Tim Duy keeps us abreast of the latest on the Federal Reserve including the possibility that Greenspan may stay on for a few more months. I hope so and I pray no one who takes seriously the musing over at the National Review is ever placed on the Federal Reserve Board. David Malpass lists a […]

The financial press has been rife with talk about a Chinese revaluation of the yuan over the past week or two. To cap that off, yesterday the US Treasury effectively gave China a 6-month warning to change its exchange rate or else. The yuan issue is clearly high on many people’s list of Things to […]

The BLS released the April consumer price inflation figures this morning. Overall inflation faced by consumers was high, unsurprisingly; energy prices alone were up 4.5% in April. But excluding food and energy costs, the inflation number was surprisingly low. (See this post from last month about why it’s important to consider both the overall and […]

In other economic data news, China’s economy continues to roar ahead, while (officially measured) prices do not: TOKYO (MarketWatch) – Chinese industrial production continued to boom in April, according to government data released Wednesday. China’s industrial output rose 16% from that month a year earlier to 564.7 billion yuan ($68 billion), accelerating from March’s 15.1% […]

I guess going over the top to support the White House’s attempt to decapitate another news organization is the prime directive of Rich Lowry. Maybe Mr. Lowry thinks too little of his readers for them to be able to count all the distortions in his latest op-ed, but feel free to take your shot. Update: […]

Here is another reason to see Revenge of the Sith: While “Star Wars” fans squabble over whether “Revenge of the Sith” contains any anti-Bush messages, one central figure has weighed in on the debate: Hayden Christensen, the actor who plays Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. When the Ottawa Sun asked Christensen if the flick “takes metaphoric shots […]

Cisco Systems plans to create a market instrument that would parallel employee stock options. ESORS, which is short for employee stock option reference securities would have trading restrictions such that the holder could not transfer the option, which would vest over five years. Cisco is also asking the SEC to allow it to use the […]

The self-contradictory statement of the day: “As long as the housing bubble doesn’t burst, home equity lines should remain strong and remain safe,” said Scott Stern, chief executive of Lenders One, a St. Louis-based cooperative of 60 mortgage companies that originate home-equity lines, including some that feature 100 percent loan-to-equity ratios. “As long as the […]

Sorry for the infrequency of my posting lately; I’m in the midst of the end-of-semester crunch right now, and won’t be able to catch my breath for another few days. But I did manage to check in with this morning’s April PPI report from the BLS… and found a surprisingly high inflation reading for the […]

Richard Myers notes a report that the May 11 riots may be unrelated to the Newsweek story about the handling of the Quran at Guantanamo Bay. For more insight on the uproar over the Newsweek story – see Kevin Drum and Juan Cole.