Showing posts with label margin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label margin. Show all posts

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Noah Smith — The hard-money people throw Gene Fama under the bus



I think where one does see evidence of prices higher than they would be otherwise is likely in equities were low borrowing rates decrease the cost of margin (leverage). Cost of margin is hugely influential in speculative markets.

Housing "bubble" reigniting? No way. Prices are still way down from their highs, a historically high percentage of purchases of existing residential RE are foreclosure or underwater related and for cash, with Wall Street and flippers big buyers in expectation of exceptional ROI on resale. Rent/purchase ratio is still reflecting the bursting of the bubble, and new housing is not exactly "on fire." There is not going to be another housing bubble in the US for years and there are still housing bubbles to pop abroad.


But it's good to see the inflationistas in retreat and throwing the EMH under the bus, too, in favor of financial instability. But is the Fed creating financial instability now? No way. The Fed is still fighting the consequences of financial instability and not all that successfully.

Noahpinion
The hard-money people throw Gene Fama under the bus
Noah Smith