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
Jon Stewart vs Alan Greenspan
Jon Stewart last night proved himself a master of the smart and tough question, when Alan Greenspan came onto his show to plug his book in the wake of the Fed’s 50bp rate cut. Stewart put two big questions to … Continue reading
Posted in fiscal and monetary policy
Comments Off on Jon Stewart vs Alan Greenspan
War/Oil Datapoint of the Day
According to the invaluable CIA World Factbook, US oil consumption is 20.73 million barrels per day. Which works out to 7.57 billion barrels per year. At the new record price of $82.03 per barrel, that would value US oil consumption … Continue reading
Posted in geopolitics
Comments Off on War/Oil Datapoint of the Day
Cheney Responds to Greenspan
Jeff Bercovici asks what I make of Dick Cheney’s (unprecedented?) op-ed in the WSJ today. The answer, I think, is pretty easy when you come across its standard recitation of supply-side principles: Even at a lower rate of taxation, the … Continue reading
Posted in fiscal and monetary policy, Politics
Comments Off on Cheney Responds to Greenspan
The Sunny Side of Morgan Stanley’s Earnings
Morgan Stanley’s stock price might be down today in the wake of disappointing earnings, but I don’t think that these results really counteract the relatively good news from Lehman brothers yesterday, and I still have that weirdly good feeling I … Continue reading
Posted in banking
Comments Off on The Sunny Side of Morgan Stanley’s Earnings
Susan Scafidi on Copyrighting Fashion
In the comments of my entry on knock-off fashion, Gerald Joseph told me to check out counterfeitchic.com before writing more on the issue of counterfeits and copies in the fashion industry. It turns out to be a wonderful site, full … Continue reading
Posted in intellectual property
Comments Off on Susan Scafidi on Copyrighting Fashion
Managers Have No Professional Ethics
After my interesting lunch with Rakesh Khurana (which has also been blogged by Justin Fox), I asked him by email whether business ethics have really declined over the past 30 years, or whether they’re merely perceived to have declined. Next … Continue reading
Posted in governance
Comments Off on Managers Have No Professional Ethics
The Sunny Side of Lehman’s Earnings
The Lehman earnings look weirdly different now, in the aftermath of the 50bp rate cut, than they did this morning, when most of the market was expecting just 25bp. Back then, John Carney was doing his best Old Curmudgeon act, … Continue reading
Posted in banking
Comments Off on The Sunny Side of Lehman’s Earnings
Murdoch Sees WSJ.com Going Free
It’s all but official: WSJ.com is going free. Rupert Murdoch himself said as much today, at a Goldman Sachs conference in New York: “We don’t mind what platform news appears on. We’re platform neutral: newsprint, your Blackberry, your PC or … Continue reading
Posted in Media, publishing
Comments Off on Murdoch Sees WSJ.com Going Free
Fed Surprise
It’s 50bp, and it’s unanimous! So much for prediction markets. The half-point gap between the funds rate and the discount rate remains, but with the discount rate now at 5.25%, it’s definitely more attractive to banks facing liquidity problems. The … Continue reading
Posted in fiscal and monetary policy
Comments Off on Fed Surprise
The Role of News in the Hedge Fund Economy
Paul Kedrosky picks up on a Bloomberg photo of hedge fund manager Adam Sender. By my count, he’s sitting in front of no fewer than eighteen screens (although one, mercifully, seems to be switched off). Also by my count, and … Continue reading
Posted in hedge funds, Media
Comments Off on The Role of News in the Hedge Fund Economy
People who use Google are Valuable
Megan McArdle doesn’t have a lot of faith in those of us who Google. People who arrive at a website from Google, she says, are "low quality" in terms of their value to advertisers: As far as advertisers are concerned, … Continue reading
Posted in Media
Comments Off on People who use Google are Valuable
The Oil Price as a Dry Run for a Carbon Tax
Greg Mankiw must be happy: Oil just hit a new high of $81.24 a barrel this morning. This is a Pigovian tax with the proceeds going to Saudi Arabia rather than the US Treasury, but if Mankiw is right that … Continue reading
Posted in climate change
Comments Off on The Oil Price as a Dry Run for a Carbon Tax
How Google Killed Web Subscriptions
Everybody knows that Google has won the search-engine war. But what’s much more important is that Google has won the search war – and the latest casualty is TimesSelect. The subscriber firewalls at the WSJ and the FT will be … Continue reading
Posted in Media, publishing
Comments Off on How Google Killed Web Subscriptions
Knock-Off Fashion
I’m very happy that James Surowiecki has used his bully pulpit in the annual Style Issue of the New Yorker (perfect bound, with a Gucci ad on the outside back cover) to take a well-aimed potshot at the ridiculous (and … Continue reading
Posted in intellectual property
Comments Off on Knock-Off Fashion
Fed Cut: Eyeing the Discount Rate
OK, no more Greenspan blogging, I hope. Instead – rate cut blogging! Obviously I have no idea what the Fed will do this afternoon, or even really what it should do. But my gut feeling is that Bernanke should announce … Continue reading
Posted in fiscal and monetary policy
Comments Off on Fed Cut: Eyeing the Discount Rate
Alan Greenspan and the Strait of Hormuz
This morning, I quoted Alan Greenspan, foreign policy wonk, implying that he wants the US to attempt regime change in Venezuela. Greenspan’s attitude to Hugo Chávez was so startling – even Otto Reich wouldn’t say that kind of thing on … Continue reading
Posted in geopolitics
Comments Off on Alan Greenspan and the Strait of Hormuz
How did Brad DeLong Become Alan Greenspan’s Apologist in Chief?
It’s not very often that Brad DeLong and Paul Krugman find themselves epitomizing opposite sides of an issue, but DeLong seems to have become Alan Greenspan’s apologist in chief even as Krugman sticks the knife in to the Maestro today. … Continue reading
Posted in economics, fiscal and monetary policy
Comments Off on How did Brad DeLong Become Alan Greenspan’s Apologist in Chief?
Managers Without Morals
Today comes news that newly-minted MBAs are making more money than ever before, which made it an excellent day for Princeton University Press to host a lunch in New York to plug Rakesh Khurana’s new book, "From Higher Aims to … Continue reading
Posted in leadership
1 Comment
There’s No Such Thing as an Objective Credit Rating
Vickie Tillman of S&P has an interesting letter in the WSJ today, defending the ratings agency against the kind of charges made by Jesse Eisinger in last month’s Portfolio. S&P is not conflicted, she says, by the fact that its … Continue reading
Posted in bonds and loans
Comments Off on There’s No Such Thing as an Objective Credit Rating
Northern Rock: No Need to Panic
In the Times of London today, Anatole Kaletsky worries about the magnitude
of a potential mass
liquidation of Northern Rock’s liabilities:
Posted in banking
Comments Off on Northern Rock: No Need to Panic
Greenspan: Book Release Day Arrives
I apologize for yet more Greenspan blogging, but today is after all the day his book is officially released, and there’s loads of material out there worth linking to. Paul Krugman is on good form, attacking Greenspan’s support for Bush’s … Continue reading
Posted in fiscal and monetary policy
Comments Off on Greenspan: Book Release Day Arrives
The Limits of Empiricism
Two interesting reviews today: David Leonhardt on Ian Ayres, and Daniel Davies on Steven Levitt and Roland Fryer. There’s a meme catching hold – think Freakonomics and Moneyball – which says that rigorous empirical analysis can reveal otherwise-unobtainable insights. But … Continue reading
Posted in economics, statistics
Comments Off on The Limits of Empiricism
Greenspan’s Notorious 2001 Congressional Testimony
After defending Alan Greenspan’s monetary policy, Brad DeLong now steps up to the plate to defend his notorious 2001 testimony in favor of the Bush Administration’s sweeping tax cuts. If you actually read the testimony, he says, it’s full of … Continue reading
Posted in fiscal and monetary policy
Comments Off on Greenspan’s Notorious 2001 Congressional Testimony
Defending Greenspan
"If you want to blame the subprime crisis on loose monetary policy from the years of the dot.com bubble burst, you have some explaining to do," says Tyler Cowen, who may or may not be talking about John Cassidy. Brad … Continue reading
Posted in fiscal and monetary policy
Comments Off on Defending Greenspan
Greenspan Points Fingers, But Takes no Blame
The WSJ has got its hands on Alan Greenspan’s new book, and it certainly sounds like he’s more interested in making excuses and pointing fingers than he is in taking responsibility for the consequences of his actions. The Republicans "deserved … Continue reading
Posted in fiscal and monetary policy
1 Comment