Tag Archives: bonuses

The “Miracle” Still Goes On For Someone…

Posted on January 18, 2010 by | 14 comments

This guest post is by Ivo Pezzuto, Professor at the Swiss Management Center University (SMCU) in Zurich, Switzerland, and an experienced observer of the global financial services industry.

I share the analysis of most economists and observers that the following are among the main causes of the current global financial crisis:

  • the U.S. Federal Reserve’s low interest rate policy at the beginning of the last decade, the resulting credit euphoria of both lenders and borrowers;
  • the more ”relaxed” credit initiation and control policies and procedures of lenders;
  • the “exotic” innovative features of some mortgage lending products;
  • the overwhelmingly optimistic view of future house prices which prevailed in the market that has led to both the housing and the mortgage lending bubbles;
  • the widespread use of badly controlled (OTC trading) innovative financial engineering tools (i.e., derivatives, securitizations, CDS, CDO, MBS, RMBS, CLO, etc.).
  • Imbalances, exchange rates and interest rates differences between the US and other emerging economies and the resulting speculative trading and arbitrages. Continue reading →

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Who Had This Good Idea First? (A Weekend Comment Competition)

Posted on April 18, 2009 by | 38 comments

In early February, James proposed that bankers’ bonuses be paid out in “toxic assets” – after all, the industry was arguing that these would definitely rebound (“it’s just a liquidity problem”) and that their “true” value was substantially above current market value.  The idea was well received by our readers but not so much by the banking or insurance industry.

Someone quickly pointed out that – back in December – Bloomberg reported Credit Suisse would actually use a version of the same idea.  And, in the whirlwind of the fall, I now vaguely remember this same point coming up even earlier in some bigger discussion.

So in the spirit of proper attribution (also because a reader asked and I’d like to know the answer), here is our first ever weekend “comment competition”.

Who really originated this (very good) idea, either in private discourse or – easier to document – in a public comment, blog post, corporate document, or the like?  We’d also welcome updates on where any form of this idea is being used in practice.

By Simon Johnson

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Causes Of A Great Inflation: Tunneling For Resurrection

Posted on March 19, 2009 by | 100 comments

Here is Ben Bernanke’s problem.

1. The financial sector is busy setting up arrangements in which employees are guaranteed high levels of compensation if they stay on through the difficult days ahead.  These retention-type payments allow firms to survive in their existing form, pursue business-as-usual, and gamble for resurrection, i.e., make further risky investments.

2. But these same payment schemes, e.g., Goldman Sachs’ loans-for-employees deal, are a form of poison pill with regard to further bailouts – the Administration may want to help these firms down the road, but this kind of tunneling means Congress will put its foot down.  Do you think that President Obama’s $750bn for bailouts (scored as $250bn) will survive the budget process?  No New Bailout Money is a slogan reaching from here to the midterm congressional elections. 

3. And the financial system is in big trouble.  Unless the economy turns around, somewhat miraculously, we are in for a big slump.  Or even for a Great Depression – watch closely the words and body language in Bernanke’s interview on 60 Minutes. 

The big banks are essentially making themselves Too Politically Toxic To Rescue, and this has potentially bad macroeconomic consequences.  So what will Bernanke do? Continue reading →

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