http://www.ft.com/comment/columnists/martinwolfhttp://www.ft.com/rss/comment/columnist/martinwolfFT.com - Martin Wolfen© Copyright The Financial Times Ltd 2008. "FT" and "Financial Times" are trademarks of the Financial Times. See http://www.ft.com/servicestools/help/terms#legal1 for the terms and conditions of reuse.client.support@ft.com (Client Support)Wed, 8 Oct 2008 23:48:48 +0100Mon, 13 Oct 2008 20:22:29 +0100Newspapers60http://news.ft.com/cms/d1f3ce1a-6bbe-11da-bb53-0000779e2340.gifhttp://www.ft.com/comment/columnists/martinwolf(PICS-1.1 "http://www.classify.org/safesurf/" L gen true for "http://www.ft.com/" r (SS~~000 1))http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fba32c1e-9565-11dd-aedd-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fba32c1e-9565-11dd-aedd-000077b07658.htmlThe west's traumas stem not just from cheap money, gung-ho bankers and lax regulation but from sustained capital inflowsWed, 8 Oct 2008 23:48:48 +0100http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3dc401f8-949a-11dd-953e-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/3dc401f8-949a-11dd-953e-000077b07658.htmlThe time for a higgledy-piggledy, institution-by-institution and country-by-country approach is over, writes Martin Wolf. So what should be done? In a word, 'everything'. But first of all, the panic must be dealt withTue, 7 Oct 2008 19:13:37 +0100http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1ec80a16-909d-11dd-8abb-0000779fd18c.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1ec80a16-909d-11dd-8abb-0000779fd18c.htmlIreland's guarantee is a 'beggar thyself' policy, allowing management to gamble with the public sector's balance sheet, writes Martin Wolf Thu, 2 Oct 2008 18:49:06 +0100http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0fa9d526-8eec-11dd-946c-0000779fd18c.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/0fa9d526-8eec-11dd-946c-0000779fd18c.htmlThe plan is indeed flawed. But Congress' failure to ratify it is unlikely to convince anybody that something better will be forthcoming. It will convince them, instead, that the US is choosing impotence, writes Martin Wolf Tue, 30 Sep 2008 19:22:37 +0100http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a09b317e-898d-11dd-8371-0000779fd18c.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a09b317e-898d-11dd-8371-0000779fd18c.htmlThe US Treasury secretary views the core challenge as illiquidity, not insolvency. By creating a market for toxic assets, he hopes to halt the spiral of falling prices and bankruptcies. But the scheme is neither necessary nor efficient, says Martin Wolf Tue, 23 Sep 2008 19:38:34 +0100http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/49726416-84ca-11dd-b148-0000779fd18c.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/49726416-84ca-11dd-b148-0000779fd18c.html Do not panic: the UK economy ought to be able to get through this crisis without a recession as deep as those of the early 1980s and 1990s, writes Martin Wolf Wed, 17 Sep 2008 18:44:58 +0100http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/49a481fe-8406-11dd-bf00-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/49a481fe-8406-11dd-bf00-000077b07658.htmlIs the worst now over? Certainly not. The biggest outstanding question is whether government-led rescues of undercapitalised financial systems will be needed. This is now looking increasingly likely, writes Martin Wolf Tue, 16 Sep 2008 20:28:55 +0100http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/13aa4e2c-7e9c-11dd-b1af-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/13aa4e2c-7e9c-11dd-b1af-000077b07658.htmlIs the rescue of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac an example of US policymaking that the UK, quite as vulnerable to the collapse in the housing market, should follow? Martin Wolf very much hopes it will not. But the pressures on the UK government to act will be strongTue, 9 Sep 2008 19:51:06 +0100http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b154bb9e-7dc5-11dd-bdbd-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b154bb9e-7dc5-11dd-bdbd-000077b07658.htmlThe US public has ended up with an open-ended guarantee of the liabilities created by supposedly private entities. It is a bad place to be, writes Martin WolfMon, 8 Sep 2008 18:13:36 +0100http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5c250c76-7aac-11dd-adbe-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5c250c76-7aac-11dd-adbe-000077b07658.htmlA weak government is a risk. Any policies it introduces must avoid undermining confidence in the UK's policy regime, writes Martin Wolf Thu, 4 Sep 2008 19:11:11 +0100http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/78274ce0-7917-11dd-9d0c-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/78274ce0-7917-11dd-9d0c-000077b07658.htmlThis presidential election might well determine the character of the next, possibly final, epoch of Anglo-American global hegemony. The question is whether the American people will choose the instinct for conflict or that for co-operation, writes Martin Wolf Tue, 2 Sep 2008 19:02:46 +0100http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/42dc1b9c-75c5-11dd-99ce-0000779fd18c.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/42dc1b9c-75c5-11dd-99ce-0000779fd18c.htmlSuperannuated cold warriors and neo-cons are salivating over the notion of a new cold war with Russia, writes Martin Wolf Fri, 29 Aug 2008 18:56:58 +0100http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2cc4291c-52a2-11dd-9ba7-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2cc4291c-52a2-11dd-9ba7-000077b07658.htmlIt is almost a year since the US subprime crisis went global.The hope that the repricing of risk would be no more than a brief interruption has been disappointed. So where is the world economy now? Martin Wolf suggests some answersTue, 15 Jul 2008 20:18:23 +0100http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/69ebb588-4ead-11dd-ba7c-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/69ebb588-4ead-11dd-ba7c-000077b07658.htmlA big drop in British house prices is likely, partly because prices are extraordinarily high and partly because credit has dried up, says Martin Wolf Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:32:35 +0100http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/59b99bda-4d13-11dd-b527-000077b07658.htmlhttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/59b99bda-4d13-11dd-b527-000077b07658.htmlTackling man-made climate change is much the most complex collective action problem in human history. Solving it will require concerted efforts from both developed and developing countries over at least a century. There is no choice but to try, writes Martin Wolf Tue, 8 Jul 2008 19:30:47 +0100