naked capitalism Mon 2009-12-28 14:50 EST

A look back at the debate on the role of monetary and fiscal stimulus in depression

Edward Harrison

...regarding stimulus and the role of government in a debt-deflationary environment...does fiscal or monetary stimulus work?...the real debate about whether or not to try fiscal stimulus revolves around the role of government and its limitations. Ideologues on one side see government as a parasite which interferes with the free market. On the other side, ideologues see government as the only way out of a crisis of this magnitude. The key sticking point is not just the size of government, but also its effectiveness -- the political will to effect change rather than to favor constituents...So, how has this worked out in practice? Not so well.

Debate; Depression; fiscal stimulus; looking; Monetary; naked capitalism; role.

Thu 2009-11-19 10:12 EST

Business & Technology | Part one | Reckless strategies doomed WaMu | Seattle Times Newspaper

Drew DeSilver

In its headlong pursuit of growth, WaMu systematically dismantled or weakened the internal controls meant to prevent the bank from taking on too much risk -- the very standards and practices that had helped it grow in the first place. WaMu's riskiest loans raked in money from high fees, but because the bank skimped on making sure borrowers could repay them, they eventually failed at disastrously high rates. As loans went bad, they sucked massive amounts of cash that WaMu needed to stay in business. WaMu's subprime home loans failed at the highest rates in nation. Foreclosure rates for subprime loans made from 2005 to 2007 -- the peak of the boom -- were calamitous. In the 10 hardest-hit cities, more than a third of WaMu subprime loans went into foreclosure.

business; part; Reckless Strategies Doomed WaMu; Seattle Times Newspaper; Technology.

zero hedge Mon 2009-10-26 09:28 EDT

How The Federal Reserve Bailed Out The World

The Bank of International Settlements [BIS] just released a major paper titled "The US dollar shortage in global banking and the international policy response" which goes on to demonstrate just how it happened that Fed chief Ben Bernanke in essence bailed out the entire developed world, which was facing an unprecedented dollar shortage crisis due to the sudden implosion of FX swap lines and other mechanisms which until that point were critical in maintaining the dollar funding shortfall for virtually every foreign Central Bank...When the financial system almost imploded in the fall of 2008, one of the primary responses by the Federal Reserve was the issuance of an unprecedented amount of FX liquidity lines in the form of swaps to foreign Central Banks. The number went from practically zero to a peak of $582 billion on December 10, 2008. The number of swaps outstanding was almost directly inversely correlated with the value of the dollar...what happened is that short-term sources to sustain the massive dollar funding mismatch disappeared virtually overnight, and CBs were suddenly facing a toxic spiral of selling increasingly more worthless assets merely to satisfy currency funding needs in an environment where all of a sudden nobody was willing to provide FX swap lines...had the Fed not stepped in, the rest of the world...would have simply collapsed as the $6.5 trillion dollar funding gap closed in on itself, causing a indiscriminate selling off of all dollar denominated assets. The implosion of the basis trade would have seemed like a picnic compared to what was about to ensue had the Fed not stepped in to perpetuate the Fiat banking way of life.

Federal Reserve bail; world; Zero Hedge.

Thu 2009-10-01 17:56 EDT

98489 -- Landmark National Bank v. Kesler -- Leben -- Kansas Court of Appeals

J. J. LEBEN

Landmark National Bank brought a suit to foreclose its mortgage against Boyd Kesler and joined Millennia Mortgage Corp. as a defendant because a second mortgage had been filed of record for a loan between Kesler and Millennia. In a foreclosure suit, it is normal practice to name as defendants all parties who may claim a lien against the property. When neither Kesler nor Millennia responded to the suit, the district court gave Landmark a default judgment, entered a journal entry foreclosing Landmark's mortgage, and ordered the property sold so that sale proceeds could be applied to pay Landmark's mortgage. But Millennia apparently had sold its mortgage to another party and no longer had interest in the property by this time. Sovereign Bank filed a motion to set aside the judgment and asserted that it now held the title to Kesler's obligation to pay the debt to Millennia. And another party, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc. ("MERS"), also filed a motion to set aside the judgment and asserted that it held legal title to the mortgage, originally on behalf of Millennia and later on behalf of Sovereign. Both Sovereign and MERS claim that MERS was a necessary party to the foreclosure lawsuit and that the judgment must be set aside because MERS wasn't included on the foreclosure suit as a defendant. The district court refused to set aside its judgment. The court found that MERS was not a necessary party and that Sovereign had not sufficiently demonstrated its interest in the property to justify setting aside the foreclosure. ...The district court properly determined that MERS was not a contingently necessary party in Landmark's foreclosure action. The district court also was well within its discretion in denying motions from MERS and Sovereign to intervene after a foreclosure judgment had been entered and the foreclosed property had been sold. The judgment of the district court is affirmed.

98489; appealing; Kansas court; Kesler; Landmark National Bank; leben.

Thu 2009-09-17 10:02 EDT

``No One Saw This Coming'': Understanding Financial Crisis Through Accounting Models - Munich RePEc Personal Archive

Dirk J. Bezemer

This paper presents evidence that accounting (or flow-of-fund) macroeconomic models helped anticipate the credit crisis and economic recession. Equilibrium models ubiquitous in mainstream policy and research did not. This study identifies core differences, traces their intellectual pedigrees, and includes case studies of both types of models. It so provides constructive recommendations on revising methods of financial stability assessment. Overall, the paper is a plea for research into the link between accounting concepts and practices and macro economic outcomes.

accounts model; comes; Munich RePEc Personal Archive; saw; Understanding Financial Crisis.

Thu 2009-07-30 00:00 EDT

Michael Hudson: The Toll Booth Economy

Michael Hudson: The Toll Booth Economy -- by Michael Hudson ``The Latest in Junk Economics'' What is missing is a critique of the big picture how Wall Street has financialized the public domain to inaugurate a neo-feudal tollbooth economy while privatizing the government itself, headed by the Treasury and Federal Reserve. Left untouched is the story how industrial capitalism has succumbed to an insatiable and unsustainable finance capitalism, whose newest final stage seems to be a zero-sum game of casino capitalism based on derivative swaps and kindred hedge fund gambling innovations...What have been lost are the Progressive Eras two great reforms. First, minimizing the economys free lunch of unearned income (e.g., monopolistic privilege and privatization of the public domain in contrast to ones own labor and enterprise) by taxing absentee property rent and asset-price (capital) gains, by keeping natural monopolies in the public domain, and by anti-trust regulation...A second Progressive Era aim was to steer the financial sector so as to fund capital formation. Industrial credit was best achieved in Germany and Central Europe in the decades prior to World War I. But the Allied victory led to the dominance of Anglo-American banking practice, based on loans against property or income streams already in place. Todays bank credit has become decoupled from capital formation, taking the form mainly of mortgage credit (80 per cent), and loans secured by corporate stock (for mergers, acquisitions and corporate raids) as well as for speculation. The effect is to spur asset-price inflation on credit, in ways that benefit the few at the expense of the economy at large.''

Michael Hudson; Toll Booth Economy.

Tue 2009-04-21 00:00 EDT

naked capitalism: US Deviating Considerably From Swedish Banking Crisis Best Practices

Deviating Considerably; naked capitalism; Swedish Banking Crisis Best Practices.

Tue 2009-02-24 00:00 EST

Calculated Risk: Fed Paper: Effective Practices in Crisis Resolution

Calculated Risk; crisis resolution; Effective Practices; Fed paper.

Mon 2008-12-15 00:00 EST

Michael Hudson and Jeffrey Sommers: The End of the Washington Consensus

Counterpunch; ``Total private-sector markets (in practice, markets run by the banks and money managers) have shown themselves to be just as destructive, wasteful and corrupt and, indeed, centrally planned as those of totally statist governments from Stalin's Russia to Hitler's Germany.''

ending; Jeffrey Sommers; Michael Hudson; Washington Consensus.

Thu 2008-07-03 00:00 EDT

naked capitalism: Moody's Sacks Structured Finance Head Over CPDOs

"eems a move designed to mollify critics without admitting to bad practices in bread-and-butter products"

CPDOs; Moody's Sacks Structured Finance Head; naked capitalism.

Fri 2008-03-28 00:00 EDT

An inside look at a subprime lender's collapse - International Herald Tribune

An inside look at a subprime lender's collapse, by Vikas Bajaj; auditor KPMG condoned and enabled improper and imprudent practices at busted lender New Century Financial - International Herald Tribune

International Herald Tribune; looking; subprime lender's collapse.

Thu 2008-02-14 00:00 EST

Beware the Credit-Industrial Complex -- In These Times

Beware the Credit-Industrial Complex, by Susan J. Douglas -- In These Times; usurious practices of barely regulated banks

Beware; Credit-Industrial Complex; Time.

Mon 2007-12-17 00:00 EST

Minyanville -

Citigroup's Move A Sign of Deflation, by Mr. Practical, minyanville; Citi takes 50B busted SIVs onto balance sheet

Minyanville.

Mon 2007-12-17 00:00 EST

Minyanville -

Minyan Mailbag: Deflation, The Fed and Control, by Mr. Practical; "all roads lead to a devastating deflation in the US", credit deflation bullish for USD

Minyanville.

Thu 2007-12-13 00:00 EST

Minyanville -

The Fed's New Auction System, by Mr Practical (Minyanville): "if the Fed is willing to pervert its balance sheet...the dollar will fall"

Minyanville.

Thu 2007-12-13 00:00 EST

Minyanville -

The Fed's Magic Tricks, by Mr Practical, Minyanville; watching discount rate; "banking system is seized up"

Minyanville.