Monthly Archives: March 2010

No crisis in confidence—Evidence shows U.S. creditors still think U.S. debt remains safest in world – EPI Issue Brief #276 Print-friendly PDF version In recent days, the Wall Street Journal and Business Week have pointed to a slight uptick in interest rates … Continue reading →

  Quote Census hiring set to boost job gains – Washington Times Census hiring set to boost job gains Decennial tally will employ 1.4 million

Obama Administration Cops to Looming Oil Shortage – In an exclusive interview published March 25 in Le Monde, Glen Sweetnam, the Obama administration’s official expert on the oil market, confirmed nearly every element of the “Peak Oil” scenario that many analysts … Continue reading →

Are Americans Already Back to Their Old Ways? – Financial-Planning reports: While 63% of Americans said they were concerned about the overall state of financial markets in 2009, just 45% said they were concerned in 2010. Nervousness and fear about … Continue reading →

 Department of "Huh?": Default Discounts in U.S. Treasury Interest Rates????????? Edition The term premium on U.S. Treasury debt is low because even though long-term nominal (and real) rates are low, short-term rates are even lower, for we are deep in … Continue reading →

Obama to Open Offshore Areas to Oil Drilling for First Time – NYTimes – The Obama administration is proposing to open vast expanses of water along the Atlantic coastline, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the north coast of Alaska to … Continue reading →

 Economists Who Say "Ni!"– Krugman – OK, it’s actually the economists who say “Inflation!” But isn’t it all too predictable that with almost 10 percent unemployment and ongoing disinflation — at this rate we could be looking at deflation in the … Continue reading →

Japan Banks May Sell Record Subordinated Bonds, Citigroup Says – (Bloomberg) — Japanese banks may sell a record 2.3 trillion yen ($24.8 billion) of subordinated bonds in the next fiscal year as they refinance debt to meet regulatory requirements, according to … Continue reading →

 Don’t Be Narrow-Minded – Via Brad DeLong, I see that Greg Mankiw seems to favor narrow banking: require banks to hold all their deposits in liquid, short-term assets, thus obviating the risk of financial crises. I’m glad to see Greg trying … Continue reading →

Deciding the Arctic’s Future Behind Closed Doors – Diplomats from Finland, Iceland and Sweden are upset; indigenous groups are furious. Five countries bordering the Arctic Ocean are meeting behind closed doors on Monday to discuss the region’s future. Many of those … Continue reading →