The big day came and went this past Wednesday. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell stepped up to the mic and officially announced the shift in policy by the all-important Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). They were doubling the rate of their taper — to be finished roughly by March. And then they would be looking …
Any eighth grade economics text book will tell you there are three ways to deal with an overspending problem by the government: Increase taxes. (aka Career suicide for politicians. Cut spending. (Also career suicide for politicians.) Borrow money. (The irresponsible yet painless solution.) Our government has been taking the irresponsible yet painless way out for …
Dealing With the Government’s Deranged Debt Addiction Read More »
We have a winner! In a bit of a nail biter, current heavyweight Fed Chairman Jerome Powell faced off against chairmanship challenger and Fed Board Member Lael Brainard. Chairman Powell has shown himself to be more hawkish when it comes to inflation — or at least more willing to sound like a hawk. (There hasn’t …
Take a look at this chart… That’s the total of the federal public debt… the cumulative amount the government has overspent over the past decades. We were never what you’d call “fiscally responsible” but the explosion in deficits that add to the debt took off during the Reagan administration (sorry… but it’s true) and has never looked …
November 12, 2021 Earlier this week, the markets got some seriously bad news… Consumer prices spiked 6.2% year-over-year to their highest level in more than 30 years. On top of that, producer prices — the prices that drive consumer prices — reinforced the bad news. October continued to show a whopping 8.6% increase from the …
One thing Wall Street will never do is NOT make take your money. Now I may sound cynical, but this is how the markets work these days. Investors are always looking for ways to earn above market returns — and Wall Street is always happy to come up with some creative ways to oblige. (And …
October 22, 2021 You read it in the headlines. You hear about it on the evening news. You see it at the supermarket and the gas pump. It’s top of mind everywhere. Inflation. Nobody likes inflation. It weakens your dollars. It’s a tax on the poor and middle class. It sucks! What could possibly be …
The Other “Flation” You Should Be Thinking About Read More »
Well inflation numbers came out this week… And the results weren’t great, especially if you like your money to count for something. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported that consumer prices rose 0.4% from August to September. That translated to a 5.4% increase from a year ago — the highest increase in over 10 …
Nothing to See Here… An Inside Look at the Fed’s Inflation Lie Read More »
It’s been said before, but I think it bears repeating… that the Federal Reserve is neither Federal… nor does it hold any kind of “reserves” (at least reserves in the traditional sense of the word). So why in the world do they call it the “Federal Reserve” Bank? Because that sounds a helluva lot better than …
This week opened with somewhat of a blood bath with the Dow closing over 600 points lower on Monday. Yet despite all the fireworks, the move was actually less than 2%. The big news that coincided with the sell off was that Chinese real estate developer Evergrande was hurtling headlong into a liquidity crisis and …
