There seems to be only one kind of loan that bankers want to make—SBA loans. SBA stands for Small Business Administration, a federal agency that guarantees certain loans made by banks that operate within its guidelines.

The news headlines out of Europe continue to surprise to the downside. Especially the euro area is struggling across the board, as growth in most countries stagnates

Since before the tech bust, we’ve been suggesting that while Americans “think” they’re getting richer... they’re actually heading in the other direction. They’re getting poorer.

Central bankers claim that they aren’t starting a currency war. They deny that their policies are aimed at the competitive devaluation of their currencies. Let’s call it competitive ultra-easing.

At the end of 2011, sovereign-wealth funds’ assets under management amounted to $3 trillion, following 237 direct investments worth $81 billion that year. Some experts even estimate SWFs’ assets to be worth $6 trillion. This means that SWFs, the avatars of state capitalism, are now twice as rich as the world’s hedge funds, the totems of liberal capitalism’s excesses.

The almighty dollar is looking less mighty these days. By almost every measure, the purchasing power of the US dollar is in precipitous decline.

Tax Freedom Day is just three weeks away. Add up all the taxes paid by people in the UK – income tax, national insurance, VAT, fuel duty, taxes on alcohol and tobacco, council tax and all the rest. Then work out how long it takes us to earn enough to pay for all these taxes. Then you find that in 2013 the average UK citizen will be forced to hand over to the government everything they earn between New Year's Day and 30th May!

While the stance of monetary policy around the world has, on any conceivable measure, been extreme, by which I mean unprecedentedly accommodative, the question of whether such a policy is indeed sensible and rationale has not been asked much of late.

According to Jeff Gundlach, treasuries aren't going to be terrible investments in the near term. Gundlach made a very prescient call this time last year when he recommended shorting Apple and going long natural gas.

First of all, an MRist should never say that a monetarily sovereign currency issuer can’t default. One of the key points behind MR is flexibility and specificity with regards to certain monetary systems. I tend to focus on the USA and have repeatedly said the USA won’t default. But that’s a very specific case based on a very specific understanding. Generalizations can be extremely dangerous in the world of economics where there are so many complex moving parts inside the various systems.

Since the 1970’s, economists have warned that a monetary union could not be sustained without a fiscal union. But the eurozone’s leaders have not heeded their advice – and the consequences are becoming increasingly apparent. Europe now faces a difficult choice: either fix this fundamental design flaw and move toward fiscal union, or abandon the common currency.

When Radosław Sikorski, Poland’s foreign minister, went to Ukraine for talks last month, his Ukrainian counterparts reportedly laughed at him because he was wearing a Japanese quartz watch that cost only $165. A Ukrainian newspaper reported on the preferences of Ukrainian ministers, several of whom have watches that cost more than $30,000. Even a Communist member of Ukraine’s parliament, the Rada, was shown wearing a watch that retails for more than $6,000.

Aggressive fiscal and monetary policy coupled with structural reforms is presenting huge investment opportunities in Japan, widely followed hedge fund manager Dan Loeb said.

With an eye on better earnings performance ahead, the fitness centre is introducing new products and ideas to help customers utilise more facilities.

Karl Marx knew a thing or two. Only six years after Charles Darwin published “The Origin of Species” Marx had worked out that capitalism needed two things to be fit to survive; growth and debt. Profits could only be created if someone, somewhere, borrowed money.

\"I've been rich and I've been poor. Believe me, honey, rich is better,” the vaudevillian Sophie Tucker quipped. Tucker’s witticism will not strike most of us as controversial. Yet some really smart people are anxious to persuade the rest of us that more money can’t buy us more happiness.

I was having a discussion with someone on Twitter about Monetary Realism (this person was not sympathetic to MR’s views) who asked if there was “even one insight” that was unique about MR that separated it from MMT or Post-Keynsian economics. I think that’s an important question since MR has developed into something fairly unique and outside of any “school” of economics.

Everything looks great for U.S. banks. The industry made fourth quarter profits of $34.7 billion, nearly 37 percent higher than 2011’s fourth quarter. This was the best quarter for earnings since 2006. Bank stock analysts Dick Bove believes first quarter 2013 earnings will set new records.

Berkshire (BRK.A)(BRK.B) has an enormous amount of money invested in Wells Fargo (WFC) and Goldman Sachs (GS), so the health of big banks is of great interest to Warren and Charlie.

Scientists have developed paper containing ultra-thin, undetectable Radio Frequency Identification Chips (RFID), and in doing so may have taken a huge step towards ending \"dark money\" cash transfers.