Monthly Archives: July 2008

Blogonomics: The Subscription Model

Posted on July 2, 2008 by Felix

Since September, Jack Ciesielski’s Accounting Observer blog has been hidden behind a subscription firewall. That’s not a great way to get inbound links or traffic, obviously. But does it make sense for other reasons? I asked Jack why he’s hiding … Continue reading →

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Iceland’s Crunch

Posted on July 2, 2008 by Felix

You’ve got to feel for Iceland. Not only do you have an economy in recession and a plunging currency, but you also have to put up with columns from LSE professors using 20-20 hindsight to tell you that you were … Continue reading →

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Quote of the Day: Jamie Dimon

Posted on July 2, 2008 by Felix

Jamie Dimon’s in Aspen right now, and Charlie Rose asked him last night about the amount he paid for Bear Stearns. I love the metaphor Dimon used in response: Buying a house and buying a house on fire are two … Continue reading →

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The Cost of Commuting: 500GD/M

Posted on July 2, 2008 by Felix

SAR asks: Is there a simple formula that combines the price of gasoline, the one-way commute in miles, and per-hour wages that will let those in the exurbs (and soon, suburbs) figure out when it’s time to move back to … Continue reading →

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Jeffrey Epstein and the Private Banking Industry

Posted on July 2, 2008 by Felix

I’m glad to see that in between losing $57 million in Bear Stearns funds and spending 18 months in a Florida jail, Jeffrey Epstein managed to find the time to host the New York Times at his Caribbean island. As … Continue reading →

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Defragging the CDS Market

Posted on July 2, 2008 by Felix

You know when you’ve had a computer for a long time, and the hard drive is full of crap, and some tech wizard comes up with a way of defragging it or something, and the idea is that suddenly it’ll … Continue reading →

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Further Tales of Microhoo Incompetence

Posted on July 2, 2008 by Felix

The WSJ reports today not only that some kind of Microsoft-Yahoo deal might be on again, but also that: In mid-May — weeks after Microsoft withdrew its bid — Yahoo offered to sell itself to Microsoft for about $33 a … Continue reading →

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Extra Credit, Tuesday Edition

Posted on July 1, 2008 by Felix

The global food crisis: A toolkit for audacious leaders: Sensible ideas from Arvind Subramanian. The End of Naive Contrarianism: "While the investing pack is sometimes wrong, and big inflection points are often missed, the market’s investing pack is usually right." … Continue reading →

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Blogonomics: Market Manipulation

Posted on July 1, 2008 by Felix

For the past week, anybody going to this page at Seeking Alpha has found a blog entry that isn’t there. There are 42 comments, untouched. But the actual blog entry, we’re told, "has been removed, pending investigation of claims of … Continue reading →

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The Moody’s CPDO Scandal: Heads Begin to Roll

Posted on July 1, 2008 by Felix

The external review of the Moody’s CPDO scandal has now been concluded, and as a result Moody’s says that it "has initiated employee disciplinary proceedings". Such proceedings, it would seem, include firing the head of structured finance, Noel Kirnon. Moody’s … Continue reading →

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Improbable Predictions, Airport Security Edition

Posted on July 1, 2008 by Felix

Joe Sharkey talks to Kip Hawley, the director of the Transportation Security Administration, about new checkpoint-friendly laptop bags: Mr. Hawley said he did not expect that the new laptops would create undue confusion after their introduction, since security officers would … Continue reading →

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Infectious Inflation

Posted on July 1, 2008 by Felix

Barry Eichengreen, via Brad DeLong: There are now fifty countries in the world with inflation rates over 10%. It’s like the early 1930s, but just reverse the sign: back then everybody with their currency linked to the dollar imported deflation; … Continue reading →

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Private Equity in Hedge Funds: A Weird Combination

Posted on July 1, 2008 by Felix

File under "things which really don’t make a whole lot of sense": Lehman Brothers aims to raise $3 billion to $5 billion for a fund to buy strategic minority stakes in hedge-fund managers, according to sources at the bank. The … Continue reading →

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Equity in Individuals

Posted on July 1, 2008 by Felix

It will come as no surprise to learn that an eBay auction for half the future earnings of musician Ashley MacIsaac has had to be pulled: according to eBay regulations, you’re not allowed to sell part ownership of anything, much … Continue reading →

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The Politics of Hurricane Insurance

Posted on July 1, 2008 by Felix

MP McQueen has a front-page WSJ article today attacking property insurers for, um, well, it’s not entirely clear what they’re supposed to have done wrong. Apparently they use something called "computerized catastrophe modeling": Crafted by several independent firms and used … Continue reading →

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