At least for now, most air travel restrictions caused by the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano have been lifted throughout Europe. Earlier reports led many observers to believe that significant insurance claims could result from this event. However, yesterday’s report ...
Burton Malkiel, professor of economics at Princeton University, is the author of A Random Walk Down Wall Street and is currently preparing the tenth edition of the book. In a recent Financial Times interview, Mr. Malkiel insists that the data ...
National Underwriter P&C magazine recently reported that the soft insurance market is showing no signs of reversing as abundant capacity combined with diminished demand combines to keep a downward pressure on rates. This is the seventh consecutive year of soft ...
According to recent reports, the massive volcanic eruption in Iceland is intensifying and showing no signs of abating after forty hours of activity. The ash plume is now 3.7 miles high and has caused major disruptions for air travel in ...
Most companies on a calendar fiscal year have released proxy statements over the past month. In addition to annual reports, intelligent investors must pay close attention to proxy statements to determine the company’s philosophy on executive compensation. Nearly every compensation ...
Robert Rubin received a total of more than $126 million in cash and stock compensation over a ten year period at Citigroup for serving as a board member and as a “strategic advisor” to senior management. However, the role never ...
Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan testified today in Washington before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. We suggested last week that Mr. Greenspan and others who failed to foresee the crisis should simply accept responsibility and play a role in ...
Perhaps no other government policymaker has suffered as much reputational damage due to the housing collapse as former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan. Mr. Greenspan has defended his record in recent months and recently published a paper outlining his views ...
In a video interview with The Economist, Justin Fox talks about his latest book The Myth of the Rational Market. Among other topics, Mr. Fox discusses the efficient market hypothesis, index funds, financial market bubbles, value at risk models, and ...
In a quirk that is causing a great deal of heartburn on Wall Street, the Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the March Employment Situation Report on Good Friday, April 2, 2010. The stock market will be closed for the ...
It is so fashionable these days to read stories about a rising China and declining America that any contrarian feels almost provoked to offer a rebuttal. However, it is increasingly difficult to do so at a time when the Chinese ...
It appears that the Volcker Rule is meeting a quick demise in the United States Senate only one month after it was initially proposed. the Volcker Rule is designed to limit the proprietary trading activities of commercial banks. A common ...
During the hurricane season, the news media often reports forecasted losses even before a storm makes landfall. The same was not true during the epic blizzards that impacted the Mid-Atlantic states earlier this month. While there were a number of ...
Kansas City Federal Reserve President Thomas M. Hoenig has been a voice in the wilderness for some time. Mr. Hoenig was the only dissenter of the policy action at the January meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee because he ...
The Financial Times has published a five part video interview with Paul Volcker who is the head of President Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board. Mr. Volcker discusses his proposed “Volcker Rule” which would limit the proprietary trading activities of commercial ...
In a wide ranging discussion this afternoon, Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett interviewed former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson at the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce annual meeting in Omaha. The topics discussed ranged from insights in Mr. Paulson's ...
In the brief video clip shown in this article, Google CEO Eric Schmidt talks about how technology impacts the lives of younger people and whether the overall quality of education will be improved or hurt by instant access to information ...
From the perspective of an outside observer, the debate over financial regulatory reform can seem like nothing more than the typical Beltway chatter full of shrill voices and political posturing. While the current debate is not free of the usual ...
While reviewing the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) "advance estimate" of Q4 2009 GDP, it seems instructive to revisit the Q3 2009 "advance estimate" which was discussed here exactly three months ago. A quick review suggests that there is little ...
In the late 1990s, pension funds decided that it would be a good idea to purchase stocks near the peak of the technology bubble. Strike one. In the mid 2000s, the idea was to join the private equity and hedge ...