If economists are going to add value, they need to change how they do their jobs. Instead of staying in their “Ivory Towers”, economists need to mix it up with the “regular people” and do original, fundamental, on-the-ground research. And, Las Vegas is where they should be going to gather data. Few economists view Las […] [read full story]
When I hear people talk about the government essentially mandating that banks and Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae originate 4.5% 30 year fixed mortgages I think of the Rocky Horror Picture Show and The Time Warp. Members of Congress and economists who are pushing underpriced mortgages must be from another time and place otherwise they […] [read full story]
Starting Sunday, the remnants of the securitization industry will be at the annual American Securitization Forum (“ASF”) Conference in Las Vegas. Just as the securitization and securities industry led the nation into the current crisis, if the economy is going to revive itself, this industry needs to lead the financial sector out of the […] [read full story]
There is mounting evidence that a freely floating Chinese currency will actually drop in value and make Chinese exports cheaper. In his confirmation hearings, Tim Geithner espoused the U.S. “Conventional Wisdom” that China is an unfair trade competitor because it manipulates its currency down in value so that its exports are artificially cheap. The Conventional […] [read full story]
In 1998 the current banking crisis was both predictable and predicted by Congressional leaders and a future Comptroller of the Currency. In April, 1998 the House Committee on Banking & Financial Services held hearings where “lessons” from the 1980s bank and thrift crisis were discussed and fears of industry consolidation were expressed. Hearings transcripts clearly […] [read full story]
Last weekend I went fishing in Tokyo harbor. The below picture is my friend Masura Ono with a really big fish that he caught on his boat. Ono-san is a famous lawyer in Tokyo. He is a senior partner at the largest law firm in Japan as well as a law professor at the University […] [read full story]
The Chinese economic miracle appears to be unraveling at an alarming and accelerating pace. In just 30 years, China was able to transform its economy from a Marxist basket case to a global manufacturing powerhouse. But recent reports of massive plant closings, skyrocketing unemployment, plunging exports and growing social unrest are raising serious questions about […] [read full story]
The next stop on my trek through Asia was to The Philippines. First Capital has a growing and vibrant office in Manila that does various accounting and transaction processing functions for the rest of the company. Surprisingly, the largest export product for The Philippines is humans. The export of young and talented workers who send […] [read full story]
Around noontime on Sunday, I arrived in Beijing. After checking into the hotel, I decided to get some lunch where I was given today’s edition of China Daily, a.k.a., “The National English Language Newspaper,” established by the Communist Party in the 1980’s. According to the China Daily web site, it is the most authoritative and […] [read full story]
About a month ago Marshall Sonenshine delivered prepared remarks at the Harvard Law School Leadership Conference. Below are excerpts of Marshall’s words, all of which I agree with and believe deserve a wide audience and discussion. As an introduction to Marshall’s text and so everyone has full transparency and disclosure, I think it is important […] [read full story]
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