Bookies in Britain have suspended betting on the “do” side of the proposition as to whether Greece leaves the Euro Zone. Ladbrokes gave up cutting the odds on a Greek departure and has stopped taking action. “It is safer for us to suspend betting than to keep cutting the odds,” a spokesman for Ladbrokes told CNBC . “We have been slashing the odds
Victoria McGrane reports for the Wall Street Journal that the FDIC says it has it all figured out as to how it will unwind those huge, complicated, multinational financial institutions should the need arise. McGrane writes, The FDIC, known more for its bank deposit insurance, is working to persuade major investors, analysts, economists and bankers
In a piece for Bloomberg, reporter Sanat Vallikappen begins, “Go away, American millionaires.” Valliikappen then goes on to explain that wealth management firms the world over are declining to open offshore accounts for Americans. “I don’t open U.S. accounts, period,” said Su Shan Tan, head of private banking at Singapore-based DBS, Southeast
In 1845, Frédéric Bastiat penned a satirical masterpiece with the long lumbering title of “A PETITION From the Manufacturers of Candles, Tapers, Lanterns, sticks, Street Lamps, Snuffers, and Extinguishers, and from Producers of Tallow, Oil, Resin, Alcohol, and Generally of Everything Connected with Lighting .” This faux open letter to the French
According to real estate site Zillow, almost 16 million homeowners owe more on their mortgage than the underlying collateral is worth. At the same time, the LA Times reports that 90% of these underwater homeowners are current on their mortgage payments. Nevada has the highest percentage of upside down homeowners at 67%. And while I don’t know for
U.S. banks are awash in deposits as the industry continues to lick its wounds from the 2008 crisis. The net loan to deposit ratio for all banks is just 70%, the lowest level since 1984, reports David Reilly for the WSJ. Meanwhile, in Europe, where Greeks have been pulling money out of banks steadily since the first of the year, loan to deposit
The plane ride to Las Vegas for the Memorial Day weekend was like many I’ve been on. There’s a certain energy to a Vegas flight unlike a flight to, say, Phoenix. Passengers flying into Phoenix don’t feel the need to get blasted en route with Delta Airlines alcohol, timing their collective buzz just right so as to hit the ground partying once the
Banks have been scrambling to upgrade their ATM machines to comply with titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), requiring them to make all of their ATMs fully accessible to the visually impaired. But many of the nation’s 405,000 ATMs are not in compliance and lawyers are gearing up the class action lawsuits. American Banker
Wary depositors have been hauling billions of Euros out of Greek and Spanish banks over the past few weeks. Since 2009, Greek depositors have withdrawn $4 million a month from that nation’s banks, while Spanish bank customers pulled 31 billion euros from Spanish banks in April alone. More than any election result, bank runs reflect the mood of the
Many states have laws on the books prohibiting anyone from making disparaging comments about a particular bank’s financial condition. This sort of talk is thought to be outside free speech because just the slightest rumor can trigger a bank run. Of course, not much of a line needs to develop at the teller window for bankers to get nervous, because
What is the Mises Institute?
The Mises Institute is a non-profit organization that exists to promote teaching and research in the Austrian School of economics, individual freedom, honest history, and international peace, in the tradition of Ludwig von Mises and Murray N. Rothbard.
Non-political, non-partisan, and non-PC, we advocate a radical shift in the intellectual climate, away from statism and toward a private property order. We believe that our foundational ideas are of permanent value, and oppose all efforts at compromise, sellout, and amalgamation of these ideas with fashionable political, cultural, and social doctrines inimical to their spirit.