Posts Tagged financial crisis
Eurobonds – blue or red?
Posted by Stephen Clarke in Economics, Politics on 15/08/2011
In the Matrix Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) asks Thomas A. Anderson or Neo (Keanu Reeves) –
You take the blue pill – the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill – you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.
Soon investors could be offered both in the form of blue and red Eurobonds.
Between an economic rock and a political hard place
Posted by Stephen Clarke in Economics, Politics on 18/07/2011
One of the more interesting changes resulting from the financial crash and ensuing recession could be the way in which financiers seek to analyse future market movements: it could be a case of out with the economists and in with the politicians.
Markets: still a pretty good idea
Posted by Stephen Clarke in Economics, Politics on 19/04/2011
The financial crisis and ensuing recession has produced a wealth of different economic predictions and advice. Some critics of free market capitalism have used the crisis to suggest that free markets are fatally flawed and need restraint. Other proponents of state involvement in the economy have, worryingly, talked up the benefits of the ‘Chinese model’ of state-led capitalism. In contrast some governments, including our own, have pledged to remove barriers to growth, implicitly or explicitly earmarking some aspects of state. Wading into this debate is Brink Lindsey, Senior Scholar in research and policy at the Ewin Marion Kauffman Foundation in his new paper: ‘Frontier Economics: Why Entrepreneurial Capitalism Is Needed Now More Than Ever’. His hypothesis is unsurprising given the Kauffman Foundation’s commitment to entrepreneurship, yet it finds a degree of support in another paper, recently released by Barry Eichengreen, Donghyun Park and Kwanho Shin: ‘When Fast Growing Economies Slow Down: International Evidence and Implications for China’.
Lifeboats or deckchairs?
Posted by Stephen Clarke in Economics on 12/04/2011
For a reasonably large document (214 pages) the Independent Commission on Banking’s (ICB) Interim Report doesn’t really propose an awful lot. The report grasps the heart of the problem, yet does not embrace any reforms which it demands.
No pain, no gain? Perhaps for some, but not for all
Posted by Stephen Clarke in Economics, Politics, Social Cohesion, Tax and Spend on 28/02/2011
Today the Cobden Centre blog covered a new research paper by two Harvard Economists, Alberto Alesina and Silvia Ardagna. The paper examined fiscal stimuli and fiscal adjustments, and what factors were correlated with their success.
A slippery problem
Posted by Stephen Clarke in Economics, European Union, Politics on 21/02/2011
It was reported over the weekend that the Icelandic President Olafur Grimsson, has called for a national referendum on the new plan for repaying British and Dutch loans made as a result of the ‘Icesave’ fiasco. The two countries loaned Iceland €4 billion to bail out the country’s deposit insurance scheme, which could not afford to compensate British and Dutch depositors, when the Icesave savings scheme collapsed. Aside from the political ramifications of the on-going dispute, it raises wider issues about international financial supervision and insurance schemes, as well as a more pressing problem about financial responsibility.
