Author Archives: Felix

Barack Obama Gets it Right on Cap-and-Trade

Posted on October 9, 2007 by Felix

It’s great news that the centerpiece of Barack Obama’s energy plan is a 100% auction cap-and-trade mechanism. Ryan Avent and Peter Dorman have some niggles, which are on point, but the big picture – that a cap-and-trade system should be … Continue reading →

Posted in climate change | Comments Off on Barack Obama Gets it Right on Cap-and-Trade

Structural Complexity in the Banking System

Posted on October 9, 2007 by Felix

When Northern Rock started falling apart, it prompted people like accountant Richard Murphy to start taking a detailed look at its borrowing structure. Like all banks, Northern Rock structured a very complex series of bankruptcy-remote special-purpose vehicles to do its … Continue reading →

Posted in banking | Comments Off on Structural Complexity in the Banking System

Unpredictable Bernanke

Posted on October 9, 2007 by Felix

One of the reasons that the markets loved the Greenspan Fed was that it was generally very predictable: for all that Greenspan was an expert at mumbling incomprehensibly, the markets never seemed to be in much doubt what he would … Continue reading →

Posted in fiscal and monetary policy | Comments Off on Unpredictable Bernanke

Why Bank Shares Rise on Write-Downs

Posted on October 9, 2007 by Felix

Dan Gross tackles the write-down paradox today: how come the share price of [Citigroup/Merrill Lynch/Bear Stearns/Whoever] rises when the bank announces massive losses? After all, he writes, Write-downs should be especially worrisome when taken by banks, since they are in … Continue reading →

Posted in banking, stocks | Comments Off on Why Bank Shares Rise on Write-Downs

eBay Should Sell Skype to News Corp

Posted on October 9, 2007 by Felix

Further proof, if proof be needed, that eBay should never have bought Skype: the fracas currently underway between eBay and Jajah. Jajah is an internet telephony company which has developed "buttons" that eBay sellers, and others, can embed on their … Continue reading →

Posted in technology | Comments Off on eBay Should Sell Skype to News Corp

Blogonomics: How Big Media Will Sell Ads on Blogs

Posted on October 9, 2007 by Felix

Blogger Barry Ritholtz has looked at the existing mechanisms for monetizing blog readers, and he’s not impressed. Here’s the problem: blogs get a lot of readers in aggregate, and advertisers are, in principle, very interested in advertising on blogs. But … Continue reading →

Posted in blogonomics, economics, Media | Comments Off on Blogonomics: How Big Media Will Sell Ads on Blogs

Give Anti-Malarial Bed Nets Away for Free

Posted on October 9, 2007 by Felix

The NYT covers the bed-net debate today, if debate it can reasonably be called. The article itself is good; the main problem is the headline, which says that "Distribution of Nets Splits Malaria Fighters". Er, no, it doesn’t. Once upon … Continue reading →

Posted in development | Comments Off on Give Anti-Malarial Bed Nets Away for Free

The Death of the Incandescent Bulb

Posted on October 8, 2007 by Felix

Dan Gross gives us the incandescent light bulb’s obituary, mentioning only one problem with its replacement, the compact fluorescent: that CFLs aren’t bright enough to help German chancellor Angela Merkel find things she’s dropped on her carpet. He neglects to … Continue reading →

Posted in climate change | Comments Off on The Death of the Incandescent Bulb

Why Louis Vuitton Needs Richard Prince

Posted on October 8, 2007 by Felix

Lauren Goldstein Crowe is unimpressed with my defense of Richard Prince’s new handbag line for Louis Vuitton, claiming that "Vuitton is going too far from its roots" and wondering whether this handbag line might not be financially disastrous for the … Continue reading →

Posted in art, fashion | Comments Off on Why Louis Vuitton Needs Richard Prince

The Third Fall of Victor Niederhoffer

Posted on October 8, 2007 by Felix

There are a few real characters in finance, and Victor Niederhoffer is one of the most compelling. An inveterate and compulsive speculator, he does fabulously well until he blows up – again and again and again. John Cassidy started profiling … Continue reading →

Posted in hedge funds | Comments Off on The Third Fall of Victor Niederhoffer

Numeracy in the White House

Posted on October 8, 2007 by Felix

Why is it that Saturday Night Live applies more critical judgment to Fred Thompson’s statements than the Wall Street Journal does? The WSJ’s Amy Schatz lapses into full-on stenographer mode today: Mr. Thompson has advocated reining in discretionary spending and … Continue reading →

Posted in Politics | Comments Off on Numeracy in the White House

Debit Cards vs Cash

Posted on October 8, 2007 by Felix

If you want to read Andrew Leonard’s blog entry about Visa’s ad campaign today, and you’re not a subscriber to Salon, then you’ll have to sit through an ad for Visa to get there. It’s possible that the ad will … Continue reading →

Posted in personal finance | Comments Off on Debit Cards vs Cash

The WSJ and Luxury Watches

Posted on October 8, 2007 by Felix

One of the great things about Portfolio magazine is that it has, so far, managed to avoid any kind of feature article on the subject of high-end watches. Any reader of high-end glossies aimed at rich businessmen is by this … Continue reading →

Posted in Media | Comments Off on The WSJ and Luxury Watches

Northern Rock: Takeunder Candidate

Posted on October 8, 2007 by Felix

Lex says that Christopher Flowers doesn’t seem to have sustained much reputational damage in the UK from the fact that he’s desperately trying to unbuy Sallie Mae. Certainly there don’t seem to be too many obstacles in his way should … Continue reading →

Posted in banking, private equity | Comments Off on Northern Rock: Takeunder Candidate

Newspapers Should Allow Their Content to be Embedded

Posted on October 8, 2007 by Felix

Mark Thoma has a provocative and very interesting idea: newspapers and other publishers should allow their content to be embedded on other websites just as easily as YouTube videos can be embedded today. That content would, naturally, include ad units, … Continue reading →

Posted in blogonomics, Media, technology | 2 Comments

Richard Prince vs Louis Vuitton

Posted on October 8, 2007 by Felix

Little did I know, when examining Richard Prince’s success in the art world, that he would become the latest artist to be swallowed up by the Louis Vuitton machine. He’s in illustrious company – Vuitton has worked in recent years … Continue reading →

Posted in art, intellectual property | Comments Off on Richard Prince vs Louis Vuitton

The Rubin-Bernanke Phone Call

Posted on October 7, 2007 by Felix

Teh internets aren’t happy about the fact that Bob Rubin, Lew Ranieri, and others got to speak one-on-one with Ben Bernanke in the wake of the August FOMC meeting. (See John Carney (twice), Kevin Duffy, and Greg Newton, for starters.) … Continue reading →

Posted in banking, fiscal and monetary policy | Comments Off on The Rubin-Bernanke Phone Call

Home Buyers are Smarter Than You Think

Posted on October 5, 2007 by Felix

One of the great things about capitalism, at least as it’s practiced in the US, is that everybody seems to have a reasonably strong implicit faith in efficient markets. You can wander into pretty much any store or coffee shop … Continue reading →

Posted in housing | Comments Off on Home Buyers are Smarter Than You Think

US Congress Embraces Necessity of Reducing Carbon Emissions

Posted on October 5, 2007 by Felix

This is good news, I think. The House Energy and Commerce Committee just issued a white paper on carbon controls, which starts off by saying unambiguously that "The United States should reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by between 60 and … Continue reading →

Posted in climate change | Comments Off on US Congress Embraces Necessity of Reducing Carbon Emissions

Rich Immigrants

Posted on October 5, 2007 by Felix

Paul Krugman and Chris Dillow both post interesting blog entries today, and the intersection of the two is even more interesting, I think. Krugman notes that London seems to be becoming a "rentier city", where the global rich from Russia … Continue reading →

Posted in immigration | Comments Off on Rich Immigrants

Winner of the Day: Santander

Posted on October 5, 2007 by Felix

The RBS-led consortium has now officially won ABN Amro, and the WSJ has an excellent play-by-play of how the deal went down, including a graph of how the consortium members’ stocks have been doing this year. While RBS is down … Continue reading →

Posted in banking | Comments Off on Winner of the Day: Santander

Ngozi Returns to the World Bank

Posted on October 5, 2007 by Felix

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is, unfortunately, not American enough to be president of the world bank herself. But the president of the world bank is smart enough to appoint her managing director – a very senior position (see the new, old org … Continue reading →

Posted in world bank | Comments Off on Ngozi Returns to the World Bank

PR Lie of the Day

Posted on October 5, 2007 by Felix

A Sprint spokeswoman declined to comment. She said Mr. Forsee was traveling and couldn’t be reached. One might say that if the CEO of communications giant Sprint Nextel can’t be reached when he travels, that’s reason right there to oust … Continue reading →

Posted in defenestrations | Comments Off on PR Lie of the Day

Markets: The Payrolls Test

Posted on October 5, 2007 by Felix

The reaction to today’s strong payrolls report will say a lot about just how bullish the market really is. Both the stock and bond markets have been a little Alice-in-Wonderland of late, rising on bad news in the expectation, we’re … Continue reading →

Posted in economics | Comments Off on Markets: The Payrolls Test

Sony BMG Thinks You’re a Thief

Posted on October 5, 2007 by Felix

If you want to buy music, buying a CD is a good way of doing it. There’s no risk that some computer error will destroy your purchase, and it’s easy to transfer the songs onto your computer and iPod. Many … Continue reading →

Posted in Media | Comments Off on Sony BMG Thinks You’re a Thief