By Matthew Lynn LONDON (MarketWatch 2/23/12) — What movie should you watch to try and understand the torturous progress of Europe’s debt crisis? “Zorba the Greek,” maybe? “The Never-Ending Story,” perhaps? In fact, the best thing you could slot into the DVD player would be ‘A Beautiful Mind’, Ron Howard’s well-crafted film about the mathematical genius John Nash. The latest round of... Read more
Archive for the ‘Debt’ Category
Hungary won’t be the last . . .
January 11 | Posted by mrossol | Debt, EconomicsA word to the wise.. ======== By Matthew Lynn LONDON (MarketWatch) — Much like Greece, Hungary was one of those small, slightly peripheral countries that most people in the financial markets probably thought they could get through a career without ever worrying about very much. With a population of slightly less than 10 million, and with a total gross domestic product of less than... Read more
The Union Zee Bridge
December 1 | Posted by mrossol | Debt, Party Politics, The LeftWhat does it take for some people to learn a lesson? ======= Andrew Cuomo has a bridge to sell you, and we wish that was the set-up to a punch line. The New York Governor and government unions are hatching a plan to use the state’s pension funds to bankroll public works like replacing the Tappan Zee Bridge. In a radio interview with... Read more
What Housing Risk?
December 1 | Posted by mrossol | Debt, EconomicsBefore the 2007 housing bust, financial analysts who raised questions about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s shaky finances were dismissed as cranks. So it’s worrying to see a thoughtful critique of another taxpayer-backed monolith—the Federal Housing Administration—receive a similar brush-off. The flap centers around an American Enterprise Institute paper “Is FHA the Next Housing Bubble?” by Wharton real-estate finance professor Joseph... Read more
