Monthly Archives: December 2008

The Invisible Stimulus

Posted on December 31, 2008 by Felix

This sounds to me like it’s been filtered through some kind of Obama-transition behavioral economics screen: The incoming administration is considering tax cuts of $1,000 for couples and $500 for individuals that will be delivered by reducing the tax withheld … Continue reading →

Posted in economics, Politics | 1 Comment

What Does GMAC’s Bond-Exchange Failure Mean for Detroit?

Posted on December 31, 2008 by Felix

The GMAC bond-exchange results are out, and the screws that GMAC applied on December 10 — tender your bonds or we won’t become a bank or get TARP funds — seem to have had some effect, with the percentage of … Continue reading →

Posted in bankruptcy, bonds and loans | Leave a comment

Extra Credit, Tuesday Edition

Posted on December 31, 2008 by Felix

A Crack in The System: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of the Washington Post’s monster series on AIG Financial Products. Did those people at AIG not understand anything about financial risk? AIG actually quantified its tail risk, yet … Continue reading →

Posted in remainders | Leave a comment

Is Buying Bonds Really a Good Idea?

Posted on December 31, 2008 by Felix

The WSJ’s Brett Arends has learned his lessons this year, and shares them with us, including these ones: 4. Invest more, not less. Is that a guffaw from the peanut gallery? I don’t blame you. Your savings just fell 40% … Continue reading →

Posted in bonds and loans, personal finance | Leave a comment

Blogonomics: Consumerist Sold to Consumers Union

Posted on December 30, 2008 by Felix

You think you can’t sell media properties in the middle of a recession? Think again: Nick Denton has managed to sell Consumerist for what Peter Kafka describes as "something in the mid-six figure range" — the kind of money that … Continue reading →

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Did Derivatives Help China’s Poor?

Posted on December 30, 2008 by Felix

I’ve seen some pretty strong claims on behalf of derivatives in my time, but this one, from the Economist, is definitely among the strongest: The market for derivatives also facilitated investment in developing countries. That investment brought millions of people … Continue reading →

Posted in derivatives, emerging markets | Leave a comment

Dubious Statistics of the Day, Toxic Mortgage Edition

Posted on December 30, 2008 by Felix

Interest and pressure groups put out garbage masquerading as useful research on a daily basis; it’s the job of the press to recongnise it as such and ignore it. Most of the time, the press does a very good job … Continue reading →

Posted in housing, journalism, statistics | Leave a comment

Property Crash Datapoint of the Day

Posted on December 30, 2008 by Felix

Edmund Tadros reports: The average price of cyber land has dropped from 12.06 Linden dollars (seven cents) a square metre at its peak in January 2007 to 1.98 Linden dollars (1 cent) last month. I fear to think what’s happened … Continue reading →

Posted in housing | Leave a comment

Who Killed Frannie?

Posted on December 30, 2008 by Felix

Bethany McLean, from her new perch at Vanity Fair, has delivered a 10,762-word magnum opus on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which spends most of its time giving a detailed history of what Hank Paulson called the "Holy War" between … Continue reading →

Posted in housing, Politics | Leave a comment

GMAC, the Fed, and Moral Hazard

Posted on December 30, 2008 by Felix

The GMAC announcement on December 10 was quite unambiguous. The headline alone told you everything you needed to know: GMAC Announces That the Results of Its Exchange Offers Are Insufficient To Meet Regulatory Capital Requirements To Become a Bank Holding … Continue reading →

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