Game Over for Wall Street

Game is over for Wall Street. It is not because that a few financial firms were wiped out or the Dow was down several hundred points for the past week. It is the changes in the financial market structure and the finance’s role in the economy that seal off the ill fate of the Wall [...]

From Lehman to Lemon

On this harvest moon day of 2008, Lehman Brothers becomes something really similar to today’s moon, in color and in shape but on a smaller scale—a lemon. After 158 years’ existence on Wall Street, Lehman now officially buried its name in the credit market carnage and becomes the latest sacrificial lamp in the name of [...]

Short-term Policy Effect and Long-term Market Force

 
The fundamental problem facing policymakers, academic researchers or market participants are to discern short term policy effects from long term market forces and to address them in a coordinated way. As inflation rears its head all over the world, it is feverishly debated that whether recent inflation will be persistent given increasing food or commodities [...]

Central Banks Fall behind the Curve

 
The curve is the inflation curve. The central banks to blame are all the major ones around the world—the American, Chinese, Japanese and even the European central bank. They can only rein in inflation if they act collectively on monetary policies—right now.

Right now, I don’t see it is probable.

For months, the US Federal Reserve has [...]

How Do Cities Rise and Fall

Great cities are much fewer than the ordinary ones around the world. And many once-glorious cities have faded away from the scene as times changes. Still, some cities have survived and thrived till to this day. Economists are fascinated with what shapes up the city’s fate and how its future is determined by what factors. [...]

One World, Two Wheels

 
Great news to prove that economics has some validity.

This title has nothing to do with the BOC’s slogan of “One World, One Dream” regarding the upcoming Olympics Games. This is about a bicycle promotion programs-thanks to the rising oil prices, people started to ride two wheels instead of four wheels.

Who said people were not sensitive [...]

Housing and Oil Market: The End of the Beginning or the Beginning of the End?

 
It is the latter rather than the former, in my view. Basically, I see no light at the end of the tunnel yet-the US housing market has further corrections to go and has high risk of faster deterioration.

So what did the government do about this sinking housing market in the US? Hardly anything for the [...]

My Way or Their Way

Just saw Bloomberg news on the ECB interest rate policy this evening. I sometime couldn’t believe good old Europe can have inflation. That is definitely a fast way of wealth erosion. The way to get under control of inflation is to slow down economic growth, and have recession. Another way is a breakout of war.

In [...]

A Dead Engine Needs No More Oil

The Fed continued to intervene in the money market with the expanded term auction program. It is designed to encourage banks to lend short term funds to each other, so that liquidity of funds in the financial markets can be created to allow for more commercial loans by the banks to the businesses in general.
This [...]

The Future of the Housing Industry

To get out of the slump of the US housing industry, this idea may be worth considering. I do not take credit for it as I saw this from New York Times blog sites. It is not elegant but it is grounded on reality rather than any fishy, ponzi schemes .

The huge trade imbalance between [...]