Finance Archive:

Doesn’t bode well for the next trough.

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No charts. Just a decent letter from CEO Lloyd Blankfein to the FT on mistakes and lessons. Excerpts:

.This over-dependence on credit ratings coincided with the dilution of the coveted triple A rating. In January 2008, there were 12 triple A-rated companies in the world. At the same time, there were 64,000 structured finance instruments, such as collateralised debt obligations, rated triple A. It is easy and appropriate to blame the rating agencies for lapses in their credit judgments. But the blame for the result is not theirs alone. Every financial institution that participated in the process has to accept its share of the responsibility.

.For policymakers and regulators, it should be clear that self-regulation has its limits. We rationalised and justified the downward pricing of risk on the grounds that it was different. We did so because our self-interest in preserving and expanding our market share, as competitors, sometimes blinds us – especially when exuberance is at its peak. At the very least, fixing a system-wide problem, elevating standards or driving the industry to a collective response requires effective central regulation and the convening power of regulators..

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A very nice table showing all of the FED’s Lending instruments and conditions:

http://www.newyorkfed.org/markets/Forms_of_Fed_Lending.pdf

Interactive map of European credit.

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Interactive chart of government bailouts by type (through Jan 16)

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The World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2009 contains some interesting risk charts. Full report. Graphics brief. Press release.

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An animated calendar of major indicators, showing max and min as it goes (click on the “Next” button to run it through).

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US debt and net worth:

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And a big hat tip to Econompicdata, where I steal so many of these charts from.

Related FT article.

Payments due in 2009:

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Interactive chart showing key events and interventions.

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View the growth of US government aid over time, in terms of both committed and spent:

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