Thanks, World Reserve Currency, But No Thanks: Australia And China To Enable Direct Currency Convertibility … A month ago we pointed out that as a result of Australia's unprecedented reliance on China as a target export market, accounting for nearly 30% of all Australian exports (with the flipside being just as true, as Australia now is the fifth-biggest source of Chinese imports), the t...Read More
Who Destroyed the Economy? The Case Against the Baby Boomers … Retirees and near-retirees are leaving behind a devastated economy for their children … but are we doing anything to fix it? Here, two generations debate who's really to blame for the wreckage. … This is the charge I've leveled against him on a summer day in our Pacific Northwest vision of paradise. I have ask...Read More
Now that the crisis in Cyprus has passed, we can finally admit the obvious: The "crisis" it provoked did not deserve the attention it received. Cyprus makes up a fraction of one percent of the European Union's GDP and it's a backwater for sketchy Russian dealings. If Cyprus had drowned in a sea of Mediterranean debt, the Eurozone would not have gone under with it. – Reuters...Read More
As Banks in Cyprus Falter, Other Tax Havens Step In … Similar unsolicited offers have originated in well-known havens … Bloodied by a harsh bailout deal that drives a stake through the heart of this Mediterranean country's oversize financial industry, Cyprus now faces a further blow to its role as an offshore tax haven: the vultures from competing countries are circling. "We a...Read More
Thanks, World Reserve Currency, But No Thanks: Australia And China To Enable Direct Currency Convertibility … A month ago we pointed out that as a result of Australia's unprecedented reliance on China as a target export market, accounting for nearly 30% of all Australian exports (with the flipside being just as true, as Australia now is the fifth-biggest source of Chinese imports), the t...Read More
Who Destroyed the Economy? The Case Against the Baby Boomers … Retirees and near-retirees are leaving behind a devastated economy for their children … but are we doing anything to fix it? Here, two generations debate who's really to blame for the wreckage. … This is the charge I've leveled against him on a summer day in our Pacific Northwest vision of paradise. I have ask...Read More
Now that the crisis in Cyprus has passed, we can finally admit the obvious: The "crisis" it provoked did not deserve the attention it received. Cyprus makes up a fraction of one percent of the European Union's GDP and it's a backwater for sketchy Russian dealings. If Cyprus had drowned in a sea of Mediterranean debt, the Eurozone would not have gone under with it. – Reuters...Read More
As Banks in Cyprus Falter, Other Tax Havens Step In … Similar unsolicited offers have originated in well-known havens … Bloodied by a harsh bailout deal that drives a stake through the heart of this Mediterranean country's oversize financial industry, Cyprus now faces a further blow to its role as an offshore tax haven: the vultures from competing countries are circling. "We a...Read More
Why Fed hawks and doves are both starting to talk about ending QE … Inside the Federal Reserve, consensus is growing over the need to dial back the central bank's $85-billion-dollar-a-month bond-buying program — but for very different reasons. It boils down to two sides: Hawks, who want to curtail quantitative easing programs because of the risks they create. And doves, who see evi...Read More
Center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani has assessed options after failing in his attempt to find a way out of Italy's political deadlock and President Giorgio Napolitano Italy center-left says will now seek another solution. Napolitano's office said Bersani, who took the largest share of the vote but failed to win a viable majority, had told him his talks with other parties had ended withou...Read More
On thinning ice … Disappointing exports, stalled investment and fiscal austerity leave the overstretched consumer as Canada's only hope for growth … WHEN the world financial system collapsed in 2007, triggering a global recession, Canada recovered faster than any of the other members of the G7 group of large developed countries. Its banks remained solid, while low interest rates en...Read More
Can India become a great power? … India's lack of a strategic culture hobbles its ambition to be a force in the world … Nobody doubts that China has joined the ranks of the great powers: the idea of a G2 with America is mooted, albeit prematurely. India is often spoken of in the same breath as China because of its billion-plus population, economic promise, value as a trading partne...Read More
Why Fed hawks and doves are both starting to talk about ending QE … Inside the Federal Reserve, consensus is growing over the need to dial back the central bank's $85-billion-dollar-a-month bond-buying program — but for very different reasons. It boils down to two sides: Hawks, who want to curtail quantitative easing programs because of the risks they create. And doves, who see evi...Read More
Center-left leader Pier Luigi Bersani has assessed options after failing in his attempt to find a way out of Italy's political deadlock and President Giorgio Napolitano Italy center-left says will now seek another solution. Napolitano's office said Bersani, who took the largest share of the vote but failed to win a viable majority, had told him his talks with other parties had ended withou...Read More
On thinning ice … Disappointing exports, stalled investment and fiscal austerity leave the overstretched consumer as Canada's only hope for growth … WHEN the world financial system collapsed in 2007, triggering a global recession, Canada recovered faster than any of the other members of the G7 group of large developed countries. Its banks remained solid, while low interest rates en...Read More
Can India become a great power? … India's lack of a strategic culture hobbles its ambition to be a force in the world … Nobody doubts that China has joined the ranks of the great powers: the idea of a G2 with America is mooted, albeit prematurely. India is often spoken of in the same breath as China because of its billion-plus population, economic promise, value as a trading partne...Read More
iTunes: http://bit.ly/stateside Beatport: http://bit.ly/bp-statesideUK producer Damion Houchen, aka Genix, makes a welcome solo return with "Stateside" and "United" - the latest in a succession of consistently impressive EPs. One of three Genixproductions to feature on Above & Beyond's iTunes #1 Dance Chart album "Anjunabeats Volume 10", "Stateside" is awash with Damion's trademark colourful textu...Read More
Instead Of Doing His Job, Jeroen Dijsselbloem Has Given Us A Glimpse Of The Euro 'End Game' … If you've been following the Cyprus bailout story at all, you're probably familiar by now with Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch Finance Minister who became President of the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers in January. As President of the Eurogroup, Dijsselbloem has one extremel...Read More
In a previous post, I explained that banks are inherently fragile. One way to make them more robust is to increase equity capital requirements … A genuinely radical approach would be to kill banking as we know it. Rip all banks, large or small, in two – separate deposit-taking from credit-creation. Back the deposits one-for-one with reserves at the central bank. Then fund loans not wit...Read More
The federal government's collection of unused and vacant properties is killing taxpayers. Watchdog groups say maintenance and bureaucratic red tape related to the U.S. government's 55,000-to-77,000 vacant properties has cost taxpayers up to $8 billion so far. An example: The government just sold off one of its buildings this month, for $19.5 million, Breitbart reports. But it took 10 years...Read More