How Congress Should Reform the Fed
It’s very difficult for elected officials to hold the Federal Reserve accountable. Is that a problem? There’s a strong counter-majoritarian tradition in American politics. The Constitution itself strictly limits what simple majorities, acting through their representatives, can accomplish. Contemporary central banking’s “democratic deficit” could be a feature, not a bug. While we should always be […]
We Need Another George Harrison
I love numeracy, which is literacy with numbers. That’s why I love the second line in “Taxman.” If the taxman is getting 19 pounds and the person taxed is keeping 1 pound, that implies a marginal tax rate of 95 percent, which is the actual rate they paid on their “unearned” income. I put […]
LIBOR will at last be switched off in June
Like slide rules and martini lunches, the London interbank offered rate (libor) was once a fine idea. In 1969 Iran’s central bank was looking for an $80m loan—at the time a hefty ticket for a high-risk country without the foreign-exchange reserves to cover it. So Minos Zombanakis, their banker, clubbed together a syndicate of banks […]
Is China’s recovery about to stall?
China’s youth represent just a sliver of the country’s working-age population and an even narrower share of its workforce. Many of those aged 16 to 24, after all, are still in school or university and therefore not seeking employment. In recent years, their job prospects have nonetheless compelled attention and raised alarm. Last month, overall […]
The financial system is slipping into state control
There exists a centuries-old and fathoms-deep relationship between finance and the state. The great banking houses, such as the Medicis of Florence, were lenders of last resort to rulers at risk of being overthrown. Financiers had to avoid backing losers, who would be unable to repay debts. Now it is banks that threaten to bring […]
Bank of England governor says the UK is facing a wage-price spiral
A sign displays the price in pound sterling of food goods, including cucumbers, at a a fruit and vegetable market in stall east London on March 31, 2023. Susannah Ireland | Afp | Getty Images LONDON — After more than a year of warnings, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey says the U.K. is now […]
FirstFT: Allies fear support for Ukraine will fade
This article is an on-site version of our FirstFT newsletter. Sign up to our Asia, Europe/Africa or Americas edition to get it sent straight to your inbox every weekday morning Leading the news today, Ukraine’s allies fear military support for its battle against Russia is nearing a peak, with senior European officials increasingly concerned about […]
Android 11 To Require More Than 2GB RAM, Android Go Becoming Mandatory
The fingerprint sensor, for example, is not working properly, so be careful. If you want to try, download and install via the following link. There is a version of POSP ROM on the latest Android OS that has become available for download and installation on the OnePlus 6. The ROM is still in the pre-beta […]
Sitrep on Relocation Plans | naked capitalism
Readers have sometimes been so kind as to ask in comments where I stand on my plans to move abroad, since I had been oversharing about the process of settling the estate and where I would go next. As much as Mountain Brook has a lot to recommend it, suburban life is not for me. […]
