credit crunch
Automakers Suffering, Regardless of Their Business Model
In a move that spells nothing but bad news for Detroit’s struggling automakers, Toyota announced yesterday that it’s suspended plans to produce its Prius hybrid in the United States.
Why is that bad news for the Big Three? Because there’s been this line of argument that Ford, General Motors and Chrysler would be performing splendidly right [...]
The Real Reason Citigroup Is a Mess
Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit is blaming his company’s considerable troubles on moves by previous management to dive into real estate. In a particularly generous gesture, he also told PBS’ Charlie Rose that he understands how people might be upset by the company’s massive government rescue, Reuters reports.
From Reuters:
Why Does Paulson Want Us to Keep Piling Up Debt?
Bailout Nation turns to consumers today, as Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson prepares to announce a new program to encourage lending for auto loans, student loans and credit cards, the Wall Street Journal says.
The government basically is creating a lending facility, run by the Federal Reserve, to provide loans to investors who want to put their [...]
Credit Rating Agencies Getting Hammered
Confused about the financial crisis? The rise of mortgage-backed securities and credit default swaps? So, it appears, were the credit ratings agencies — the companies that rated these financial instruments.
Since the federal government didn’t have authority to regulate the secondary mortgage market, it was up to the big CRA’s, like Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s, [...]
The Human Cost of a Credit Crunch
With all the news about partially nationalizing banks, and with the candidates rolling out new economic proposals and facing off in a debate tonight over their prescriptions for the credit crunch, it’s easy to forget that the whole mess still comes down to simple things: A homeowner, and a home.
That’s why you should expect to [...]
Understanding the Mess We’re In
The Federal Reserve is considering some aggressive steps to unlock lending, including buying large amounts of unsecured short-term debt, The New York Times says today. That’s the money that companies regularly use to run their everyday operations.
When it seizes up, so does the rest of the economy. And that’s close to what’s happening now.
Now that [...]
The Unfortunate Timing of the Bailout Failure
One small detail that might have been overlooked as lawmakers failed to pass that $700-billion bailout bill: Today is Sept. 30.
That means it’s the end of the third quarter. And that means - if you want to know what a credit crunch might look like, today could be the day.
‘The Republican Party Needs to be Burned…’
I’m guessing Brad DeLong isn’t too happy about today’s failure of the bailout bill. He’s got a suggestion on what to do next: Bring Congress back into session after the election and adopt a nationalized plan.
From DeLong:
WSJ: Dow Drops 600 Amid Fears Bailout Bill Will Fail
Normally when I see the Wall Street Journal flash breaking news like, “the Dow industrials fall more than 600 on fears bailout package vote will fail,” I’d shoot our economics reporter Mary Kane an email to ask her what to make of this. Unfortunately, Mary is out today, so I browsed over to Marketwatch.com [...]
Dollar’s Dominance Wanes
Part 2: The U.S. Treasury has been able to print dollars to service its own debt, but with the rise of the euro and yen, this may change.
