Comments on: Scandinavian understatement …

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 15:53:43 +0000

I was recently going to buy some Iceland CDs through everbank. Very high rates and insured. I guess I should put that idea on hold. Anyone else considering it?

By: Guest

Guest — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 01:42:57 +0000

Ok just to clear things up;

Scandinavia (Geographical): Norway and Sweden only.

Scandinavia (Cultural/language): Sweden, Denmark (east Scandinian language) Norway, Iceland, the Faroe Islands (west Scandinavian). This is the most widely used definition. Aland Island is essentialy Swedish speaking so should be included.

Nordic (historical, modern day society, political): All of the above plus Finland. Baltic states? possibly Estonia because of their historical ties to Sweden and cultural connection to Finland, but it’s usually regarded as a Baltic state only.

Useful knowledge no?

By: df

df — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 00:15:28 +0000

Judy I agree.

I personnaly think we humans are muppets with little room to manoeuver the huge economic forces at play.
RIght now the mood is protectionism, closing all borders, it s just a backlash for too much globalisation.
All that is happening is happening along a deja vu scenario. And what can we do ?

I look around and I don’t see any courageous leader around. Hey they ve all been kept out from political jobs these last years by private lobbyists.

Now the time has come to chop some bankers heads.
Then if things go on this way of course tarrifs will be put in place, some countries will turn fascist others communists anyway plannification is back. Markets have been proved a failure (except for austrians who ll blame the fed, congress, and of course will be right since no sane congress would have deregulated finance the way it has been…)
anyway.
It s nice to know that this crazy world is ending.

By: Judy Yeo

Judy Yeo — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 19:20:44 +0000

don – no doubt protectionism will rise but it remains to be seen who will emerge as the bigger loser should punitive actions and reactions escalate.

df- why wasn’t there a stop the free flow of capital across borders campaign in the mid 90s (pre Asian financial crisis) or even 2005-2007? Funny how these things always pop up when “capital flight” comes to mind! would you be a fan of malaysia’s mahathir? (just kidding)

for all the angst regarding the losses on reserves, could the situation be read as merely putting up with losses on that front to avoid worst case scenarios where the US economy spirals out of control due to funding problems on a national level. Systemic disaster might make reserve losses look like peanuts, ‘cos when there are monkeys a plenty, you never know?!

Early data points to record rise in reserves in China for January and February, wonder what brad makes of it?

By: psh

psh — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:24:56 +0000

‘Imagine how much trouble the US economy might be in’

Okay. If the US wanted to support the dollar, another 60bp on the 10-year rate would do the trick (or the equivalent in disinflation). That’s no big deal.

By: gillies

gillies — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:09:34 +0000

the japanese minister of finance sounds as though he would like mr. bernanke’s helicopters grounded. (url from DC above).

fair enough. if the yen carry trade flows are reversed – who gets the job of foreclosing on the hot mud springs and the fish ?
.

By: don

don — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:07:02 +0000

Brad -
I really don’t think you have to worry about the failure of foreign central banks to fund our current account deficit. I think it much more likely that the U.S. would lose its taste for their currency policies, in which case we may see a replay of some scenarios of the great depression, where competitive devaluations led to outright protectionism. Bill Clinton’s “Japan bashing” may well give way to “China bashing” or “Asia bashing.” If the Asian nations refuse to allow their currencies to appreciate, we may see a reprisal Smoot-Hawley type trade measures.

By: Matt

Matt — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 13:48:38 +0000

The most widely used definition of Scandinavia does not include Iceland. The term “the Nordic countries”, however, includes Iceland and the Faroe Islands.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:55:42 +0000

re: “Mary works for RGE”

if you could persuade rge’s editor to update and complete this: http://www.rgemonitor.com/component/option,static/inc,bios/itemid,105/

we wouldn’t have to ask quite so many questions.

By: Guest

Guest — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:42:33 +0000

Dave Chiang -
Nice statement on Ben’s statement and the implied shortcomings of capitalist markets. Typical of his short-run (short-sighted) views.