Javier David

China cuts back America's credit line, Japan extends

China pulls back on America’s credit line Data released by the Treasury Department on Tuesday showed that foreign purchases of U.S. assets fell sharply in December, the largest on record. Contained in these figures were several noteworthy...

Soft pitches and low expectations as black leaders visit the White House

The blizzard gripping much of the Northeast on Wednesday could be considered an apt metaphor for the conditions that mire President Barack Obama’s policy agenda at the start of his second year in office. Among the gantlet of...

Anti-globalization protests may diminish, underlying problems won't

The hordes of anti-globalization protesters that normally invade international economic summits were handed a considerable sop at the Group of Twenty (G-20) summit in Pittsburgh on September 24th-25th. At the meeting, it was announced that...

Keep it honest, indeed.

Until very recently, your correspondent has long considered himself an unabashed fan of The Economist (the British weekly that is de rigeur reading for observers of business and economics). Even in instances where one may not agree with their...

Bob Marley as economic indicator (seriously.)

Forgive your correspondent his scarcity over the last several weeks. Like most working stiffs battered by a difficult economy, he’s been scrambling to make a dollar out of fifteen cents, so to speak. Recognizing there’s been...

Health care reform: hazardous to your (fiscal) health

Remonstrations over implementing a national health-care system are intensifying, while putting advocates increasingly on the defensive. And not without good reason. One story that got wide play late last week came courtesy of the New York Post...

The canary in the coal mine

And so it begins: Foreign demand for long-term U.S. financial assets dropped by the largest amount in four months in May, as Japan and Russia trimmed their holdings of Treasury securities. The Treasury Department said Thursday...

The scariest words in the English language

I doubt this item requires much explanation: The federal deficit has topped $1 trillion for the first time ever and could grow to nearly $2 trillion by this fall, intensifying fears about higher interest rates, inflation and the strength...

Derivatives reform and the potential for a Sarbanes-Oxley effect

In Congressional testimony on Friday, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner aired concerns that the Obama administration’s efforts to reform the nearly $600 trillion (with a “t”) over-the-counter derivatives market might spur European authorities to allow...

Pimco to government: 'See ya, and I wouldn't wanna be ya'

Yesterday, the Treasury Department released details on its much anticipated program designed to assist banks in reducing the amount of toxic securities on their books. Nine financial institutions were selected by the Treasury as partners in the Public-Private Investment...

Currently in Los Angeles