Ferdinand E. Banks

A Tale of Two Markets: Overvalued Stocks and the Declining Dollar

Beautiful title. My next talk will be A TALE OF TWO ENERGY RESOURCES: UNDERVALUED NUCLEAR AND OVERVALUED RENEWABLES.

Thanks author.

Too Big to Fail Banks: A Simple Solution

The best way to handle the 'too big to fail' issue is to forget about it. This government is too smart to play games with the financial system just to please a handfull of half-educated bloggers. Besides, in ten years the global macroeconomy will be on the way up again, and the US will be riding high.

Citigroup Already Being Broken Up (But Not Enough)

Speaking as a teacher of finance, and writer of a book on the subject, I agree that Glass-Steagall should be restored. But this urge to break up financial institutions for what appears to be nothing more than bloody mindedness is pure looney-tune.

U.S. Handling of Financial Crisis - A Less Optimistic View

So the American people are on to Obama, says this author. They see and understand the so-called weakness in his economics.

Well, they weren't on to George W. Bush when he told the lies that led to the problem in Iraq, and those lies were right out there in the open where they could be seen and examined in detail.

As for siding with Summers over Volckner, that's easy. Where economics is concerned, Summers is a genius, and Mr V. is an also ran.

'Too Big to Fail' Is Too Hot to Handle

I tell you what. Let's change the rules well AFTER the economy starts moving up again. Or maybe a better idea is to start THINKING ABOUT changing the rules well after the economy starts moving up again.

Where Is the Line Between Conventional Banking and Pure Trading?

I think that it's time for me to start teaching finance again. I thought that I was one of the best teachers in the world, but apparently I was seriously wrong. I thought that GS was big time because they hired the smartest guys available - with certain exceptions - but apparently it was because they and the government were hooked up in a giant criminal enterprise.

Hmm. I wonder if I can make myself dumb enough to believe that, and if I do will the store-front university I graduated from give me a job.

Too Big to Fail Banks: Greenspan Says 'Break 'Em Up'. What Are the Chances?

He makes the point that if broken up the sum of the parts would be greater than the current whole

I wonder who is the bigger fool: Greenspan or somebody who believes that kind of nonsense.

Why doesn't the guy do something useful. The freshman course in economics at Boston Public is probably looking for a good teacher. Send him around for an interview, although I'm not sure that he'll get my endorsement.

Too Big to Fail: Greenspan Adds His Voice to the Break-Up Chorus

Let's see now. Ben is a macroeconomist, and one of the best in the world where his speciality is concerned. He doesn't know anything about oil though. Al is a jazz musician who knows a little about oil and gas. I prefer jazz to macro, but even so I'll go with Ben. He and Larry have what it takes.

As for breaking up the too big to fail banks, I wonder what Ben and Larry and Mr O. think about that nutty suggestion. Maybe they don't think about it at all. I know that I wouldn't if I were in their place.

Diana Farrell And The White House Theory Of Bank Size

Interesting, very interesting, but I know one thing about so-called "big banks". That expression will never be mentioned in a classroom of mine by anyone who desires a passing grade - although instead of failing them I might just tell them a few things that they don't want to hear. Even so, I think that Michael Clark has a good idea when he says that some new laws are needed. The first new law should be one designed to stop people from talking about things that they know absolutely nothing about.

Outlandish CEO Pay: How to Fix the Problem

I wonder what this is all about? When mediocrities and losers get to decide who gets what, then the wrong people will automatically move into the top jobs. That's why there are so many rotten teachers in the universities, and I don't just mean Sweden. John Gordon has the right idea: tie pay to performance. Come to think of it, that's why I was fired from Hughes.

Major Banks Now Much Too Big to Fail

Sounds good to me. An attack on the finance market by half-baked regulators, politicians and academics is asking for trouble.

Global Markets in Review: Emerging Markets Showing First Signs of Retrenchment?

Did I hear right? Abby Joseph Cohen. I wonder how many finance classes I informed that she was hopeless. But that was a couple of centuries ago, and so maybe...

Five U.S. Banks Are Too Big to Exist

If the banking system actually had as much derivative risk as claimed in this article, I might be worried. But although I stopped teaching finance a few years ago, I remember enough to know that the figure given cannot possibly be correct.

Bank Bailouts - Tell Me Again What the Point Was?

Trane 250 posted the comment that I was going to post. The idea that the government should simply stand by and let the financial sector go to blazes is dumber than stupid.

Goldman Sachs: Still Arrogant and Unrepentant

I love hearing that the compensation issue will be rectified, and hopefully sooner rather than later. Outside of that however I would feel better if I had not read this article.

I taught finance for about 15 years, and was not averse to perusing the financial newspapers and other publications. It eventually became quite clear in my mind that GS was perhaps the best investment bank in the world, as I mentioned in my finance book (2001). That being the case, I really don't see the point in pretending that the US and the world would be a better place if GS was allowed to go into the can.