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Regular readers of Outside the Box will be familiar with Michael Lewitt's thoughtful commentary. Today, he reminds us that much of the turmoil we are in could have been avoided with proper regulatory structures and then does a very poignant analysis of various sectors of the economy. I agree with...
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Written: April 25, 2008 Dear Reader, What an interesting week! Having been a single parent for two weeks, with the kids on spring break for the second of those, I have attained a whole new level of appreciation, yes, I think that's the word, for the difficulty associated with holding down the home...
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The Velocity Of Money Is the Money Supply Growing or Not? P=MV A Slow Down in Velocity If You Are in a Hole, Stop Digging And More Write-offs to Come South Africa, La Jolla, Toronto and Maine The late and great Milton Friedman told us that inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon. But...
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The Muddle Through Question Clowns to the Left of Me, Jokers to the Right of Me, Here I am Stuck in the Muddle Through Middle With You! A Soft Depression? Not. South Africa and Swiss Mountains A few weeks ago I asked for readers to send me questions and said I would try and answer them while I was in...
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Written: April 11, 2008 Dear Readers, No question about it, we humans like to keep things simple. And no wonder; if the world is anything, it is chaotic. And so we look for our philosophy in un-taxing nuggets, the sort, perhaps, that might grace the back of a cereal box, be squeezed onto a bumper sticker...
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IN THIS ISSUE: 1. The Demise & Bailout Of Bear Stearns 2. How The Bear/Morgan Deal Went Down 3. Right, Wrong Or The ONLY Thing To Do? 4. What Does The Fed Get Out Of This Deal? 5. Congress To The Rescue On Housing Crisis? 6. Conclusions - If Any Introduction The massive Fed bailout of Bear Stearns...
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Dear Readers, This week finds me writing from Room 2218 of the infamous Jekyll Island Club. The hotel's adjective comes from a secret meeting held here in 1910 involving some of America's most powerful men. Here's an official history of that seminal event... Soon after the 1907 panic, Congress...
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Thoughts on the Continuing Crisis If the Rules are Inconvenient, Change the Rules Let's Re-arrange the Deck Chairs Regulations Coming to a Hedge Fund Near You More Fun in the Unemployment Numbers A Muddle Through Recession How Much do we Borrow for a $1 growth in GDP? London, Switzerland and South...
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Dear Reader , I am writing to you in the pre-dawn from a soft chair in a Starbucks in Scottsdale, a vast improvement over the small desk in the cluttered toy room that I usually write you from on Fridays. 16 inches from my left hand is a "vente" (in the Starbucks' nomenclature, that means...
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Housing - Finding the Elusive Bottom Where is the Value in Housing? Bottom Line? There is no Bottom in Sight The Real ARMs Race Cancun, La Jolla, London, and Switzerland Existing home sales rose by 2.9% in February, the first significant rise in home sales since the housing market started to decline...