What Is Shadow Banking?
by Stijn Claessens and Lev Ratnovski
Originally appeared at
Voxeu.org 23 August 2013
There is much confusion about what shadow banking is and why it might
create systemic risks. This article presents shadow banking as '
all financial activities, except traditional banking, which require a private or public backstop to operate'.
The idea that shadow banking is something that needs a backstop changes
how we think about regulation. Although it won't be easy, regulation is
possible.
Read more >>
What We Read Today 31 August 2013
Econintersect: Click Read more >> below graphic to see today's list.
The top of today's reading list
reports the latest on bitcoins........ and the last article
discusses the important and sometimes overlooked paramter of dividend
payout ratio.
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Executive Excess 2013: Bailed Out, Booted, and Busted
This
20th anniversary Executive Excess report examines the "performance" of
the 500 corporate chief executives who have ranked among America's 25
highest-paid CEOs in one or more of the past 20 years.
Do You Think Incomes are Up Since the Great Recession?
Written by Steven Hansen
For a consumption based economy to grow, the median family spending
money must continue to grow. The disposable income headlines
misleadingly infer income is growing.
Read more >>
Retail Blues
These CEOs Cry the Blues as Consumer Spending Pulls Back Again
Written by Michael Lombardi, Profit Confidential
Consumer
spending in the U.S. economy is bleak. Until it picks up, you can't
expect the U.S. economy to see growth; after all, consumer spending does
make up 60%-70% of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP).
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE/WMT), a
bellwether stock for consumer spending, reported corporate earnings of
$1.24 per share in its fiscal second quarter (ended on July
21). That's an increase of 5.1% compared to last year - but just like
other big public companies, Wal-Mart purchased $1.9 billion worth of its
own shares in that quarter to prop up its earnings.
Get Ready for Larry Summers as Next Fed Chair
by Larry Doyle, Sense on Cents
Has there ever really been a doubt that Larry Summers would be the next chairman of the Federal Reserve?
Not in these parts.
Remember, President Obama - just like his
predecessors - will announce who the chairman of the Federal Reserve
will be, but that does not mean that he actually makes the selection.
Infographic of the Day: How Golden Spike's Moon Landing Plan Works
The
Golden Spike Company announced in December 2012 a plan to begin
launching commercial passenger flights to the moon by 2020. The flights
would cost $1.5 billion each. The company plans to use existing rocket
boosters, but has not chosen a specific vehicle. The module for landing
on the moon and the spacesuits that would be worn by the astronauts have
yet to be designed.
State Insurance Commissioners Fight Back
Econintersect:
The FSB (Financial Stability Board), a global commission charged with
determining financial system weaknesses that should be addressed to
prevent another global financial crisis, issued a report earlier this
week which was very critical of the decentralized nature of the U.S.
insurance regulatory regime. (See GEI News 29 August 2013.) The NAIC
(National Association of Insurance Commissioners) has responded,
vigorously, with statements from the Connecticut insurance commissioner.
Housing Market Volatility
Written by John O'Donnell, Online Trading Academy
The Chart of the Week for 29 August 2013
looks at a divergence that has developed in the data for the U.S.
housing market. The data indicates some new volatility may be entering
housing and what has appeared to be a well-behaved housing recovery may
be running into trouble.
[Click through Read more >> to view video.]
U.S. Authorities 'Like' Facebook's User Data
by Felix Richter, Statista.com
According to Facebook's first
transparency report, the United States government is the most hungry for
social network's user data. In the first half of 2013, Facebook
received between 11,000 and 12,000 user data requests from U.S.
authorities.
In a bid to rebuild some of the consumer trust that was lost in the wake
of the NSA revelations, more and more U.S. technology companies choose
to publish transparency reports, in which they reveal how often they
have been approached by government officials.
