Posts Tagged ‘eisenberg economist’
Deductible Instability
Because interest to bondholders is tax deductible, while dividend payments to shareholders are not, lowering the corporate tax rate will reduce the incentive of all corporations including banks to raise capital by issuing debt. Assuming the top corporate tax rate falls from 35% to 25%,that would result in banks increasing their reliance on equity by…
Read MoreChinese Pork Purchase
Shuanghui International Holdings’ purchase of Smithfield Foods for $7.1 billion, including debt, will be approved by federal regulators. This is because the relevant regulator, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US (CFIUS), only blocks deals involving national security. And bacon just isn’t a national security or defense concern. Moreover, given China’s chronic trade surplus…
Read MoreBearable Budget Battle
The budget deficit is falling rapidly and is now projected to be $642 billion, or 4% of GDP, in FY 2013. It was projected to be $200 billion higher just three months ago. This improvement will delay the next debt ceiling brawl from June to November. And with election season already starting by then, expect…
Read MoreBet Your Fannie
Including a one-time $50.6 billion adjustment, Fannie’s Q1 income was an amazing $58.1 billion! Even excluding the $50.6 billion, its ordinary earnings of $8.1 billion were outstanding. Assuming it does that well the rest of 2013, Fannie’s 2013 income would be $32.4 billion. That’s a bit behind ExxonMobile and Apple but ahead of Chevron, and…
Read MorePool Anyone?
The Friday File: In August, houses with pools sell for about 0.2% more than homes without pools while in May, June and July pools add just 0.1%, half as much. Conversely, from November through March, swimming pools reduce house prices by about 0.15% while in April, September and October pools have no impact. Even at…
Read MoreTough Taxes
The Friday File: Every percentage point increase in state income taxes faced by free-agent baseball players raises their salary by $22,500/year. By contrast, the same tax increase reduces slightly the average skill level of free-agent basketball player signings. It’s because baseball teams have no real salary cap, while basketball teams are very constrained. Thus, basketball…
Read MoreFinally!
Next week the European Central Bank will finally lower its key interest by a quarter-point to 0.5%, as the euro-region recession continues. Most importantly, Germany, Europe’s largest economy, may now officially be in recession and business confidence is slumping. Meanwhile, across Europe, purchasing managers are indicating continued contraction and exports to China are slowing. While…
Read MoreCash Crunch
The Cyprus fiasco shows us two things. First, countries that don’t issue their own currency simply cannot guarantee bank deposits as they have no control over their monetary policy. It also shows that monetary unions cannot survive bank runs. The upshot, there will now be a calls for a euro-wide bank regulator (like the FDIC)…
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