Canadian Banking Hysteria
Island Dweller—he of the block quote—swung by the Castle lobby bar last night with a piece of paper in his hand. The paper was a printout from a website. Most magnificent Czar, etc & etc . . . A forum … Continue reading →
Category Archives: Financial Industry
Teh Stoopid, It Hurts: Democrats and Student Loans Edition, Part 3.14
‘Puter and Czar frequently rail against government backed student loans, bitching loudly and lengthily at all who will listen. Czar posted about the issue three days ago, and ‘Puter presciently posted on student loans nearly three years ago, on December … Continue reading →
Fixing the Student Loan Crisis in Zero Steps
Imagine how things could work if the free market were to handle student loans. Sorry, Drew. The best interest rate you’re getting will be 18.7 percent. Maybe majoring in Klingon Literature at Case Western was a bad idea. Also, bringing … Continue reading →
NYT: New Pro-Consumer Mortgage Rules Enacted, Consumers Hardest Hit
The New York Times ran an interesting article today on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s draftsof new consumer mortgage rules. Well, the article interested ‘Puter, anyway. Mostly because the article proved ‘Puter’s longstanding position correct. You see, CFPB’s new regulations … Continue reading →
Democrats Screw The Little Guy. Again.
Elizabeth Warren was originally slatedto head the CFPB. This is the best picture‘Puter could find of her. It’s stunning how closely Sen. Warren resembles her ancestorChief Wahoo, noble mascot of MLB’s totallynot racist Cleveland Indians. Unless you’re in the financial … Continue reading →
Obama’s Suit Against Bank of America Is Baseless
Mind you, ‘Puter’s impression of U.S. Attorney Preet S. Bharara’s action against Bank of America is based entirely on Mr. Bharara’s press release, which you may review here. Here’s a very brief synopsis of the government’s claims. For a more … Continue reading →
Amphetamine Aided Economic Prognostication (Also, WTF Happened to ‘Puter?)
‘Puter has been remiss in posting lately. There are a couple of reasons. First, ‘Puter has been lights-out crazy at work. ‘Puter’s in the financial industry, concentrating in the secondary market for sub-performing and non-performing secured commercial debt. Think Bain … Continue reading →
Today’s Installment of ‘Puter Told You So
As regular readers know, ‘Puter is a high-functioning simpleton, but one with Cassandra-like powers of prognostication. Also, like Cassandra, ‘Puter is cruelly fated to never be believed. Let’s review a few of ‘Puter’s most recent economic prognostications: 1. The failure … Continue reading →
Homeowner’s Insurance: Paying For Incompetence
Checked your homeowner’s insurance lately? A lot of people pay off their mortgage with property taxes and homeowner’s insurance rolled into a lump sum (“escrow”). Each month, they either write a check or use an auto-deduction to pay that off. … Continue reading →
New Financial World Order
‘Puter was reading this post regarding the failed HAMP program over at Megan McArdle’s blog at The Atlantic this morning, and it set him to thinking. Flawed notions of consumer credit are what dragged us in to our current straits, … Continue reading →
Mailbag: Stick it Right Back!
Gormogon operative FR writes in: I just got a nice little email from Senator Warner letting me know he was looking out for little ole me by supporting the Financial reform bill. I was so comforted to know I had … Continue reading →
Move more of world finance into New York? Not when we can tax and regulate!
New York and London have long competed to be the global capital of global capital. With plenty of business to go around, the competition has usually been friendly; now, as the West’s financial industry shrinks, it could become fierce. London … Continue reading →
Dance With The One What Brung You
‘Puter’s not particularly smart. Or handsome, either, for that matter. But it seems to ‘Puter, sitting smack in the middle of this financial crisis, that America hasn’t given capitalism a chance to work yet. Capitalism assumes that there will be … Continue reading →
Harvard MBAs and the Crisis
The ŒV and Czar have spent many a year in the company of high-powered MBAs, and commend to you this brutal takedown by one of their own. I might make a few comments in defense of what I always called … Continue reading →
‘Puter’s Rear View Mirror
‘Puter’s more than passingly familiar with the financial services industry, the industry being pummeled the hardest (and deservedly so) by the current downturn. As such, ‘Puter’s been thinking about the many companies that have failed, and any commonalities among them. … Continue reading →