By Peter Morici

The White House is pumping sunshine–the economy is in tough shape

Fourth quarter GDP numbers show the economy is not growing fast enough to create jobs and bring down unemployment.

Of the 2.4 percent growth reported, 1.1 percent was an increase in inventories—essentially businesses rebuilding and adjusting inventories from recession lows and to accommodate more price-conscious consumers.

This indicates actual demand in the economy is growing a scant 1.3 percent a year. Businesses Read More »

• 0 Comments

By Michael Pento, Senior Economist and Vice President of Managed Products, Euro Pacific Captial

After hearing the dire warnings of deflation that have become the standard talking points of most economists, American investors may be reaching for a bottle of Prozac. I believe that their anxiety is misplaced. Unfortunately, modern economists don’t understand what deflation is or why, in reality, we have much more to fear from inflation.

Moderate deflation is actually the natural Read More »

• 0 Comments

By John Derbyshire

It is plain that no U.S. administration of any party is going to build a wall along our nation’s southern border. “Can’t be done,” our leaders tell us, shaking their heads in mock despair, while feeling under the desk for the envelopes full of benjamins being passed from cheap-labor lobbyists and race-grievance shills. “Too much border . . . mountainous terrain . . . impossible to patrol . . .”

They Read More »

• 0 Comments

By Moses Kim

There are certain periods of time in history when seemingly obscene prognistications are right. I believe we are in one of those times. It is at times like these that “conspiracy theorists” (whatever that means) become what I like to call “reality theorists.”

Economic shocks come from nowhere. One day the global economy is humming along; the next day it collapses. Crashes don’t occur because the fundamentals suddenly change; they occur Read More »

• 0 Comments

By:  John Browne Senior Market Strategist, Euro Pacific Capital, Inc.

At long last, a good portion of mainstream economists now concede that a ‘double dip’ recession is in the cards for the United States. To head off the pain, sixteen top economists addressed an open letter to the President urging him to “stimulate” the economy with a massive new round of government spending. We feel this is a recipe for driving a recession Read More »

• 2 Comments

From:   www.endoftheamericandream.com

U.S. banks are being shut down by federal regulators at a staggering pace this year, and yet most Americans seem completely oblivious to it. In fact, federal officials have already shut down 103 U.S. banks this year, which is more than double the number that were shut down at this time last year. So why aren’t more people upset about this? Well, part of the reason is because the Read More »

• 0 Comments

By Robert Barone for Minyanville

Without such growth, equity markets cannot help but languish as they have for the past 10 years — at least until consumer balance sheets have healed.

It took 20 years of over-consumption and living beyond their incomes for Americans to get to their current economic state; the elected officials in Washington, DC, continue to hunt for a quick fix, one that just doesn’t exist. Meanwhile, the economy keeps on Read More »

• 6 Comments

“Get ready for a smaller paycheck.”

“At least that’s what could happen if Congress doesn’t approve President Obama’s proposal to extend the Making Work Pay tax credit soon.”

This tax increase, projected to affect more than 75% of American households, has clearly been overlooked by most of the mainstream media. Yet, “under the Making Work Pay credit, taxpayers who make $75,000 or less are eligible to receive the full credit, while higher earners can Read More »

• 0 Comments

By Lorimer Wilson

The past several quarters of improving real GDP may be nothing more than an interlude in a more sustained economic downturn with further negative quarters still ahead. Such an outcome will suppress inflation further and quite possibly lead to deflation.

Lorimer Wilson, editor of www.FinancialArticleSummariesToday.com, provides below further reformatted and edited [..] excerpts from Van R. Hoisington and Lacy H. Hunt’s (www.hoisingtonmgt.com) quarterly report for the sake of clarity and brevity Read More »

• 0 Comments