Academic

I'll briefly interrupt this forum to outsource some reactions to Basel III and its winners and losers.  Right now, everyone's a winner - bank stocks are up everywhere.  Of course, it is very difficult to discern whether this means that investors are cheered that banks will be safe and sound now, or whether they are cheered that they will be able to rapaciously take risks, secure in the knowledge that there will be another government bailout, one practically morally obligated by the fact that the world's banking centers have set clear capital levels.  Always a problem with event studies, I suppose.  

• Felix Salmon wonders about the delay in implementation (2019 is a long way away), and so do Joe Stiglitz and Mohammed El-Erian.
• In Europe, the Scandanavians win, the Germans are okay, but only the provincially owned Landesbanken are really upset.  The Italians will need to add capital to their already sleepy banking sector.  In the US, those few who held on to their TARP money, which counts as capital, will be pleased.