Tag: Debt

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post

Jonathan Bartlett
Date
March 13, 2023

Categorized
Business and Finance

Tagged
Assets, Banking, Debt, Investors, Loan, Silicon Valley}

What’s Going on at Silicon Valley Bank?

_{The bank's failure is making a lot of people nervous about their money} _{Jonathan Bartlett
March 13, 2023

5

Business and Finance}

Many people awoke this morning to news of a bank that suddenly collapsed – Silicon Valley Bank, or SVB. While information is still developing, I thought I would provide some background information on what is known so far. SVB is the go-to bank for Silicon Valley startups. Over the last few years, the tech bubble has been growing and growing and growing, focused especially around Silicon Valley. That meant a lot of banking was happening, and it was happening with SVB. That is where the various companies put their deposits. How does a bank make money? By lending out deposits. In 2021, at the height of the tech bubble (and, not coincidentally, at a historically low-interest rate environment). The bank did what most banks do Read More ›

Rolled Yuan bill on the map of Africa. Chinese investment in African economy

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post

Heather Zeiger
Date
November 13, 2020

Categorized
Business and Finance, Global Technology

Tagged
Africa, Belt and Road, Brahma Chellaney, China, Chinese in Africa, COVID-19, Deborah Bautingam, Debt, Debt Suspension Service Initiative (DSSI), Debt-trap diplomacy, Howard W. French, Kenya, Mozambique, Zambia}

China and Africa: Debt-Trap Diplomacy?

_{The story of China helping Africa modernize resists simple formulas} _{Heather Zeiger
November 13, 2020

8

Business and Finance, Global Technology}

Last week, I reported on the accusations of racism on the part of the the Chinese authorities against African residents of the city of Guangzhou in Guangdong province. While Africa and China have enjoyed a seemingly amicable relationship since the 1970s, several African leaders have pointed to the COVID-19 pandemic as highlighting unresolved underlying tensions. One of those tensions is several African countries’ debt burden. China’s response to requests for deferral in the midst of a pandemic has strained Sino-African relations. China isn’t the African countries’ only creditor. As of this writing, G20 leaders will be meeting to discuss debt-relief and extending the Debt Suspension Service Initiative (DSSI). The service has deferred debt payments by poor countries due to the Read More ›

The economic crisis of 2020 with the red arrows indicating the economic recession in 2020.

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post

Gary Smith
Date
June 29, 2020

Categorized
Business and Finance

Tagged
Banking, Debt, Featured, Fed, Federal Reserve, government, Great Recession, Inflation, Money supply, Recession}

Inflation Is the Least of Our Worries!

_{Yet some fear that the inflation dragon is about to roar} _{Gary Smith
June 29, 2020

7

Business and Finance}

The Federal Reserve (the Fed) can throw the economy into a recession whenever it feels that it is in our best interests to be unemployed — typically because the Fed is convinced that an unruly inflation needs to be tamed by the discipline of unemployment. For example, in 1979, as the rate of inflation peaked above 13 percent, the Fed moved to make borrowing prohibitively expensive. When Fed Chair Paul Volcker was asked if the Fed’s policies would cause a recession, he replied, “Yes, and the sooner the better.” Interest rates reached 18 percent on home mortgages and were even higher for most other bank loans. Households and businesses cut back on their borrowing and spending and the unemployment rate Read More ›