The estimated 4.9 million barrels of crude that flowed into the Gulf of Mexico from the Macondo well was the largest oil spill in U.S. history. Not surprisingly, the resulting damage to the livelihoods of fishermen and other Gulf Coast businesses, and the environmental threat to delicate natural habitats, created a media and political furor.
Read moreWe are a nation of infants. Short on vision, short on delay of gratification, driven by desires which we experience as needs. Luxuries we deem necessities. Power, lucre. We are greedy, glutinous. Witness the steadily increasing width of the ever ravenous man, woman, child on the street. Like the typical two year old, we want [...]
Read moreAfter traveling for a week in Prague and Paris, we can report that there are few optimists on Europe – either among the Americans we were traveling with or the Europeans that we met. However, the pessimists had a wide variety of reasons for their negative outlook and often the root of their concern was [...]
Read moreLadies and gentlemen, I am very much honored to open this second session of conferences in Paris and I would like to thank the Global Interdependence Centre for having Banque de France as a partner of this full week conference. I will give the point of view of a central banker on the recent events [...]
Read moreIf you listen to Washington and New Yorkers working for bailed out institutions or in offices 100 floors above Wall Street, the recovery is weak because banks, and now small banks in particular, won’t lend money to small businesses. There has been plenty of evidence to the contrary (demand is weak rather than banks are [...]
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