Well, Act l of the Irish soap opera appears to have concluded today. As expected, the EU and various other European states stepped up to provide a fistful of money for Ireland to finance its ongoing borrowing requirements and to once more try and recapitalize and fix its banking system. The Business Insider and Joe […]
Archive for November, 2010
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Rent Seeking Alert
Posted by Tom Lindmark on November 27th, 2010
In case you think rent seeking is confined to the big boys, here’s a case in which the small fry are learning their lessons well. It’s from a blog called The Private Equity Reader. Thanks to a small tip from PEHub, I learned that more and more buyout shops (including a prominent one, The Riverside Company) […]
Black Friday Disappoints
Posted by Tom Lindmark on November 27th, 2010
According to the WSJ, Black Friday wasn’t as big a hit as the traffic numbers suggest. Black Friday sales rose only slightly from a year ago even though more shoppers visited stores, retail traffic monitor ShopperTrak said Saturday, setting the stage for another uncertain holiday season for retailers. Sales increased 0.3% to $10.7 billion, according […]
Ireland: Just The First Car To Go Off The Tracks
Posted by Tom Lindmark on November 27th, 2010
I’ll admit to it if you will as well. I’m fascinated by the falling dominoes in Europe. It’s like watching a train wreck happening in slow motion while various commentators tell you what you’re seeing isn’t really happening. Some of the better thoughts on the subject include: Tyler Cowen: In a nutshell, we’re watching the […]
Who Gets Second Chances?
Posted by Tom Lindmark on November 27th, 2010
Evidently hard times haven’t made some people any more charitable towards their fellow citizens. From the WSJ: Bankruptcy is still something of a scarlet letter even though a lot more Americans are seeking to shed their debts in court. Some $588 billion in consumer loans were wiped out in the past two years — both […]
The Price Of TARP’s Success
Posted by Tom Lindmark on November 25th, 2010
Brad Schaeffer, a conservative energy company executive, makes perhaps the most reasonable defense of TARP that I have seen. He compares the banking crisis to the fall of Enron and the panic that ensued in energy markets at that time and concludes that a private solution such as the one that rescued energy wouldn’t have […]
Economic Recovery Looking A Bit More Solid
Posted by Tom Lindmark on November 24th, 2010
I’ve had a brush with a touch of pneumonia, hence blogging has taken a back seat to healing. Good drugs have helped turn the corner so I’ll try and get back to some semblance of regular posting. Anyway, there were a couple of fairly positive economic reports over the past few days that would seem […]
