The Bull Market in Everything

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

The Bull Market in Everything Gun laws after Las Vegas Stand-off in Catalonia Goldman: vampire squid to damp squib Are women underpaid? OCTOBER 7TH–13TH 2017 Thebullmarket in everything Are asset prices too high? Going beyond reality. That’s innovation. Anticipating the future. Challenging the status quo. And always thinking one step ahead. At CaixaBank we have been thinking this way for over a hundred years. Continuously seeking to improve on reality. Providing our customers today with what they will need tomorrow. As a result we are recognised as one of the most innovative banks in the world. Contents The Economist October 7th 2017 5 9 The world this week Asia 41 Indonesian politics Leaders Jokowi at bay 13 Asset prices 42 Japan’s election The bull market in Mannequins cast no everything ballots 14 Guns in America 43 Radio in North Korea Deathly silence Making waves 14 Liberia 43 Economic policy in India The legacy of Ma Ellen Fifth columnists Las Vegas Do not despair, 16 Families and work 44 Immigration to Australia change is possible: leader, Having it all Almost one in three page14. The shooting has 18 Separatism in Catalonia 46 Banyan Homage to Formosa reinvigorated calls for gun On the cover How to save Spain control and highlighted its Prices are high across a limitations, page 27. range of assets. Is it time to Letters China Superstition helps explain worry? Leader, page13. Low why many Republicans think 20 On cancer, Syria, China, 47 Ageing in Hong Kong interest rates have made loose gun laws keep them safe: Brazil, corn, spies, free Wrangling over pensions more or less all investments Lexington, page 36 speech 48 Chiang Kai-shek expensive, page 23. Reassuring the late Crypto-coin mania dictator illustrates the crazy and Briefing not-so-crazy sides of 23 Asset prices bubbles: Free exchange, The bubble without Special report: Emerging page 78. After a rocky few any fizz markets years, emerging markets Out of the traps have become more mature After page 48 and resilient, says Simon United States Cox. But along with the 27 Guns drama, some of their What happened in Vegas Middle East and Africa dynamism has gone. See our 28 Mainland Puerto Ricans 49 Liberia’s election special report, after page 48 Nuyorican souls Into a vague future 50 Ethnic tension in Ethiopia Britain’s Conservatives 30 Hurricane Maria The party has lost faith in its A real catastrophe Unity v diversity The Economist online leader but not yet found an 32 Diplomacy 50 Chinese aid in Africa alternative, page 58. One of Daily analysis and opinion to Tillerson’s torment No place like home the great puzzles of politics is supplement the print edition, plus 34 Gerrymandering 51 Palestinian politics how Boris Johnson keeps his audio and video, and a daily chart Hamas extends a hand Economist.com Choosing voters job, page 59. The Tories need 52 Lebanon’s railway to promote the next E-mail: newsletters and 36 Lexington Magical thinking Back on track? generation of leaders—and mobile edition fast: Bagehot, page 60 Economist.com/email 52 Jalal Talabani A lamented Kurd Print edition: available online by The Americas 7pm London time each Thursday 37 Crime in Brazil Economist.com/print Rio’s post-Olympic blues Europe Audio edition: available online 38 Bello 53 Spain to download each Friday Deciphering Trump Outrage in Catalonia Economist.com/audioedition 40 Canada 54 Ukraine and Russia Meet Jagmeet Singh Back to the table 40 Tropical ice 55 The EU’s Eastern Death of a glacier Partnership Disappointed suitors Volume 425 Number 9061 55 German theatre Who owns the stage? Careering towards crisis Published since September1843 56 Poland Catalonia is on the brink of to take part in "a severe contest between intelligence, which presses forward, and Saving the trees declaring independence, but an unworthy, timid ignorance obstructing it is not too late to step back our progress." 57 Charlemagne The EU and Japan from calamity: leader, page 18. Editorial offices in London and also: The government mishandles Beijing, Berlin, Brussels, Cairo, Chicago, Madrid, Mexico City, Moscow, Mumbai, Nairobi, New Delhi, Catalan defiance, page 53 New York, Paris, San Francisco, São Paulo, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo, Washington DC 1 Contents continues overleaf 6 Contents The Economist October 7th 2017 Britain Science and technology 58 The Conservatives 81 The 2017 Nobel prizes Spluttering Jet lagged in Stockholm 59 Monarch’s collapse 82 The virtue of uprightness Crash-landing Atten-shun! 59 The cabinet 83 Scientific productivity All about Boris Open borders, better 60 Bagehot science The new Tory torchbearers 83 Animal behaviour J’y suis. J’y reste Women and work The gender Nobel prizes This year’s International 84 Meteorology gap that still needs to be Brimstone and fire science awards are for body closed: leader, page16. 61 Men, women and work clocks, gravitational waves Women still earn a lot less The gender gap and a cool way to study protein than men, despite decades of 62 Sharing chores at home Books and arts structure, page 81 equal-pay laws. Why? Page 61. Divided perceptions 85 Ulysses S. Grant Pensions have a gender gap, History has its eyes on him too, page 75 Subscription service Business 86 Victorian Britain A hard-won century For our latest subscription offers, visit 65 Tech’s toughest job Economist.com/offers From Uber to kinder 86 Peak Britannia For subscription service, please contact by Beneath the surface telephone, fax, web or mail at the details 66 Tax avoidance provided below: Raining on Amazon 87 Hong Kong North America The resistance The Economist Subscription Center 67 Fixing Ford P.O. Box 46978, St. Louis, MO 63146-6978 Waiting for parts 87 Architecture Telephone: +1 800 456 6086 Crooked timber Facsimile: +1 866 856 8075 67 Internet infrastructure E-mail: [email protected] Pipe dreams 88 Johnson Latin America & Mexico Give evolution time The Economist Subscription Center 68 Indian telecoms P.O. Box 46979, St. Louis, MO 63146-6979 Jioseismic Telephone: +1 636 449 5702 Facsimile: +1 636 449 5703 69 Pernod Ricard and 92 Economic and financial E-mail: [email protected] Uber The new chief executive Danone indicators Subscription for 1 year (51 issues) is off to a strong start but he Be a sinner, be a saint Statistics on 42 United States US $158.25 (plus tax) economies, plus our still has miles to go, page 65 70 Schumpeter Canada CA $158.25 (plus tax) monthly poll of forecasters Latin America US $289 (plus tax) Goldman Sags Obituary Finance and economics Principal commercial offices: 94 Hugh Hefner The Adelphi Building, 1-11John Adam Street, 73 Pensions in America London WC2N 6HT Living the dream The big squeeze Tel: +44 (0) 20 7830 7000 74 Buttonwood Rue de l’Athénée 32 1206 Geneva, Switzerland The trouble with mergers Tel: +4122 566 2470 75 Women’s pensions 750 3rd Avenue, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10017 The gender gap Tel: +1212 5410500 76 American shipping 1301Cityplaza Four, 12 Taikoo Wan Road, Taikoo Shing, Hong Kong The Jones Act Tel: +852 2585 3888 Goldman Sachs Unusually, the 76 Food and taxation Other commercial offices: famous investment bank has Fat is a fiscal-policy issue Chicago, Dubai, Frankfurt, Los Angeles, more of a business problem 77 Tax havens Paris, San Francisco and Singapore than an image problem: Buried treasure Schumpeter, page 70 77 Chinese acquisitions Freezers to finance PEFC certified This copy of The Economist 78 Free exchange is printed on paper sourced from sustainably managed Manias, panics and ICOs forests certified to PEFC PEFC/29-31-58 www.pefc.org © 2017 The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. Neither this publication nor any part of it may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of The Economist Newspaper Limited. The Economist (ISSN 0013-0613) is published every week, except for a year-end double issue, by The Economist Newspaper Limited, 750 3rd Avenue, 5th Floor, New York, N Y 10017. The Economist is a registered trademark of The Economist Newspaper Limited. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to The Economist, P.O. Box 46978, St. Louis , MO. 63146-6978, USA. Canada Post publications mail (Canadian distribution) sales agreement no. 40012331. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to The Economist, PO Box 7258 STN A, Toronto, ON M5W 1X9. GST R123236267. Printed by Quad/Graphics, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 TRAVEL WITH EASE! MOBILE APP & E-SERVICES Air France accompanies you every step of your journey. Thanks to the Air France Mobile app, you can receive information about your boarding gate as well as luggage* upon your arrival. Get answers to all your questions via social media** 7 days a week. * Notification of luggage carousel available in Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Paris-Orly, Amsterdam, Marseille, Nice, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lyon, Montpellier and Strasbourg. **24 /7 in French and English. 7 days a week in Japanese, Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, German and Italian. DON’T LOOK NOW, BUT THE FUTURE YOU PLANNED FOR JUST BECAME THE PAST. GROWTH IS LIVE. Work, grow, and evolve as one. SAP’s suite of affordable, easy-to-use solutions helps small and midsize companies automate and integrate business processes – live and in the moment. So all your functions and departments can grow together. Without falling behind. sap.com/growth )'(. J8G J< fi Xe8cc J8G i`^_kj X]Ôc`Xk\ i\j\im\[% ZfdgXep% The world this week The Economist October 7th 2017 9 can diplomats and their fam- Regulators gave TEPCO, a Three American special-forces Politics ilies that seem to have caused Japanese power company, troops were killed and two tinnitus and other afflictions.
Recommended publications
  • Dormant Potential: Strategies for Advancing Human Development In
    Dormant potential Strategies for advancing human development in Namibia Zachary Donnenfeld and Courtney Crookes Since gaining independence in 1990, Namibia has sustained rapid economic growth at an average of 4.5% a year, well above the average experienced by other upper-middle-income countries in Africa (2.8%) and nearly a percentage point higher than the continental average (3.7%). However, this economic growth has not been accompanied by proportional increases in service delivery. Namibia ranks at or near the bottom of its upper-middle-income peer group on a number of dimensions of human well-being, such as undernutrition, access to improved sanitation and average number of years of education. This report explores options for improving human development outcomes in Namibia to 2040 using the International Futures (IFs) forecasting system. SOUTHERN AFRICA REPORT 11 | SEPTEMBER 2017 After a bloody and protracted liberation struggle – and with significant Recommendations influence from the international community – Namibia declared its Invest in health extension independence on 21 March 1990.1 Since then the country has averaged programmes that address gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 4.5% a year, largely on the back communicable and non- of its extractive industries and budding tourism economy. The country’s communicable diseases. economy has grown about a percentage point faster than the average African country over the last 25 years and, despite a substantial downtick Improve the flow of students in 2016 (when its estimated yearly growth was 1.6%), the International through the education pipeline. Monetary Fund (IMF) expects Namibia’s growth to average roughly 4.5% Increase access to family from 2017 to 2021.2 planning.
    [Show full text]
  • Whose History and by Whom: an Analysis of the History of Taiwan In
    WHOSE HISTORY AND BY WHOM: AN ANALYSIS OF THE HISTORY OF TAIWAN IN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE PUBLISHED IN THE POSTWAR ERA by LIN-MIAO LU (Under the Direction of Joel Taxel) ABSTRACT Guided by the tenet of sociology of school knowledge, this study examines 38 Taiwanese children’s trade books that share an overarching theme of the history of Taiwan published after World War II to uncover whether the seemingly innocent texts for children convey particular messages, perspectives, and ideologies selected, preserved, and perpetuated by particular groups of people at specific historical time periods. By adopting the concept of selective tradition and theories of ideology and hegemony along with the analytic strategies of constant comparative analysis and iconography, the written texts and visual images of the children’s literature are relationally analyzed to determine what aspects of the history and whose ideologies and perspectives were selected (or neglected) and distributed in the literary format. Central to this analysis is the investigation and analysis of the interrelations between literary content and the issue of power. Closely related to the discussion of ideological peculiarities, historians’ research on the development of Taiwanese historiography also is considered in order to examine and analyze whether the literary products fall into two paradigms: the Chinese-centric paradigm (Chinese-centricism) and the Taiwanese-centric paradigm (Taiwanese-centricism). Analysis suggests a power-and-knowledge nexus that reflects contemporary ruling groups’ control in the domain of children’s narratives in which subordinate groups’ perspectives are minimalized, whereas powerful groups’ assumptions and beliefs prevail and are perpetuated as legitimized knowledge in society.
    [Show full text]
  • Victorious Century: the United Kingdom 1800-1906 by David Cannadine Published in 2017
    Welcome to our March book, Historians! Our next meeting is Tuesday, March 3 at 6:30. That is Super Tuesday so if you are planning to vote in the primaries, just remember to vote early. We will discuss Victorious Century: The United Kingdom 1800-1906 by David Cannadine published in 2017. Sir David Cannadine is the Dodge Professor of History at Princeton and this book is, in many ways, the overview of 19th c. British history that history students no longer seem to study in today’s hyper-specialized world. And it is an important history as nostalgia for this period is part of what drove some segments of the British population to embrace Brexit. Britain in the 19th century could celebrate military victories and naval superiority. This was the era of great statesmen such as Peel, Disraeli and Gladstone and the era of great political reform and potential revolution. This was the period of great technological and material progress as celebrated by The Great Exhibition of 1851. The sun never set on the British Empire as British Imperialism spread to every continent and Queen Victoria ruled over one in every five people in the world. But most people in Britain were still desperately poor. The Irish were starving. And colonial wars took money and men to manage. Dickens would write “It was the best of times and the worst of times” to describe the French Revolution. But the same could be said of 19th c. Britain. Cannadine begins his history with the 1800 Act of Union which created the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
    [Show full text]
  • Ch038: the Physics of Shock Wave Lithotripsy
    315-366_Smith_Ch38-41_Prt4 6/29/06 6:09 PM Page 317 38 The Physics of Shock Wave Lithotripsy Robin O. Cleveland, PhD James A. McAteer, PhD Shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) was introduced in • Characteristics of a lithotriptor shock wave pressure around –10 MPa. The amplitude of the the 1980s for the treatment of urinary stones and • The acoustics of SWL negative pressure is always much less than the earned near-instantaneous acceptance as a first- • Acoustics primer peak positive pressure, and the negative phase of line treatment option.1 Since then SWL has revo- • Acoustic cavitation the waveform generally does not have a shock in lutionized treatment in nephrolithiasis world- • The physics of clinical lithotriptors it—that is, there is no abrupt transition. The wide, and in the United States, it has been • Shock generation and shock focusing entire 5 µs pulse is generally referred to as a estimated that approximately 70% of kidney • Coupling the shock wave to the body shock wave, shock pulse or pressure pulse—tech- stones are treated using SWL.2 Over the years, • The focal zone of high acoustic pressure nically, however, it is only the sharp leading tran- lithotripsy has undergone several waves of tech- • Mechanisms of shock wave action sition that is formally a shock. nological advancement, but with little change in • How shock wave break stones Figure 38-1B shows the amplitude spectrum the fundamentals of shock wave generation and • Mechanisms of tissue damage of the shock pulse (that is, it displays the different delivery. That is, lithotriptors have changed in • The evolution of the lithotriptor frequency components in the pulse).
    [Show full text]
  • 30 Rock and Philosophy: We Want to Go to There (The Blackwell
    ftoc.indd viii 6/5/10 10:15:56 AM 30 ROCK AND PHILOSOPHY ffirs.indd i 6/5/10 10:15:35 AM The Blackwell Philosophy and Pop Culture Series Series Editor: William Irwin South Park and Philosophy X-Men and Philosophy Edited by Robert Arp Edited by Rebecca Housel and J. Jeremy Wisnewski Metallica and Philosophy Edited by William Irwin Terminator and Philosophy Edited by Richard Brown and Family Guy and Philosophy Kevin Decker Edited by J. Jeremy Wisnewski Heroes and Philosophy The Daily Show and Philosophy Edited by David Kyle Johnson Edited by Jason Holt Twilight and Philosophy Lost and Philosophy Edited by Rebecca Housel and Edited by Sharon Kaye J. Jeremy Wisnewski 24 and Philosophy Final Fantasy and Philosophy Edited by Richard Davis, Jennifer Edited by Jason P. Blahuta and Hart Weed, and Ronald Weed Michel S. Beaulieu Battlestar Galactica and Iron Man and Philosophy Philosophy Edited by Mark D. White Edited by Jason T. Eberl Alice in Wonderland and The Offi ce and Philosophy Philosophy Edited by J. Jeremy Wisnewski Edited by Richard Brian Davis Batman and Philosophy True Blood and Philosophy Edited by Mark D. White and Edited by George Dunn and Robert Arp Rebecca Housel House and Philosophy Mad Men and Philosophy Edited by Henry Jacoby Edited by Rod Carveth and Watchman and Philosophy James South Edited by Mark D. White ffirs.indd ii 6/5/10 10:15:36 AM 30 ROCK AND PHILOSOPHY WE WANT TO GO TO THERE Edited by J. Jeremy Wisnewski John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ffirs.indd iii 6/5/10 10:15:36 AM To pages everywhere .
    [Show full text]
  • Murmurs of a Girl in Me
    Breaking the Silence Murmurs of the Girl in Me POWA VISION To create a safe society that does not tolerate violence against women, and where women are powerful, self-reliant, equal and respected. POWA MISSION To be a powerful, specialised and multi-skilled service provider that contributes towards the complete eradication of violence against women in society, in order to enhance women’s quality of life. POWA provides counselling, legal advice, court support and shelter to women survivors of domestic and sexual violence. POWA also engages in research, training, lobbying and advocacy. Contact POWA on: 011 642 4345 or visit our website: www.powa.co.za POWA Women’s Writing Competition 2007 Breaking the Silence Murmurs of the Girl in Me The CDP Trust Naledi Yamiso Arts and Culture Counsellor Training Project was born out of the CDP’s Tsogang Basadi Arts and Culture/Psychosocial Support Project for Women Survivors of Domestic Violence (2006-2008). The enormous impact of the interface between the creative arts processes and psychosocial support model on women’s lives, and the personal power fostered by the artworks and artifacts produced, led directly to the following: • An appreciation of the added value the CDP Trust model and methodology would bring to our sister organisations through the training of their counsellors. • An interactive training for transference model, based on our experience and activities in other projects that support the power of the visual narrative; making ‘the invisible visible’. • Equipping the counsellors with the knowledge required to advise on options and procedures for income- generating initiatives, opening up spaces and potential for economic liberation.
    [Show full text]
  • MASARYK UNIVERSITY Portrayal of African Americans in the Media
    MASARYK UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF EDUCATION Department of English Language and Literature Portrayal of African Americans in the Media Master‟s Diploma Thesis Brno 2014 Supervisor: Author: Mgr. Zdeněk Janík, M.A., Ph.D. Bc. Lucie Pernicová Declaration I hereby declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography. ........................................................ Bc. Lucie Pernicová Acknowledgement I would like to thank my supervisor Mgr. Zdeněk Janík, M.A., Ph.D. for the patient guidance and valuable advice he provided me with during the writing of this thesis. Table of Contents 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................... 5 2. Portrayal of African Americans in Films and on Television ..................................... 8 2.1. Stereotypical Images and Their Power .............................................................. 8 2.2. Basic Stereotypical Images of African Americans ............................................ 9 2.3. Stereotypical Film Portrayals of African Americans and the Arrival of the Talking Era .................................................................................................................. 12 2.4. Television Portrayals of African Americans .................................................... 14 2.4.1. The Increasing Importance of African American Viewers ....................... 17 2.4.2. Contemporary Images of African Americans ..........................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Chinese People's Liberation Army at 75
    THE LESSONS OF HISTORY: THE CHINESE PEOPLE’S LIBERATION ARMY AT 75 Edited by Laurie Burkitt Andrew Scobell Larry M. Wortzel July 2003 ***** The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government. This report is cleared for public release; distribution is unlimited. ***** Comments pertaining to this report are invited and should be forwarded to: Director, Strategic Studies Institute, U.S. Army War College, 122 Forbes Ave., Carlisle, PA 17013-5244. Copies of this report may be obtained from the Publications Office by calling (717) 245-4133, FAX (717) 245-3820, or via the Internet at [email protected] ***** Most 1993, 1994, and all later Strategic Studies Institute (SSI) monographs are available on the SSI Homepage for electronic dissemination. SSI’s Homepage address is: http:// www.carlisle.army.mil/ssi/index.html ***** The Strategic Studies Institute publishes a monthly e-mail news- letter to update the national security community on the research of our analysts, recent and forthcoming publications, and upcoming conferences sponsored by the Institute. Each newsletter also pro- vides a strategic commentary by one of our research analysts. If you are interested in receiving this newsletter, please let us know by e-mail at [email protected] or by calling (717) 245-3133. ISBN 1-58487-126-1 ii CONTENTS Foreword Ambassador James R. Lilley . v Part I: Overview. 1 1. Introduction: The Lesson Learned by China’s Soldiers Laurie Burkitt, Andrew Scobell, and Larry M.
    [Show full text]
  • Breaking Bold Habit 1-Perception
    Chapter 4 Habit 1: Perception Lemon, you look terrible, and I once watched you eat oysters while you had a cold. Jack Donaghy, season 5, episode 19 Who hasn’t made mistakes? I once French-kissed a dog at a party to try to impress what turned out to be a very tall twelve-year-old. Liz Lemon, season 5, episode 10 A book hasn’t caused me this much trouble since Where’s Waldo went to that barber pole factory. Tracy Jordan, season 4, episode 2 f you don’t recognize these quotes or character names from 30 Rock, forgive me, but I must ask: What on earth were you doing from 2006 to 2013? This brilliant sitcom was the Ibrainchild of Tina Fey. Inspired by her years as the head writer of Saturday Night Live, 30 Rock centers around the trials and trib- ulations of the hapless Liz Lemon (played by the multitalented Tina Fey herself). Liz is the head writer and showrunner of TGS, 71 6933_Book.indb 71 4/15/20 8:59 AM 72 BREAKING BOLD a sketch comedy series on NBC, which takes place in the studios of 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. In the first episode, we learn that Liz has a new boss, Jack Donaghy (Alec Baldwin, in the role he was born to play), head of both NBC television programming and, yes, microwaves. (NBC was then part of the General Electric family; television and micro- waves being an absurd combination.) Where Liz is the type who could walk around all day with mustard on her shirt and neither notice nor care, Jack is the type who wears tuxedos after 6 p.m.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 Paper 5: British Political History 1688-1886 List of Topics And
    1 Paper 5: British Political History 1688-1886 List of Topics and Bibliographies 2019-20 Efforts have been made to ensure that a large number of items are available electronically, but some items are not available in digital formats. Items marked with a † are only available in hardcopy from libraries. Where items are marked with a ‡ it means that extracts from that book are available on Moodle. Chronological topics 1. The impact of the1688 Revolution and the emergence of the Hanoverian settlement, 1688-1721 2. The Whig oligarchy and its opponents, 1721-60 3. George III and the politics of crisis, 1760-84 4. The younger Pitt, Fox, and the revolutionary era, 1784-1806 5. Lord Liverpool and Liberal Toryism 1807-27 6. The collapse of the ancien régime, 1827-35 7. The rise and fall of party in the age of Peel, 1834-50 8. Palmerston and mid-Victorian stability, 1848-67 9. Government and policy in the age of Gladstone and Disraeli, 1867-86 10. The parties and the people 1867-90 Thematic topics 11. The constitution: the roles of monarchy and parliament 12. The process of parliamentary reform, 1815-1886 13. Patriotism and national identity 14. Political communication and the development of a ‘public sphere’ in the eighteenth century 15. The powers of the state 16. Extra-parliamentary politics and political debate in the long eighteenth century 17. Chartism, class and the radical tradition, mainly after 1815 18. Gender and politics 19. Religion and politics 20. Scotland and Britain in the eighteenth century 21. Ireland, 1689-1885 22.
    [Show full text]
  • The Origins of the Financial Crisis
    FIXING FINANCE SERIES – PAPER 3 | NOVEMBER 2008 The Origins of the Financial Crisis Martin Neil Baily, Robert E. Litan, and Matthew S. Johnson The Initiative on Business and Public Policy provides analytical research and constructive recommendations on public policy issues affecting the business sector in the United States and around the world. The Origins of the Financial Crisis Martin Neil Baily, Robert E. Litan, and Matthew S. Johnson The Initiative on Business and Public Policy provides analytical research and constructive recommendations on public policy issues affecting the business sector in the United States and around the world. TH E O R IGI ns O F T H E F I N A N CIA L Cr I S I S CONTENTS Summary 7 Introduction 10 Housing Demand and the Perception of Low Risk in Housing Investment 11 The Shifting Composition of Mortgage Lending and the Erosion of Lending Standards 1 Economic Incentives in the Housing and Mortgage Origination Markets 20 Securitization and the Funding of the Housing Boom 22 More Securitization and More Leverage—CDOs, SIVs, and Short-Term Borrowing 27 Credit Insurance and Tremendous Growth in Credit Default Swaps 32 The Credit Rating Agencies 3 Federal Reserve Policy, Foreign Borrowing and the Search for Yield 36 Regulation and Supervision 0 The Failure of Company Risk Management Practices 2 The Impact of Mark to Market 3 Lessons from Studying the Origins of the Crisis References 6 About the Authors 7 NOVEMBER 2008 TH E O R IGI ns O F T H E F I N A N CIA L Cr I S I S SUMMARY he financial crisis that has been wreaking ing securities backed by those packages to inves- havoc in markets in the U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • The Boy in the Bubble Transcript
    The Boy in the Bubble Transcript The Boy in the Bubble From "Seinfeld": A bubble boy? | Yes, a bubble boy! |What's a bubble boy? | He lives in a bubble! Narrator: For decades, his story has echoed through the popular culture. From "Bubble Boy": Why are you in that bubble, boy? | I was born without any immunities. Narrator: His real name was David Phillip Vetter, but the public knew him only as "David, the boy in the bubble." David and mother, archival: Would you clean your ears? Narrator: Born without a working immune system, he lived his entire life isolated in a sterile plastic chamber. News report, archival: There's a very special little boy in there -- one who's waiting to leave the hospital for good and go outside. Narrator: To many, David's case seemed a triumph of technology over an incurable disease. To others, it was a bizarre experiment -- a symbol of medical hubris. Bruce Jennings, Medical Ethicist: It is amazing that we can do this. But perhaps we are overstepping the bounds of our knowledge when we try to conduct experiments that are so risky, so perilous. Is it really the desire to cure and to help and to save a child? Or is it pride and egotism? Jacqueline B. Vogel, Child Play Therapist: Incredible advances in medical technology are based on optimism. Sometimes it's warranted and sometimes it's not. But you don't always know the answer to that until way down the road. John R. Montgomery, M.D., Pediatric Immunologist: If you take care of the patient better by doing nothing, you should do nothing.
    [Show full text]