Your daily Economy dose!
AP – China has ordered banks to raise the amount of money they hold in reserves for a third time this year in a new effort to dampen inflation pressures in the world’s third-largest economy . […] …
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Indian Farmers Won't Say Cheese : Global Geopolitics & Political …
I have never really understood the idea that the Greek fiscal crisis is “a threat to the euro” but have generally sensed the tide running against me on this one as serious people warn darkly about the wider repercussions of a Greek default. Still, I find the arguments in this new CEPR Policy Insight paper from Jacques Melitz (“Eurozone Reform: A Proposal”) to be pretty convincing
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Jacques Melitz on Greece and the Euro
A year ago , China’s Dalian futures exchange was hitting its peak, in terms of polymer volume. The Linear Low Density Polyethylene (LLDPE) contract saw 80 million tonnes (blue line) traded in April. This was more than 3 times total annual world production.
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China’s Dalian volumes drop 74%
As a story in the Christian Science Monitor shows , the Gulf oil spill is much worse than we’ve been told: It’s now likely that the actual amount of the oil spill dwarfs the Coast Guard’s figure of 5,000 barrels , or 210,000 gallons, a day.
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Oil Spill Much Worse Than We’ve Been Told: "Official Estimates for the Flow of Oil … May be Just a Drop in the Bucket"
by Edward Hugh: Barcelona According to a once famous statement by the British Prime Minister Harold Wilson, a week is often a long time in politics. But when it comes to financial market crises we seem to follow a pattern more reminiscent of a line from the Dinah Washington version of an old María Méndez Grever song: “What a difference a day made”. The day in this case was last Wednesday, at least for those of us here in Spain, since it was on Wednesday that the ratings agency Standard & Poor’s downgraded Spanish Sovereign debt to AA from AA+
The Republican meme on the gulf oil spill is that it is ” Obama’s Katrina “. But as Plaintiff’s lawyer Michael Papantonio – suing BP concerning on behalf of fisherman and local businesses hurt by the oil spill – just revealed, Dick Cheney is partly largely responsible. As summarized by Eric at Daily Kos : Mike Papantonio [said] An ‘acoustic switch’ would have prevented this catastrophe – it’s a failsafe that shuts the flow of oil off at the source – they cost only about half a million dollars each, and are required in off-shore drilling platforms in most of the world…except for the United States.
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Gulf Oil Spill is Cheney’s Fault as Much as Obama’s
Partisan GOP hacks say the financial crisis was caused by too much regulation, and government interference in the markets. But Glass-Steagall was repealed, derivatives were left unregulated, and the regulators were watching porn instead of preventing fraud
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Cut the Partisan Crap … BOTH the Private Sector AND the Government are to Blame for the Financial Crisis
As of 2007, the bottom 50% of the U.S. population owned only one-half of one percent of all stocks, bonds and mutual funds in the U.S.
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Should a Stock Market Decline Stop the Goldman Prosecutions?
The chemical industry is a well-known leading indicator for the world economy. Yet 18 months after the financial crisis began, the blog’s review of quarterly company results reveals few signs of optimism that a sustained upturn is underway. Q1 has certainly seen the forecast seasonal boost
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Chemical companies see upturn, but not yet a sustained recovery ahead
If we broke up standard oil, we can break up the giant banks. Says who? Senator Ted Kaufman (interviewed recently by The American Prospect’s Tim Fernholz ): You and Senator Sherrod Brown have proposed an amendment that would cap the size of the largest banks and, in effect, break them up.
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If We Broke Up Standard Oil, We Can Break Up the Giant Banks
This is an unofficial list of Problem Banks compiled only from public sources. Here is the unofficial problem bank list for April 30, 2010. Changes and comments from surferdude808: Failure Friday and the FDIC issuing its enforcement actions for March contributed to many changes in the Unofficial Problem Bank List
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Unofficial Problem Bank List hits 722
This piece was drawn from a more in-depth RGE Analysis: Greek Endgame: Time for ‘Plan B’ From the Financial Times: The past weekend’s spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund in Washington focused on the Greek sovereign debt crisis – the first such crisis in living memory to concern a high-income country, and in the eurozone no less.
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The Crisis Will Spread Without a Plan B
Butler bank failure Deposits gone with the wind I don’t give a damn by Soylent Green is People From the FDIC: Community First Bank, Butler, Missouri, Assumes All of the Deposits of BC National Banks, Butler, Missouri BC National Banks, Butler, Missouri, was closed today by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) as receiver.
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Bank Failure #63: BC National Banks, Butler, Missouri
I believe that physical gold is a reasonable investment right now based on the following factors: 1) sovereign defaults; 2) shortages of physical deposits; 3) the dollar; 4) central banks; 5) declining production; 6) inflation; 7) deflation; 
uncertainty and distrust in government; and 9) flight to safety. Sovereign Defaults Iceland, Dubai, Greece, Portugal, Spain … The list of potential sovereign defaults just keeps growing.
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PHYSICAL Gold is a Reasonable Investment Right Now
April 30, 2010 Dean Baker’s new book strips away the ideology and applies the basics of economics to some of the most pressing issues of the day For Immediate Release: April 30, 2010 Contact: Alan Barber, (202) 293-5380 x115 Washington, D.C. – What would policy look like if we took basic principles of mainstream economics and applied them consistently? What if we looked past ideology and tried to find the policies that make the most sense and work towards an economy for everyone?
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What if We Took Economics Seriously?
Doug French on Mises, Rothbard and the Advancement of Free-Markets with Scott Smith and the Daily Bell Introduction : Douglas French is president of the Mises Institute and author of Early Speculative Bubbles & Increases in the Money Supply. He received his Masters degree in economics from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, under Murray Rothbard with Professor Hans-Hermann Hoppe serving on his thesis committee.
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An Interview with LVMI President Doug French
Forget complicated arguments about the benefits of public banking. Instead, look at this chart from Business Insider : 49 out of 50 U.S. states are still showing less economic activity than a year ago, based on February 2010 coincident economic indicators from the Federal Reserve of Philadelphia
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The ONLY State With a Growing Economy During the Last Year Has Its Own Public Bank.    Any Questions?
Panel Discussion from the Milken Institute Global Conference: Global Financial Markets: Nouriel Roubini and Mike Milken Debate Where We’ve Been – Where We’re Going [81:52, panel discussion starts at 9:00] Speakers: Michael Milken , Chairman, Milken Institute Nouriel Roubini , Chairman, Roubini Global Economics, Professor of Economics and International Business, Stern School of Business, New York University Moderator: Matthew Winkler , Editor-in-Chief, Bloomberg News
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Roubini and Milken on Global Financial Markets: Where We’ve Been, Where We’re Going
Bloomberg — Roubini Interview on Greece Crisis, European Union (Click for Video [6:05] and Report )
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Roubini CNBC and Bloomberg Reports on Greece Crisis, European Union
Mitch Harper is author of the popular blog, Fort Wayne Observed . He is also a Fort Wayne City Councilman
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Harper: Northeast Indiana Races Favor Banks, Souder
Shell CEO Peter Voser has made a fascinating speech in China, where he highlights the length of time taken for new energy technologies to gain adoption. He says Shell’s research shows it takes ” 30 years for new energy types to capture 1% of the market “.
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Shell’s 30-year rule for new energy technology adoption
Full Post – more pics Construction is currently in progress on what will be the largest sports park in China, featuring “picturesque and sustainable public spaces” as well an Olympic-size stadium inspired by the local flora found on the nearby banks of Hangzhou’s West Lake. Designed by NBBJ in collaboration with CCDI, the 400,000 sq meter Hangzhou Sports Park in Hangzhou, China began construction back in December and is expected to be completed in 2013. Read more: Gigantic Flower-Shaped Stadium Blossoming in China | Inhabitat – Green Design Will Save the World
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Gigantic Flower-Shaped Green Stadium Blossoming in China
It’s not just Greece and Portugal. As Simon Johnson reports : This is not now about Greece (with 2 year yields reported around 20 percent today) or Portugal (up 7 basis points) or even Spain (2 year yields up 27 basis points; wake up please) or even Italy (up 6 basis points). This is no longer about an IMF package for Greece or even ring fencing other weaker eurozone economies
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Greek 2 Year Yields 20 Percent, Italy Up 6 Basis Points, Portugal Up 7 Basis Points, Spain Up 27 Basis Points
In the wake of suing Goldman Sachs for fraud in the creation and sale of mortgage-backed derivatives, the Securities and Exchange Commission said it will look closely at other similar transactions by other big Wall Street banks, according to a recent Wall Street Journal article by Carrick Mollencamp, Serena Ng, Gregory Zuckerman and Scott Patterson (Note: the WSJ appears to have double the usual number of reporters on this story).
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Wall Street’s "Moral Corruption" Goes Far Beyond Goldman Sachs
On today’s RTE radio News at One , Sean Whelan reported that Irish banks have exposure of about €7 billion to Greek debt, that restructuring of Greek sovereign debt could lead to a fifty percent write-down of Greek debt and that because the Irish government are supporting the banks, the contribution of €450 million by the Irish government to the Greek bailout needed to be placed against the possibility of a potential loss of €3.5 billion for the banks. Much of this is correct but it is perhaps worth clarifying what we know about Irish bank holdings of Greek debt.
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Ireland’s Exposure to Greek Debt