Germany’s Choice
Germany is the world's #2 exporter, very close behind China. In 2010 it exported a total of 960 billion euro, amounting to 42% of its GDP. Its trade surplus came to 153 billion euro, almost 7% of GDP. Impressive stuff, no doubt, and a...
The Joe Engineer Indicator
Sometime ago I attended an alumni gathering arranged by my old college's Provost. Since he was making the effort to come such a long way I figured I had to go - plus it was good to see old friends again. The reason for this post, however, is not to s...
Message To ECB: Why Not Sell CDS, Instead?
With the European debt crisis threatening to tear apart the very fabric of the EU itself, here's an idea (a weird one, I admit). Instead of buying Italian, Spanish, Greek, etc. government bonds, the ECB could sell the equivalent sovereign credit ...
It’s Time To Tax
The following story appeared in Reuters and made my stomach turn.Some U.S. firms paid more to CEOs than taxes: study Here's an excerpt:"Compensation for the 25 CEOs with pay surpassing corporate taxes averaged $16.7 million, according to the stu...
The Eurozone: A Family Snapshot
Given what is going on in the eurozone at the moment, I thought it would be nice to have a snapshot picture of it, circa 2010. Data: Eurostat (2010)Ninety percent of the Eurozone's GDP is produced by just seven countriesBefore you reach Greece, nu...
Sudden Debt Redux: Where Are We Now?
Sudden Debt was started five years ago warning of excess in debt, asset bubbles and the end of the "Permagrowth" model. Today, some of the most egregious excesses have been reversed or at least arrested after wrenching and painful adjustments to ...
Gold vs. Debt and GDP
Continuing a bit from the last post's subject, here's another comparison between gold and US debt: The value of the entire amount of gold in existence in the world vs. total debt of the USA (a proxy for global debt), and global GDP. According to ...
They Are Scared Witless..
In this post's title "they" are speculators/investors (are there any true investors left in this world, I wonder?) and "witless" means exactly that: they have taken leave of their wits (assuming they had any to begin with, of course).Proof? The followi...
As The World Burns
Well, now it's official: The Debt Crisis is global. But what lies at the heart of it? What are the economic fundamentals which have created it?In a word, "China". Oh, I don't mean that China as a nation is at fault, that it is to be b...
L’Affaire Strauss-Kahn
Il n'y a aucune coincidence dans la (haute) finance (pronounce in French for maximum rhyming effect).Well, well, well... the prosecution is furiously back-pedalling on its charges against Mr. Strauss-Kahn. It seems the chambermaid is not exactly ...
L’Affaire Strauss-Kahn
Il n'y a aucune coincidence dans la (haute) finance (pronounce in French for maximum rhyming effect).Well, well, well... the prosecution is furiously back-pedalling on its charges against Mr. Strauss-Kahn. It seems the chambermaid is not exactly ...
L’Affaire Strauss-Kahn
Il n'y a aucune coincidence dans la (haute) finance (pronounce in French for maximum rhyming effect).Well, well, well... the prosecution is furiously back-pedalling on its charges against Mr. Strauss-Kahn. It seems the chambermaid is not exactly ...
