This past week witnessed almost a complete meltdown of the global financial system after derivatives knocked down Lehman Brothers and AIG. Worldwide losses from speculative excesses could exceed $1 trillion, and the word "derivative" [...]
Earl Devaney, inspector general of the Interior Department, reported last week that a two-year investigation has uncovered a "culture of substance abuse and promiscuity" within the department's Mineral Management Services, or MMS. This department, [...]
By Jon Hilsenrath, David Enrich and Deborah Solomon A year into a credit crisis that started with troubled mortgages to sketchy borrowers, the financial system is reeling once again, casting a pall over a [...]
During the next 12 months, very large companies from such divergent industries as investment and commercial banking, automobile and airlines will seek significant help from the federal government to avert bankruptcy. Their executives argue that [...]
As Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac totter toward a government bailout, we might recall that they may have been "conceived in sin." In an July 28 New Yorker article, "Sponsoring Recklessness," James Surowiecki pointed [...]
The spectacular festivities that opened the Beijing Olympics visually portrayed the optimistic forecasts of economist Jeffrey Sachs, who said, "China is the most successful development story in world history." Most economists feel that sometime in [...]
When the Nazis came for the communists, I remained silent; I was not a communist. When they locked up the social democrats, I remained silent; I was not a social democrat. When they came for the trade unionists, [...]
In today's Mad Hatter World, we might remember the Queen of Hearts, the mean-spirited sovereign created by Lewis Carroll in "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland." She sentenced her subjects to death for the slightest offense, [...]
Now that John McCain has selected his running mate—Pit Bull Palin, I feel that I can share my preference John Paulson. Since most of my best friends are Republicans, and at 64 I am running [...]
The dice have been rolled for the fate of 300 million Americans. Congress recently enacted legislation to resolve the worst housing crisis since the Great Depression. This will be the government's greatest effort to [...]
Since the cracks that turned into earthquakes began convulsing the economy in the summer of 2007, pundits have actively debated both the depth of the financial downturn and its duration. More than $300 billion [...]
In 2003, a Goldman Sachs economic team led by Jim O'Neill focused on the positive prospects of four developing countries -- Brazil, Russia, India and China, or "BRIC." In a paper "Dreaming with BRICs: The [...]
Over the past decade, the fortunes of Russia and its leading oil and gas company, Gazprom, have improved dramatically. A decade ago, the price of oil was languishing and Russia was facing possible bankruptcy. [...]
In order to convince his subjects of the wisdom of surrendering after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, Japanese Emperor Hirohito announced over the radio to his beleaguered people that they [...]
Personal Background: On reflection, I would not have written an essay about Hollywood’s failure to produce movies that focused on anti-Semitism and the Holocaust from 1930-1962 without the influence of both of my parents. [...]
'If summer were spring and the other way round, Then all the world would be upside down." In 1781, the above ditty, "The World Turned Upside Down," was reputedly played as the defeated British [...]
Transcript of Charlie Rose’s interview with Gladstone Duck, The Senior Economic Advisor to the third party candidate Mickey Mouse. Charlie Rose: I want to welcome back Gladstone who has been my guest on many [...]
Transcript of Charlie Rose’s interview with Gladstone Duck, The Senior Economic Advisor to the third party candidate Mickey Mouse. Charlie Rose: I want to welcome back Gladstone who has been my guest on many [...]
During the past few weeks, a consensus has emerged that Wall Street has entered a new era of lower returns on equity, thinner profits, fewer jobs and more federal oversight. The declining fortune of [...]
The purported reconnaissance flight by some 250 Israeli airplanes over Iran’s fledgling nuclear program reflects several ominous trends. A number of countries have jump-started nuclear programs by obtaining needed technology from Pakistan, Russia, North [...]
I have been captivated by the declining fortunes of the Big Three -- General Motors, Ford and Chrysler -- since I spent 1968 doing post-graduate research at Oxford on these automakers. Needless to say, their [...]
In recent weeks, key economic data highlight concerns that the economy will not rebound until sometime in 2009. In at least three key areas -- housing, automobiles and retail sales -- recently reported numbers [...]
Over the years, I have developed great sympathy for Inspector Jacques Clouseau's boss -- Commissioner Charles Dreyfus. The good commissioner and I twitch when we observe inept moves. Although Clouseau (Peter Sellers) bungled catching the [...]
The proposed purchase of Calpine Corp. by NRG Energy Inc. would create the largest independent power company in the United States. The nearly $11 billion takeover would double NRG's capacity in the United States [...]
Introduction: Several major developments have coalesced to induce long-standing enemies Israel led by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Syria under “President” Basshar Assad to embark on peace talks in Turkey. First of all, the exorbitant [...]
The showering of rice on a newly wedded couple has always been symbolic of wishing prosperity and good luck. To this day, rice remains a token of a life of "plenty." Unfortunately, a dramatic [...]
The United States has advocated free trade policies of unrestricted imports and exports since the Bretton Woods Conference in 1944. This principle of refraining from imposing tariffs or quotas remained the case even after [...]
The need to achieve energy independence is as important for the U.S. today as obtaining hegemony in the space program was in the 1950s after the USSR launched Sputnik. Most experts feel that our [...]
Much like it picked Amazon Inc. Chairman Jeff Bezos in 1999 because he personified the field of e-commerce, Time magazine should choose Uncle Sam for its next Person of the Year, since he is [...]
The expected merger between Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines represents another blow to the deregulation policies of Jimmy Carter that ushered in many upstart airlines. Advocates of a "laissez faire" role for government [...]
Although I am not aware any statues of Alan Greenspan being toppled by irate crowds, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve has certainly fallen from a lofty perch. Once hailed as the "greatest [...]
When I reflect on major economic events in the first quarter of this year, I visualize a whole flock of black swans descending around me. One might ask, why black swans? I have become [...]
Twenty-five years ago, maverick economist Hyman Minsky (1919-1996) noted that financiers periodically set the entire economy ablaze. Minsky warned that Wall Street encourages businesses and individuals to take on too much risk, generating ruinous boom-and-bust [...]
In the fairy tale "Goldilocks and the Three Bears," Goldilocks seemed happy enough to have a few bites of porridge from Mama, Daddy, and Baby Bear's bowls. But when Jamie Dimon, the CEO of [...]
I Believe In You Those four words can mean the difference between a fear of failure and the courage to try. 3/3/2008 By Mike Krzyzewski (Duke Basketball Coach) and his daughter Jamie Spatola I absolutely loved [...]
Introduction: I want to say at the outset that I have never personally met Senator Clinton. On the other hand, I was briefly a friend of Bill (FOB), some forty years ago. That is, we [...]
