Veren of Lood biedt u op zondag wekelijks een inkijkje in belangrijke of informatieve artikelen en interviews die de voorafgaande 7 dagen op economisch terrein verschenen.

De kop is de link naar het oorspronkelijke artikel, waarvan de eerste (twee) alinea’s hier gegeven zijn.

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How Much is that Asset in the Window? – David Merkel
8 september
This article is another experiment. Please bear with me.
Q: What is an asset worth?
A: An asset is worth whatever the highest bidder will pay for it at the time you offer it for sale.
Q: Come on, the value of an asset must be more enduring than that. You look at the balance sheets of corporations, and they don’t list their assets at sales prices.
A: That’s for a different purpose. We can’t get the prices of all assets to trade frequently. The economic world isn’t only about trading, it is about building objects, offering services… and really, it is about making people happier through service. Because the assets don’t trade regularly, they are entered onto the balance sheet at:
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A Worrying Development for Stock Market Bulls – Bill Bonner
11 september
Yes, it seems to be coming. Our friend and longtime Bonner & Partners Family Office member Hense Ellis summarizes:
A new global recession has begun. The collapse in commodity prices and the slump in the emerging market economies will inevitably lead to a sharp drop in global investment and a new surge in unemployment. Moreover, the recent stock market selloff is making matters much worse by creating a negative wealth effect that will cause consumption to fall.
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Why the Greeks Should Repudiate Their Government’s Debt – Simon Wilson
11 september
In apportioning blame for the Greek government debt crisis, it would be difficult not to lay the major share on Greece itself. With government jobs paying three times the private sector average, a national rail service with a wage bill four times its annual revenue, a public pension system that would pay out generous benefits at fifty for anyone classified as working in “arduous” professions like hairdressing, there is no shortage of taxpayer-funded largesse running rampant through Greek society.
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After the Greek Crisis, Euro Elites Dream of a Unified Euro State – Ryan McMaken
11 september
Following the July 5 “no” vote in Greece against the terms of the negotiated bailout, European elites swore they would no longer negotiate:
[E]urozone officials shot down any prospect of a quick resumption of talks, even though finance ministers were planning to meet during the week to discuss the fallout from the vote. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande immediately scheduled a bilateral meeting.
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The Doublespeak of the Gig Economy – Melissa Gregg
11 september
Over the past 50 years, the main source of employment in the United States has shifted from the manual to the mental—from doing things with one’s hands to delivering a service or a feeling. As Enrico Moretti points out in his 2013 book The New Geography of Jobs, any given American is now statistically more likely to work in a restaurant than a factory. Not all mental work is equal, though: The divide between hospitality and knowledge work defines the new economy. Together, these two forces are proving that the phrases the past century has left us with—“gig,” “work,” “job”—are obsolete and inadequate.
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Understanding Contemporary Capitalism, Part I – David Kotz
10 september
“Neoliberalism,” or more accurately neoliberal capitalism, is a form of capitalism in which market relations and market forces operate relatively freely and play the predominant role in the economy. That is, neoliberalism is not just a set of ideas, or an ideology, as it is typically interpreted by those analysts who doubt the relevance or importance of this concept for explaining contemporary capitalism. Under neoliberalism, non-market institutions – such as the state, trade unions, and corporate bureaucracies – play a limited role. By contrast, in “regulated capitalism” such as prevailed in the post-World War II decades – in the United States and other industrial capitalist economies – states, trade unions, and corporate bureaucracies played a major role in regulating economic activity, confining market forces to a lesser role.
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Mexico, Federal Reserve Policy and Danger Ahead for Emerging Markets – Nomi Prins
10 september
On August 27th, I had the opportunity to address the Aspen Institute, UNIFIMEX and PWC in Mexico City during a Q&A with Patricia Armendariz. Subsequenty, on August 28th, I gave the opening talk at the annual IMEF conference. The main issues of concern to local Mexican banks, as well as to Mexico’s central bank, are:
1) How the Federal Reserve’s (and to a lesser extent ECB’s and People’s Bank of China) policies and actions have, and wlil continue to impact their currency and interest rate levels, and
2) The risks posed by the structural, and ongoing problems of too-big-to-fail banks, which remain as much a US as a Mexican problem as manifested by heightened economic, market and financial stress.
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Rethinking government debt – Frances Coppola
11 september
There is a huge amount of hysteria about government debt and deficits, not just in the UK but throughout much of the world. As I write, Brazil has been downgraded by Standard & Poors because of concerns about rising government debt and weakening commitment to primary fiscal surpluses in a context of political uncertainty and deepening recession. It is the latest in a long line of downgrades and investor flight over the last few years. The global economy is a very stormy place.
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Revenue Recession Spreads past Dollar, Energy – Wolf Richter
7 september
Now that 495 of the S&P 500 companies have reported second quarter earnings, something has become abundantly clear: 2015 is going to be a nasty year for corporate revenues.
Blended revenue for the S&P 500 companies dropped 3.4% in Q2, according to FactSet. “Blended” because it includes estimates for the five companies that have not yet reported. This follows the first quarter, during which reported revenues also declined. The last time year-over-year revenues declined two quarters in a row was in Q2 and Q3 2009 during the Financial Crisis.
Analysts liberally blame the strong dollar. It’s convenient. But numerous companies that mostly benefit from the strong dollar, such as GM (more on that in a second), still reported shrinking revenues in the quarter.
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The Decline of Oil: Head-Fake or New Normal? – Charles Hugh Smith
9 september
When production does finally collapse, that will set up the “nobody saw this coming” ramp in the price of oil.
In May 2008 I proposed the Oil “Head-Fake” Scenario in which global recession pushes oil demand down as oil exporters pump their maximum production in a futile attempt to fund their vast welfare states and thus retain their precarious political power.
Oil: One Last Head-Fake? (May 9, 2008)
The terrible irony of the head-fake, of course, is that the exporters’ efforts to pump more oil exacerbates the oversupply, further depressing prices. As exporters receive fewer dollars for their production, they attempt to compensate by pumping even more oil. Perniciously, this suppresses prices even more, setting up a positive feedback loop which pushes prices to the point that exporters are no longer able to fund their welfare states and Elites.
Something has to give, and that something is the existing power structure in oil exporting nations.
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Sargent on Friedman – John Cochrane
11 september
I ran across a little gem by Tom Sargent, “The Evolution of Monetary Policy Rules.” Alas, it’s gated in the JEDC so you’ll need a university IP address to read it, and I haven’t found a free copy. It’s a transcript of a talk, so doesn’t have Tom’s usual prose polish, but insightful nonetheless.
Milton Friedman, like the rest of us, changed his mind over the course of a lifetime.

Coordinating monetary and fiscal policy:

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Disclaimer: De VoL-redactie selecteert deze artikelen op interessante inzichten, of naar wij denken nuttige informatie. Wij kunnen echter geen enkele aansprakelijkheid aanvaarden voor de gevolgen van beslissingen die op grond hiervan door lezers zijn genomen, zakelijk zomin als privé.