By Jack Kneafsey
That’s the title of a very important article from today’s Economist, the subject of which is hardly ever discussed or written about, until after the damage has already occurred. Usually, the mainstream media and the local papers will eventually run articles about various groups and individuals, who have lost their life-savings or a large part of their savings to investment frauds or scams.
I’ve long felt that an above average number Read More »
By Charles Hugh Smith
The widening divide between the Upper Caste and everyone below is not just of income and wealth–it is also cultural and values-based.
A recent Wall Street Journal article entitled The New American Divide by demographer Charles Murray described a widening cultural divide between the “haves” (the upper middle class, roughly the top 20% managerial/creative class) and the “have-nots,” what many would call the lower middle class and Read More »
EDITOR’S COMMENT: Here is a rather contrarian thought-process by Alan Caruba on whether President Obama really wants to win another term in November. While all outward signs strongly indicate that Obama and his political machine are gearing up for a major effort this year, Caruba has some interesting comments and facts, the sum total of which leads to his conclusion. Accurate or not, his thinking makes for an interesting read!
By Alan Caruba
It Read More »
Whoops!…Oh dear!…It looks like Ben fell off the wagon again!
Such a shame. He had been doing so well ever since he put that bottle of “Old Q.E.” back on the shelf last June… and got sober. But a few weeks back, he tripped up on his 12-step program and started nipping at the bottle again. Slowly at first… then to excess.
Yes, it’s true, dear reader, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, Read More »
The Fed just spoke. Here’s a slightly edited transcript:
Blah blah blah … the economy has been expanding moderately … blah blah blah boilerplate inanity blatant lie … the Committee seeks to foster maximum employment and price stability ….
To support a stronger economic recovery and to help ensure that inflation, over time, is at levels consistent with the dual mandate, the Committee expects to maintain a highly accommodative stance for monetary Read More »
By Peter Morici
Preliminary estimates indicate GDP growth was a disappointing 2.8 percent in the fourth quarter—analysts had expected 3.2 percent.
A huge jump in inventories accounted for 65 percent of all growth, indicating perilous overstocking. Consumers are expected to pull back a bit in the first quarter owing to mounting credit card debt.
Over stocking in the fourth quarter plus slower consumer spending, indicate growth will likely be less than 2 percent in Read More »
EDITOR’S COMMENT: Here is another meaningful article from Doug Casey, in which he takes an objective, mostly unbiased, analysis of how our government functions financially. Or, should I say doesn’t function? After mentioning that our government has become too large and unmanageable, the only real solution he sees is to basically abolish some of its functions, as he doesn’t believe the current trend towards spending can be turned around.
Unfortunately, he concludes that Read More »
By Peter Morici
In his State of the Union Address, President Obama hammered on two resounding themes—fairness and the economy.
Both hollow from a president who has failed on the job. He has not kept his promise to get the economy going again, and inequities in income and opportunities have hardened during his tenure. Scratch the surface of his largely reworked proposals, and too much political opportunism and hypocrisy emerges.
Once again, he promised to Read More »
EDITOR’S COMMENT: Here are some rather informative comments from The Dollar Vigilante about what is currently taking place in parts of Italy. As usual, most of this is being ignored by our mainstream media, but we thought YOU would like to know ahead-of-time.
By Jeff Berwick
[Editor's Note: The following is from TDV's Correspondent in Italy, Alexander Jousse]
This past week has been a very turbulent time for Italy. And it wasn’t just the grounding Read More »
EDITOR’S COMMENT: I thought these comments were especially timely, since the Federal Reserve announced earlier today that it was pledging to keep interest rates low through the end of 2014, an extremely long period of time. Additionally, the Fed said that it is “prepared to provide further monetary accommodation if employment is not making sufficient progress towards our assessment of its maximum level, or if inflation shows signs of moving Read More »
