The debt crisis in Greece is sadly becoming a human tragedy. Not only have people perished in protests against government austerity measures, but the entire population is likely looking ahead to a protracted period of reduced economic opportunity and welfare. That should be enough to make all of us care about what’s going on in [...]
The hope after the European Union and the International Monetary Fund finalized a $146 billion bailout for heavily indebted Greece was that such a grand display of resolve would stop the contagion beginning to seize financial markets from rampaging through Europe, and from there, the rest of the world. Well, that hope now looks more [...]
There are a lot of reasons to like the idea of a consumer financial protection agency. My colleagues Barbara Kiviat and Michael Grunwald have named the more substantive ones here, here and here. But I think I have stumbled across possibly the most telling data point yet on why the CFPA is a good idea: [...]
Shaken by the prospect that the Greece rescue package might not be enough, and worried about Euro contagion as new concerns arose over Spain, investors sent the Dow down more than 245 points on Tuesday. The decline was spread across every major sector; overall, 96% of stocks took a tumble. The Nasdaq took an even [...]
–When will the market’s moussaka indigestion end? Not today. The Dow is down nearly 250 points on worries that the European bailout for Greece won’t be big enough. –Finally, some good news on the housing front. Pending home sales hit a 5-month high in March. For a while it looked like the latest extension to [...]
This is the first in a series of posts posing different ideas on how Europe can get itself out of its current mess. I figure Europe has so many problems that we can’t possibly address them all in one post. Yes, Greece finally got its bailout, and a big one — $146 billion from the [...]
With so many new economic crosscurrents to consider, it’s good to know where the big dogs– hedge funds–are hunting these days. Do they think the European Union can pull a rabbit from the hat and save Greece? Do they think the U.S. economic reports (a hundred visions and revisions) are credible? Are they worried about [...]
