The Economist – Deficit-reduction disorder Austerity and economic recovery are bringing down the deficit, but the long-term problem has not been fixed WITH the financial crisis over and the recovery gaining momentum, one big piece of unfinished economic business hangs over Barack Obama’s second term: arresting the relentless rise in America’s already sky-high debt. He… Continue reading More On The Deficit
Breitbart.com – Krugman: U.S. Needs Death Panels, Sales Taxes Nobel Prize winning “economist” Paul Krugman spoke at Sixth & I Historic Synagogue in Washington, D.C. last week. During the Q&A session following the lecture, an audience member asked him about the rising national debt. Earlier in the evening, Krugman had already vocalized his satisfaction at… Continue reading Krugman … Sales Taxes And Death Panels Are Coming
MarketWatch.com – Is this market headed for a correction? Commentary: What to make of high-profile investors turning bearish The market’s recent strong run has brought out the buyers, but also the bears — with a growing number of high-profile investing pros suggesting the better-than-expected results and a return to record high territory is leading lambs… Continue reading Will We See A Market Correction?
Bloomberg.com – Europe Leaders Bow to Cameron Push, Deepen Spending Cuts European Union leaders prepared the first-ever cuts in the bloc’s budget, bowing to U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron’s insistence on thrift. After an all-night bargaining session interspersed with catnaps on couches at EU headquarters in Brussels, the leaders neared agreement on a 2014-2020 spending… Continue reading Europe
Barron’s – Jeremy Grantham on Investing in a Low-Growth World This quarter I will review any new data that has come out on the topic of likely lower GDP growth. Then I will consider any investment implications that might come with lower GDP growth: counter intuitively, we find that investment returns are likely to be… Continue reading Jeremy Grantham Speaks
The Wall Street Journal – Rate-Rig Spotlight Falls on ‘Rain Man’ In one electronic chat released in connection with regulators’ $612 million settlement with RBS this week, Mr. Hayes asked another bank to skew Libor “too low for the next few days,” promising to “return the favour as when you need it.” Yet Mr. Hayes… Continue reading LIBOR And The “Rain Man”
The Washington Post – This is what a currency war looks like So this is what a currency war looks like. Not terribly dramatic, is it? A currency war, as an increasingly breathless line of media coverage calls it, is a series of events in which nations try to devalue their currencies in order to… Continue reading Currency Wars
<Click on chart for larger image> Comment By many counts, the credit crisis began on February 8, 2007 when HSBC’s Household International announced a huge loss due to subprime lending, requiring HSBC to restate its 2006 earnings. While few even knew what a subprime loan was at the time, this was “patient zero” of the… Continue reading The Credit Crisis Celebrates Its Sixth Anniversary Today
Comment Yesterday Jim Bianco was in Bloomberg TV discussing the Federal Reserve and the markets. To view the interview click on the image above. To view any of our recent interviews click here. The Wall Street Journal – George Melloan: The Fed’s Asset-Inflation Machine In a 1996 speech to the American Enterprise Institute, Federal Reserve… Continue reading Asset Inflation
Bloomberg.com – Jim Rogers Joins Bill Gross Warning on Treasuries Investor Jim Rogers joined Bill Gross, who runs the world’s biggest bond fund, in warning that a rout that sent Treasuries to their biggest loss last month in almost a year probably isn’t over. The list of bond bears is growing after Goldman Sachs Group… Continue reading Everybody Still Hates Bonds
CNBC – Long-Term Unemployment Now a Thing of the Past? The long term unemployed in the U.S are having an easier time finding jobs, while the chronic problem of long-term joblessness may disappear in the months ahead, according to a study released Monday from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco…Using BLS numbers, the report… Continue reading Unemployment