Inflation and interest rates are pretty much the main headlines these days (when the administration can’t distract us with threats from the “Ultra-MAGA” folks or the war in Ukraine). We’ve been talking about these topics at some length in your last couple letters. Let’s recap… The government actually helps create inflation by continued, massive deficit …
Jay Powell is now the current “inflation hawk-in-chief” at the FOMC. Except for one thing… He’s not really. I’ve said it again and again, the Fed is out of their league when it comes to the inflation we’re facing today. Primarily because this is the first time in over 40 years that the Fed will …
It wasn’t so long ago that the word “trillion” was thought of as something like a “zillion.” It was of course, a real number… but it was so far out there, it was almost imaginary — used more for describing the distance between stars in the galaxy rather than zeros on a government check. But like the …
There is an adage known as Hanlon’s Razor. It states: “Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.” If we’re being kind, you might say it was coined specifically to describe the government. Because nearly everything the government does usually results in massively stupid, unintended consequences. For thirty years the government …
If you think the liar loans that were combined with the explosive adjustable rate mortgages back in the early 2000s — the deals that drove millions into poverty, losing their homes and life savings — were bad… You ain’t seen nothing yet! Witness the amazing bankrupting power of the federal government on its own unsuspecting …
Welcome to the Government’s Lifetime Debt Program Read More »
Europe is facing a potentially fatal self-inflicted energy wound… The US is teetering on the brink of a deep recession… And the only one who seems oblivious to it all is the guy who started all the trouble, Vladimir Putin. It’s a cliff-hanger to rival any soap opera. But now how does it finally play …
In the March issue of Streetlight Confidential I wrote an article laying out the cost of the moral high ground where energy sanctions on Russia were concerned. For all the condemnation of Russian aggression, the EU has not been willing to cut the Russian energy cord… for obvious reasons. Russia supplies a massive amount of energy …
And now a perennial truth about politics… Nearly everything that looks amazing on a white board, usually ends up being pretty disastrous in practical application. Take the Paris Climate Accord for example… The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 Parties at COP 21 in Paris, …
There’s an investment theory that pretty much trumps any theory by any legendary investment wizard whether it’s Benjamin Graham, Jesse Livermore or even Warren Buffett. It’s known as the “greater fool theory.” It basically says that no asset is too overvalued if someone will pay you more than you paid for it. The theory comes …
This Time It Is Different (And the Fed Won’t be Ready…) Read More »
Food and energy are two costs of living that the government doesn’t much like to acknowledge. They claim the prices in these sectors are too volatile and skew actual inflation numbers. Volatile though they may be, they are two categories consumers pretty much can’t live without. But there’s something else in which shortages could potentially …
