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According to the chart the Default Rate for the Italy is 78%, Belgium 82%, UK 97.9%, Greece 101.3%, Austria 104.5%, and Ireland 113.6%. The problem is this chart is 2.5 months old and the problem is much worse...
In particular, having governments buy distressed assets from the banks, or provide loan guarantees, is not an effective solution. It does not reduce the volume of debt, or force recognition of losses. It merely re-denominates private sector obligatio
"anyone chasing the rally in government bonds is making a "terrible mistake." "The idea that you can fix a period of excess borrowing and excess consumption by more borrowing and more consumption to me is just ludicrous," he
Known as "BerkShares," the colorful currency is printed by a nonprofit group to encourage people to spend close to home in the state's Berkshire region. Customers who use the money also get a built-in 10 percent discount...
Bernanke, Philadelphia Fed's Plosser differ publicly on new policy - WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - Key fault lines are emerging at the Federal Reserve over the central bank's journey into uncharted monetary policy.
The New York Times reports banks need more bailout money, and some are already lobbying for it. Collectively, these stories suggest the problems in the financial sector are far from over, and more government bailouts are coming.
Ron Paul exposes the current tricks and treats ahead in the halls of CONgress, and the heads of government and quasi-government running off from CONgressional hearings to meet with Central Bankers and Board of International Settlements.
Ben Bernanke called for fresh efforts to clean up the US banking system on Tuesday, warning that fiscal stimulus measures alone would not be enough to overcome the economic crisis.
Another measure “would be to set up and capitalize so- called bad banks, which would purchase assets from financial institutions in exchange for cash and equity in the bad banks,” he said.
Since there is no economic incentive to lend the financial system will continue to de-leverage and destroy bad debt. The banks have been reduced to hoarding. Therefore, despite a massive increase in money, expect DEFLATION in 2009
The downside of course, is that all of the demand for Treasuries is artificial. Treasuries are now in the hands of speculators looking to sell, not investors looking to hold. These players are analogous to the mid-decade condo-flippers who flocked to
The chief executive of jewellery giant De Beers SA made waves this week when he suggested the global diamond industry consider pricing the shiny gems in a currency other than the U.S. dollar.
Oh by the way, if you're wondering how far off that "catastrophically" is, the answer might be right about now. How come? Treasury today ran a T-bill auction that had only 18% indirect participation. 18% eh? Is that "screw you**
"All the key drivers of China's Treasury purchases are disappearing," said Ben Simpfendorfer, an economist in the Hong Kong office of the Royal Bank of Scotland. "There's a waning appetite for dollars and a waning appetite for
Currencies including the dollar and the euro have entered a period of extreme volatility that is hindering global commerce and adding further uncertainty to a world economy facing its worst downturn in decades.
Paul replied. "I think the confidence eventually will be lost. ... The financial system broke down because they lost confidence in it ... but soon they're going to lose confidence in the dollar. Now that'll be a crisis that'll be muc
Ron Paul interviewed on the trillion dollar budgets and what they are doing to our nation by CNN.
U.S. banks will have to raise fresh capital in 2009, and a sharp increase in credit-rating downgrades on mortgage-related securities will lead to further stresses on the companies' capital, according to prominent banking analyst Meredith Whitney.
The fact is that recent economic numbers have been terrifying, not just in the United States but around the world. Manufacturing, in particular, is plunging everywhere. Banks aren't lending; businesses and consumers aren’t spending. Let's not
There should be little doubt why there is a bubble in Treasuries, and why the Federal Reserve is in the market buying mortgage debt.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said Monday it has begun purchasing mortgage-backed securities in an effort to bolster the battered housing market.
Setting an explicit inflation target would help the Federal Reserve keep deflation at bay now that interest rates have been cut to almost zero, a top central banker said. "...you have this possibility of expectations drifting off to deflation or
Nassim Taleb is angry in a way that is never allowed on to be seen on CNBC.
Has that 16% increase - a $1.5 trillion addition to the debt - made the economic situation worse or better over the last 12 months? The stock market - has it gone up or down? Employment - has it increased or decreased? Has your credit card and hom
The process often involves buying up large quantities of assets from banks, such as the Fed's latest programs to buy mortgage-backed securities.
When the treasury says it will use "extreme discretion in order to improve market confidence" it really means there will absolutely no discretion; that it will do what it damn well wants, anytime it wants, whether it has the money to do so
The cause of the current economic calamity is the Federal Reserve Board. The beginning of the cure for restoring our future is the elimination of the Federal reserve Board and the IRS.
Gulf Cooperation Council leaders yesterday concluded their 29th annual summit meeting in Muscat, Oman with a final approval for the creation of a single currency for the six-nation economic bloc, still targeted for 2010.
"It was beyond most people’s comprehension that such a thing could happen," Marc Pado, chief market strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald, told the Financial Times. "No one thought the short-term could be this destructive."
Borrowing and spending beyond ordinary limits largely explains how Americans got into such economic trouble. For decades, businesses and consumers feasted relentlessly, as if gravity, arithmetic and the tyranny of debt had been defanged by financial
