Illustrated by this graph from the Minneapolis Federal Reserve, sometimes one orange line can create a huge debate. The thick orange line representing the US recovery from the December 2007-June 2009 …
Luxembourg Yogurt?
For this Greece update, some past and current information… Soon after the euro was launched on January 1, 2002, a €76,000 bank heist near Athens became the first major euro robbery. Near Athens …
Questions about Capitalism
Can capitalism survive? In a Project Syndicate article, Harvard professor Ken Rogoff said, probably. But the “Anglo American paradigm” might evolve into another kind of capitalism. What th…
Default Deja Vu
Between its independence in 1829 and 2006, Greece has had 5 defaults or debt reschedulings that occupied a total of 50.6 years. Described by Rogoff and Reinhart in their 2008 paper and book, Thi…
Greece and Argentina
Nobody wants Greece to become Argentina. It all began with what scholars Rogoff and Reinhart called the lending boom of the 1990s. Enjoying the influx of dollars, Argentina borrowed and grew and prosp…
An Economic Lesson From Marie Antoinette's Fashion Designer
Rose Bertin was the 18th century Alexander McQueen. As Marie Antoinette’s personal fashion guru, she designed massively skirted ornate gowns and 3-foot high poufy hair styles. More than clothing…
Debt Deja Vu
Again, Greek debt was in the news. This time, though, the focus was other defaults. For as long as nations have existed, they have borrowed money and then been unable to repay it. The first report of …