#Links
Financial literacy: Getting it right on the money
“Everybody wants it. Nobody understands it. Money is the great taboo. People just won’t talk about it. And that is what leads you to subprime. Take the greed and the financial misrepresentation out of it, and the root of this crisis is massive levels of financial illiteracy.”
Greenspan to his critics: I don’t regret a single decision as Fed chairman
For much of his 18 years atop the world’s most-influential economic institution, Mr. Greenspan was lionized for the economy’s performance. Now, he notes, he’s being second-guessed for it.
“I was praised for things I didn’t do,” Mr. Greenspan said during one of three interviews at his sun-drenched office in downtown Washington, D.C. “I am now being blamed for things that I didn’t do.”
Time to address counterparty risk
The near-collapse of Bear Stearns last month threatened catastrophe for the $45,000bn credit derivatives market as the reality of counterparty risk loomed large for the bank’s trading partners.
A Global House of Cards: Interview with Josh Rosner
Rosner: There is a lack of appreciation or maybe a lack of understanding between these two issues, mark to market losses and actual credit losses, and we need to distinguish between these two issues. I continue to believe that we are going to see further downward pressure on home prices — regardless of what the Congress believes or intends or manipulates. Unless we actually nationalize the housing industry, there is not much we can do to avoid the downward correction in home values.
Correlation remains high
Credit spreads have tightened sharply in recent days as fears of a financial meltdown have eased, but correlation — a gauge of systemic fear — remains high with parts of the credit market still in disarray.
Analysts’ earnings estimates: biggest miss ever
Jim Simons’s $18 billion Renaissance Institutional Equities Fund: biggest drop ever