Economix Blog: Weekend Business: Podcast: European Debt, Bank Settlement Talks, Fed Policy and Jim Collins

European leaders reached agreement this week on a far-reaching package aimed at resolving the Greek debt problem, recapitalizing vulnerable banks and bolstering the euro zone’s financial rescue fund. Stock markets around the world rallied on the news.

But in the new Weekend Business podcast, Nelson Schwartz, a Times financial writer, says that the details of the plan are vague — and that many questions remain. There have been several European rescue packages, with euphoric reactions in the market, but the mood has dampened after each one, he says, and it may well do so again.

Gretchen Morgenson discusses the settlement talks under way between financial institutions that may be responsible for mortgage foreclosure misconduct and, on the other side, state attorneys general and the federal government. As she writes in her Sunday Business column, actual cash payments of $1,500 are envisioned in a possible settlement for people who were erroneously evicted from their homes. This may strike people who have lost their homes as a low figure, she suggests.

In a conversation with David Gillen, Jim Collins discusses a new book, “Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck — Why Some Thrive Despite Them All,” which he wrote with Morten T. Hansen. An article adapted from the book appears in Sunday Business.

And Christina Romer, the Berkeley economist who was chairwoman of the Council of Economic Advisers, discusses her suggestions for a new approach at the Federal Reserve. In the Economic View column in Sunday Business, she recommends that Ben S. Bernanke, the Fed chairman, take bold action, much as Paul Volcker did when he was the chairman years ago. Mr. Volcker began to target the growth of the money supply in his fight to curb inflation. Now, she says, the Fed should begin to target nominal growth of the gross domestic product in an effort to restore vitality to the economy.

You can find specific segments of the podcast at these junctures: Europe’s debt accord (35:33); news headlines (28:22); Jim Collins (25:16); the mortgage settlement talks (15:17); Christina Romer (10:06); the week ahead (2:01).

You can download the program by subscribing from The New York Times’s podcast page or directly from iTunes.

Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=0ca9c94c9994184beb4caa721616ddaa