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The last few days

There are clearly a lot of critical developments at the moment. So I thought it might be helpful to index recent postings: Financial crisis US to follow UK in buying bank shares 'Incompetence and denial' Iceland calls in IMF Europe, N America, China cut interest rates The zeitgeist continues...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 10-10-2008
US to follow UK in buying bank shares

Winston Churchill, a long-standing friend of the USA, once irritably but acutely observed that 'one can rely on America to get to the right conclusion, when all other options have been exhausted'. So, hopefully, it will prove with the financial crisis. Tonight, Bloomberg and the New York Times...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 10-09-2008
Iceland calls in IMF

As the blog predicted , Iceland has been forced to call on the IMF for help. Finally, the country's leaders have recognised that their $20bn economy couldn't support the level of debt built up during the 'go-go' years. The pity is that it took them so long to recognise reality - and by...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 10-09-2008
The zeitgeist continues to change

The German word 'Zeitgeist' describes 'the ethos or mood' of a select group of people. Back in Januar y, the blog noticed that the financial zeitgeist was clearly changing. Today brings another example, from the Wall Street Journal , normally a cheerleader for the financial community...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 10-08-2008
5 key questions about the US bailout

The proposal now before Congress to authorise the spending of $700bn to bail out Wall Street contains just 849 words. It avoids the need to go into further detail via its suggestion that the Treasury Secretary should simply have unlimited authority to act as he 'deems necessary'. But 5 key questions...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 09-21-2008
August highlights

Many readers have been out of the office during August on a well-deserved break. I am therefore highlighting below the main postings over the past month, in the hope this will help them to catch up quickly on key developments - please click on the highlighted title if you want to read the original posting...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 09-01-2008
A sombre outlook

Housing is a vital market for chemical companies. It boomed in the US and other Western countries as credit standards were relaxed between 2003-7. Now it is at the centre of the credit crunch. Martin Feldstein, Harvard economics professor, and the man who chairs the Board that determines the duration...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 08-27-2008
The 'slow motion train wreck' continues

A year ago, the noted investment analyst, Jeremy Grantham, described the credit crisis as a 'slow motion train wreck'. The Financial Times has now updated the metaphor to describe what has happened since. It notes that train crashes happen more quickly than economic ones, and that there are pauses...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 08-19-2008
The blog's first birthday

Its now a year since the blog started. Since then, 213 postings have appeared. It is now read in 72 countries and 620 cities (shown above). Most encouragingly, readership continues to steadily increase. Since January, it has risen a further 301%. The blog's aim is to identify 'the influences...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 07-05-2008
Interest rates to rise by the end of May

Headline interest rates are set by central banks. But the ones that we actually pay, as consumers or companies, are set by the banks themselves. And most of these are based on LIBOR - the London Inter-Bank Offer Rate - which is the main benchmark for $62 trillion of borrowing around the world. Now it...

Posted to ICIS Blogs (Weblog) by Anonymous on 05-14-2008

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