Analysis Topic: Economic Trends Analysis
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.Monday, January 25, 2010
China Economy, The Watched Pot… / Economics / China Economy
Doubt that growth of the new creditor economies is the real driver for the metals market is waning ever more rapidly. Not everyone will view that as a good thing, but most will now look to China for the moment and to the other big areas of expansion in due course for cues on which direction the sector will take. That, and recognition of very real supply constraints, has been the HRA stance for most of this century. So it’s time for us to do the worrying.
Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, January 25, 2010
U.S. Government On Its Way to Bankruptcy Part1 / Economics / US Debt
The U.S. government is quite literally out of control.
I’m not talking about a government which shows an almost total disregard for the U.S. Constitution. I’m not talking about elitist politicians in Congress who think they know what’s best for you, who think it’s their job to take care of you from cradle to grave, whether you like it or not. I’m not even talking about an administration whose policies sometimes appear to have more in common with the command and control societies of Benito Mussolini or Karl Marx than they do with the freedom loving societies of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.
Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, January 25, 2010
Will the Velocity of Money Save the U.S. Economy? / Economics / Money Supply
Before we get started, let's get the forecast update out of the way. With the release of November business inventories data, we have revised up significantly our real GDP annualized growth rate for Q4:2009 - from last month's projection of 3.5% to 4.5%. Again, it is a sharp slowing in the rate of inventory liquidation that is driving this upward revision. Our projection of the annualized growth rate for final sales in Q4:2009 is 1.6%, just one tick above Q3's reported growth. So, the anticipated surge in top-line fourth-quarter growth is largely an inventory story. Unless, however, final demand begins to grow faster, the inventory story of the last year's fourth quarter will be a one-off event.
Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, January 25, 2010
Global Economies Debt Crisis, Japan Heading for Currency Crisis / Economics / Global Debt Crisis
A lot has been written in recent months about the exploding U.S. Treasury debt and how the U.S. dollar will surely suffer as a result of it. And, there is no doubt that the debt has exploded and is projected to continue rising at a relatively rapid rate for as far as the eye can see. The relatively rapid projected increase in U.S. Treasury debt 10 years out is primarily due to the large number of baby-boomers becoming Medicare recipients and the projections of rising Medicare costs per baby-boomer.
Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, January 25, 2010
Are We In An Economic Depression? / Economics / Great Depression II
Few professionals are yet willing to admit we have been in a depression for the last year.
You have to understand the position that economists and analysts are in. They work for corporations, insurance, Wall Street, banking and government and if they thought we were in a depression and they publicly announced that all chances for advancement would be lost or they would be squeezed out of the firm or simply fired.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Economic Stagnation, Wars, Pandemics, Welcome to the The New Dark Age / Economics / Great Depression II
Modern humans take pride in themselves and their society due to its perceived superiority. It is contrasted most starkly with a period in Europe known as the Dark Ages , a period of little documented innovation, writing, scientific discovery, and general backwardness.Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, January 24, 2010
China Production Capacity Bumps! / Economics / China Economy
Chinese economy soared 10.7% in the fourth quarter, leaving shell shocked analysts in a state of complete disbelief. Chanos even called for a contrarian bet on China. The growth has been very strongly supported by China’s aggressive stimulus spend which have been well observed through Bank lending.
Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, January 24, 2010
A "Fly On The Wall" Is Bullish On China, The Mother of All Economic Expansions / Economics / China Economy
Stop listening to the bubble doomsayers and pay attention to the realities of why China’s expansion will continue for many years. My observations as a fly on the wall are a collective reflection of what I and other foreign businesspeople living here for five to ten years have experienced.
Read full article... Read full article...
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Russia's Large Shadow Economy Makes Economic Forecasting Difficult / Economics / Russia
One-fifth of the Russian economy is shadowed, the Russian Statistics Agency (Rosstat) said. The actual volume of the Russian economy is unknown, which makes economic forecasts for the country difficult. The shadow started growing at the end of 2008 when the economic crisis hit Russia. However, there were no massive moves towards the shadow zone in the Russian economy, experts believe.
Read full article... Read full article...
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Morality and Economics, A Critical Review of Joseph E. Stiglitz's Writings / Economics / Economic Theory
Joseph Eugene Stiglitz is an American economist and a professor at Columbia University who received the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics in 2001 and the John Bates Clark Medal in 1979. He is one of the most frequently cited economists in the world and has served as a Senior Vice President and Chief Economist of the World Bank. He has been critical of the management of globalization, free-market economists, and the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. He is the founder of the Initiative for Policy Dialogue, a think tank on international development based at Columbia University.
Read full article... Read full article...
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Bernanke's Federal Reserve System Doom Loop / Economics / Central Banks
Two Bank of England economists have written one of the most perceptive and forthright papers in the history of central banking: "Banking on the State." Compared with any of the dozens of deadly dull, equation-filled, narrowly focused, recommendation-avoiding, career-enhancing, résumé-padding, utterly useless academic exercises published in the dozen regional Federal Reserve bank journals every month, this paper stands out like a diamond in an immense dung hill.
Read full article... Read full article...
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Marc Faber, Debt Crisis Downgrade Risks Means Were All Doomed! / Economics / Global Debt Crisis
"When you look at the US… it's a total disaster, we're all doomed, we're doomed!" Marc Faber, author of the "Gloom, Doom and Boom Report," told CNBC Friday. Faber and Anthony Thomas from Moody's discuss the global economic outlook.
Read full article... Read full article...
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Global Economies Debt Crisis End Game Trend Towards Bankruptcy / Economics / Global Debt Crisis
Thoughts on the End Game
This Time is Different
Quarterly Review and Outlook
When I was at Rice University, so many decades ago, I played a lot of bridge. I was only mediocre, but enjoyed it. We had a professor, Dr. Culbertson, who was a bridge Life Master at an early age. He was single and lived in our college, playing bridge with us almost every night. He was a master of the "end game." He had an uncanny ability to seemingly force his opponents into no-win situations, understanding where the cards had to lie and taking advantage.
Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, January 22, 2010
Los Angeles Heading for Bankruptcy, Mayor Tries to Prevent Bond Market Panic / Economics / US Debt
When a politician says something is "not an option" that generally means it is (or soon will be). Sometimes it means it is all but certain. With that in mind, please consider Mayor Villaraigosa says no bankruptcy for the city.
Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, January 22, 2010
Congress Sacks Samoan Economy / Economics / Recession 2008 - 2010
Like many football fans around the country, I recently tuned into a heavily promoted 60 Minutes segment on the uncanny ability of tiny American Samoa to produce a steady stream of NFL players. Although it was certainly interesting to learn how Pacific island warrior culture translated seamlessly into the disciplines of American football, and how the island's players adapted to the hard-scrabble terrain and poorly funded athletic fields, the most interesting aspect of the piece concerned economics rather than sports.
Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, January 22, 2010
Economic Crash And Crumble 2010 / Economics / Recession 2008 - 2010
ECONOMIC SHOCK
"All you need is $40 oil to bring the economy to a complete standstill. If we have $80 oil we're going to be in the hole," said Adam Sieminski, global oil strategist at Deutsche Bank. (New York Times, 13 Nov 2002)
Friday, January 22, 2010
More Global Warming Scandals Implicate IPCC Climate Scientists / Economics / Climate Change
Only days after the failed Copenhagen Global Warming Summit, yet a new scandal over the scientific accuracy of the UN IPCC 2007 climate report has emerged. Following the major data-manipulation scandals from the UN-tied research center at Britain’s East Anglia University late 2009, the picture emerges of one of the most massive scientific frauds of recent history.
Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, January 22, 2010
British Economy Faces Economic Storm Clouds of Rising Inflation and Credit Downgrades / Economics / UK Economy
Having been among the economic engines of Europe for much of the past decade, it appears as if the British economy has run out of steam. Inflation is rising while bankruptcies and unemployment continue to swell. It is a problem that would have left Lord Keynes' head spinning. In many ways, the responses of the U.S. and U.K. governments to the financial crisis have been very similar. So far, the American advantages in size and reserve currency status have allowed us to avoid the storm-clouds now descending upon Britain. But these advantages only provide a temporary respite. In the meantime, the slow-motion collapse in Britain offers a glimpse of our own future - and a chance to prevent it.
Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, January 21, 2010
China's Leadership Serious About Keeping Inflation Under Control and Economy Booming / Economics / China Economy
I’d laugh if it didn’t make me cry.
I’m talking about the money-printing, bubble-blowing excuse for monetary policy that our last two Federal Reserve Bank Chairmen have followed. By chopping and then keeping interest rates close to zero, Alan Greenspan and Ben Bernanke were responsible for creating the painful real estate and credit crisis that we’re going through.
Read full article... Read full article...
Thursday, January 21, 2010
China Lending Restrictions and Beijing's Predicament / Economics / China Economy
Liu Mingkang, head of the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), said in an interview Jan. 20 that several Chinese banks had been asked to restrain their lending after proving to have inadequate capital reserves. Chinese media reports claimed that new bank loans so far in January have risen to as high as 1 and 1.5 trillion yuan ($146-$220 billion) — approaching or equaling the massive hike in January 2009. As a result, several major Chinese commercial banks (whose names were not given) were given oral commands to stop new lending for the rest of the month.
Read full article... Read full article...