Global Market Commentary, Analysis and Investments
What happened to all the Japanese? And where did the Russians go?
Can you imagine, for one horrifying second, a world with no sushi and no vodka? We can’t. We can imagine a Hell of such description, yes. A fire and brimstone purgatory of infinite and unbearable pain. But not a world…at least not one in which we’d choose to live.
[Read more...]American civilization has become much more civilized during the last hundred years. In the process, ironically, it has become much more savage toward capitalism and free enterprise.
One hundred years ago, most folks accepted adversity as an unavoidable facet of life. Childbirth was a high-risk endeavor. “Old folks” died at 50. Dysentery claimed more lives than heart attacks. Businesses failed. Governments defaulted. Currencies crumbled.
[Read more...]I have referred often to a theory of business cycles that was first described by the Austrian Joseph Schumpeter, but amplified by contemporary American Thomas Sowell. Both are brilliant economists who have described in mathematical detail how free markets produce the most wealth and well-being for society, including for those at the lower end of the financial spectrum.
[Read more...]$100 billion down…
$40 trillion left to go!
Hey, don’t hold us to those figures. But yesterday European sages cut another deal to stave off the truth. Instead of defaulting openly and honestly — as Greece has done over and over again ever since 1827 — the Greeks will be ‘rescued.’
[Read more...]Where we part company with Warren Buffet…
Here’s the Sage of Omaha, explaining, in Fortune Magazine, why bonds are dangerous:
Investments that are denominated in a given currency include money-market funds, bonds, mortgages, bank deposits, and other instruments. Most of these currency-based investments are thought of as “safe.” In truth they are among the most dangerous of assets. Their beta may be zero, but their risk is huge.
[Read more...]Wow! That was quick!
“Greek Bailout at Risk as Party Pushes Back,” reports Bloomberg.
“Greece Plunged Into Political Turmoil Over Austerity Measures,” chimes The New York Times.
“Greek government hit by resignations,” adds the FT.
We spilled a good deal of virtual ink in yesterday’s issue casting doubt and aspersions over the validity of the Greek bailout plan. The story, we reckoned, was at best an old one…at worst an irrelevant one. Bailout or no bailout, the Greeks are broke. The rest is merely noise.
[Read more...]Get out your chopsticks! Brush up on your sushi! Learn to read backwards and upside down!
Yes…we’re going to Japan!
The gist of the Japanese situation is this:
The bubble burst in 1990. But rather than let their big businesses go belly up, the Japanese used every trick in the book. Counter-cyclical deficits up the Shinanho. ZIRP (zero interest rate policy). And QE too.
[Read more...]Good day… And a Tom Terrific Tuesday to you! Well… Yesterday, I realized that I couldn’t eat all day on Sunday, and expect to want to eat on Monday! But I’m ready to do so today! HA! I also realized yesterday just what a Donnie Downer I’ve been lately, with my insistence that there’s something going on to pull the wool over our eyes… That may be, but I’ve got to be more upbeat, eh?
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How Employment and Economic Growth are Hindered by Politics
Nothing special in yesterday’s financial news. So let’s turn from farce to fraud…that is, to politics.
President Obama has to defend his policies, pretending that they have brought a real recovery. One of the pillars of his case, say the papers, is that unemployment has gone down.
[Read more...]