In years gone by it was a real embarrassment for a bank to go cap in hand to its central bank to borrow funds. It was a sign of weakness. Clearly that’s not the case anymore, not in Europe anyway.
December 22nd, 2011 | Greg Canavan | 11 comments | ContinuedAll Posts Tagged With: "government"
Should Banks and Government Merge to Become One?
There was a problem we promised to solve on Monday. To refresh your memory, the problem is that both banks and governments need money. Governments borrow from banks. But because government finances are so terminally bad in Europe, government bonds are destabilising the capital structure of the banking system.
December 21st, 2011 | Dan Denning | 3 comments | Continued
The Social Contract Theory of Government
More on our new theory of government…
The “social contract” theory of government is a fraud. You can’t have a contract unless you have two willing and able parties. They must come together in a meeting of the minds — a real agreement about what they are going to do together.
December 15th, 2011 | Bill Bonner | 2 comments | Continued
Does a Good Government Mind its Own Business?
Government ought to mind its own business, the libertarians say. It ought to sort out disagreements between members of the public…and protect the public from wrongdoing. It ought to have not to drain the resources and productive output of one part of the population for the benefit of another. But so what? Who cares what the libertarians want?
December 14th, 2011 | Bill Bonner | 3 comments | Continued
How the Insiders Control Government
You’ll recall that two days ago we introduced our new theory of government. Of course, we are not entirely serious. And not entirely unserious either.
But it hardly rises to the level of a theory. It is more like an insight about how government control is governed by insiders:
December 12th, 2011 | Bill Bonner | 2 comments | Continued
Beware The Blunt Instrument of Government
Government claims the right to tell you what to do. Using the blunt instrument of ‘government’ some people are able to categorize, regulate, tax, inspect, dragoon, conscript, enslave, bully, incarcerate, murder and push around other people.
December 8th, 2011 | Bill Bonner | 1 comment | Continued
A New Theory of Government
We have been disappointed with political ideas and theories of government. They are nothing but scams, justifications, and puffery. One tries to put something over on the common man…the other claims it was for his own good…and the third pretends that he’d be lost without it.
December 7th, 2011 | Bill Bonner | 2 comments | Continued
Tangible and Irreplaceable Assets
Take a deep breath and relax. Today’s issue of the Daily Reckoning is not about the Reserve Bank. Maybe it will raise the cash rate to 4.75% tomorrow and maybe it won’t. But frankly we are tired of pretending to take the RBA seriously as it pretends to know how to perfectly manage the price of money. Instead, then, let’s talk about the upcoming float of Queensland Rail. It’s a great exercise in understanding how to value assets and why the private sector manages better than the public sector.
October 4th, 2010 | Dan Denning | 0 comments | Continued
Waiting Till the Price is Right
Dow…3 ounces! Our old friend Ronan McMahon has been keeping us up to date. Ireland is going broke, he says. The Irish foolishly borrowed too much money during the boom years. The banks foolishly lent too much money. And then the government foolishly said it would bail them out…
October 4th, 2010 | Bill Bonner | 2 comments | Continued
Stimu-less
Sunday will be the day Germany pays its final reparations for the conflict which began in 1914. Bond holders under the Treaty of Versailles will receive their final payment and it will all be over. A small milestone for the revered austerian herself, Chancellor Angela Merkel, in paying off Germany’s debts.
October 2nd, 2010 | Nickolai Hubble | 1 comment | Continued
Attachment “G” is Too Dangerous to Be Seen
There may be a simple economic explanation for the best September on Wall Street in 71 years. No double dip recession…improving labour market numbers…rebounding house prices. Except none of that is true. So what is left? Well, as near as we can tell, everyone seems to be front running central banks. Is the Fed buying stocks? Not yet.
October 1st, 2010 | Dan Denning | 3 comments | Continued
What’s Really in the Social Security Trust Fund?
“You’re kidding, right?” a Daily Reckoning reader wrote after our briefing from last week: “The End of Social Security As We Know It.” “Are you the only ones who believe in the accounting farces that are the Social Security and Medicare ‘Trust Funds’? Every dollar in both of those funds has been spent by the US Treasury…”
September 30th, 2010 | Ian Mathias | 4 comments | Continued
The Legacy of the Current Recession
Epithet for a doomed economy…What will they say? How will they describe the ’00s and ’10s? Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen was accused of being drunk when he gave a “croaky” radio interview two weeks ago. He denied it. But we’d be tempted to turn to the bottle too…
September 30th, 2010 | Bill Bonner | 0 comments | Continued
Day Care or Default?
So far, almost everything that we thought ought to happen is happening. More or less. The crisis. The feds’ reaction. The market’s lack of reaction to the feds’ over reaction. Then, the feds’ reaction to the markets failure to react. One dumb thing begets another.
September 29th, 2010 | Bill Bonner | 0 comments | Continued
Opt Out of Social Security
“The Social Security Trust Fund is misnamed. It cannot be trusted, and it is not funded.”-Former US Comptroller General David Walker, July 2010. If David Walker who was essentially the US government’s accountant from 1998-2008 – can make jokes like that about Social Security, we’re in trouble.
September 28th, 2010 | Ian Mathias | 0 comments | Continued
