At first, when I listened to the accounts of old-time deals and devices I used to think that people were more gullible in the 1860s and ’70s than in the 1900s. But I was sure to read in the newspapers that very day or the next something about the latest Ponzi or the bust-up of some bucketing broker and about the millions of sucker money gone to join the silent majority of vanished savings.
[Read more...]To the Class of 2012
May 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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
May 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment
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...]Why the World’s Unemployed Youth are Flocking to Brazil
May 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Man wasn’t supposed to labor like this. Not under these conditions…with a clear view of a clearer sea…a white sandy beach below his room…the sound of the crashing waves gently carrying through his window…
…and his head stuck firmly in his computer screen.
[Read more...]Why the World’s Unemployed Youth are Flocking to Brazil
May 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Man wasn’t supposed to labor like this. Not under these conditions…with a clear view of a clearer sea…a white sandy beach below his room…the sound of the crashing waves gently carrying through his window…
…and his head stuck firmly in his computer screen.
[Read more...]GDP Growth: The Civic Duty of Every US Consumer
May 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment
No panic on Wall Street — yet. Gold still over $1,600.
But watch out. Our hunch is that when people come to their senses…they will run for the exits.
Europe’s shifting from austerity to “growth”…which really means more debt.
America’s growth is phony — with fewer jobs today than when the ’08 recession began.
[Read more...]GDP Growth: The Civic Duty of Every US Consumer
May 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment
No panic on Wall Street — yet. Gold still over $1,600.
But watch out. Our hunch is that when people come to their senses…they will run for the exits.
Europe’s shifting from austerity to “growth”…which really means more debt.
America’s growth is phony — with fewer jobs today than when the ’08 recession began.
[Read more...]Where Do Real Jobs Come From?
May 7, 2012 By Leave a Comment
The pentagon goes rogue…
“Jobs engine sputters again in April,” reports the weekend Wall Street Journal.
What kind of humbug recovery is this? Bloomberg adds:
Estimates for the jobless rate, derived from a separate survey of households, ranged from 8.1 percent to 8.3 percent. Unemployment has exceeded 8 percent since February 2009, the longest such stretch since monthly records began in 1948.
[Read more...]
The Delusion of Regulating Risk
At first, when I listened to the accounts of old-time deals and devices I used to think that people were more gullible in the 1860s and ’70s than in the 1900s. But I was sure to read in the newspapers that very day or the next something about the latest Ponzi or the bust-up of some bucketing broker and about the millions of sucker money gone to join the silent majority of vanished savings.
[Read more...]