Earlier today, Ambac Financial Group (a big bond insurer) reported that it earned more than $2 billion in the third quarter, or $7.58 per share. As reported over at Marketwatch, these must be among the lowest quality earnings in accounting history: Ambac Financial Group reported a $2.19 billion quarterly profit Wednesday as the company got [...]
Archive for November, 2009
Counterintuitive Accounting: Ambac Edition
Posted in Finance, tagged Accounting, Finance on November 4, 2009 | 1 Comment »
Booms, Busts, and the Leverage Cycle
Posted in Finance, Macroeconomics, tagged Finance, Macroeconomics on November 4, 2009 | 3 Comments »
Over the Wall Street Journal, Mark Whitehouse has a nice piece on John Geanakoplos, a finance guru in the worlds of both academia and Wall Street. Over the past ten years, he’s been exploring how leverage and the value of collateral can drive booms and busts in financial markets. His research was sparked by the [...]
Should Children Get One or Two H1N1 Flu Shots?
Posted in Health, tagged Flu, Health on November 3, 2009 | 1 Comment »
The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United States government are having a fascinating debate about the number of H1N1 flu vaccinations that children under age 10 should receive. Both agree that two shots are better than one. The vaccine is scarce, however, so public health officials have to make hard choices about how to [...]
Yes, the House Health Bill Costs More than $1.2 Trillion
Posted in Budget, Health, Politics, tagged Budget, CBO, Health, Politics on November 2, 2009 | 1 Comment »
In a series of posts last week, I noted that the coverage provisions in the House health bill would cost more than $1 trillion over the next ten years, notably higher than the $894 billion figure that was circulated when the bill was first released. In addition, I pointed out that the bill includes other [...]
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