Entries Tagged 'Derivatives' ↓
June 18th, 2019 — Derivatives, Government, Mortgages
Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy by Raghuram G. Rajan (Princeton University Press, 2010)
Who should read this book? Short answer: Anyone, who like me, wishes to see economists build a model for explaining economics on a world-wide basis.
“Raj” Raghuram is not just examining how the Financial Crisis happened in the first decade of this century. He is also helping to build a global view of economics in his books. Raj is particularly interested in the differences between what economists call “developing” and “developed” countries.
That’s because, as we will see in Part Three of this book review, the previous Financial Crisis was not just limited to the U.S.: it affected the rest of the world as well.
The dominant schools of economic thought in the U.S., Keyesian and Chicago Schools of economics are limited to being national rather than global in scope. But it is much more likely that the next Financial Crisis will be global in scope.
Here’s are short synopsis of Fault Line‘s first five Chapters Continue reading →
September 8th, 2017 — Derivatives, Economics and Investing
We have a problem in this country. We aren’t suffering like the rest of the world. At least that seems to be the way the rest of the world views us…
They are waiting for us to slide into the same kind of doldrums they’re experiencing.
A number of financial commentators are talking about the coming stock market crisis in the U.S. Gillian Tett, the editor of the U.S. edition of the Financial Times for example, says “The next crash is hiding in plain sight”. Continue reading →
September 8th, 2017 — Derivatives, Economics and Investing
Sent out by newsletter October 30, 2008
It’s great to see the price of gas at $2.45! When was the last time we saw that? And it looks like we are finally beginning to pull out of the freeze on short term borrowing (short term meaning a day to 3 months) between banks. Ever wonder why bank to bank borrowing froze up in the first place? Why money market funds that traded “commercial paper” became so shaky they had to be bailed out by the government’s guarantee that their holdings of a dollar would return you a dollar?
The fancy term for what happened is “flight to quality.” What that means is smart investors (like money market funds) didn’t want to buy commercial debt because they realized those were risky, bad investments. They fled in droves from the banks and financial institutions who were selling them. Commercial paper became so worthless banks wouldn’t even buy it from each other. How on earth did that happen?
Because banks and financial institutions created trusts called “structured investment vehicles” (SIVs) by tossing together the loans and complex debt of lots of different companies. These “vehicles” then sold “commercial paper” to investors who had little idea what was behind the paper, but trusted their banks.
In addition, SIV investments were highly rated. Standard and Poor’s once said in a remark that’s come back to haunt it, that it would rate a deal “structured by cows.” SIV assets were what backed commercial paper. As subprime borrowers and other borrowers began defaulting, smart investors realized their danger. SIV assets were likely to be far less than they cost.
In the beginning SIVs were a terrific deal for banks because the commercial paper being sold just “passed through” the banks. The banks never owned the SIVs. That means banks didn’t have to report them on their books. SIVs were invisible—until they failed! Continue reading →