I thought it might be helpful to summarize some of the background on how we got into our present mortgage mess.
Category Archives: financial markets
Economic indicators take a turn for the worse
No cheer for the New Year from the numbers released this week.
The Dollar in the New Year
Is there (an “equlibrium” exchange rate) model for all seasons?
A Thought on the Sub-prime Debacle
Most of the NYT’s recent coverage of the subprime mess focused on Greenspan and the Federal Reserve System.
Earning excess returns
Mark Thoma calls attention to this Washington Post article by Wharton Professor Dean Foster and Oxford Professor Peyton Young:
Risk premia creeping higher
Since Halloween, financial markets seem to be getting spooked again.
The Euro as the World’s Reserve Currency: A Progress Report
Back in 2005, Jeff Frankel and I presented a series of projections about the dollar’s role as the world’s dominant reserve currency. We concluded:
…Whether the euro might in the future rival or surpass the dollar as the world’s leading international reserve currency appears to depend on two things: (1) do enough other EU members join euroland so that it becomes larger than the US economy, and (2) does US macroeconomic policy eventually undermine confidence in the value of the dollar, in the form of inflation and depreciation.
Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae back in the news
So how worried should you be?
The Credit Crunch Continues, and the Conundrum Is History
The credit crunch seems to be worsening, rather than lessening, and the conundrum seems to have disappeared.
Distressing Picture of the Day
From the IMF’s September Global Financial Stability Report: