The Radford Free Press – Page 450 – All life is problem solving.

Economics / bailouts, banking, bankruptcy, Bernanke, deflation, Federal Reserve Board, inflation, interest rates, monetary policy, recovery, stimulus /

Interest Rates and Bank Lending – What Lending?

October 9, 2009

Well not quite none. The point being that loans to businesses by commercial banks have been declining steadily for three months, at something like an annualized 28%. So while a lot of media attention has been given to all the shenanigans banks are playing with their retail customers – people like you and me – […]

Economics / jobs, recovery, unemployment /

Unemployment – Still Stuck

October 8, 2009

Today’s report that the initial claims for unemployment insurance fell 33,000 last week to 521,000 is obviously good news. That’s the lowest level since January and brings the moving average down a little – by 9,000 – also. So there is a glimmer of hope that the worst of the unemployment build-up is behind us. […]

Economics / bailouts, Bush, deficits, federal deficits, GDP, Reagan, recession, recovery, regulation, stimulus, TARP, tax cuts /

Federal Deficit – The Ugly News

October 7, 2009

Just a quick note. The Congressional Budget Office published their estimate of the Federal deficit for the fiscal year just ended. The details are sparse, but the news is ugly. Given what we know so far the deficit will come in at around $1.4 trillion for fiscal year 2009. That’s awful. It represents an astounding […]