In Memoriam: Thai McGreivy
Dr. Thai McGreivy, a regular commenter on this blog, passed away on Sunday night after unexpectedly suffering a massive heart attack the previous Monday.Thai made many friends here; though I didn't get to meet him face to face, I greatly apprecia...
Now Hear This: You Are Evicted From Eden
Homo Economicus is being thrown out of Monetary Eden, a place of previously lush and lazy living on the cheap. Notice of eviction has been posted at 28o44'N 88o23'W (see below).Deepwater Horizon Burning In The Gulf Of MexicoWhat does money have t...
The War Against Finance
Whilst everyone is understandably worried about Europe'an PIIGS debt, it's also timely to examine what is happening with America's federal government debt, the grand-daddy of them all.In a word, it's horrible. The debt-to-revenue ratio for the fe...
Financial Overhaul Bill Passes Senate
The U.S. Senate passes the financial overhaul bill 59-39.
Some four decades ago, one of my worst chores working summers for my dad (he owned the company ) was getting sent to the bank with a bunch of paperwork. Lines, stamps, signatures... endless time wasted. In my school-boy estimation, bankers were...
Debt And GDP
Lest we forget good old USA amidst all the euro-hand wringing, here's a graph...
..and here are two questions:
Data: FRB and St. Louis Fed
Annual Changes In Total Debt and GDP (Current $)
..and here are two questions:
- Where did all this additional debt go (i.e. what was it used...
If The Shoe Fits…
A dozen alumni from Euro U. Class of 2000, get together for a reunion picnic. The class president, a very thoughtful and generous fellow named Robert, brings everyone a new pair of shoes as a gift: the latest Nike trainer, size 10. Very nice of you, thanks very much... says everyone as boxes are opened...
The Gimp’s Suit
Well, whaddaya know..? People are finally waking up to the fact that a common currency requires a common fiscal policy (duh). This being (almost) the weekend I don't feel like writing some sort of acerbic diatribe on the euro, so I'll just throw in a joke.
A man decides to finally give in...
Fifi’s World, A Monetary Allegory – Part II
As Fifi's father listened, the stranger told him to chuck everything he was told about his daughter's illness by the so-called experts. It was obvious that Fifi was not suffering from a simple cold, but that she had a bad case of walking pneumonia and, therefore, no matter how much aspirin she took the illness...
Fifi Fiat, A Monetary Allegory – Part I
Some weeks ago Mr. and Mrs. Fiat's young daughter Fifi fell ill. She sneezed and she caughed and she ran a slight temperature, but her parents were not overly concerned. After all, it was normal for children her age to catch colds and other mild viruses at school. It will go away soon on its...
Gorillas In The Drawing Room
One of these days the entire world is going to wake up and realize that its debt problems are one heck of a lot bigger and more serious than Greece, which is just the first Debtopia to unravel. That it's not the debts of Portugal, Ireland, or even Spain that may cause the entire post-WWII...
Pizza Delivery, Anyone?
The following anonymous email is making the rounds (It's in FT Alphaville). “We are Wall Street. It’s our job to make money. Whether it’s a commodity, stock, bond, or some hypothetical piece of fake paper, it doesn’t matter. We would trade ...
On Greek CDS
Under the efficient market theory the following trade should not be possible, yet you can put it on right now:
- Buy 5-year Greek Government bonds (rated BB+) to yield 11.2% and,
- Buy a 5-year CDS on the same Greek Government bonds at 620 bp (6.2% per year) from, say, Deutsche Bank (rated A+).
The net result...
Follow seriouslyfinace on Twitter!
