Posted on March 27, 2009 by Doug Henwood
Housing market stabilizing? In the economic news, more signs of the stabilization I’ve been talking about for the last few weeks, especially in the housing market, following last week’s pickup in housing starts (the term of art for when builders begin constructing new houses). Sales of existing houses, which are the lion’s share of the market, rose by 5% in February, the strongest monthly gain in almost six years. The rate of decline in prices also slowed. But the way that’s phrased is a reminder that the market remains very depressed. Prices… Read More
Posted on March 24, 2009 by Doug Henwood
Michael Thomas points to a fascinating little primer from Breakingviews.com on how to game the Geithner plan: Gaming Geithner. A sub is required, but you can register for a free trial to read the piece. And this is only the work of a single day! Back on February 13, I said that there was something oddly Hegelian about the Obama administration’s approach: “the hand which inflicts the wound is also the hand that heals it.” Not to question the majesty of Hegel, but a hand habituated to slicing motions probably isn’t one best suited to healing.
Posted on March 24, 2009 by Doug Henwood
And not just any band of leveraged speculators: handpicked members of the private equity elite operating with cheap government credit, and insured against losses! Others have criticized the Geithner bank rescue plan’s economic aspects in detail; no need to repeat all that here. I’ll just say that it strikes me as a very bad idea to set the thing up so that the government takes the lion’s share of any losses and the private investors, the lion’s share of any gains (if any). And it strikes me as fantastic that the dominant… Read More
LBO News from Doug Henwood 
Posted on March 27, 2009 by Doug Henwood
Radio commentary, March 26, 2009
Housing market stabilizing? In the economic news, more signs of the stabilization I’ve been talking about for the last few weeks, especially in the housing market, following last week’s pickup in housing starts (the term of art for when builders begin constructing new houses). Sales of existing houses, which are the lion’s share of the market, rose by 5% in February, the strongest monthly gain in almost six years. The rate of decline in prices also slowed. But the way that’s phrased is a reminder that the market remains very depressed. Prices… Read More
Posted on March 24, 2009 by Doug Henwood
Gaming Geithner
Michael Thomas points to a fascinating little primer from Breakingviews.com on how to game the Geithner plan: Gaming Geithner. A sub is required, but you can register for a free trial to read the piece. And this is only the work of a single day! Back on February 13, I said that there was something oddly Hegelian about the Obama administration’s approach: “the hand which inflicts the wound is also the hand that heals it.” Not to question the majesty of Hegel, but a hand habituated to slicing motions probably isn’t one best suited to healing.
Posted on March 24, 2009 by Doug Henwood
Leveraged speculators will save us!
And not just any band of leveraged speculators: handpicked members of the private equity elite operating with cheap government credit, and insured against losses! Others have criticized the Geithner bank rescue plan’s economic aspects in detail; no need to repeat all that here. I’ll just say that it strikes me as a very bad idea to set the thing up so that the government takes the lion’s share of any losses and the private investors, the lion’s share of any gains (if any). And it strikes me as fantastic that the dominant… Read More
Pages
Subscribe to LBO News via email
share it
Like what you see?
Archives