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Perhaps the most complete argument for utility banking -- and one of the most sophisticated takes on the financial crisis yet published -- has received less attention than it deserves: 'A Call for Judgment: Sensible Finance for a Dynamic Economy,' by Amar Bhidé. Continue reading
Matt Miller's cover story in The Deal magazine, which analyzes the legal issues underlying proposals to allow states to go bankrupt, is really a superb piece of work, raising the fundamental issues of states' rights. Continue reading
Over the weekend, the Financial Times' Martin Wolf published a typically lucid column explaining the turmoil in the Middle East, and a lot more, through the demographics of the various groups of nations. Continue reading
The circus has returned: It shows up like woodland mushrooms in the soccer field behind the dump. It'll put fannies on hard seats, at least until Oprah gets geared up. It's a throwback to an age before yesterday, commentary by... Continue reading
The MIT Press has just published an anorexically thin book on financial regulation, 'Reforming U.S. Financial Markets: Reflections Before and Beyond Dodd-Frank,' that should be enlightening, but isn't. Continue reading
The real problem with the all-bubbles-are-bad (or good) is that it's unrealistically broad and one-dimensional. Like most things in life, bubbles are a mix of good and bad. Continue reading
In light of the tempest stirred up by the mooted merger of Deutsche Borse with the New York Stock Exchange, Reuter's Felix Salmon worries less about the deal as a sign of American decline and more as, the headline bolted to his NYT op-ed, 'Wall Street's Dead End.' Continue reading
Let's ask ourselves a question that is simpler than whether problems in subprime mortgages would race through the global financial system and nearly melt it down: Are we heading for a more efficient global capitalism or a meltdown? Continue reading
The NYSE is not a symbol of Wall Street, New York or even American competitiveness any more than a paper called The Wall Street Journal represents the fate of American journalism. Continue reading
There's been considerable comment and discussion about a short book recently published by Tyler Cowen, the George Mason economist who is one of the founders and regular posters of the Marginal Revolution blog. Continue reading
Metaphors, like the alien contagion spawning endless movie zombies, have taken over management of our brains. Sputnik? Again? Really: How many Americans under 73 know Sputnik was a useless silver ball booted into orbit by the Soviet Union in the... Continue reading
Every now and again, a story appears that makes you realize you've been trapped on the merry-go-round for way too long. The WSJ story in question examines the resurgence of 'boutique' investment banks against 'bulge bracket firms.' Continue reading
