For decades the American government sought to increase homeownership because of a belief that it reinforced a faith in capitalism and made better citizens. Unfortunately, this effort turned into government mandates that led the [...]
Too Big To Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System – and Themselves. By Andrew Sorkin. Andrew Sorkin, business writer for the New York Times, [...]
The decline of the U.S. dollar over the past six months is reviving concerns about its status as the world's reserve currency. A reserve currency is held in significant quantities by many governments as [...]
The movie "It's a Wonderful Life" highlights the fragile dependence of the community of Bedford Falls on its banking institutions. The potential failure of its saving and loan because of a financial crisis will [...]
SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro recently said the rating agency industry needs to be subjected to a stronger regulatory framework because investors frequently consider those ratings in making investment decisions. Schapiro needs to follow up [...]
"(I)t is important to note that the very absence of common-sense regulations able to keep up with a fast-paced financial sector is what created the need for that extraordinary intervention. The lack of sensible [...]
Much of the benefit of the Merrill Lynch (ML) and Bank of America (BAC) merger has been lost to investors for a lack of full disclosure. It is a fundamental principle of American finance [...]
"I was not going to be the Federal Reserve chairman who presided over the second Great Depression." -- Ben Bernanke President Barack Obama decided to reappoint Ben Bernanke to a second term as chairman [...]
Jeff Taylor wasn't happy that the Senate approved another $2 billion for the "cash for clunkers" program last week. For him, the program means fewer clunkers, and possibly less cash. Taylor hates the term, [...]
Pulitzer Prize winning author, Nick Kotz, wrote a compelling history of the fight for civil rights. The book primarily focuses on the extraordinary effectiveness of President Lyndon Johnson to pass the Civil Rights Acts of [...]
"In human life, economics precedes politics or culture" -- Park Chung-hee (1917-1979) , South Korean dictator The miraculous growth of the Asian economy will totally alter the economic landscape by the middle of the [...]
"Today, the entire Western financial world holds its breath every time the Fed chairman speaks, so influential are the central bank's decisions on markets, interest rates and the economy in general. Yet the Fed, [...]
By Allis Radosh and Ronald Radosh Dust Jacket “Even though I knew how the story would end, A Safe Haven still had me sitting on the edge of my seat, watching Harry Truman weigh the [...]
There's something to be said for leaving things as you found them, but not when it pertains to stock performance. Soon after Larry Kellner became chief executive officer in late 2004, shares of Continental Airlines [...]
About one year ago, I fired my longtime money manager. To paraphrase Warren Buffett, I discovered belatedly that now that the tide had gone out, my money manager was swimming naked! In a nutshell, [...]
"Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." -- Winston Churchill, Nov. 10, 1942, Announcement of British victory [...]
"We cannot, we must not, and we will not let our auto industry simply vanish. This industry is, like no other, an emblem of the American spirit; a once and future symbol of America's [...]
The $30 billion deficit of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. highlights the difficulties the federal government faces in balancing different constituent interests. On the one hand, the PBGC protects the defined benefit pensions of [...]
"The only thing that gives me pleasure is to see my dividend coming in." -- John D. Rockefeller For many long-term investors, dividends are the straw that stirs the drink. Over time, a stock's [...]
A woman recently approached Richard Fisher in a Dallas Starbucks and thanked him. She had refinanced her mortgage at 4.3 percent, down from more than 6 percent, and she wanted him to know she [...]
"No one should be confused about what a bankruptcy process means, This is not a sign of weakness but rather one more step on a clearly chartered path to Chrysler's revival." -- Barack Obama [...]
The obstinate refusal of a small group of hedge funds to accept the government's terms for helping Chrysler avoid bankruptcy will probably unleash the legislative equivalent to waterboarding. Hedge funds have strong legal precedent [...]
When I initially considered joining the board of directors of a publicly traded company, my first thoughts were the images conveyed by the film industry. I pictured myself sitting with nicely dressed people around [...]
In his first presidential news conference on Feb. 9, Barack Obama highlighted Japan, the world's second largest economy, as an example of a country that has suffered from mistaken financial policies. Obama argued the [...]
I nostalgically wish to hear my father's perspectives on today's challenging economic environment. Having endured through World Wars and the Great Depression, Dad shared Warren Buffett's sunny disposition: "America's best days are ahead." On [...]
'If there is a single episode in this entire 18 months that has made me more angry, I can't think of one other than AIG." -- Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve chairman The government is [...]
"If past history was all there was to the game, the richest people would be librarians." -- Warren Buffett Warren Buffett is no librarian, but he is considered to be the greatest investor of [...]
Several years ago during a visit to the Palace of Versailles, my guide made the following observation: Louis XIV built it, Louis XV enjoyed it, and Louis XVI paid for it. Like the luckless [...]
Legendary Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach traditionally lit a cigar to celebrate his team's victory. Unfortunately, we cannot smell the scent of victory over our escalating recession despite spending trillions of dollars that have [...]
"We thought the enemy was Mr. Madoff. I think it is you." -- Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y., in comments to Securities and Exchange Commission officials on Feb. 4 America's love-hate attitude toward regulation found [...]
Could our financial prescription of creating a "bad bank" to acquire trillions in toxic assets be similarly misguided? The shifting of toxic assets from private borrowers to the federal government might be no more [...]
Our commercial banking system does not currently provide the needed financial lifeblood for our society. As New York University professor Nouriel Roubini, founder of global economic and financial analysis firm RGE Monitor pointed out [...]
Brother, can you spare a dime? Although I studied the Great Depression as an economics major in the 1960s, its dread faded. I even underrated the relevancy of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's expertise [...]
In a gloomy year I found respite in reading a thoroughly enjoyable book. "The Partnership, The Making of Goldman Sachs" served as a good year-end tonic. Its author, Charlie Ellis, brought a unique perspective. His [...]
Over the past few years I have enjoyed immensely Fateful Choices, Ten Decisions that Changed the World, 1940-1941 by Ian Kershaw. This essay is devoted to the Japanese Decision to Attack Pearl Harbor. Their choice [...]
“Berlin is the key to Germany. Germany is the key to Europe.” --Joseph Stalin Nearly two decades since its demise, the Berlin Wall has largely faded from our thoughts. But Frederick Taylor's latest book revives [...]
