Monthly Archives: May 2007

Bogus Counterfeiting Statistics Spawn Protection Racket

The anti-counterfeiting industry is using fear to sell its products, rather than economic logic.
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Can Increased Demand Lead to Decreased Demand?

The ethics of eating skate.
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Posted in economics | Comments Off on Can Increased Demand Lead to Decreased Demand?

More Reasons for Bush to Nominate Okonjo-Iweala

I’d just note that Okonjo-Iweala is not only deeply committed to American values,
but also has an American address. The only thing she doesn’t have is an American
passport.
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Posted in world bank | Comments Off on More Reasons for Bush to Nominate Okonjo-Iweala

Credit-Bubble Datapoints of the Day

Let’s assume that everything in the fixed-income market is
mispriced. Now what?
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On Central Bankers’ Circumspection

Greenspan was never very good at explaining what he was doing when he did have power.
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Three Questions for Charles Komanoff on Carbon Taxes

Trying to understand what carbon-tax proponents are talking about.
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Posted in climate change | Comments Off on Three Questions for Charles Komanoff on Carbon Taxes

Ecuador: The Finance Minister, the Investment Banker, the Scandal, and Me

As far back as December I posted
a blog entry
at rgemonitor.com saying that "a devious Ecuadorean finance minister"
could make quite a lot of money by manipulating the CDS market.
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Posted in derivatives, emerging markets | Comments Off on Ecuador: The Finance Minister, the Investment Banker, the Scandal, and Me

Private Equity Stumbles in Banking Arena

Bank regulators want to know a lot of information about the owners of the banks they regulate, especially if those owners are foreign.
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The Problems of Outsourcing

In today’s outsourced world, companies are more than ever at the mercy of their suppliers.
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Why Alan Greenspan Shouldn’t Shut Up

The more that Greenspan speaks, the more obvious his utter lack of market-moving influence will become. So speak, Maestro! Then we can all get on with ignoring you.
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Posted in technocrats | Comments Off on Why Alan Greenspan Shouldn’t Shut Up

Will the Next World Bank President Be Another Bush Crony?

This
isn’t the first time that Bill Frist has been mentioned as
a possible World Bank president, but it might be the first time he’s been called
a favorite for the nomination. I think that Blake
Hounshell
is right and that the WSJ article is "likely a trial balloon
floated by the White House". What’s more, it’s a trial balloon which deserves
and early and emphatic popping. Frist would be an atrocious
choice
, and frankly I can’t see him getting much traction with a World Bank
board which is not exactly sympathetic to Bush cronies these days.
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Posted in world bank | 1 Comment

On the Edge of Efficient Markets

The Epicurean Dealmaker
is on a roll.
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Posted in derivatives, private equity, stocks | Comments Off on On the Edge of Efficient Markets

Murdoch Fails the Litmus Test

Murdoch lies to the FT.
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Posted in Media, publishing | 2 Comments

Equity Offerings, Private and Public

Increasingly, retail investors are being locked out of some of the most exciting investment opportunities in the world.
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Stiglitz on DVD

Joe Stiglitz has an engaging and eminently watchable rhetorical style.
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Posted in economics | Comments Off on Stiglitz on DVD

New Home Sales: Meaningless

When it comes to economic series, any one datapoint must be taken with a pinch
of salt. And when the datapoint is such an outlier compared to previous reports
in the series, one should discount it almost entirely. Case in point: today’s
new home sales report.
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Should the Poor Buy Property?

We simply do not know what percentage of subprime borrowers are ending up in default or foreclosure.
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How to Buy a Less Volatile Stock Market

If you want to invest in the stock market, but you are worried about the size of your potential losses, this could be a smart way to go.
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Posted in personal finance, stocks | Comments Off on How to Buy a Less Volatile Stock Market

Nuclear Energy’s Carbon Footprint

I’ll tell you what I want, what I really, really want: a ban on any website
citing scientific research without linking to it.
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Posted in climate change | Comments Off on Nuclear Energy’s Carbon Footprint

Calculating the Cost of Emigrating

There aren’t costs of half a million dollars or so associated with moving to mainland US from Puerto Rico. It’s just something which a lot of Puerto Ricans have no interest in doing — and given how nice their beaches are, you can see why.
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Posted in economics, immigration | Comments Off on Calculating the Cost of Emigrating

Do Hedge Fund Returns Fall as Their Assets Rise?

The total amount of money invested in hedge funds is still dwarfed by the amount of money in mutual funds and other long-only investment portfolios. The time may come when hedge funds run out of things to invest in, but I don’t see it happening for a while.
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Paying Your Mortgage With an Amex Card

Put your mortgage
payments on your Amex card
!
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Posted in housing, personal finance | Comments Off on Paying Your Mortgage With an Amex Card

Bill Downe Still Hasn’t Resigned at Bank of Montreal

A major bank like BMO has no business using a tiny Valhalla-based brokerage to do substantially all of its energy trading.
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Posted in banking, defenestrations, derivatives | Comments Off on Bill Downe Still Hasn’t Resigned at Bank of Montreal

Aw, Shucks

Market Movers has only been live for just over five weeks, and already we’ve
been nominated as "Best Economics Weblog" at the The
Third Annual Satin Pajama Awards
.
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Posted in Announcements | Comments Off on Aw, Shucks

Competitiveness and Mortgages: The WSJ Chimes In

The Wall Street Journal’s columnists have clearly reading the same things that
I have been over the past few days. Alan
Murray
today picks up on the report
showing that New York is still globally competitive, while Jonathan
Clements
looks at the advisability of having mortgage debt and investments
at
the same time
.
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Posted in housing, personal finance, stocks | Comments Off on Competitiveness and Mortgages: The WSJ Chimes In