Monthly Archives: June 2008

Andrei Shleifer, Billionaire?

Posted on June 2, 2008 by Felix

David Warsh has a great piece on Andrei Shleifer this week. Shleifer is known as a first-rate economist, and is also notorious for some shenanigans in Russia in the 1990s; Warsh makes a strong case that it’s time “to close … Continue reading →

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Annals of Crap Succession Planning, Wachovia Edition

Posted on June 2, 2008 by Felix

What a mess. Wachovia’s board, led by its chairman of less than a month, Lanty Smith, has fired the CEO, Kennedy Thompson, with no idea of who’s going to replace him. There’s now an interim CEO (Smith) as well as … Continue reading →

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Why is Harvard Economics so Popular?

Posted on June 2, 2008 by Felix

Brad DeLong doesn’t think much of the Harvard economics department as a place for undergraduates: My years as a junior faculty member and as head tutor of economics make me think that there is an enormous disproportion between resource inputs … Continue reading →

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Ideas for Fixing Libor

Posted on June 2, 2008 by Felix

Many thanks to Stanford’s Darrell Duffie for leaving a comment on my last post about Libor. Duffie is one of the academics who signed off on the WSJ’s attempt to prove the measure flawed, so he’s probably disappointed that the … Continue reading →

Posted in banking | 1 Comment

Where’s the IP in Finance?

Posted on June 2, 2008 by Felix

Gillian Tett had an excellent article in the FT this weekend on innovation in the derivatives markets: I highly recommend you read it. She gets some great quotes: “It’s a strange business,” admits one senior banker. “First you make money … Continue reading →

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Extra Credit, Monday Morning Edition

Posted on June 2, 2008 by Felix

Taxpayers May Face Hurricane Tab: Think of it as the Florida version of ethanol: indefensible, but necessary because it’s such an important state electorally. BK Judge Rules Stated Income HELOC Debt Dischargeable: The bank didn’t rely on the borrower’s (mis)representations, … Continue reading →

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Cheap Food and Expensive Wine

Posted on June 1, 2008 by Felix

Frank Bruni is right, I think: The same plate of pasta goes down a lot easier at $12 — it even tastes better at $12 — than it does at $16. Why does food behave in the opposite manner to … Continue reading →

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Why Won’t the UK Join the Euro?

Posted on June 1, 2008 by Felix

When the euro was born, there were some reasonably good economic reasons why the UK shouldn’t be part of it from day one. Gordon Brown came up with his famous five tests, with the predictable (and desired) result that the … Continue reading →

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When a Retirement Plan isn’t a Savings Plan

Posted on June 1, 2008 by Felix

What’s the difference between saving for retirement, on the one hand, and plain old saving, on the other? Teresa Ghilarducci, an economist at the New School, has a provocative book out, entitled "When I’m Sixty-Four: The Plot against Pensions and … Continue reading →

Posted in entitlements, fiscal and monetary policy, taxes | Comments Off on When a Retirement Plan isn’t a Savings Plan

Nassim Taleb Datapoints of the Day

Posted on June 1, 2008 by Felix

From Bryan Appleyard’s profile of Taleb in the Sunday Times: Taleb’s fee for a speaking engagement: "about $60,000" Taleb’s advance on his next book: $4 million Taleb’s profits on Black Monday: "$35m to $40m" And then there’s Taleb’s new health … Continue reading →

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