Business Cycle & Economics Blog of Caleb Lawrence
Stocks fell sharply in morning trade despite little real news. Sometimes it is the seemingly innocuous events such as the Democrats Massachusetts election loss that is the catalyst for large shifts in perception and by implication the markets. In economic news the Conference Boards Index of Leading Economic indicators gained 1.1% in December. The Philadelphia [...]
The picture McKinsey paints is one of concentrated (albeit large) credit excesses rather than economy-wide debt binges. As a result, the debt-reduction process will differ by sector and by country. Judged by ratios of total debt to GDP, deleveraging has barely started. As of June 2009 these ratios had fallen only in America, Britain and [...]
A great interview with Economist Joseph Stiglitz on the banking crises. Currently the top four banks control 40 percent of American deposits. Isn’t this concentration in our banking system terribly dangerous for our economy? And do you get the sense that the Obama administration thinks it’s dangerous, or plans to do anything about it? It [...]
Hi and welcome to The Profit Motive, I’m your host Caleb Lawrence. Once upon a time in America the media acted as the watchdog of the corporations and the state. In the modern era it’s all about ratings and profits, opinion has been substituted for news and frequently is presented as fact. 
