The Nobels for Asset Pricing

From WSJ.

Wall Street Is Losing the Best and Brightest

From WSJ.

Not long ago, Wall Street attracted many of the smartest people in America—brilliant economists and mathematicians, but also the nation's most promising college graduates. Not anymore. Five years after the financial crisis, evidence suggests that students have lost their enthusiasm for beginning careers in finance.

I think this is a natural development toward a right direction.

Open-Government Laws Fuel Hedge-Fund Profit

Information can make money, even the public information. From WSJ.

Is the Market Overvalued?

Famous and university Shiller vs unheard and Wall Street Bianco. Which one do you believe?

Global Wealth Factbook

The 2010 global wealth factbook from Credit Suisse.

The summary (in USD):

• Total wealth: 195 trillion
• 195 trillion = financial asset (117 trillion) + non-financial asset, mainly real estate (115 trillion) - household debt (37 trillion)
• Top three wealth coutries: US (54.6 trillion), Japan (21 trillion), and China (16.5 trillion)
• Top three household debt: US (13.9 trillion), Japan (4.3 trillion), and Germany (2 trillion)
• Top three average wealth per adult: Switzerland (373K), Norway (327K), Austrilia (321K)... US (236K)

The History of Chinese Stock Market

Here.

Who Caused the Currency Wars?

By Simon Joghson.

What is q?

q and FAQs from Smithers & Co.
US CAPE and q chart.

Do Our Financial Models Still Work?

Panel includes Myron Scholes talk about models in Milken Institute Conference.

Funds Should Do More to Police Corporate Pay

Yes, this is what mutual funds should do.

Charlie Rose Interview with Joe Stiglitz

An interesting discussion.

Stocks Market

In my class, I have been talking about drawbacks of short-term stocks investment and indiviual stocks investment. This morning one student of mine emailed me this Chinese words, saying the similar thing:

股市原意，乃讓集資搜資有其地，社會向榮，人皆有賺，
惜人性貪婪，耗盡心思，巧取豪奪，樂土成煉獄，血雨腥風，殺戳不息，
無數人蕩產傾家輸性命，勝者則喪良知人格，
余於股壇數十載，未嘗見一真正鸁者，
智者應知此乃一處永無贏家之戰場，
取勝唯一法……「及早離去」四字而矣！

Shiller on Rationality

Robert Shiller says those problems in the hearts and minds of workers and investors will hinder US economy recovery.

References in the article:
Machiavelli's Mistake (PDF) (PP) by Samuel Bowles
Economics and Identity by G. Akerlof and R. Kranton

Financial Crisis Responsibility Fee

Obama proposed this tax on big banks. I think it is necessary and crucial in the whole financial reform. It is not easy to see that Makiw agrees with Obama on one thing. Of course Krugman thinks this is no brainer.

....Do the bankers really not understand what happened, or are they just talking
their self-interest? No matter. As I said, the important thing looking forward is to stop listening to financiers about financial reform.

Wall Street executives will tell you that the financial-reform bill the House passed last month would cripple the economy with overregulation (it’s actually quite mild).
They’ll insist that the tax on bank debt just proposed by the Obama administration is a crude concession to foolish populism. They’ll warn that action to tax or otherwise rein in financial-industry compensation is destructive and unjustified.

But what do they know? The answer, as far as I can tell, is: not much.

Lost Decade for Stocks

From James Hamliton.

US Treasury Stocks

A cool idea of government finance by issuing stocks from Robert Shiller.

Efficient Market Theory and the Crisis

Jeremy Siegel makes it clear for this issue.

Greenspan Says U.S. Should Consider Breaking Up Large Banks

From Bloomberg.

China Steps Into Futures Markets

From WSJ.

Eric Maskin on Financial Crisis

Economic Theory and the Financial Crisis by Eric Maskin, Nobel Prize Winner of 2007.