Click for the article on the Baseline Scenario Posted: 24 May 2012 05:13 AM PDT By Simon Johnson There are two diametrically opposed views of how the largest financial companies in our economy operate. On the one hand, there are those like Charles Ferguson, director of the Academy Award-winning documentary …
The Koch Brothers, The Cato Institute, And Why Nations Fail
The Baseline Scenario The Koch Brothers, The Cato Institute, And Why Nations Fail Posted: 08 Mar 2012 02:36 AM PST By Simon Johnson A dispute has broken out between the Cato Institute, a leading libertarian think tank, and two of its longtime backers ? David and Charles Koch. The institute …
The Banking Emperor Has No Clothes
An article from The Baseline Scenario The Banking Emperor Has No Clothes Posted: 09 Jun 2011 03:10 AM PDT By Simon Johnson In a major speech earlier this week to an American Bankers Association conference, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner laid out his view of what went wrong in the financial …
Nominate Elizabeth Warren – Provide The Pecora Hearings We Need
An article from The Baseline Scenario Nominate Elizabeth Warren – Provide The Pecora Hearings We Need Posted: 04 May 2011 08:29 AM PDT By Simon Johnson Ms. Warren is helping get the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) off the ground and remains the leading contender to become its formal …
Is S&P’s Deficit Warning On Target?
An article from The Baseline Scenario Posted: 21 Apr 2011 05:26 AM PDT By Simon Johnson On Monday Standard & Poor’s announced that its credit rating for the United States was “affirmed” at AAA (the highest level possible), but that it was revising the outlook for this rating to “negative” …
Could Goldman Sachs Fail?
An article from The Baseline Scenario Could Goldman Sachs Fail? Posted: 14 Apr 2011 04:11 AM PDT By Simon Johnson. This link to MIT Sloan’s website provides a partial transcript and video covering the points made below. If Goldman Sachs were to hit a hypothetical financial rock, would they be …
The Vickers Commission Report On Banking
An article from The Baseline Scenario The Vickers Commission Report On Banking Posted: 11 Apr 2011 07:14 AM PDT By Simon Johnson Will the Vickers Commission report on UK banking – with a preliminary report released today – have a major positive impact? Not likely in our assessment – see …
A Healthy Financial System Cannot Be Built On The Expectation Of Bailouts
A publication from Baseline Scenario A Healthy Financial System Cannot Be Built On The Expectation Of Bailouts Posted: 05 Mar 2011 06:43 AM PST By Simon Johnson. Testimony submitted to the Congressional Oversight Panel, ?Hearing on the TARP?s Impact on Financial Stability,? Friday, March 4, 2011. I. Summary 1) The …
Does The U.S. Really Have A Fiscal Crisis?
A publication from Baseline Scenario Does The U.S. Really Have A Fiscal Crisis? Posted: 24 Feb 2011 05:09 AM PST By Simon Johnson The United States faces some serious medium-term fiscal issues, but by any standard measure it does not face an immediate fiscal crisis. Overindebted countries typically have a …
Misleading “Research” From The Chamber Of Commerce
Article from The Baseline Scenario Posted: 14 Feb 2011 10:49 AM PST By Simon Johnson On behalf of key financial sector players, Keybridge Research has just published a report that claims the Dodd-Frank reforms for over the counter derivatives market “could cost 130,000? jobs. My MIT colleague, John Parsons, deftly …