Archives for: Bernenke Fed
We put out one fire but now Mark Carney wants to start another
by Mitch Feierstein about 6 years 10 months ago
Mervyn King’s decade at the Bank of England was a disaster. The Bank was too slack during the long and indisciplined boom, under prepared for the crash and playing catch-up thereafter. The legacy of Lord King’s (and Gordon Brown’s) career has been an economy still limping along far below peak output, real wages caught in […]
We must take a stand against lies, damned lies and statistical data
by Mitch Feierstein about 9 years 9 months ago
Last week, a brave police constable told a startled Parliamentary select committee that crime statistics were being artificially manipulated to keep recorded crime on its downward path. In one remarkable exchange, the committee’s chair, Bernard Jenkin, asked: “This [the police process] would finish up with trying to persuade a victim that they weren’t raped, for […]
Firms too big to fail before, like JPMorgan, are bigger now – and not any safer
by Mitch Feierstein about 10 years 4 days ago
On 15 September 2008, Lehman Brothers, a “bulge bracket” investment bank, filed for bankruptcy. That should have been no big deal. The failure of a single, poorly run institution should have had no broader effect on the domestic US economy, let alone the global one. Things didn’t pan out that way. Lehman Brothers was the […]
by Mitch Feierstein about 11 years 1 month ago
Another day, another banking scandal. Barclays’ LIBOR cheats exploited an arcane and out-dated rate-setting mechanism to fix rates in their favour – which means to your detriment. But just ripping off ordinary people and ordinary investors doesn’t win many points in the Bankster’s Cheat Olympics. If you really want to shoot for those medal places, […]
Back in April, I wrote a piece about Apple Inc. I suggested that the company’s stock price was a little frothy. I suggested caution was in order. At time of writing that piece, the company’s stock price was at about $635, just a shade off its high. I got crucified for that piece. Virtually everyone commenting […]
The Bureau of Lies and Spin: A Guide to Understanding the Unemployment Statistics
by Mitch Feierstein about 11 years 2 months ago
Last week I wrote a piece about Congress: its failure to take responsibility for problems, the way its un-shining example has a tendency to corrupt all our other national institutions. The post garnered a remarkable number of comments, the majority of which agreed strongly with the view I expressed. Just one thing disturbed me, however, which […]
This Time It’s Different: Why It’s Time to Fire Bernanke
by Mitch Feierstein about 11 years 3 months ago
Two bits of news in the last couple days. One, Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, has decided to extend Operation Twist, a policy whereby the Fed sells short-dated government paper in order to buy the longer-dated sort. It sounds boring but it involves $267 billion, so it’s kind of consequential all the same. […]
Who’s to blame for the euro crisis? Let the Planet Ponzi Rating Agency help you decide
by Mitch Feierstein about 11 years 3 months ago
Jose Manuel Barroso, the President of the European Commission, got snappish when asked about the Eurozone crisis by a Canadian journalist. ‘Frankly, we are not here to receive lessons in terms of democracy or in terms of how to handle the economy,’ he said. ‘This crisis was not originated in Europe; seeing as you mention […]
Unlike Cameron and Obama, Angela Merkel doesn’t want a Euro superstate – let’s hope she stands firm
by Mitch Feierstein about 11 years 3 months ago
It’s a strange world we’re living in. This newspaper reported yesterday that, ‘Britain and the US joined forces to urge Germany to create a central Brussels body that could assume sovereignty over individual countries’ budgets and fiscal policies.’ Under pressure: German Chancellor Angela Merkel doesn’t want a Euro superstate – and can’t afford to finance one anyway […]
The financial turmoil of recent years has produced an outpouring of op-eds, news stories, books and essays seeking to document and analyze the unfolding disaster. Some of the material has been written by insiders, some by those from the outside. Some by experts, some by astonished laypeople. It’s a mass of material which can, remarkably, […]