization'
I've been meaning to make this post for four long, steenkin' years--and here it finally is. Perhaps Timmy thought he got away with stepping down soon as Treasury Secretary, but alas, I've…
Foreign Private Investors Dump Treasuries in Sept
MarketWatch alerted me to the fact that foreign private investors dumped the most Treasuries ever in the month of September based on Treasury International Capital System (TICS) data: Foreign inves…
Bill Gross: QE1-3 Added No Savings or Investment
In case you missed it, bond investing legend Bill Gross has just provided the most damning evidence that various Fed easing efforts have been worse than useless. You'd think all of this helicopt…
Of Obama's 'Retreat Dividend' and Condi Rice
Dear readers, something most commentators missed in observing that the United States has now had four consecutive years of trillion dollar-plus deficits is that something remarkable has transpired: F…
Obama, Bernanke, Stimulus & American Brattiness
The New Yorker has an interesting new take on one of my favourite research genres, the search for the behavioural pathologies which account for terminal American decline, be it in health, income, w…
So, When Will S&P Downgrade the US Again?
Friends, there are certain certainties in life: Germany will do well in whatever international football (soccer) competition it enters, Lucy will pull the football before Charlie Brown can kick it; a…
Putin's a Smart Guy: Worry About $, Not €
Anglophone economic commentary about the euro usually veers towards the "I told you so" variety, nevermind that no one has actually wanted out of the EMU while many are still lining up to j…
I Knew It: 61% of Treasuries Purchased by the Fed
What do you get when you cross the soppy Bushite Lee Greenwood with Obama's pastor ? For one thing, you get a more accurate (financial) portrayal of the current state of that benighted land: I&#…
Yanks Never Learn: US Imports Hit Record High
This has to be the most ridiculous story I've seen all week long. One that once again demonstrates that you don't have to go much further than the Yahoo! News front page for IPE-relevant mate…
Attn Deficit Lovers: Why China Should Rule World
Balancing one's budget is the most fundamental money management task one faces. If there's eomething that so graphically illustrates Western decline, it is the inability to do anything other …
Should US Borrow More Given Treasury 'Demand'?
To make a long story short, the answer to the post title is "no" contrary to what some IPE and economist types believe [ 1 , 2 ]. At worst it is financially ruinous to do so and at best it …
Bernanke, Japan's Lost Decade & US Lost Century
With the yields of Treasuries pointing towards the US re-entering recessionary straits, all eyes have turned towards the upcoming central banker jamboree at Jackson Hole this coming Friday. Althoug…
HaHaHa: Mathlexic Biden in China, Geithner Wannabe
On 1 June 2009, US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner famously elicited peals of laughter from Peking University students while blabbering about China's US Treasuries being a safe investment. As an…
World's Craziest Fools: PRC Buying Treasuries
While flipping TV channels recently, I came across " World's Craziest Fools " on BBC3 hosted by Mr. T of A-Team and Rocky III fame. Basically, the show is a more sadistic version of &…