…referring to “buying financial assets,” as opposed to “buying/creating real [fixed] assets,” which is the technical meaning of “investing” in national-account-speak.) Or actually — there is one alternative to “investing”…

Via Mark Thoma comes this study of the financial status of many Americans in the last part of their lives: Social Security works: Study: Many Americans die with ‘virtually no…

…significantly understated. The major finding is that offshore financial holdings now come to some $21-32 trillion, compared with the estimate in TJN’s 2005 report of $9.5 trillion (this excludes non-financial…

…all requires some explanation. First off, when I use the word “real” herein, it doesn’t mean “inflation-adjusted.” It means real-world, nonfinancial. In national-account-speak, all consumption and investment spending is about…

…going to reframe it slightly: Who profits from the complexity of the Volcker rule? It’s the largest financial institutions. No financial institutions want a simple Volcker rule. They want layers…

…of the financial kitty litter box was too big for the Treasury’s scoop alone. That just goes to show how big of a gift public entities gave to a small…

…that the information they were getting was rigged. They just didn’t know how. The financial blogs began to tell them. Over the course of the next few years, the financial…

…potential conflicts of interest. AEA members will now have to disclose all sources of financing for their research and all “significant” financial relationships with groups or individuals with a “financial,…

…spending. And (invoking authority here) Mark Thoma agrees, in the post cited above: It probably wouldn’t do much But – considering the practical, workaday effects on the financial system such…

…iconic symbol of the financial disruption caused by the credit bubble is problematic. “Everyone agrees that Mr. Madoff broke the rules. But the damage done by those acting as allowed…