Tag: fareed zakaria

Uncategorized

Enter the Zombie banks: Liquidity fixes for banks will not solve their solvency problem

Colin Henderson

James Baker of all people sums up precisely why the current government approaches to fixing banks’ problems is flawed.  As you will have gathered I fall in the Niall Ferguson/ Martin Wolf camp that says this situation is not just worse than we think but more importantly it is different than the prevailing wisdom.   We risk fixing the wrong problem in other words. ‘How Washington can prevent ‘zombie banks’ | Financial Times Beginning in 1990, Japan suffered a collapse in real estate and stock market prices that pushed major banks into insolvency. Rather than follow America’s tough recommendation – and … Continue reading Enter the Zombie banks: Liquidity fixes for banks will not solve their solvency problem

Uncategorized

Arrangement shelters ABCP worth 27% of Canadian Bank equity base

Colin Henderson

The always clear thinking Fareed wrote this piece on the Canadian Banking system and how it is the envy of the world.  The facts outlined are indisputable and the distinctions between the US and Canadian systems that favour care and moderation in Canada are all true. However there is one other event he does not mention, that has quietly gone on for the last 14 months and in fact just completed in January this year with the announcement noted below on the E&Y site dated Jan 21st, 2009. The story here goes back to December 2007, when I first noted … Continue reading Arrangement shelters ABCP worth 27% of Canadian Bank equity base