As forest fires continue to burn their way across Russia, criticism from the blogosphere has begun to embarrass the authorities. And so it should. In a scathing attack posted on LiveJournal, a...

The credit crunch began three years ago on 9th August, 2007. Yes, the roots of the crisis go farther back, but that was the day greed turned to fear, the Minsky Moment when lenders sniffed the air...

The money supply is shrinking. That may well be the most ominous harbinger of continued economic slowdown. The supply measurement known as M3 or “broad money”—all the money there is on loan or...

For the past few years, high-frequency trading, in which firms employ massive computing power to make trades within milliseconds, has been a growing profit maker on Wall Street. Computer algorithms...

Some pensioners are poor. But lots of people are poor. Pensioners, though, have big political advantages: they vote, and are perceived to have "paid in all their lives". Politicians meddle with...

Today, George Osborne set out the most austere budget the country has seen in 30 years. Here’s hoping it was a sham—that the government is misleading the country and the world about the scale of...

What was the main cause of the financial crisis, and what should be done about it? Some blame irresponsible lending and trading at the banks; they say the major banks should be broken up to separate...

It’s back! Eighty years after John Maynard Keynes stuck a stake through its heart, the “treasury view” is once again threatening to derail our economy. It is as if, a century after Copernicus,...

Yves Smith, in her review of Michael Lewis’ The Big Short, provides us with an explanation of the mechanics of the financial crisis that is convoluted, counterintuitive, and ultimately utterly...

The new British government is kicking and screaming because next week the EU expects to adopt stringent regulations on hedge funds. Funds that comply will get a “passport” and be allowed to trade...