Would a tiny tax on securities turnover corral the frightening volatility of global financial markets and raise a ton of revenue painlessly in the process? Or would it undermine innovation and drive trading to friendlier climes? There will soon be no need to speculate (pun intended). Eleven EU countries are …
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While some folks still struggle to understand the fuss about social networking, a growing number of lenders believe that watching individuals’ social network patterns and knowing who their “Friends” are is a pretty cool way to reduce loan defaults. According to Economist, German lender Kreditech, which makes small online … If you haven’t been paying close attention, you’ve been missing the dramatic impact of mobile telecom technology on developing countries – especially in Africa. Along with leapfrogging hopelessly expensive and inefficient landline systems to bring hundreds of millions of poor people into telecom networks, mobile phones are extending access to … Pretty much everybody who’s been paying attention has an inkling about why economic aid to developing countries has largely proved ineffective. Too often, it can be summed up in a word: incentives.
Donors are usually governments, international agencies, and philanthropies run by bureaucrats whose employment security and salaries aren’t closely tied … Nobody knows what to do with Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the “government-sponsored enterprises” that have been left holding the bag for a decade of excess in housing finance. Wayne Olson, a consultant at NERA who was director of finance for the Maine Public Utilities Commission, has [READ MORE...] By Robert Hahn, Peter Passell | Tags: Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, housing finance, mortgage, NERA, Wayne Olson | Category: Financial Industry, Quick Takes |
 One commentSimon Johnson, scourge of the banking class, does it again with a scalding review of former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s self-serving memoir in The New Republic. Pretty much everybody agrees that Paulson was unprepared for the tsunami that hit Wall Street. Johnson is far less kind, speculating … By Robert Hahn, Peter Passell | Tags: Henry Paulson, Lehman Brothers, Richard Fuld, Simon Johnson, The New Republic | Category: Financial Industry, Quick Takes |
Leave a commentNoam Scheiber, the always-interesting economics commentator at The New Republic, has some kind words for one of Treasury Secretary Geithner’s less remembered initiatives. Geithner ordered “stress tests” on the big banks last February, modeling worst-case scenarios with the goal of identifying the banks that couldn’t make … By Robert Hahn, Peter Passell | Tags: bank regulation, financial crisis, Geithner, nationalization, Noam Scheiber, The New Republic | Category: Financial Industry |
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Professor Dieter Helm (Oxford) is a very fine fly fisherman, and an even better economist. If you haven’t done so, take a look at his new book “The Carbon Crunch: How We Are Getting Climate Change Wrong — and How to Fix It” for a bit of unconventional wisdom. He argues that politicians and the general public have not shown any real interest in addressing climate change. Helm argues that places like Europe should focus on setting a price for carbon that would cover consumption (and not just production), and that fracking could be a good “bridge” technology for reducing consumption of coal. The book is readable and insightful for those interested in the inside track on climate policy. 
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