Analysis Topic: Economic Trends Analysis
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
How to Grow Your Investments in an Inflationary Environment / Economics / Inflation
By: Money_and_Markets
Tony Sagami writes: I got my first taste of inflation in 1973, shortly after I got my driver's license.
Gasoline was 25 cents a gallon when I first started driving, and I was busy enjoying the freedom and independence that an automobile gives a teenage boy.
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Monday, February 25, 2008
America Saves Week Feb 24th to March 2nd - Build Wealth Not Debt! / Economics / US Debt
By: Wall_Street_Weather
While paging through the local paper yesterday, I spotted a bank ad touting a 48 month Certificate of Deposit for 3.5% APY. The barely legible print at the bottom of the ad said that the CD requires a $10,000 minimum of new money to the bank. Wow, I bet people will be standing in line for the bank to open this morning.Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, February 25, 2008
US Economic Boom and Busts / Economics / US Economy
By: Gerard_Jackson
The US Economy: Been there before - There are times when in order to find out where we are we need to discover how we got there. And this is certainly the case with economies, and the US economy is no exception. This is why economic lessons are vitally important and why they need to be constantly aired lest the public be led astray by demagogues and economic illiterates. (Think Obama and Hillary Clinton). One of the most important lessons that was largely disregarded in the 1990s is that booms are always followed by busts. (The dishonest US mainstream media's response to this fact is to blame recessions on Republicans and always credit Democrats with the good times).Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, February 24, 2008
US Recession and Mega Profit Opportunities / Economics / Recession
By: Money_and_Markets
The Big Picture - Martin Weiss writes: With so much happening so quickly, I know it's sometimes hard to set aside a quiet time to think.
But this weekend I want the two of us to focus on the big picture ... find some clarity in these confusing times ... and chat about where we're headed from here.
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Saturday, February 23, 2008
US Fed's Up Beat Forecasts on Pessimistic Economic Growth Outlook / Economics / US Economy
By: John_Mauldin
The Muddle Through Fed - Risks to the Downside
- Consumers Gone Wild
- Leaving the Ballpark After All these Years
This week the Fed offered us their forecasts for 2008-10 for the economy, inflation and employment. We will look at some of the details which I think will be of interest. Then we glance at some data on the savings rate which suggests consumer spending may be in for more of a challenge than many think. There is a lot of ground to cover.
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Saturday, February 23, 2008
US Heading for 1970's Style Stagflation? / Economics / Stagflation
By: Paul_L_Kasriel
On Thursday, February 21, articles about the possibility of stagflation occurred in both The New York Times ( That '70s Look: Stagflation ) and The Wall Street Journal ( Fears of Stagflation Return As Price Increases Gain Pace ). Are we about to be subjected to a rerun of "That '70s Show"? Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, February 22, 2008
Inflation: America 's Greatest Export / Economics / US Economy
By: Peter_Schiff
Unfortunately one of the few things still made in America is inflation. In fact, it now ranks as our greatest export.
A significant by-product of the current global economic system, wherein Americans spend money they do not earn to buy foreign products that they do not make, is that trillions of dollars are now parked in foreign banks just looking for somewhere to go.
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Friday, February 22, 2008
Inflation- The Elephant in the Room / Economics / Inflation
By: Money_and_Markets
"The elephant in the room" ... I love that expression. After all, my two little girls enjoy watching the elephants at Lion Country Safari, and they'd love to see 'em show up in the living room.
But right now, the real five-ton elephant in the room is inflation. And no one at the Federal Reserve really seems to want to confront it!
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Thursday, February 21, 2008
US Imports Inflation From China - Use Agri-Foods to Protect Your Wealth! / Economics / Inflation
By: Ned_W_Schmidt
Waving a magic wand and making speeches does not prevent reality from creeping into statistics. Per the FRB-Cleveland, the U.S. inflation trend is as shown in the following table.Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, February 18, 2008
Saving as the Source of Most Spending and the Implications for the 'Economic Stimulus Package' / Economics / US Economy
By: Gerard_Jackson
Standing Keynesian GDP on its head: Saving Not Consumption as the Main Source of Spending - Professor George Reisman writes: According to the prevailing Keynesian dogma, consumption is the main form of spending in the economic system, while saving is mere non-spending and thus a 'leakage' from the spending stream. This dogma underlies much of government economic policy in the United States, including the so-called economic stimulus package that has just been enacted. In this article, I prove, to the contrary, that consumption is not the main form of spending in the economic system and that the source of most spending is, in fact, saving. I prove my claims by starting with the very formulations of the expenditure aggregates presented by the Keynesian doctrine itself.
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Sunday, February 17, 2008
Bernanke's State of the US Economy Speech: "You are all Dead Ducks!" / Economics / US Economy
By: Mike_Whitney
Even veteran Fed-watchers were caught off-guard by Chairman Bernanke's performance before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday. Bernanke was expected to make routine comments on the state of the economy but, instead, delivered a 45 minute sermon detailing the afflictions of the foundering financial system. The Senate chamber was stone-silent throughout. The gravity of the situation is finally beginning to sink in. Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, February 15, 2008
US Recession Debate Turns Toward Inflation / Economics / Stagflation
By: Michael_Pento
The debate over the "R" word has been the focus on Wall St. for months on end. This obsession over whether the degree of the economic slowdown will in fact reach the technical definition of recession (2 consecutive quarters of negative GDP) is unproductive for the average investor. What investors need to know is that while economic growth is clearly weak, inflation is rising and that the current value of the stock market has not priced this in. Meanwhile, the Fed's response to this crisis is causing great harm to investors and could lead to hyperinflation in the long term.Read full article... Read full article...
Friday, February 15, 2008
Economic Stimulus Packages Overdosing Could Ignite Hyperinflation / Economics / Stagflation
By: Peter_Schiff
In perhaps one of biggest ironies to ever to come out of Washington, this week Congress simultaneously pilloried major league baseball players for using artificial stimulants to pump up their performance while passing legislation to do just that to the national economy. Am I the only one laughing?Read full article... Read full article...
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Financial Destiny of United States is in China's Hands / Economics / US Economy
By: Professor_Emeritus
Uncle Sam is Crying "Uncle" - Tertium datur - People tend to think in terms of black-and-white. Many of my correspondents think that either hyperinflation or deflation is in store for the dollar; tertium non datur (no third possibility given). I would say tertium datur . The third possibility is a hybrid of hyperinflation and deflation. I described this scenario in my previous article “Opening the Mint to Gold and Silver”. It is possible, even probable, that we shall witness collapsing world trade and collapsing world employment together with competitive currency devaluations, as the three superpowers compete in trying to corner gold. The lure of gold is very strong. “There is no fever like gold fever” and, contrary to conventional wisdom, governments are especially susceptible. Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, February 11, 2008
Are Interest Rates Driving the Economy into Recession? / Economics / Austrailia
By: Gerard_Jackson
Interest rates are rising and it looks as if the Rudd Government is beginning to panic, a sign of which was Treasurer Wayne Swan's silly threat to banks not to be greedy by raising interest rates. This would be funny if it were not so serious. It is abundantly clear that our Treasurer is at a complete loss to understand what is really happening with interest rates. Unfortunately for Australia the same can be said about our economic pundits.Read full article... Read full article...
Monday, February 11, 2008
The Greatest Danger to the US Economy is the Fed / Economics / US Interest Rates
By: Gerard_Jackson
As I have said a number of times, the real economic problem that confronts the world today -- and that includes the US -- is lousy economics. Bernanke has made it clear that he follows fallacious line that it is the role of central banks to manipulate interest rates. We now have Charles Plosser, Philadelphia Fed President, stating that Bernanke's "aggressive rate cuts" will put the US on a growth trend of about 2.7 per cent by 2009. However, he claims that "if something can tip us into recession, the housing market is the biggest risk". Read full article... Read full article...
Sunday, February 10, 2008
US Recession - Massive Credit Crunch Beating US Government and Fed Flood of Liqudity / Economics / Recession
By: Money_and_Markets
Mike Larson writes: I'm no longer a huge football fan, and I'm not much of a political junkie, either. But this past week's action really got my blood pumping.
The Patriots and Giants slugged things out for four long quarters. Deep passes into the secondary. Crushing sacks in the backfield. Power running and smashmouth blocking. It was a great game up until the bitter end.
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Saturday, February 09, 2008
Flying the Chinese-Made American Flag to Stimulate the US Economy / Economics / US Economy
By: Walter_Brasch
Walking down Main Street, pushing a grocery cart loaded with clothes, toys, and appliances was Marshbaum. Fastened to the right front corner of the cart was an American flag tied onto a three-foot ruler.Read full article... Read full article...
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Credit Crisis is Getting Worse as ISM Services Survey Falls out of Bed / Economics / US Economy
By: John_Mauldin
- Consumers, Credit, and Complications
- Unemployment is Understated
- The Credit Crisis is Simply Getting Worse
- The Falling Knife of Credit Spreads
- Capital Ratios Are Under More and More Pressure
- The ISM Services Survey Simply Falls out of Bed
- Upgrades, Orlando, and a Proud Dad
The evidence continues to mount that the US is in a recession. In this week's letter, we will look at the blind spot in the unemployment statistics, the continuing meltdown in the credit markets, and the simply awful service sector implosion in the ISM data, and then add a few thoughts on the housing market. There is a lot of data to cover, so this week's letter should be particularly interesting. The letter will print longer than normal, since there are lots of graphs.
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Saturday, February 09, 2008
The Great Depression 2008 - It can't happen to us....can it?” / Economics / Great Depression II
By: Andy_Sutton
Webster's defines complacency as “1.satisfaction or contentment 2. smug self-satisfaction” There is probably not a better word to describe the current state of perception with regard to economic and financial malady. I had an interesting conversation the other night about exactly this topic and the individual I was speaking with had an overriding belief that we cannot suffer economically simply because the current generation is not prepared to deal with it. While I certainly agree with the latter assertion, the former continues to baffle me. I am certainly not prepared to deal with a lengthy hospital stay as the result of a horrific car crash, but that alone doesn't cloak me in immunity from having an accident. The reasoning is so broken and flawed, yet it is often all we get in terms of a perception of what is going on. Read full article... Read full article...