Bitcoin and Blockchain Explained
Microsoft recently became the latest big name to officially associate with Bitcoin, the decentralized virtual currency. However, the Redmond company did not go all out, and will only support bitcoin payments on certain content platforms, making up a tiny fraction…
At Brookings, Kashkari Shocks With Call To Break Up Banks, But Is It That Radical?
Free market Republican and former Goldman Sachs executive Neel Kashkari stunned the financial world in his first speech as Minneapolis Fed governor by calling for the breakup of the systemically significant banks. Kashkari, who worked under former Treasury Secretary Hank…
New Minneapolis Fed president says ‘too big to fail’ still a major problem in banking
MINNEAPOLIS — Neel Kashkari opened his tenure as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis on Tuesday by launching a new initiative aimed at solving the risks to the economy posed by “too big to fail” banks, a subject…
Abenomics: Japan’s economic policies under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
Tokyo (dpa) – In December 2012, Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party won an overwhelming victory in parliamentary elections in large part because he pledged to revive the Japanese economy. Abe advocated stimulus initiatives and called for “unlimited” measures by the…
The latest reasons we’re saying so long to super-cheap gas
The brakes are on, slowing the downhill ride of gas prices we have been enjoying the past several months. Unfortunately, the dropping cost of wholesale gasoline, also know as RBOB, prompted production cuts at oil refineries. “A few refineries have…
Iran remains off limits to US banks
NEW YORK (AFP) – Iran remains essentially off limits to US banks, despite the lifting of some US sanctions following last year’s Iranian nuclear deal. The Obama administration in mid-January eased several restrictions on doing business with Iran, including former…
In Mexico, Even The Pope Stirs Little Hope
MEXICO CITY — Inside her home of crumbling cement blocks and rusted tin, Amelia de la Hoz works through a bowl of homemade dough, using her petite, wrinkled hands to turn the corn flour and water into a stack of…
Corruption is Stalling Ukraine’s Optimistic Revolution
Last December, anonymous billboards appeared in Kiev with the message “Run, Rabbit, Run”, to tell the youthful but bald Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk, who some say resembles a rabbit, that his time was up. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden was…
Global stock swings not caused by China factors: analysts
People are reflected in a display showing market indices outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan, February 10, 2016. Asian stocks fell on Wednesday on growing concerns about the health of the world’s banks, particularly in Europe, pushing investors into safer…
Calling on the IMF for help
Two reasons may push a developing country to call on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for help. One is a governmental choice to get technical benefits from the extensive experience of the IMF. The other is done out of the…