Sovereign debt crises continue to simmer on both sides of the Atlantic, but there was some progress, in Europe, at least.
In Brussels, European leaders revealed the rough outlines of at least a short-term resolution of the Greek debt crisis, Floyd Norris says in the new Weekend Business podcast. The plan involves a 109 billion euro ($157 billion) rescue package for Greece, and would force many investors in Greek debt to accept some losses on their bonds. But whether it can contain the contagion that has threatened the financial system in Europe and elsewhere is anyone’s guess.
In Washington, negotiators face an Aug. 2 deadline for raising the federal debt ceiling. Republicans in Congress have insisted that such action be coupled with spending cuts that would pare the budget deficit. President Obama said that the talks reached an impasse on Friday, but talks were expected to resume over the weekend. In a conversation on the podcast, Robert Shiller, the Yale economist, says that budget cutting is so much in vogue right now that we are in danger of neglecting the millions of people who remain without work, two years after the start of an economic recovery.
As Mr. Shiller writes in the Economic View column in Sunday Business, fiscal stimulus is an excellent remedy for a weak economy, but it does not appear to be within the realm of political possibility right now. Therefore he recommends balancing spending and taxing, and focusing on programs that will create jobs. The government, he says, need not get larger. It could function as a kind of investment banker, soliciting ideas from the private sector, and providing funding for projects that seem most worthwhile.
In the Strategies column in Sunday Business, I discuss the impact of the financial crises on the price and status of gold. While it is still well below its inflation-adjusted peak, set in early 1980, gold crossed the $1,600-an-ounce threshold last week for the first time. And a political movement to restore the gold standard has begun to stir once again — more so, perhaps, than at any time since the days of supply-side economics early in the Reagan administration. In the podcast, I discuss the possibility that this political revival might signal another peak for gold.
And in a separate podcast conversation, David Gillen and Brian Stelter talk about Hulu, the online video site sponsored by major television networks. As Mr. Stelter writes on the cover of Sunday Business, Hulu may be helping to define the future of television.
You can find specific segments of the podcast at these junctures: Floyd Norris (34:00); news summary (24:19); Hulu (21:35); Robert Shiller (14:13); gold (5:24); the week ahead (2:40).
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.
Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=bc7898337fb618b9042f57e2890b98a0
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