Banking and Finance
Emerging market characteristics in nexus between US govt and Wall Street
Simon Johnson documents how Wall Street lobbying to obtain favored status with US politicians, not only precipitated this financial crisis, but also is preventing an adequate resolution – policy decisions are being made to favor banks at the expense of taxpayers, thus setting the US up to follow in the footsteps of Russia and Argentina.The [...]
Avoiding a Financial Collapse, Indian-Style
One of the most outrageous example of lax U.S. lending practices was someone making $14,000 a year approved for a $720,000 mortgage with no down payment!NYTimes.com
“In India, we never had anything close to the subprime loan,” said Chandra Kochhar, the chief financial officer of India’s largest private bank, Icici. (A few days after I spoke [...]
Visual Guide to the Financial Crisis
All future visualizations of complex issues should emulate this example. With input by Jess Bachman of Death and Taxes fame. As an aside, a compelling graphic of the spike in US home values driven by easy credit and their projected deflation with the popping of the credit bubble.via Mint Blog (20%)
Technorati Tags: credit bubble, financial [...]
MICROFINANCE: Six Pioneers in Latin America
Microcapital
Microcapital has identified the following six microfinance “pioneers,” individuals who have made long-standing contributions to the evolution and promotion of microfinance practices and/or technology. While not all of these pioneers hail from Latin America, all have been instrumental to the development of microfinance in that region. These pioneers are: Álvaro Dávila of Colombia, Joseph Blatchford [...]
The End of Wall Street’s Boom
Long article worth a patient read by master-storyteller Michael Lewis of Liar’s Poker and Moneyball fame. It’s always the incentives, stupid!
A lot of people, now, will nod their heads in agreement to Federico Garcia Lorca’s words from 1929: ”Time for the cobras to hiss on the uppermost levels,/ for the nettle to jostle the [...]
Collapsing Trade Finance and its Impact on Food Security; Urban Farming worth a look
Just-in-time supply chains are geared for efficiency not resiliency. With no slack built in, any disruption in international shipping, due to collapsing trade finance, can leave store shelves empty of essentials, especially food. A scary thought.
In times like these, the Cuban success with urban farming (forced upon the island by the end of the [...]
Roadmap for the G20
RGE
President Bush has invited the heads of state of the Group of 20 (G20) nations for a summit on November 15 in an effort to continue responding in a coordinated way to the unfolding financial and economic crisis. The G20group, which accounts for 90% of global GDP, includes 10 major emerging economies – including [...]
Consumer Credit: An International Crisis
Seeking Alpha
India is facing similar problems with its formerly debt-loving middle class. Livemint.com reports:
[Indian] Bankers said the trend has intensified in recent months and the portfolio may have shrunk by about 10% this fiscal year so far. This is significant, as the industry has seen growth at an average 30% in [...]
Spending orgy, all over again
livemint.com
Low interest rates encourage the public to remove funds from banks and
plonk them in the stock market either locally or overseas. At once, it
destabilizes the banking system as banks are forced to rely on the
money market for funding their operations and not the safe and reliable
deposits from the public. At the same time, it raises [...]
That Roar in the Jungle Is 15,000 Motorbikes
NYTimes.com
With more than 15,000 motorbikes and only 47,000 people, Tabatinga – Brazil resembles a small version of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, another chaotic place where cars take a distant back seat as the preferred mode of transportation.
“I have never seen a place with so many motorbikes,” said Sabrina D’Assumpção, a resident of Rio de [...]
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