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Joshua Brown is feeling extremely bearish, and he’s making some sense — The Reformed Broker
The EU hints that investors will take bigger losses in a second Greek rescue – Bloomberg
Wolfgang Schauble is talking real European fiscal integration — Crooked Timber
France and Belgium are bailing out Dexia. Again. — Reuters
Kenneth Rogoff argues against Europe’s proposed financial transactions tax — Project Syndicate
“Investors do not really have a clear idea of how healthy any of these banks truly are.” — The Big Picture
Citi’s having trouble unloading $300 million billion in assets — WSJ
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor says Obama’s jobs bill is basically dead — WSJ Washington Wire
And pension costs alone are reason enough for American Airlines to declare bankruptcy — Fortune
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Rogoff seems to be doing his utmost to seem condescending, in his attempt to paint a transaction tax as an unwise ‘populist’ maneuver. But then, I guess we should expect little better from a former IMF official who is now (also) affiliated with Pete Peterson’s propaganda machine.
As such, seeing him write the following is absolutely shameless.
“There are more cynical interpretations of the European Commission’s motives. Perhaps officials noticed that virtually everything in Europe is already heavily taxed. So, rather than finance the European Union’s institutions through greater contributions from existing tax bases, they are seeking a consensus for new revenue sources.”
Everything in Europe is already ‘heavily taxed’? Gee, doc, where are the references that ‘prove’ this amazing claim? Should we read your apples/oranges “definitive history” in which you compare gold standard and fiat financial crises as though such financial systems work in exactly the same way?
Shorter Fortune Magazine: Incompetent management should be, has been, and is rewarded by bankruptcy courts. This is a feature, not a bug.
On Tobin taxes (my browser is great: it opens windows on Felix and ffoe right beside each other), see
http://fistfulofeuros.net/afoe/economics -afoe/thats-how-it-worked-out-for-sweden /
I quote as well, since it is so good (esp. if you have been to Stockholm in the last couple of years):
How well did this work out for Sweden?
In the ruins of the city once known as Stockholm, ragged survivors barter rotting fish for scraps of used toilet paper outside the scorched hulk of the former Riksbank, that was once the oldest central bank in the world.
Citi’s having trouble unloading $300 [B]illion in assets
I was wondering the newsworthiness of $300 million in un-unloadable assets. That would be a trivial write-down for Citi. $300 Billion is more than their total equity.