To the Class of 2012

Down, down, down…

Day after day for the last 2 weeks…almost everything has been grinding down.

Stocks, oil, copper, bond yields… It looks as though the whole world economy is slowing down. China, India, America, Europe. All are slowing.

How much longer can this slow down continue?

[Read more...]

To the Class of 2012

Down, down, down…

Day after day for the last 2 weeks…almost everything has been grinding down.

Stocks, oil, copper, bond yields… It looks as though the whole world economy is slowing down. China, India, America, Europe. All are slowing.

How much longer can this slow down continue?

[Read more...]

Hedge Funds Bail On Euro Now

Good day. I’m writing from home, as I’m headed to the doctor right out of the starting blocks this morning. So since I’m writing from home, this will be short and sweet for sure, especially since I overslept on top of it all! You would think that the “West Coast” time would be out of my system by now! UGH!

[Read more...]

Hedge Funds Bail On Euro Now

Good day. I’m writing from home, as I’m headed to the doctor right out of the starting blocks this morning. So since I’m writing from home, this will be short and sweet for sure, especially since I overslept on top of it all! You would think that the “West Coast” time would be out of my system by now! UGH!

[Read more...]

What Happens When the World Economy “Goes Japan”

The Dow sinking.

Gold sinking.

Oil sinking.

Copper sinking.

Yields sinking.

We struggled with this, Dear Reader. We meditated. We prayed. We drank heavily.

And finally…we overcame the rank desire to say: “We told you so!”

As you know, Martin Wolf, of The Financial Times, is the voice of The Economics Establishment. All that is great and good in the field — which isn’t very much — is given voice by Wolf. Then, it is acceptable for policymakers, Treasury ministers, and central bankers, not to mention the people you talk to at cocktail parties.

[Read more...]

What Happens When the World Economy “Goes Japan”

The Dow sinking.

Gold sinking.

Oil sinking.

Copper sinking.

Yields sinking.

We struggled with this, Dear Reader. We meditated. We prayed. We drank heavily.

And finally…we overcame the rank desire to say: “We told you so!”

As you know, Martin Wolf, of The Financial Times, is the voice of The Economics Establishment. All that is great and good in the field — which isn’t very much — is given voice by Wolf. Then, it is acceptable for policymakers, Treasury ministers, and central bankers, not to mention the people you talk to at cocktail parties.

[Read more...]

The Suspicious Growth of the Financial Industry

Societies become more complex as they age. Each challenge…or opportunity…is met with a new rig of some sort. A tax. A regulation. An organizational fix.

As time goes by, these fixes act like friction…they slow the machine. They make it hard to move…inflexible and unresponsive. And over time, more people gain access to a fix — each lobbying group and special interest, each with his own bailout or subsidy…and each desperate to hold onto it.

[Read more...]

The Suspicious Growth of the Financial Industry

Societies become more complex as they age. Each challenge…or opportunity…is met with a new rig of some sort. A tax. A regulation. An organizational fix.

As time goes by, these fixes act like friction…they slow the machine. They make it hard to move…inflexible and unresponsive. And over time, more people gain access to a fix — each lobbying group and special interest, each with his own bailout or subsidy…and each desperate to hold onto it.

[Read more...]

US Austerity in the Face of a “Fiscal Cliff”

The financial news yesterday was dominated by alarming reports from Europe.

“Backlash,” said The Financial Times…referring to an “anti-austerity wave” that washed over Europe in weekend voting.

If the FT doesn’t mind mixing metaphors, we don’t either. But our metaphors are a bit different. What has happened is not a backlash but a wake-up call. It comes as voters realize that the placebo medicine — phony, half-hearted austerity measures peddled by the Euro elite — don’t work. They want an elixir with more of a kick to it. That’s why the leftists are gaining so much ground.

[Read more...]