Analysis Topic: Economic Trends Analysis
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Is Japan's Economy Heading for Endgame, Nature of Deflation / Economics / Japan Economy
By: Sam_Chee_Kong
Newly elected Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has promised to boost the Japanese economy by unlimited stimulus and increased government intervention in the financial market. The Japanese economy has been bogged down by lucklustre economic growth which can be shown by the following GDP Growth chart from 1993-2013.
Monday, March 18, 2013
Four Truths About the U.S. Economy All Investors Should Know / Economics / US Economy
By: Profit_Confidential
Truth #1: At the beginning of 2008, there were 28.22 million people in the U.S. economy on food stamps. Fast-forward to 2012, and the number has increased to 46.60 million—an increase of more than 65%. (Source: United States Department of Agriculture, March 8, 2013.) The number of Americans now on food stamps represents almost 15% of the entire population in the U.S. economy right now.
Saturday, March 16, 2013
A Long-Term Look at U.S. Inflation / Economics / Inflation
By: PhilStockWorld
Doug Short writes: The March 2012 Consumer Price Index for Urban Consumers (CPI-U) released today puts the February year-over-year inflation rate at 1.98%, about half the 3.92% average since the end of the Second World War.
For a comparison of headline inflation with core inflation, which is based on the CPI excluding food and energy, see this monthly feature.
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Saturday, March 16, 2013
Profitably (& Properly) Understooding Libertarian Economics / Economics / Economic Theory
By: DeepCaster_LLC
Libertarians commendably focus on maximizing Economic Freedom and Individual Liberty. Who, after all, wants not to be economically and politically free?
But there is considerable dispute even among libertarians about what freedom does, or should entail regarding a variety of crucial issues such as “free trade,” immigration, and the proper role of government.
A profitable (and proper) understanding of Freedom is essential to maximizing Individual and Political Freedom, and to Protecting Economic Freedom and thus enhancing Wealth and Prosperity.
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Saturday, March 16, 2013
U.S. Debt-to-GDP Ratio This Year to Surpass Greece’s 2009 “Danger” Level / Economics / US Debt
By: Profit_Confidential
The U.S. Department of the Treasury reported that the U.S. government incurred a deficit of $204 billion for the month of February 2013. So far, we are into the first five months of the government’s fiscal year (started October 1, 2012), and the U.S. government fiscal deficit has already grown by $494 billion. (Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury, March 13, 2013.)
Thursday, March 14, 2013
China Sounds Warning Bell For What’s Coming Our Way / Economics / Inflation
By: Graham_Summers
Let’s wind the clock back to 2008.
The world was thought to be ending. Lehman went bust. Markets were plunging. Everyone was scared that growth was over. It was as though the global economy was grinding to a halt.
But then China’s stock market bottomed. The Chinese Government announced a massive stimulus plan to turn its economy around. And sure enough the Chinese economy took off again.
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Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Can the U.S. Learn From Argentina's Hyper Inflation Economic Chaos? / Economics / Inflation
By: John_Mauldin
(From Cafayate, Argentina) There are some who worry whether the path that Argentina has taken to monetary ruin on multiple occasions (and that it seems intent on taking again) is one that the US may also find itself on. That worry has crossed my mind a few times, I must confess. Today we will look at Argentina more in depth. From a monetary perspective, it deserves attention. And once again there will be opportunity.
Let me jump right to the conclusion: Just as Spain is not Greece, because each chose a unique route to economic malaise, the US is not Argentina. We are perfectly capable of avoiding Argentina’s problems while cooking up ones that are all our own. But there are some worrisome and potentially instructive issues in Argentina.
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Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Four Possible Outcomes to Italy's 5-Star Mess / Economics / Italy
By: Adrian_Ash
Alessandra Pilloni writes: Rome will have a new pope before Italy gets a new government. Good job there's no rush...
ROME has now been without a government since mid-December. Italy's politicians will only start to talk later this week about doing something about last month's failed elections. Barely a month after Benedict XVI resigned, the Catholic world will have a new pope before Italy gets a prime minister. It's lucky there is no rush.
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Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Europe's Miracle Electric Economy, We Don't Need Gas / Economics / European Union
By: Andrew_McKillop
Germany's diplomatic and trade Missions in the US, on their Web site state that the official Energy Concept or Energiewende of 28 September 2010, and subsequent policy decisions through 2011 set a number of binding goals for the nation. As of 2011, but able to be raised afterwards, these goals include at least 35% of gross electricity supply to come from renewables by 2020, a 50% share by 2030, followed by 65% in 2040 and 80% by 2050. Final electricity demand in 2020, relative to 2008, must fall by at least 10%, with national primary energy demand cut by 80% relative to 2008, by 2050.
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Why U.S. Recession 2013 Has Already Begun and What to Do About It / Economics / Recession 2013
By: Money_Morning
David Zeiler writes: Pay no attention to the new market highs or the cheerleading of government officials - recession 2013 is already here.
That's what Lakshman Achuthan, co-founder and chief operations officer for the Economic Cycle Research Institute (ECRI), is saying now.
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Monday, March 11, 2013
Unemployment Down, But February Jobs Report Not All Rosy / Economics / Unemployment
By: Money_Morning
Jeff Uscher writes: The report had some positive news, as the unemployment rate fell to 7.7%, the lowest rate since December 2008.
While the preliminary numbers for February show that 236,000 new jobs were created, exceeding analyst estimates by a wide margin, the figure for January was revised down from 157,000 to 119,000. However, the December number was revised up from 196,000 to 219,000. So for the three months of December 2012-February 2013, the economy has added a total of 574,000 jobs, well above expectations.
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Monday, March 11, 2013
Deflation Coming Soon / Economics / Deflation
By: Andrew_McKillop
HOW FAR CAN THE ECONOMY DEFLATE?
One predictable whine comes from longtime George Soros partner Jim Rogers, who says we are at a "peculiar time in world history". He decries the growing uncertainty, what he calls the recklessness, of "economic recovery action" by global central bankers, and the related action by government policy makers, as world finance markets enter "unchartered waters". These waters have a growing population of sharks, including distressed asset sharks. Their food base is abundant. Distressed assets, penny-on-the-dollar deals are abundant. They are not threatened by imminent reduction - let alone by global warming - bcause the global economy is deflating.
Monday, March 11, 2013
The Relationship Between Money and Prices / Economics / Inflation
By: Alasdair_Macleod
Money printing The quantity theory of money and its accompanying equation of exchange are generally accepted as defining the relationship between money and prices. The equation has been expressed a number of ways, always including “velocity of circulation”, which is a variable essential to balance the equation.
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Saturday, March 09, 2013
The New Limits To Economic Growth / Economics / Economic Theory
By: Andrew_McKillop
HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE
In a recent post Brian Bloom gave a list of reasons why he thinks politicians, worldwide, are spitting in the wind by turning their prayer wheel of "reform and recovery" to "relaunch the economy", which for major sectors like carmaking in Europe are facing an endgame scenario. In the recent high profile spat between the CEO of Titan International, who totally rejected any idea of taking over Goodyear's unprofitable tyre factory in Amiens, and France's minister of Industrial Recovery, Arnaud Montebourg, Titan's CEO said he could buy a tyre factory in either China or India where at most he would need to pay the workers 1 euro per hour: say $250 per month. Nobody in Europe can even eat and buy clothes and shoes to put on their backs and feet, let alone buy a house, electricity and water, a car, cellphone, Internet access and all the rest, for that pay. Starvation wages to "relaunch the economy" !
Saturday, March 09, 2013
Here Is What Investors Need To Realize After The Terrific Jobs Report! / Economics / Employment
By: Sy_Harding
Friday’s employment report confirmed the extent of the economic recovery from the Great Recession of 2008-2009.
We’ve already seen the two main driving forces of the economy, autos and housing, leading the way. U.S. auto sales bottomed in 2009 with only 10.4 million units sold, and have seen impressive growth since to the current annualized pace of 15 million units, almost back to pre-recession levels. Home sales and prices bottomed last year and have been recovering at a surprising pace since.
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Friday, March 08, 2013
China: This Is Your Time! / Economics / China Economy
By: Profit_Confidential
George Leong writes: The time has arrived for China. For the country, this will be a critical moment in its continued development as a global power, with a change at the helm under its new President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang. China is currently facing a potential property bubble, and it’s dealing with stalled growth from the eurozone as well as other key trading partners. (Read “Why Eurozone’s Problems Are Headed for America.”)
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Friday, March 08, 2013
Dow Stock Market High, Is It Really 2007 Again? / Economics / Recession 2013
By: Andy_Sutton
It would be completely remiss to go a week without mentioning that we have indeed discovered time travel here in America. Yes, it is 2007 all over again. That nasty crisis, Fannie, Lehman, AIG, and Merrill never happened. It is all better now. The ‘Great Recession’ is long in the rear view mirror and we can party just like it is…1999? Or maybe 1929? There has to be something going on with all those 9s.
So this week we’ll see if in fact we really have travelled through time and if this is in fact the ‘brave new world’ spoken so unabashedly by the mainstream press and flat-line EEG economic experts. We’ll let the statistics (biases and all) speak for themselves. Is it all glitz and glamour or should we in fact be asking for a refund on TARP, TSLF, QE, and every other alphabet soup government program/entity created to protect us from our own greed and even further, to keep us out of the next mess? If you really think that is going to work, just go find the nearest Greek immigrant and ask them how things are going back in the homeland. If you can’t find a Greek, a Spaniard or Italian will also suffice.
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Friday, March 08, 2013
What to Expect from February U.S. Jobs Report / Economics / Employment
By: Money_Morning
Diane Alter writes: Expect a disappointing jobs report for February thanks to higher taxes and sequestration fears that put companies' hiring plans on hold last month.
Economists expect nonfarm payrolls to show a gain of 160,000 jobs in February, with the unemployment rate holding steady at 7.9%, when the Labor Department releases the February jobs report tomorrow (Friday) at 8:30 a.m.
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Thursday, March 07, 2013
US Recession Began in Mid-2012 / Economics / Recession 2013
By: Bloomberg
Lakshman Achuthan, co-founder of the Economic Cycle Research Institute, told Tom Keene and Sara Eisen on "Bloomberg Surveillance" this morning that a U.S. recession "began around the middle of last year.
Achuthan said, "the entire West is in the yo-yo years. They have all been having growth stair stepping down. It is very weak growth with higher cycle volatility which will give you more frequent recessions."
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Thursday, March 07, 2013
Can Japan's Bernanke Revive Japanese Econcomy With Another Round of "Easy Money"? / Economics / Japan Economy
By: Money_Morning
Keith Fitz-Gerald writes: I think I hear the sounds of helicopter engines warming up in Tokyo.
Newly elected 2nd time Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has officially tapped Haruhiko Kuroda as the next head of the Bank of Japan and the financial markets here seem quite pleased.
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