The entire sequence of monetary policy since 2007 has been one in which the Fed has blundered repeatedly but picks itself up just in time to blunder again. The Fed was slow to recognize the gravity of the financial crisis in 2007 and 2008. QE1 was needed for liquidity reasons, but the Fed bungled the
A new gold rush has begun. It’s not a rush for large discoveries of gold in the ground; that’s always underway. The new rush is for stock in gold mining companies as a way to expand control of gold reserves and improve the stock price through economies of scale. As this article reports, Barrick Gold, the
When Trump launched his trade war in January 2018, the elites were apoplectic. They lectured Trump on the benefits of “free trade” and “comparative advantage” and how trade made everyone “better off.” Never mind that the elite theory of free trade is badly flawed. There is no free trade because of tariffs, nontariff barriers, government
The March 1 “deadline” for resolving trade disputes with China has come and gone. Trump called off the threat of higher tariffs scheduled to be imposed that day if China did not reach a comprehensive trade deal with the U.S., including more Chinese purchases of U.S. goods and verifiable progress on protection of U.S. intellectual
Convenience is not always a benefit; sometimes you pay a very high price for it without even knowing. So-called “digital assistants” such as Amazon’s “Alexa” and Google Home are all the rage. You leave them on in your kitchen or den, where they are online 24/7. Using voice recognition, they can turn music on and
We’ve been warning about presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s threats to raise income taxes to 70% and to confiscate your savings in the form of a “wealth tax.” No sooner do we issue one warning then Warren comes up with another idea that will be financed by taking even more of your wealth and income.
”Really POWERFUL interview! EVERYONE should listen to this!” – Edward Fietz
Gold has had a nice run lately, trading around $1,325 per ounce as of this writing after briefly trading up to the $1,340 per ounce level last week. This has been an impressive rally off a base of $1,185 per ounce as recently as last fall. The recent gold rally dynamics are captured in this article.
No doubt most Americans are somewhat familiar with Donald Trump’s fight with Congress over funding for a border wall. Over the course of December and January, Trump shut down the government because Congress refused to pass spending bills that included funds to build a wall along the Mexican border. The shutdown did not produce results
We’ve written numerous times about the likelihood of a Chinese credit crisis and the risks of contagion from such a crisis in China and the global economy. Despite long-standing concerns, this is an issue that simply won’t go away. China has repeatedly turned to more debt, lower interest rates, currency devaluation and other cheap tricks of
