Another Recap of the Financial Crises
While not increasing general price levels, and while the housing bubble was not universal, loose monetary policy inflated housing markets. Land-use regulations made the bubble worse in some parts of the country. Two more elements were necessary to achieve a level of pain beyond the standard: 1) the addition of [...]
Archive for January, 2009
National Review, October 20, 2008
Posted in Summary on January 17, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
The Wall Street Journal, November 10, 2008
Posted in Summary on January 13, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Crestor
A statin drug by AstraZeneca, Crestor, reduced the risk of heart-related death, attacks, and problems by 44% compared to a placebo. This will probably change the health strategy employed over the last ten years.
Dell
Compared to its competitors, Dell is late with new products.
Radio
Radio Stations have been historically durable in both up and down times. But, [...]
The Wall Street Journal, November 8-9, 2008
Posted in Summary on January 13, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Porsche
The vast majority of Germans disapprove of hedge funds and short-selling. Starting in 2005, Porsche used cash-settled options to acquire shares in Volkswagen. As the price rose, these options generated cash for Porsche which it used in turn to buy more cash-settled options. By March 2007, Porsche had acquired 30% of VW. By mid-September of [...]
The Wall Street Journal, November 7, 2008
Posted in Summary on January 8, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Economy
In every part of the world, central banks cut interest rates in an effort to get ahead of the global economic downtown (predicted to be the worst since World II), but investors are placing their bets that banks will quickly run out of options and leverage. Companies large and small are taking austerity measures to [...]
