Posted by Nicholas Adams on Feb 27, 2011
Simon Johnson, the former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, is the co-author of “13 Bankers.”
The United States faces some serious medium-term fiscal issues, but by any standard measure it does not face an immediate fiscal crisis. Overly indebted countries typically have a hard time financing themselves when the world becomes riskier yet turmoil in the Middle East is pushing down the interest rates on United States government debt. We are still seen as a safe haven.
Nonetheless, leading commentators and politicians repeat the line “we’re broke” and argue that there is no alternative to immediate spending cuts at the national and state level.
Which view is correct? And what does this tell us about where our political system is heading?
Our main fiscal issues are three (see my testimony to the Senate Budget Committee earlier this month).
T
Read more…
Tags: Fiscal, Fiscal Crisis
Posted by Nicholas Adams on Feb 23, 2011
Falling auto sales were mostly responsible for the 0.2 percent decline in Canada’s retail sales during the month of December. Despite the decrease in spending, the Canadian economy is still expected to have grown by an annualized 2.3 percent for the fourth quarter.
Canadian consumers are also upbeat, according to a new poll that showed confidence in the economy is higher than in any other of the Group of Eight advanced economies.
Tags: Canada’s Retail, Canada’s Retail Sales, December, Retail Sales
Posted by Nicholas Adams on Feb 20, 2011
Virgin Money has moved into the life insurance market with a range of low-cost products created for it by Tower Australia.
Its term protection products will be aimed at the “budget” end of the market.
A Virgin Money spokesman told insuranceNEWS.com.au that income protection insurance “will be coming soon”.
The life insurance products include guaranteed acceptance for customers aged between 18 and 65 with premiums starting at $2.31 a week.
Preexisting conditions are subject to a fiveyear exclusion period, after which they will then be covered under the policy.
Distribution of the products will be through a website and call centres.
Virgin Money MD Matt Baxby says his company aims to increase life insurance take-up in Australia.
“I think it is fair to say life insurance in this country needs a boost,” he said.
Tags: Insurance, Life Insurance
Posted by Nicholas Adams on Feb 18, 2011
Robert B. Archibald and David H. Feldman are economists at the College of William Mary, a public university in Virginia, and the authors of Why Does College Cost So Much? If you want the brief version, you could look at an op-ed article by the two economists for Inside Higher Ed or a summary of the book compiled by the University of Washington. The professors also talked about the book in this short video.
Robert B. Archibald, co-author of “Why Does College Cost So Much?” David H. Feldman, co-author of “Why Does College Cost So Much?”
My conversation with them follows:
Q. You argue that the rapid rise in college tuition isnt actually surprising. The costs of all kinds of other services, like health care and live entertainment, have also risen much faster than inflation. What are the biggest reasons all these services have become so much more expensive? Is it m
Read more…
Tags: College Cost, Cost
Posted by Nicholas Adams on Feb 13, 2011
8:39 p.m. | Updated to correct reference to countries in final paragraph.
PARIS — Concerns that a European country will default on its debt have eased for now as politicians work to shore up the euro monetary union. Much of their energy is being poured into creating a permanent system to handle sovereign debt troubles that occur after 2013.
Yet few believe that the countries hit hardest by the financial crisis will be able to avoid what is politely being called a debt restructuring.
A recent paper from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development examined market expectations and found that as 2013 nears, investors put the chance that Greece’s debt will need restructuring at about 40 percent and Ireland’s at about 30 percent. The t
Read more…
Tags: Euro, Euro Zone
Posted by Nicholas Adams on Feb 09, 2011
Shares of Beazer Homes USA Inc. were down 4% early Tuesday after the Atlanta-based home builder said it swung to a quarterly loss of $48.8 million.
But just when it looked as if the stock was in the midst of a substantial technical breakdown it began to rally. In fact, it went from down 4% to a closing gain of 2.5% as the entire home building sector charged significantly higher.
In technical analysis terms, it was a rather good day once it shook off the cobwebs.
There are many interesting items of this chart and taken together they present a bullish argument for the stock. Considering the current environment would be easy to find it in trouble. But the stock market looks ahead many months and today’s trading action is based on what traders think will happen and not what is happening right now.
In technical circles, good action on bad news – earnings in this case – is bullish.
Read more…
Tags: Beazer Homes, Homes
Posted by Nicholas Adams on Feb 06, 2011
Mayor Richard M. Daley of Chicago, at a news conference on Feb. 3 to discuss the city’s response to the blizzard, has been an advocate of more efficient policing and of housing construction.
Mayor Richard M. Daley’s more than two decades in office are coming to a snowy end. But despite the disaster on Lake Shore Drive that left hundreds of drivers stranded, the city is far stronger today than it was in 1989 when Mr. Daley took office.
The big question is how much credit he deserves for Chicago’s economic rebound.
I came to Chicago the year before Mr. Daley was first elected, to study economics and cities at the University of Chicago. The city’s imposing structures, like the Museum of Science and Industry, seemed to recall a more energetic past.
Chicago’s population had fallen 17 percent between 1970 and 1990. In 1989,
Read more…
Tags: Chicago
