Calculated Risk Thu 2009-09-03 11:43 EDT

Houses and Autos: The Cost of a Tax Credit per Additional Units Sold

CalculatedRisk

To calculate the cost of a tax credit per additional unit sold, we need to sum up the total cost of the credit - as an example $2.877 billion for Cash-for-Clunkers according to the Dept. of Transportation - and then divide by the estimated increase in sales because of the credit. Remember some cars or houses would have been sold anyway (even though they still receive the tax credit), but it is the additional sales that matter. That was the purpose of the tax credit! (update: Shnaps notes that the auto credit had an additional benefit of better mileage). Highly inefficient subsidies for home and auto purchases.

Additional Units Sold; auto; Calculated Risk; cost; Housing; Tax credit.

Credit Writedowns Thu 2009-09-03 11:38 EDT

Sheila Bair and the case against a super-regulator

There is an effort underway to install the Federal Reserve as super-regulator for all banks and financial institutions, concentrating power in one institution. I find these efforts one of the most disturbing outgrowths of the financial crisis we have been witnessing...better to enforce the rules and regulations that are currently on the books than to build in a whole new super-structure.

Case; credit writedowns; Sheila Bair; Super-Regulator.

naked capitalism Thu 2009-08-27 10:50 EDT

Quelle Surprise! Fed Uses Scare Tactics to Try to Forestall Loan Disclosures

Yves Smith

In a show of how much our government thinks that serving the financial oligarchy, rather than the citizenry, is its prime duty, the Fed is fighting to stop the court-ordered disclosure of who borrowed money under the Fed's various lending facilities. The reason I lump the Fed in with "the government" is that the central bank has been serving as an off-balance sheet entity of the Treasury for quite some time. And not only are the Fed and Treasury acting in near lockstep, but there has been no meaningful change in the government stance towards the banksters. Yes, Team Obama makes more of a show of trying to rein them in, but push comes to shove, it's merely Paulson version 2.0: same content, better packaging. Paulson's success in muscling...

Fed Uses Scare Tactics; Forestall Loan Disclosures; naked capitalism; Quelle Surprise; trying.

Thu 2009-07-23 00:00 EDT

naked capitalism: Is Liquidity Really Good for You?

``just because a certain amount of liquidity is good, it does not necessarily follow that more is always better''; Richard Kline: ``The first issue when liquidity is provided to markets for any overall regulator, should and must be, "How do we prevent asset overpricing as a consequence? "''

Liquidity Really Good; naked capitalism.

Mon 2009-04-06 00:00 EDT

Bill Moyers Journal . Transcripts | PBS

ex-banking regulator William K. Black calls fraud: ``make really bad loans, because they pay better. Then you grow extremely rapidly, in other words, you're a Ponzi-like scheme. And the third thing you do is we call it leverage. That just means borrowing a lot of money, and the combination creates a situation where you have guaranteed record profits in the early years. That makes you rich, through the bonuses that modern executive compensation has produced. It also makes it inevitable that there's going to be a disaster down the road.''

Bill Moyers Journal; PBS; Transcript.

Wed 2009-04-01 00:00 EDT

William K. Black: The Two Documents Everyone Should Read to Better Understand the Crisis

credit rater rebuffed by rating agency senior management; FBI reports endemic lender-initiated mortgage fraud

better understand; Crisis; documentation; reads; William K. Black.

Fri 2008-11-07 00:00 EST

naked capitalism: More on Trade Woes: "Firefighters better scramble to save letters of credit"

credit; Firefighters better scramble; naked capitalism; save letters; trading woe.

Fri 2008-11-07 00:00 EST

Hussman Funds: Stock Performance Following the Recognition of Recession

by William Hester; ``period following the broad acceptance of a recession is usually far better for investors than the period that precedes it''

Hussman Funds; Recession; recognition; stocks performed.

Tue 2008-10-07 00:00 EDT

naked capitalism: A Better Way to Use That $700 Billion

Morris Goldstein

700; better way; naked capitalism; use.

Tue 2008-09-02 00:00 EDT

Money Matters: Collapse Will Get Worse, Not Better

by Elaine Meinel Supkis

better; Collapse; money matters; worse.

Thu 2008-07-03 00:00 EDT

naked capitalism: Are Trichet's Rate Hikes 1930 All Over Again?

"rather have the central bankers simply sit tight and do nothing for a quarter and try to get a better handle on the fundamentals."

naked capitalism; Trichet's Rate Hikes 1930.

Sun 2008-06-29 00:00 EDT

Winter (Economic & Market) Watch >> eCONomIc SpLiT pErSonaLiTy and NeutEnron Bombs

Winter (Economic & Market) Watch >> eCONomIc SpLiT pErSonaLiTy and NeutEnron Bombs; "the Boyz looked at Enron as the model, spliced and diced it, and then calculated new and better scams under the guise of financial innovation (blessed by buffoons and sycophants like Alan Greenspan and Ben Beranake) and non-public markets (OTC and derivatives) in which to create even larger financial smoke and mirrors in which to loot."

economic; eCONomIc SpLiT pErSonaLiTy; Market; NeutEnron Bombs; watch; winter.

Wed 2008-05-14 00:00 EDT

naked capitalism: Wolf, Becker, and Posner on Oil (With a Shocker From Posner)

Richard Posner suggests "heavy taxes on oil or (better) carbon emissions"; lack of political will imples "democratic failure" to address long-term problems

Becker; naked capitalism; Oil; Posner; shocker; Wolf.

Wed 2008-04-09 00:00 EDT

Sudden Debt: Free Markets vs. Cronyism

"Free markets...without tight regulation...rapidly deteriorate towards crony capitalism"; "excellence in market regulation leads to better and freer markets"

cronyism; free market; Sudden Debt.

Mon 2007-12-17 00:00 EST

On the use of the term "Liquidity Crisis" | Piggington's Econo-Almanac | Southern California Housing Bubble News and Analysis

better: shitty asset crisis

Analysis; liquidity crisis; Piggington's Econo-Almanac; Southern California Housing Bubble News; term; use.

Tue 2006-12-19 00:00 EST

Closing the 'Collapse Gap': the USSR was better prepared for peak oil than the US | EnergyBulletin.net | Peak Oil News Clearinghouse

Closing the 'Collapse Gap': the USSR was better prepared for peak oil than the US, by Dimitry Orlov | EnergyBulletin.net | Peak Oil News Clearinghouse

better prepared; closed; Collapse Gap; EnergyBulletin; net; Peak Oil; Peak Oil News Clearinghouse; USSR.