Postcards from the florida republic An independent and profitable state of mind. “I got the shotgun. You got the briefcase. S'all in the game." Omar Little to lawyer Maurice Levy, Season 1, The Wire Yesterday, I asked a question: What is the business model of the government? The malfunctioning corporation in which Americans invest their time, money, and lives, some without […]economy
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The Appalling Reason Why We Live with “Perma-Gridlock”
Postcards from the florida republic An independent and profitable state of mind. “I got the shotgun. You got the briefcase. S'all in the game." Omar Little to lawyer Maurice Levy, Season 1, The Wire Yesterday, I asked a question: What is the business model of the government? The malfunctioning corporation in which Americans invest their time, money, and lives, some without […]Uncle Sam Is Going to Hand Us a 13% Winner
Postcards from the florida republic: An independent and profitable state of mind. You’ve got to hand it to the Keynesian economists. Every chance they get, they’ll spend money we don’t have and praise themselves for doing it. Last week, it was these White House economists writing a paper to celebrate record government spending. This week, […]How Trump and Clinton Economic Policies Affect Your Money
Trump and Clinton economic policies offer vastly different visions for the future of the U.S. economy.
February Jobs Report: Why Wages Are Still So Low
The February jobs report showed a dip in the unemployment rate. But it also showed zero wage growth and a lower labor force participation rate.
A close look at the numbers shows this "recovery" has passed by too many people…
Here’s the real story on U.S. jobs…
With 40% of Americans One Bill Away from Financial Disaster, What's Next?
Despite hundreds of billions of dollars in bailout money and U.S. Federal Reserve stimulus, the U.S. economy is still not working very well for the average American.
According to a survey by Bankrate.com, 40% of Americans say they are just one big bill away from financial disaster. That tells Money Morning Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald that the government's efforts to rescue the U.S. economy have failed.
Why the European Central Bank's Massive Economic Experiment Will Fail
Last week, the European Central Bank's turn finally came to announce large scale quantitative easing.
As the continent witnesses a battle between deflation and attempts at inflation, will it finally be enough?
Europe is following in the footsteps of the United States, hoping for similar "successful" results.
Instead, it's likely to fall somewhere between the U.S. and Japan.
From the Land of the Rising Sun there is precedent, but it's a forewarning.
The Truth Behind the Dangerous "Helicopter Money" Delusion
Seeking out major trends and power shifts in the global economy is a part of my work that I enjoy most.
It's a lot of work, and needless to say, it involves constant research.
That's why a piece I recently read in Foreign Affairs absolutely shocked me...
The piece is a bit revolutionary, as its authors speak to a drastically different way of stimulating an ailing economy than the path we're on today.
U.S. Labor Department Jobs Report: Big Gains in June, but Still Lagging Behind
Optimism surrounded Thursday's release of the June U.S. Labor Department Jobs Report, but although the numbers were better than expected, we still have plenty to worry about, and the economy is still in trouble.
Employers added 288,000 jobs in June. The unemployment rate dipped to 6.1% from 6.3%, the lowest level since September 2008.
This "Hidden" Inflation Could Wipe Out Small Returns
Official measures of inflation tell a very different story from the reality facing consumers as they shop for groceries, gasoline, insurance, healthcare, and other everyday goods.
In the real world away from government statistics, product prices continue to rise at an inexorable rate.
Asset prices also continue to rise, particularly the prices of financial assets such as stocks and bonds as well as high-end real estate and art.
While there remain pockets of weakness in the housing markets, the prices of homes have also resumed their upward trajectory after crashing during the financial crisis.
So the question remains: If the prices of just about everything are rising, why is the government telling us that inflation is so low? Full Story
Just How Bad Is the Low Labor Participation Rate for Youth?
In another sign that the U.S. economy is not as healthy as some in Washington would have you believe, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has reported that the labor participation rate among youth aged 16 to 19 in February was a paltry 32.9%.
"The difference between 3% growth in the economy per year versus 2% isn't a 1% slower decline, it's a 33% slower decline, and you're really seeing these numbers add up," said Money Morning Defense & Tech Specialist Michael Robinson on FOX Business' "Varney & Co."
In this video, Michael discusses this troubling trend and offers some suggestions for how Americans can deal with it.
Profit Massively from This "Margin Call" on American Homeowners
Get ready. There's more trouble ahead for home buyers, home builders, and especially homeowners who took out home-equity lines of credit before the housing crisis. Those heydays have turned into haymakers.
What's already started to happen might not only knock out the formerly aspiring but now petering-out housing recovery, but also might knock the already weak economy to the ground.
Back in the good old days, when banks and mortgage shops were selling mortgage money and home-equity credit lines like carnival barkers wowing crowds into the big top, millions of homeowners stepped right in.
That circus tent was nothing but a trap, however. And now I'm going to tell you what that trap means for those borrowers - and the rest of the economy... Full Story
Low Rates Won't Hide This Looming Threat Forever
Financial markets are experiencing a significant divergence in 2014 between the direction of stocks and bonds.
While the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average have traded to new record highs, the yields on benchmark Treasury bonds have dropped sharply.
Normally, one would not expect stock prices to rise and bond yields to drop simultaneously because these movements suggest contradictory readings of the economy.
Higher stock prices indicate bullishness about economic growth, while lower bond yields suggest just the opposite.
However, the inconsistent signals being sent by markets are not as surprising as they seem, given the context of the post-crisis environment in which Federal Reserve policies have distorted normal market pricing mechanisms.
This situation could blindside investors who don't see it coming... Full Story
The Next Trillion-Dollar Mortgage Meltdown May Be Coming
The fourth securitization deal of big investor-owned single-family homes for rent is here.
Is this just another Wall Street gamble that will wreck the economy again, or is this time different?
You be the judge.
I'll tell you where I stand...
The Fed's "Growth-Buying" Scheme Is Failing
The numbers are in. And they are ugly...
Based on preliminary first-quarter data, U.S. GDP (gross domestic product) growth is 0.1%.
That's not much.
But then again what do you expect for $3.4 trillion dollars of Federal Reserve spending to boost the economy?
So the question is, how is it possible that we've got nonexistent economic growth, or worse, negative growth and possibly another recession looming, when the Federal Reserve since September 2008 has spent $3.4 trillion to prime the economic pump?
This could push the whole economy past the brink... Full Story
The "Holy Grail" of Energy Investing Is Going to Make You - and Your Grandchildren - Rich
Storage has long been one of energy's biggest "Holy Grails." It holds the key to every significant move into smart grids.
The reason is pretty simple: If energy cannot be stored, it is lost. Even transferring it from one type of energy to another is of little consequence unless you can reverse the erosion in the entire system.
It's called entropy, and it's a pervasive problem.
Now, there are a number of rather complicated ways to explain this, but let's keep ours straightforward. Over time, a system ends up having more energy than can be readily used. This is always the biggest drain on any attempt to structure a more efficient approach.
So the basic question becomes how to "save" all of this energy from being lost.
That's what's at the center of a breakthrough project I came across yesterday...