Meta
Categories
- accounting
- Announcements
- architecture
- art
- auctions
- bailouts
- banking
- bankruptcy
- ben stein watch
- blogonomics
- bonds and loans
- charts
- china
- cities
- climate change
- commercial property
- commodities
- consumers
- consumption
- corporatespeak
- credit ratings
- crime
- Culture
- Davos 2008
- Davos 2009
- defenestrations
- demographics
- derivatives
- design
- development
- drugs
- Econoblog
- economics
- education
- emerging markets
- employment
- energy
- entitlements
- eschatology
- euro
- facial hair
- fashion
- Film
- Finance
- fiscal and monetary policy
- food
- foreign exchange
- fraud
- gambling
- geopolitics
- governance
- healthcare
- hedge funds
- holidays
- housing
- humor
- Humour
- iceland
- IMF
- immigration
- infrastructure
- insurance
- intellectual property
- investing
- journalism
- labor
- language
- law
- leadership
- leaks
- M&A
- Media
- milken 2008
- Not economics
- pay
- personal finance
- philanthropy
- pirates
- Politics
- Portfolio
- prediction markets
- private banking
- private equity
- privatization
- productivity
- publishing
- race
- rants
- regulation
- remainders
- research
- Restaurants
- Rhian in Antarctica
- risk
- satire
- science
- shareholder activism
- sovereign debt
- sports
- statistics
- stocks
- taxes
- technocrats
- technology
- trade
- travel
- Uncategorized
- water
- wealth
- world bank
Archives
- March 2023
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- August 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- December 2012
- August 2012
- June 2012
- March 2012
- April 2011
- August 2010
- June 2010
- January 2010
- December 2009
- September 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
- March 2009
- February 2009
- January 2009
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
- December 2005
- November 2005
- October 2005
- September 2005
- August 2005
- July 2005
- June 2005
- May 2005
- April 2005
- March 2005
- February 2005
- January 2005
- December 2004
- November 2004
- October 2004
- September 2004
- August 2004
- July 2004
- June 2004
- May 2004
- April 2004
- March 2004
- February 2004
- January 2004
- December 2003
- November 2003
- October 2003
- September 2003
- August 2003
- July 2003
- June 2003
- May 2003
- April 2003
- March 2003
- February 2003
- January 2003
- December 2002
- November 2002
- October 2002
- September 2002
- August 2002
- July 2002
- June 2002
- May 2002
- March 2002
- February 2002
- January 2002
- December 2001
- November 2001
- October 2001
- September 2001
- August 2001
- July 2001
- June 2001
- May 2001
- April 2001
- March 2001
- February 2001
- January 2001
- December 2000
- September 2000
- July 2000
- March 2000
- July 1999
Author Archives: Felix
Greenspan: No Fan of The Entity
Alan Greenspan is not a fan of The Entity. It’s not trying to bail out some troubled firm, he says: rather, it’s trying to artificially support an entire asset class. Which might not be a bright idea: Greenspan argued that … Continue reading
Posted in bonds and loans
Comments Off on Greenspan: No Fan of The Entity
The Cost of Reporting in Singapore
How much money did the FT save by caving in to the Singapore government’s bullying tactics? In the first instance, about £67,000. Dow Jones’s Far Eastern Economic Review is fighting the Singapore government in a similar case, showing a bit … Continue reading
Posted in Media
Comments Off on The Cost of Reporting in Singapore
Doing Business in an Era of Globalization
Dow Jones has a section in its latest proxy filing giving the history of its takeover by Rupert Murdoch. But it might be 1957, not 2007, for all that the key individuals seem incapable of so much as placing a … Continue reading
Posted in Media
Comments Off on Doing Business in an Era of Globalization
Tim Harford Blogging at FT.com
Tim Harford is now blogging at FT.com, and his very first blog entry there links to me, so of course this is my new favorite blog. Better yet, he’s serving up a full RSS feed. If the FT can do … Continue reading
Posted in Media
Comments Off on Tim Harford Blogging at FT.com
The Economics ChatterMeter
I could play with this for hours: Aaron Schiff has developed the Economics ChatterMeter, to see how much chatter there is in the blogosphere about matters economic. Interestingly, right now everything seems to be at or near an all-time low, … Continue reading
Posted in economics
Comments Off on The Economics ChatterMeter
Blogonomics: The Econoblogosphere is Not in Danger
Alarmist thinking from Dani Rodrik today. Econoblogs have been getting better and more numerous over the past couple of years – Rodrik himself being a prime example of an excellent newcomer to the sphere – but might this trend reverse? … Continue reading
Posted in blogonomics
1 Comment
Bank of America: Not Glamorous
Bank of America CEO Ken Lewis seems to have finally woken up to the fact that he is not, and never will be, an investment banker: Lewis said during a conference call that the company plans to scale back its … Continue reading
Posted in architecture, banking
Comments Off on Bank of America: Not Glamorous
Live-Blogging Malaria
Martin Edlund is doing a great job live-blogging the Gates Foundation Malaria Forum in Seattle. It’s ambitious – everybody seems keen to talk about eradication – but it’s also realistic: the best hope right now would seem to be a … Continue reading
Posted in development
Comments Off on Live-Blogging Malaria
The Limits of Empiricism, Revisited
Deirdre McCloskey is in fine fighting form, at least by the standards of statisticians: Good fit is not the same thing as importance. In fact, usually it has nothing to do with importance. I think she’s absolutely right. People who … Continue reading
Posted in economics
Comments Off on The Limits of Empiricism, Revisited
Why The Fed Should Embrace Inflation
Tim Duy has another astute FedWatch today, chez Thoma, in which he reiterates that although it’s a close-run thing, he reckons the Fed will stand pat at its next meeting, essentially riding on the bigger-than-expected rate cut in September. On … Continue reading
Posted in fiscal and monetary policy
Comments Off on Why The Fed Should Embrace Inflation
The IMF Joins the Econoblogosphere
Simon Johnson, who heads up the research department at the IMF, is now blogging, and in his official capacity, no less. My favorite part of the blog so far is the "about" page, which says that "the aim of the … Continue reading
Inequality Chart of the Day
From Will Wilkinson: The Gini coefficient is the generally-accepted standard measure of inequality, and the dark-green bars show the amount of after-tax income inequality in 16 OECD countries (click on the chart for a bigger version). The difference between the … Continue reading
The FT is Spineless and Craven
Never mind going free online; if the Financial Times really wants to be taken seriously it will have to do better than the craven display of gutlessness it presented to the world today, in the wake of a September 29 … Continue reading
Posted in Media, publishing
Comments Off on The FT is Spineless and Craven
Adventures in Technical Analysis, Citigroup Edition
David Gaffen notes today that Citigroup shares are now trading at a 2-year low of $43.97 per share. He then quotes this wonderful piece of advice from technical analyst Joseph Hargett: The $45 level “has not been breached on a … Continue reading
Posted in stocks
Comments Off on Adventures in Technical Analysis, Citigroup Edition
When Economics PhDs are Too Rigorous for Economists
What is an economics degree for? "Marshall Jevons" complains today that it doesn’t qualify people to get accepted into economics PhD programs: We have a system where the engineer or the physicist has greater chance of getting accepted to a … Continue reading
Posted in economics
Comments Off on When Economics PhDs are Too Rigorous for Economists
Ben Stein Watch, TV Edition
Bess Levin watches Ben Stein’s new TV show so we don’t have to: Old Ben has finally given up the charade of being “an economist” and submitted to his true calling: demeaning 14 mildly attractive and cartoonishly stupid contestants (the … Continue reading
Posted in ben stein watch, Media
Comments Off on Ben Stein Watch, TV Edition
Retracements and Racism
One of the buzzwords in finance circles right now is "reintermediation". It’s the opposite of disintermediation, and it’s what happens when banks go back to old-fashioned lending, carrying assets on their balance sheets, rather than structuring deals between issuers and … Continue reading
Posted in Portfolio
Comments Off on Retracements and Racism
Chinese Banks: Still Weak
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, or ICBC, has a market capitalization of $334 billion, making it by far the most valuable bank in the world. Citigroup, HSBC, and Bank of America are next on the list, worth about $235 … Continue reading
Adventures in Lawyering, MAC Edition
Will Christopher Flowers succeed in his attempt to change his mind about buying Sallie Mae? Or will he have to pay the $900 million breakup fee? Many lawyers have weighed in on this subject, most of them on Sallie’s side, … Continue reading
Posted in law, private equity
Comments Off on Adventures in Lawyering, MAC Edition
Citi-KKR: The Ouroboros is Go
Yes, folks, it’s on: it’s not just fantasy, but moving towards reality. Citigroup has a bunch of loans to KKR that it can’t get off its books. So KKR is going to buy those loans, using $8 billion borrowed from … Continue reading
Posted in banking, bonds and loans, private equity
Comments Off on Citi-KKR: The Ouroboros is Go
Cap-and-Trade: The Return of the Safety Valve
If you want to cut carbon emissions, there are some ways of doing so which actually make money, in net present value terms. Some methods, however, cost money – and many of the most promising emissions-reduction schemes cost a lot … Continue reading
Posted in climate change
Comments Off on Cap-and-Trade: The Return of the Safety Valve
Google Datapoint of the Day
Google now drives more traffic to nytimes.com than links from the nytimes.com homepage and all emailed articles combined. Alex Patriquin has the chart; it shows that in September, the top referral source for nytimes.com was Google, with 4,862,831 referrals. That’s … Continue reading
Posted in Media
Comments Off on Google Datapoint of the Day
New York Needs Chinese Business Travelers
Justin Fox knows what needs to be done to keep New York competitive with London as a financial center: The immigration people at Heathrow are polite to non-UK-citizens and usually get them through the line very quickly. I know that … Continue reading
Posted in cities
Comments Off on New York Needs Chinese Business Travelers
Bed Net Datapoint of the Day
From Vivian Hoffmann of Cornell University, via Tom Foster: This paper reports results from a field experiment in Uganda. Whether a mosquito net was purchased or received for free affected who within the household used the net. Free nets were … Continue reading
Posted in development
Comments Off on Bed Net Datapoint of the Day
Economic Naturalism, Airplane Edition
Fans of "The Economic Naturalist" (see here for an explanation of the idea behind the book, and here for a fan’s notes) are always on the lookout for more everyday puzzles along those lines. So here’s one from Aaron Schiff: … Continue reading
Posted in economics
Comments Off on Economic Naturalism, Airplane Edition