Ferdinand E. Banks

10 Reasons to Believe That We're in a Depression

Thanks for the information, but no thanks. I prefer to believe that a depression is out of the question, and if the economy doesn't get back into the groove, people like Larry and Ben will prescribe the right medicine. You see, there are plenty of corrupt people in high places, but they left the White House when George W. received his walking papers.

Energy Watch: Solve for California

The man who fired me from my job at Hughes in Los Angeles was named Michael May. If you run into him, thank him profusely for me and tell him that he is going to get the biggest bottle of Champagne in Sweden if we ever meet in this country. When I think of what might happened to my good self if he had allowed me to stay there I get cold sweats.

Oil: Ready to Break Higher?

Author, if you are 'networking' with our OPEC friends, tell them to wait a while before 'doing what comes naturally'. A big oil price escalation now would be very bad news for EVERYBODY.

Ethanol vs. Natural Gas or Coal: Comparison Not Even Close

EROI doesn't mean a lot to me for reasons found in my textbook, and the bad mouthing of 'politicians' doesn't mean a lot either: American voters gave George Bush a second term. and he thanked them by running the economy into the ground.

I can add that this is an extremely valuable article. It needs to be widely distributed - minus certain items of course.

The Great Geopolitical Battle Over Natural Gas Transit Routes

Russia is going in the right direction, and they would go faster if the consumption of vodka were reduced somewhat. They have the right leaders at last in Messrs Putin and Medvenev, and they understand how to think about things like oil, gas, diversification etc. Unfortunately, in my last energy economics textbook, I forgot to point out the bottom line in the Russian natural gas story, but I will do that here: lots and lots and lots of gas sold to China. I only hope that European buyers come to their senses and get out of the cold war mode. More Russian gas to Europe means lower energy bills for my good self.

China's Solar Industry Outshines the U.S.

I prefer "stimuli" - borrowing and printing money - to 'green solutions' that 'might' work if done right, but which will NOT work if sponsored/promoted and carried out by phonies and amateurs.

But one thing makes sense above. I had a friend who called democracy 'demo-crazy'. They don't have a traditional democracy in China, and so when the smart people figure out the right way to do things, they don't have to sell the program to to the mid-day TV audience.

Goldman Sachs Delivers for Shareholders

The only way that GS can go into the tank is to hire some of the people contributing to this site who want it turned into a dozen or two storefront institutions because - quote - it is too big to fail.- quote.

Work out, Goldman. Way to go.

Our Steroid Pumped Economy

You sent this article to the right site, author. There are plenty of people in this crowd who want to hear how the US is going to fold because of Messrs O, S, B etc. But it aint going to happen. Obama has disappointed me because of his failure to turn his back on Afghanistan, and rushing his health care program before he understands the details of the US health architecture, but even so I expect a happy ending to his story.

Meredith Whitney: 'I Haven't Been This Bearish in a Year'

Great article. Complete nonsense, but served up in only 5 lines.

Will U.S. Allow China to Buy More Gulf of Mexico Oil Assets?

So the Chinese might be interested in buying some deep water assets in the Gulf of Mexico. Hmm. Reminds me of what they used to say in my part of Chicago when I was a boy: when you find a fool, bump his head.

Banning Derivatives and Other Such Foolishness

All I know about Warren Buffett is that he is a genius, and if my finance students had a different opinion about him they kept it to themselves. Of course, as John von Neuman once said, they don't care very much for genius in the United States.

As for Soros, he is a very smart man.

Derivatives - I can remember when they didn't have them for crude (oil). The oil market functioned worse at that time than after derivatives were introduced.

As fór comparing so-called "economic equilibrium" with so-called "sub-atomic physics", I don't see what the __ economic equilibrium has to do at all with Heisenberg's uncertainty principle.

Barron's on ExxonMobil: 'What a Gusher'

Concentrating on profits instead of production. I know of another 'major' which expressed precisely that intention, and there may be more. This kind of thinking is one of the downward pressures on oil output and so....

Goldman Sachs Just Can't Feel the Love

"Goldman Sachs is out for Goldman Sachs." That's Adam Smith isn't it. You certainly don't think that the groovy Adam is wrong, do you?

Why Are Climate Change and Deficit Reduction Considered Mutually Exclusive?

A tax on carbon for the purpose of merely raising revenue sounds goofy to me. Somehow that revenue should go back to the people who pay it, only the price of carbon would be higher. The details - well, too complicated for me right now, given the rotten weather in this country..

Note to Jamie Dimon: Repetition Doesn't Create Truth

I'm on Jamie Dimon's side. Why? It's because I'm getting a little tired of half-baked busybodies putting the bad mouth on brilliant institutions like Goldman Sachs.