Detailed and country specific assessment of sovereign debt from Wm Buiter of Citi (ex Financial Times).  Its on this page entitled “The Debt of Nations” under citigroup publications or direct here. Its 84 pages but easy to locate your country.  In any event all advanced economy countries are in trouble to some extent with particular extra points to US, Japan, Ireland and Greece.  He notes that US is relatively worse than Greece.  Higher interest rates anyone? If you want a condensed version Tyler at ZeroHedge has here at ZeroHedge. Technorati Tags: Economics,interest rates,Buiter,Citi,Zerohedge,US,Ireland,Japan,Greece Continue reading “The Debt of Nations” | Buiter Citi

In the latest on the ‘chain of title’ issue reported in October, the latest Supreme Court decision in Massachusetts upholds the decision that Wells and US Bank had lost their right of claim against mortgages they owned. US foreclosure ruling to reverberate | ft.com The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld a lower court ruling that Wells Fargo and US Bancorp did not have the right to claim the homes because they could not prove they owned the mortgages at the time of foreclosure This goes back to one of the many flaws in wholesale product design (bank to bank) that … Continue reading Wells Fargo and US Bank cannot prove they have valid mortgages | Supreme Court

This is a game changer if the US Commerce Department can pull it off.  (ht James Van Dyke at Javelin) Internet Identity System Said Readied by Obama Administration | Bloomberg For example, once the system is in place, Google would be able to join a trusted framework that has adopted the rules and guidelines established by the Commerce Department. From that point, someone who logged into a Google e-mail account would be able to conduct other business including banking or shopping with other members of the group without having to provide additional information or verification. This means that users of … Continue reading National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC) | is it for real?

Google is reported to be building an NFC wallet that will be incorporated into Android software.  (ht Dave Birch) Google Building an NFC Mobile Wallet; U.S. Banks Are Interested | NFC Times Google is building a mobile wallet nicknamed "Cream," which it plans to integrate with Android NFC phones that consumers could tap to pay in stores, sources told NFC Times. Among banks showing strong interest is U.S.-based Citigroup I had read elsewhere earlier that Apple plan to include NFC capability into the iphone too. Technorati Tags: payments,NFC,android,iphone Continue reading Google reported to be building an electronic wallet

Much has been written in the last few days about the FaceBook IPO, er private funding.  Umair makes a solid point here and notes that FaceBook is doing exactly what is wrong for sustainable value.  No doubt many will make commissions, including Goldman but is this approach appropriate for sustainable share value. He goes on to note that by aligning themselves with the worst of Wall St approaches, something Google chose to not do, FaceBook has less chance for creating sustainable real and consistent value for investors. A Tale of Two IPOs | Bubblegeneration Companies that have philosophies are resilient–they’re … Continue reading “Facebook has no philosopy” | a comparison to the Google IPO

I found this post interesting.  Looking beyond the philosophical points in the post, the central theme is that Google search is deteriorating in quality.  When I think about it, I have to agree.  I am a Google addict and that’s all I use for my internet experiences.  But when I see the search results, more and more I am scanning them and trying to pick the one that is most likely to be the answer I seek before I click.  I do not want to be the algorithm. But I am not certain it is getting consistently worse.  Rather it … Continue reading The battle for internet equality and how Google has most to lose

In the midst of a fairly long piece, Martin summarises the distinction between emerging and advanced economies.  Incomes are converging between the two at a rapid pace and this produces highly divergent growth rates. The most staggering statistic is that during the 5 years to 2010, the Chinese economy grew 70% and advanced economies grew by 5%.  Elsewhere he notes that China is where Japan was in the 1950’s relative to advanced economies. In the grip of a great convergence | ft.com – Martin Wolf In short, today’s divergent rates of growth between successful emerging economies and the high-income economies … Continue reading “Convergent incomes and divergent growth – that is the economic story of our times” – Martin Wolf