Last week’s Davos Economic Forum became a center stage for condemning casino capitalism in earnest. The most comprehensive critique came from French President Nicolas Sarkozy. His attacks on Wall Street bankers’ misdeeds and unreasonable bonus packages were combined with a call for the organisation of a second Bretton Woods conference. The stated objective was to [...]

For the past few weeks, rating agencies like Fitch and Moody’s have hoped to stir up a financial storm within the European Union by downgrading Greece’s sovereign debt and treasury bond issues. On the Greek stock exchange, the downgrade has prompted a slide in bank shares, amid fears that government T-bills cannot be used as collateral [...]