Despite remarks of Chinese officials and offhand comments of the US Treasury Secretary, the Fed flow of funds accounts for Q4 2008 indicate that the US Monetary Authority acted, in fact, like a world central banker, supporting the dollar as the primary international reserve currency. First, public funds used to support AIG were allowed […]

The fourth quarter of 2008 is known for the international banking crisis which will lead to dramatic changes in financial regulation and to massive de-leveraging of institutions. Generally overlooked in the current analyses, however, are indications that the stock buyback era that began in the early 1980s, has finally come to a sudden and […]

Recently, watching a Congressional hearing to determine the fate of the mark-to-market rule, I was reminded of what John Maynard Keynes had said: Madmen in authority, who hear voices in the air, are distilling their frenzy from some academic scribbler of a few years back. Over the last six month, trillions of dollars of the life […]