Financial markets have been showing more signs of stress. The daily swings of stock markets have been growing wider, and investments presumed to be safe, like Treasury bonds and gold bullion, have been rising sharply in price.
While these market movements are global, many of the problems over the last week emanate from Europe. In the new Weekend Business podcast, Graham Bowley and Floyd Norris discuss proposals to create eurobonds as a way to provide financing for troubled members of the European Union. Political opposition in relatively rich countries like Germany, however, makes such bonds unlikely in the near future. Meanwhile, banks in Europe and elsewhere retain considerable exposure to European sovereign debt. No simple solution is at hand, and the markets remain skittish.
In a separate conversation in the podcast, and in an article on the cover of Sunday Business, Susanne Craig says that despite the uncertain market outlook, a bidding war has developed for stock analysts specializing in Internet and social media companies. We haven’t returned to the manic mood of the late 1990s, she says, but the sums being paid to some stock analysts may suggest that we are heading in that direction.
Tyler Cowen, the George Mason University economist, explores the implications of declining labor productivity in his Economic View column in Sunday Business, and in a podcast conversation. This may be the most serious of the many economic problems facing the United States, he says.
Feeling blue about the economy and the markets? Paul Lim, who writes the Fundamentally column for Sunday Business, says in the podcast that he sees a silver lining for stocks. While big American companies have not been hiring in large numbers, they have begun spending in two ways — on tangible things like technology and on acquisitions of other companies. Both should bolster share prices.
The news section of the podcast includes a discussion of Google’s plans to acquire Motorola Mobility.
You can find specific segments of the podcast at these junctures: Europe’s troubles (32:13); news roundup (21:33); star analysts (18:38); Tyler Cowen on productivity (11:51); Paul Lim on stocks (6:30); the week ahead (2:08).
As articles discussed in the podcast are published during the weekend, links will be added to this post.
You can download the program by subscribing from The New York Times’s podcast page or directly from iTunes.
