A financial system gone very, very wrong

They say more money has been lost chasing yield than has been lost at the point of a gun. Paul Krugman, the curmudgeon economist / New York Times columnist, reminds us why in his latest missive:

In other words, the United States was not, in fact, uniquely well-suited to make use of the world’s surplus funds. It was, instead, a place where large sums could be and were invested very badly. Directly or indirectly, capital flowing into America from global investors ended up financing a housing-and-credit bubble that has now burst, with painful consequences.

The good news is that Krugman does not foresee America experiencing an economic recession as severe as Argentina circa 1950 (but only because our debt to foreigners is US Dollar- denominated.) Oh, and he uses the word “sophistry” in describing structured financial assets. Love it!