Articles by Desmond Lachman
An Economic Memorandum for the Next US President
Over the next two months, Senators John McCain and Barak Obama will be engaged in the final stages of their electoral race for the White House. In the heat of the campaign, one must hope that the candidates do not...
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Bernanke Also to Blame
As the United States' worst housing market bust since the Great Depression raises the specter of a nasty recession, a serious reappraisal of Alan Greenspan's 17-year chairmanship of the Federal Reserve is underway. Justified as this reappraisal might be, it...
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Student of the Depression
One has to pity Ben Bernanke as the Federal Reserve faces its worst policy dilemma in many years. Should the Federal Reserve hang tough on interest rates to fend off the past demons of higher inflation at the risk...
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In Search of a Dollar Policy
Among the few constants in life seems to be the US Administration's tired and stale dollar policy. For over the past thirteen years, every time that the dollar has weakened unduly, the US Treasury Secretary has been rolled out...
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The Wrong Path to Sub-Prime Reform
Barney Frank's recently introduced mortgage reform bill demonstrates yet again Congress' penchant for indulging in regulatory over-reaction to crises without addressing their underlying causes. Sadly, it als
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Mr. Trichet Sleeps as the Dollar Sinks
In 1972, John Connolly, Richard Nixon's Treasury Secretary, famously remarked to his European counterparts that the dollar might be the United States' currency but it was Europe's problem. While somewhat of an exaggeration, Mr. Connolly's remark contains an endurin
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Two Questions for Mr. Bernanke
At Tuesday's Federal Open Market Committee meeting, two overarching questions should be put on the table regarding the US economic outlook. Might the credit crunch presently characterizing financial markets prove to be more enduring than previous credit crunches? A
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What Congress Should -- and Shouldn't -- Do About the Housing Crisis
As Congress returns next week from its summer recess, it will find itself under enormous pressure to do something about the nation's worsening housing market situation. In the present atmosphere of financial market crisis, the real challenge for Congress...
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The US Housing Bust is a Big Deal
As US home prices at the national level begin to decline for the first time since the Great Depression, most Wall Street analysts maintain their rosy outlook for the US economy by allowing hope to triumph over experience. For...
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A Slow Moving Chinese Train Wreck
As US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson ends yet another round of Strategic Economic Dialogue talks in Beijing with very little progress to show for his efforts, one cannot help feeling that one is watching a slowly unfolding Greek tragedy. For...
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