The other day I noted that Amazon has been tussling with book publishers over the pricing of electronic books. Amazon would prefer a wholesale pricing model, in which it sets retail prices, rather than an agency pricing model, in which the publishers set the prices. One reason that Amazon would prefer the wholesale model is because it [...]
Posts Tagged ‘GM’
The Chevy Volt Premium
Posted in Microeconomics, tagged Auto, Electric Car, GM, Microeconomics, Pricing on August 5, 2010 | 4 Comments »
The GM (er, Motors Liquidation) Anomaly
Posted in Finance, tagged Arbitrage, Finance, GM on October 31, 2009 | 4 Comments »
A few months ago, I wrote a series of posts about anomalies in the pricing of Citigroup common and preferred stock (see here for the final installment). At the time, Citi’s common stock traded at prices that appeared to be way too high relative to the preferred stock (which has since converted into common). Limits [...]
Beyond the $23.7 Trillion Headline
Posted in Budget, Economy, Finance, Macroeconomics, Politics, tagged AIG, Bank of America, Banks, Budget, Chrysler, Citigroup, Finance, GM, GSE, Housing, Macroeconomics, Politics, TARP, Warrants on July 20, 2009 | 3 Comments »
Neil Barofsky, the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (affectionately known as SIGTARP), is making headlines with his estimate that the government has provided “potential support totaling more than $23.7 trillion” in fighting the financial crisis. That estimate will be officially released on Tuesday morning in the SIGTARP’s latest quarterly report (you [...]
Standing Firm on Auto Dealers
Posted in Budget, Politics, Regulation, tagged Auto, Budget, Chrysler, Defense, GM, Politics on July 16, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Over the past year, the U.S. government has acquired an unprecedented investment portfolio, including a majority stake in GM and a large ownership stake in Chrysler. These investments have raised a plethora of difficult policy challenges. One of the most important is the ongoing risk that private business decisions may get transformed into public policy [...]
Progress on Auctioning TARP Warrants
Posted in Auctions, Finance, tagged Bank of America, Banks, Budget, Chrysler, Citigroup, GM, TARP, Warrants on June 26, 2009 | 3 Comments »
Ten major banks repaid almost $70 billion to TARP in recent weeks. But they aren’t free from TARP just yet: Treasury still owns warrants to purchase their common stock. I’ve previously argued that Treasury ought to auction these warrants to the highest bidder. Auctions would (a) be transparent, (b) provide full, fair value to taxpayers, [...]
The Subsidies in TARP
Posted in Budget, Finance, tagged Auto, Bank of America, Budget, CBO, Chrysler, Citigroup, Finance, GM, Housing, TARP, Warrants on June 26, 2009 | 3 Comments »
How much is TARP costing American taxpayers? We know that Congress originally authorized up to $700 billion in TARP investments. And we know that $439 billion has been committed to various programs. But how much of that money are taxpayers likely to see again? And to what extent will they be compensated for making those [...]


