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HomeWeekend Assaults: Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Greece, and Goldman Sachs
Posted by Larry Doyle on May 16th, 2011 6:17 AM |
What a weekend. I would like to comment on two specific situations.
1. Dominique Strauss-Kahn
Just when you think the world could not suffer any further ‘assaults’ from global financial executives on our sense of decency and the virtuous pursuit of truth, transparency, and integrity, enter IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn. While Kahn obviously is innocent until proven guilty and is entitled to due process, his arrest this weekend in New York City on charges of attempted rape, sexual assault, and unlawful imprisonment upon a hotel maid evinces many reactions including:
1. Did he not have other things on his mind worrying about an imminent Greek default and/or restructuring of Greece’s financial debacle?
2. Do you think this is the first time he has engaged in this type of behavior? (more…)
“The Time for Action is Now”
Posted by Larry Doyle on March 25th, 2011 4:34 AM |
Having spent the better part of the last two weeks in Europe, I have gained an even greater perspective for the need to address our massive fiscal deficit here at home. While selected analysts would discount the global impact of the debt strapped peripheral nations of Europe, we do so at our peril. Why so? Have you looked at some of the European peripheral bond markets lately? (more…)
Ireland’s Sinn Fein Leaders Say, Screw ‘EU’…and the IMF and ECB as Well
Posted by Larry Doyle on November 23rd, 2010 7:03 AM |
Is there any greater motivation for man than the sense of being disenfranchised?
Throughout history, those who have been disenfranchised have used that reality as the motivation to move mountains…..if not governments. What stokes the fire of those who would take up their cause and speak out on behalf of their people? Not only a sense of injustice but often merely a lack of representation. We witness a growing sense of all these realities in the Republic of Ireland. Why’s that?
The Irish citizenry are increasingly aware that the Irish “bailout” brokered yesterday by the IMF, the European Commission, and European Central Bank is truly a backdoor bailout of international banking institutions on the continent with the costs to be borne by the Irish people. While Ireland’s sitting government may have balked at this bailout, ultimately they caved to the pressure from the powers within the EU. Sinn Fein, the opposition party in Ireland, is speaking out aggressively on behalf of the Irish people who are bearing the cost of bailing out international banks.
The Euro and other related markets overnight are very much aware of the growing opposition within Ireland to the ‘backdoor bank bailout’. Risk premiums are rising across many market segments as a result. Let’s navigate ‘across the pond’ to the Emerald Isle and listen to the leaders of Sinn Fein, including its ‘tough as nails’ President Gerry Adams (the second to speak in this video clip), rail on the sitting Irish government, Fianna Fail, and those within the EU who orchestrated this ‘backdoor bank bailout.’
Navigate accordingly.
Larry Doyle
Ben Bernanke’s “Hail Mary”
Posted by Larry Doyle on August 29th, 2010 11:12 AM |
Hail Mary passes are typically thrown late in a game in an attempt to clutch victory from the jaws of defeat. Ben Bernanke’s statement at the Fed’s Jackson Hole conference this past week is an indication that he is getting ready to throw his “Hail Mary.” The problem that I see, though, is that our ‘game’ is only somewhere in the second quarter.
Have you ever witnessed a football game where one team literally has to scrap its game plan because it finds itself in such a huge hole in the first quarter? That, my friends, is analogous to the state of the U.S. economy going into 2008. While we could debate whether the calls made by our coaching staff in Washington have helped or hurt our recovery, the fact is Ben and his fellow coaches have thrown everything and the kitchen sink at the economy and the results are anything but robust.
For a review of the game to date and the uncertain prognosis going forward, The New York Times’ Peter Goodman provides a wealth of ‘sense on cents’ in his fabulous and comprehensive commentary, (more…)
Laurence Kotlikoff: “The U.S. Is Bankrupt”
Posted by Larry Doyle on August 12th, 2010 1:20 PM |
Nobody likes being told they are broke. While the truth may hurt, when you’re broke, you’re broke. Are we as a nation broke? Laurence Kotlikoff believes we are and expresses as much today in a Bloomberg commentary, U.S. Is Bankrupt and We Don’t Even Know It,
Let’s get real. The U.S. is bankrupt. Neither spending more nor taxing less will help the country pay its bills.
What it can and must do is radically simplify its tax, health-care, retirement and financial systems, each of which is a complete mess. But this is the good news. It means they can each be redesigned to achieve their legitimate purposes at much lower cost and, in the process, revitalize the economy.
Last month, the International Monetary Fund released its annual review of U.S. economic policy. Its summary contained these bland words about U.S. fiscal policy: “Directors welcomed the authorities’ commitment to fiscal stabilization, but noted that a larger than budgeted adjustment would be required to stabilize debt-to-GDP.”
But delve deeper, and you will find that the IMF has effectively pronounced the U.S. bankrupt. (more…)
IMF Hedging on Global Recovery
Posted by Larry Doyle on July 9th, 2010 7:08 AM |
Do we truly need to focus on developments within the emerging economies of Asia or sub-Sahara Africa? I mean, you are probably thinking that we have enough on our plates right here at home to spend anytime thinking about economic developments half a world away. Why do we need to care, and why do we need to be aware of global economic developments? For the very simple reason that in a global economy overwhelmed by massive debts and limited pools of private and sovereign credit, what happens over there very clearly impacts us right here at home.
On this note, let’s review an International Monetary Fund report released yesterday. The IMF writes, World Recovery Continues, But Risks Increase:
…despite the stronger than expected first half recovery, the IMF warned that uncertainties surrounding sovereign and financial sector risks in parts of the euro area could spread more widely, posing difficulties for both financial stability and the economic outlook. (more…)
IMF: “Spain’s Economy Needs Far-Reaching and Comprehensive Reforms”
Posted by Larry Doyle on May 25th, 2010 9:00 AM |
Global markets are down 2-3% overnight. What is going on?
From a military standpoint, all eyes are focused on the Korean Peninsula after North Korea’s admission of sinking a South Korean vessel in late March. How will the world respond? Will the U.S. issue some sort of warning shot across the North Korean bow? Will the international community, and especially those who treasure freedom, rally and aggressively denounce the North Korean’s aggression or will we witness what amounts to a ‘kumbaya’ session?
From an economic standpoint, all eyes are focused on the Euro-zone where fiscal pressures remain elevated. Today the focus is Spain. (more…)
May 15, 2010: Market Week in Review
Posted by Larry Doyle on May 15th, 2010 6:12 AM |
The European Union, the European Central Bank, and the International Monetary Fund (and the Fed, as well, although they don’t want to truly highlight it) provide $960 billion in backstops for the Euro-zone and what happens? The Euro ends the week lower by 3%!! Ladies and gentlemen, that is nothing more than a major “F&%@ Y#&“ on behalf of global investors to the aforementioned central banks and government entities.
Think there is tension in Euroland, and specifically between France and Germany? As The UK-based Telegraph reports, President Nicolas Sarkozy ‘Threatened to Pull France Out of Euro’:
President Nicolas Sarkozy slammed his fist on the table and threatened to pull France out of the euro at a meeting of European leaders deciding Greece’s aid package last Friday, according to Spain’s El Pais newspaper.
The last time there was this kind of tension between these countries, guess who was coming ashore at Normandy? (more…)
Is the Federal Reserve Behind the European Bailout? Audit the Fed!! [UPDATED with video]
Posted by Larry Doyle on May 10th, 2010 12:52 PM |
Is the American taxpayer ultimately bailing out the European Union? Far fetched? Don’t be so sure.
While the focus of the European bailout has been on the European Central Bank, the European Union, and the IMF, little attention is being given to swap lines which were reopened between the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank.
The ECB has steadfastly fought the idea of breeching the principles which formed the European common currency (the Euro) in order to fashion a bailout for the EU. Did the ECB crater to political pressure by the EU? Or, did the risks of the bailout shift from the ECB to another large central bank? Such as? The Federal Reserve! (more…)
