Monthly Archives: May 2007

Sudan Versus Coca-Cola

Sudan threatens to cut of Coke’s gum arabic supply.
Continue reading

Posted in geopolitics, stocks | Comments Off on Sudan Versus Coca-Cola

Europe’s Cap-and-Trade System Did Work, After All

Europe’s carbon emissions have been reduced by its cap-and-trade system.
Continue reading

Posted in climate change | Comments Off on Europe’s Cap-and-Trade System Did Work, After All

Okonjo-Iweala and Zoellick on Video

Okonjo-Iweala is magnetic. Zoellick, not so much.
Continue reading

Posted in world bank | Comments Off on Okonjo-Iweala and Zoellick on Video

Glenn Hubbard: Not Far From a Carbon Tax

Mark
Thoma
, tongue only slightly in cheek, wants Glenn Hubbard and Greg Mankiw
to duke it out on carbon taxes versus cap-and-trade:
Continue reading

Posted in climate change | Comments Off on Glenn Hubbard: Not Far From a Carbon Tax

How Car Mileage Demonstrates Problems With a Carbon Tax

Cars now struggle to achieve the mileage of 20 years ago.
Continue reading

Posted in cities, climate change | Comments Off on How Car Mileage Demonstrates Problems With a Carbon Tax

Where Does the US Economy Go From Here?

With the S&P 500 hitting all-time highs, I’m sanguine.
Continue reading

Posted in economics | Comments Off on Where Does the US Economy Go From Here?

How to Reduce Congestion: Build More Roads?

Building more roads might (or might not) reduce congestion. But mass transit allows much higher population densities, and a city with a high population density will be more vibrant, more economically productive, and more environmentally friendly.
Continue reading

Posted in cities | Comments Off on How to Reduce Congestion: Build More Roads?

Unpacking Mohamed El-Erian’s Investment Strategy

The three pillars of Mohamed El-Erian’s investment strategy.
Continue reading

Posted in investing | Comments Off on Unpacking Mohamed El-Erian’s Investment Strategy

Three Answers from Charles Komanoff on Carbon Taxes

Charles Komanoff, of the Carbon Tax Center, responds to my questions.
Continue reading

Posted in climate change | Comments Off on Three Answers from Charles Komanoff on Carbon Taxes

Is Google-DoubleClick a Monopoly?

The key monopoly here is the one on information about users’ web-browsing habits: what they search for, what sites they visit, what ads they click on.
Continue reading

Posted in M&A, technology | Comments Off on Is Google-DoubleClick a Monopoly?

Mohamed El-Erian Solves the Economics of Investing

What Makes Mohamed El-Erian a first-rate investor.
Continue reading

Posted in economics, geopolitics | Comments Off on Mohamed El-Erian Solves the Economics of Investing

Doing the Woolworth Building Math

A bet on World Trade Center property prices.
Continue reading

Posted in housing | Comments Off on Doing the Woolworth Building Math

Dsquared on Political Event Swaps

Commenter dsquared has made a couple of good points in response
to my post about political
event swaps
.
Continue reading

Posted in hedge funds, Politics | Comments Off on Dsquared on Political Event Swaps

It’s Time for Political Event Swaps

A way of hedging political-event risk.
Continue reading

Posted in hedge funds, Politics | Comments Off on It’s Time for Political Event Swaps

The Fate of Extraordinary Aliens Under the Immigration Bill

Even if the EB-1 green card is abolished, the O and P visas will still exist.
Continue reading

Posted in immigration | 1 Comment

Why Robert Zoellick Is Not a Good Idea for the World Bank

Zoellick really has no qualifications at all for this job, beyond an understanding of international finance.
Continue reading

Posted in world bank | Comments Off on Why Robert Zoellick Is Not a Good Idea for the World Bank

Lies and Housing Statistics

Yet another reason to ignore individual datapoints from economic series.
Continue reading

Posted in housing | Comments Off on Lies and Housing Statistics

How Best to Maximize Blog Traffic

Barry Ritholtz and YouPorn.
Continue reading

Posted in technology | Comments Off on How Best to Maximize Blog Traffic

How Best to Minimize Carbon Emissions

No one approach will be sufficient. We need a cap-and-trade system and a carbon tax for the areas not covered by cap-and-trade.
Continue reading

Posted in climate change | Comments Off on How Best to Minimize Carbon Emissions

Okonjo-Iweala as Interim World Bank President?

Joe Stiglitz and Nancy Birdsall think an interim president would be a very good idea.
Continue reading

Posted in world bank | Comments Off on Okonjo-Iweala as Interim World Bank President?

Reasons why the Private Equity Boom Might Not Be at an End

Private-equity principals say that deals might slow down from here. They would.
Continue reading

Posted in private equity | Comments Off on Reasons why the Private Equity Boom Might Not Be at an End

Hope for Principles-Based Regulation in New York State

New York governor Eliot Spitzer and his insurance superintendent
Eric Dinallo are aggressively
moving
to shake up the regulatory regime in New York State. This is probably
a good thing.
Continue reading

Posted in regulation | Comments Off on Hope for Principles-Based Regulation in New York State

It’s a Bad Idea to Ape Hedge Fund Investments

If Dinakar Singh is long, that doesn’t mean you should be.
Continue reading

Posted in hedge funds | Comments Off on It’s a Bad Idea to Ape Hedge Fund Investments

The RBS Consortium’s Huge Financing Line

The huge cash component of the RBS consortium’s bid for ABN Amro means that they have a lot of work to do in both the debt and equity markets.
Continue reading

Posted in banking, bonds and loans, M&A | Comments Off on The RBS Consortium’s Huge Financing Line

What is Ben Stein Smoking? (Part 2)

Ben Stein might be the last man in America to think that building more Escalades is actually a good idea.
Continue reading

Posted in ben stein watch, climate change, consumption | Comments Off on What is Ben Stein Smoking? (Part 2)