Was sind das eigentlich – SIV’s?

Anlässlich der intelligenten Anlage des Cash-Bestandes der Republik Österreich in Toxic Papers (Finanzminister Pröll: „Aber alle hatten beste Ratings!“) sind wieder ein paar Spezialbegriffe aufgetaucht:

SIV, SPV, CDO, CDS, ABS. Anbei eine kurze Beschreibung (aus Wikipedia):

SIVs

Why Europe will suffer more

Ein ausgezeichneter Policy brief von Daniel Gros, dem Direktor von CEPS, dem Centre for European Policy Studies.

Europeans have a tendency to call the financial crisis a US problem, or a crisis precipitated by the ‘Anglo-Saxon’ model. The data suggest otherwise. Moreover, the corporate sector in Europe has a much lower capacity to finance investment from internal sources of funds, which implies that a recovery of investment in Europe will be much more difficult than in the US, as long as the banking sector remains weakened by excessive levels of leverage. The cost of the crisis could thus be much larger in Europe than in the US.

Why Europe will suffer more Gros CEPS

IMF imposes new conditions on Latvia

Edward Hugh | Jul 16, 2009

The International Monetary Fund has put forward new, difficult conditions for Latvia to receive further loans, the prime minister said on Wednesday in a further sign the Fund is being tougher than the European Commission.

A Poster Child for Financial Insanity

aus der heutigen NYT, vom grossartigen Bill Black.

William K. Black, associate professor of economics and law at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, is a former financial regulator. His book, “The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One,” focuses on the role of “control fraud” in financial crises.

It’s difficult to decide which is more insane: the efforts of the Bush and Obama administrations to recreate the failed financial markets, e.g., collateralized debt obligations that produced the worst global financial crisis in three generations, or continuing to make obscenely wealthy the financial idiot-savants that caused the crisis.

Returning to High-Risk Strategies

aus der heutigen NYT:

Mark Thoma is an economics professor at the University of Oregon and blogs at Economist’s View.

What does the size of Goldman’s compensation pool tell us? It gives some indication that the financial sector is improving, and that is good news. There’s no guarantee, however, that the recovery of the overall economy will follow anytime soon. Even with improvements in the financial sector, the recovery of the broader economy is likely to be a slow process.

Bair and Bernanke Back Size Disincentives For Banks

Yves Smith | Jul 15, 2009

In an about-face, the Administration seems to be getting serious about trying to Do Something about the too-big-to-fail syndrome.

Goldman’s Back, and Why We Should Be Worried

Robert Reich | Jul 15, 2009

Should we breath a sigh of relief that Goldman Sachs has posted record earnings as revenue from trading and stock underwriting reached all-time highs (second quarter net income was $3.44 billion) — less than a year after the firm took $10 billion directly from taxpayers and $13 billion indirectly through AIG?

Mounting Job Losses Will Hurt Consumption, Housing, Banks’ Balance Sheets, Public Finances and Lead to Protectionist Pressures

Nouriel Roubini | Jul 14, 2009

Recent data suggest that job market conditions are not improving in the United States and other advanced economies. In the U.S., the unemployment rate, currently at 9.5%, is poised to rise above 10% by the fall. It should peak at 11% some time in 2010 and remain well above 10% for a long time. The unemployment rate will peak above 10% in most other advanced economies (especially Europe and Japan), too, where social safety nets are broader and thus leading to less short term job losses and pain, but where the effects of the crisis on growth have been even more severe than the U.S.

Polish Economic Outlook: Heading for Negative Growth, but Healthier than Regional Peers

• Poland’s economy will likely continue to deteriorate in coming quarters due to global market turmoil, tighter lending conditions, and stagnation in the euro zone, destination of the bulk of Polish exports. Nevertheless, Poland is healthier than others in the region and seems less vulnerable to crisis, thanks to its relatively smaller macroeconomic imbalances and lower dependence on exports.

• Poland was one of the few EU countries to post positive real growth in Q1 2009 of 0.8% y/y, down from the 2.9% real GDP growth posted in Q4 2008. The IMF projects a mild recession in 2009 and a slow recovery in 2010, but the potential for knock-on effects from others in the region poses a significant downside risk.

Wer einmal trickst, dem glaubt man nicht

Leitartikel aus der heutigen FTD:

Mit der Verschleierung des tatsächlichen Kreditvolumens haben sich die Banken keinen Gefallen getan. Nun kann sich die Politik noch leichter auf die Finanzbranche zeigen und sich selbst aus der Verantwortung stehlen. 

Wann immer es zuletzt um die Frage ging, ob es in Deutschland eine Kreditklemme gibt oder nicht, hatten die Banken eine Antwort parat: Sie verwiesen auf ihre Statistiken. Denen zufolge ist das Kreditvolumen im ersten Quartal kräftig gewachsen – trotz der schärfsten Rezession seit Jahrzehnten. Die Zahlen an sich sind zwar korrekt. Aber weil sie zum Beispiel auch die Darlehen mit einrechnen, die an Investmentfonds und Versicherungen gehen, verschleiern sie, dass weniger Geld als zuvor tatsächlich in der Realwirtschaft ankommt.