Tim Fernholz

After much wrangling, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk has negotiated some important agreements with China: Ranchers, effectively barred from the Chinese market since 2003 after a scare over mad cow disease, will get renewed access to China and potentially billions of dollars in new sales. Alternative-energy companies will no longer have to build demonstration projects […]

Politico reports that Republican leaders may decide to relax traditional rules barring most technology from the floor of the House. While these items were banned to prevent any distraction from whoever held the floor, most people don’t actually pay attention to congressional speeches anyway. On the other hand, from covering Congress, I can tell you […]

We’ve been covering the dysfunctional mortgage industry for a while now — its systemic implications, what it means for troubled borrowers looking for modifications, and the big picture in Bob Kuttner’s latest magazine feature. On Wednesday, Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, who is leading a national investigation into pernicious practices in the industry, had this […]

Over in the United Kingdom, Alex Massie congratulates Tory Chancellor George Osborne for his probity. Here’s Osborne talking about tax cuts: Asked if he regards Britain as an over-taxed country, he hesitates: “That’s a good question. I would like to reduce taxes – so, in that sense, it would be good if we could bring […]

The above comic from XKCD is instructive because I think the scenario it describes would never, ever happen. WikiLeaks does not actually believe in transparency per se, but, as various analysts of founder Julian Assange’s thought have pointed out, it believes that the U.S. government is fundamentally an unjust conspiracy, and that rendering its secret […]

What are the signs that the tax deal is a wedge issue? Well, you’ve got Rep. Mike Pence out there opposing it because “the American people did not vote for more stimulus.” Actually, more voters supported spending to create jobs (37 percent) than did tax cuts (18 percent). That aside, Pence, a member of the […]

We had high hopes indeed for the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission — the New Pecora Commission, if you will — when it got underway this year. But Shahien Nasiripour reports that partisanship has riven the commission and that the panel’s Republicans, who have been limiting their participation in the effort since August, will release a […]

Wharton finance professor Jeremy Siegel argues that the second round of quantitative easing — or QE2, the Fed’s effort to purchase bonds in search of looser monetary policy — is working because Treasury rates are rising: Long-term Treasury rates are influenced positively by economic growth—which encourages consumers to borrow in anticipation of higher incomes and […]