Ben Bernanke recently gave the first of four lectures to the poor kids of George Washington University, giving his version of how the Fed came into existence and what the Fed’s purpose is. He also gave his version about the gold standard. Is it a truthful recollection of events?
March 22nd, 2012 | Greg Canavan | 4 comments | ContinuedEurope
Commentary on European economics, politics and society by your Daily Reckoning editors in Melbourne, Australia. Still haven’t subscribed to the Daily Reckoning? What are you waiting for… sign up here, it’s free!
A chronological listing of articles is below.
Australian Tax: Running Government at a Profit
Australia’s tax legislation is, according to urban legend, the longest piece of legislation in the world. One of our law professors reportedly has an entire room devoted to books of Australia’s extensive tax law. Part of the story is that Australia has several tax Acts.
March 21st, 2012 | Nickolai Hubble | 9 comments | Continued
One of the Most Overlooked Aspects of the Financial Crisis
Judging by recent market action (on the part of equities and euro zone government bond yields), investors would appear to believe that the euro zone debt crisis has been largely resolved.
March 10th, 2012 | The Daily Reckoning | 3 comments | Continued
Creative Destruction Means to Die and Let Live
The destructive portion of “creative destruction” plays a vital, therapeutic role. But the financial leaders of the US and the eurozone have zero appetite for creative destruction. Instead, creative denial is the order of the day.
March 9th, 2012 | Addison Wiggin | 1 comment | Continued
How Market Sentiment Moves With the Greek Debt Crisis
Saving Greece is not about saving the euro. Nor can a plan to reduce Greek debt to “only” 120% of GDP… over the next eight years… be taken seriously as a motivation for keeping Greece tethered to the union.
March 9th, 2012 | Joel Bowman | 2 comments | Continued
Why Greece Ain’t Alright
So Greece apparently avoids another default – no wait, a disorderly default…a plain old default is okay. The market is already placing bets on the next one.
March 9th, 2012 | Greg Canavan | 0 comments | Continued
Unintended Consequences In The Year of the Central Bank
2012 is proving to be the ‘Year of the Central Bank’. It is an exciting celebration of all the wonderful manoeuvres central banks can employ to keep the system from falling apart.
March 8th, 2012 | The Daily Reckoning | 0 comments | Continued
A Greek Default, the CDS Market and the End of the World
Greece hasn’t defaulted (so far), but some of the buyers of credit default swaps, basically insurance policies that pay off if there is a Greek default, claim the terms and conditions of the bond swap constitutes a “credit event” or default. If it is, they want to get paid.
March 6th, 2012 | The Daily Reckoning | 2 comments | Continued
The New Dynamic in Global Oil Demand
Addison Wiggin gets Byron King’s take on why when price of oil goes up, the decline in US demand for oil pales in significance when global issues are factored in.
March 5th, 2012 | Addison Wiggin | 0 comments | Continued
The Folly of Intellectuals
Intellectuals who consider inequalities in wealth evidence of injustice often seek political remedies. These take the form of legislation and, more often, regulation.
March 5th, 2012 | Patrick Cox | 4 comments | Continued
The BRIC Growth Markets
The BRICs have built their emerging wealth on exports to the so-called developed world (Europe and North America). But the so-called developed world is in the throes of a self-inflicted perma-recession, thanks to too much debt. Can an investor safely make money from the emergence of the BRICs, even as Europe implodes and America stagnates?
March 5th, 2012 | Dan Denning | 3 comments | Continued
Government Spending – The Existential Financial Problem of Our Time
There is a wider intellectual malaise that lazily conflates government spending with the real economy and which conveniently ignores the fact that without a flourishing private sector, there would be no government and certainly no government spending to speak of.
March 3rd, 2012 | The Daily Reckoning | 3 comments | Continued
Why the ECB and the Fed Have China Laughing
While the ECB pumped over €500 billion into the system overnight, the Federal Reserve was trying to downplay the prospects of another round of QE.
March 1st, 2012 | Greg Canavan | 9 comments | Continued
LTRO: The 500 Billion Euro Cash Grab
It looks like the whole market is sitting on its hands until we find out the size of the second round of LTRO (Long Term Refinancing Operation) from the ECB.
February 29th, 2012 | Murray Dawes | 2 comments | Continued
Oil Enriched Investment Ideas
Oil prices were up over the weekend and yesterday. The catalyst this time was a report from the nuclear watchdog at the United Nations.
February 28th, 2012 | Dan Denning | 1 comment | Continued
