The 2017 Stress Tests: Are US Banks Really in Good Shape?
“… equally efficacious, and equally a hoax.” – Benjamin Disraeli, 1848[1] One of the highlights of the U.S. summer for Fed watchers is the annual ritual…
Read MoreLord Liverpool and the Return to Gold
Martin Hutchinson and Kevin Dowd* * Hutchinson (karlmagnus.aol.com) is the author of the Bear’s Lear column, http://www.tbwns.com/category/the-bears-lair/. Dowd (kevin.dowd@durham.ac.uk) is professor of finance and…
Read MoreThe Bank of England’s incredible stress tests
The Bank of England’s 2016 stress tests are literally incredible. Of the seven big financial institutions covered in the exercise, only one (RBS) failed…
Read MoreAnother Reason Not to Believe the Bank of England’s Stress Tests
The Bank of England repeatedly reassures us that its stress tests demonstrate the resilience of the UK banking system. Well, let’s put the…
Read MoreHow Onerous Are Basel III’s Constraints On Bank Leverage?
It is generally acknowledged that high bank leverage was a key factor contributing to the severity of the Global Financial Crisis. For the UK,…
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Are Bank Capital Requirements Really Ten Times Higher Than Before The Crisis?
A major theme in Bank of England speeches over the last three years has been the ‘Ten Times’ story: bank capital requirements are now…
Read MoreTHE FICTION OF THE ‘GREAT CAPITAL REBUILD’
The central element of the Bank of England’s narrative on the UK banking system is the ‘Great Capital Rebuild’. To paraphrase Governor Carney’s comments…
Read MoreA Letter to Governor Carney from Professor Kevin Dowd
Dear Governor Carney, I thank your colleagues and yourself for taking the time to meet me on my visit to the Bank earlier…
Read MoreExpected Losses are Not Baked into the Risk Weights
By Tim Bush and Kevin Dowd On December 15th 2015 there was an interesting exchange on the Treasury Committee between Steve Baker MP…
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