Death of the Petrodollar
The petrodollar has kept the U.S. dollar stronger than it would have been but it appears that Obama is in the process of throwing the petrodollar under the bus.
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Economic Trends
Long-term trends grow from short term trends. We attampt to determine the short term trends and where they are pointing.
U.S. Press Freedom Declines According to Report
For the fourth year in a row, Finland ranked No.1 in press freedom, as ranked in the 2014 World Press Freedom Index compiled by Reporters Without Borders. While Finland set the gold-standard for press freedom, close runners-up for a second-straight year included the Netherlands and Norway.
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You’d Better Hope The U.S. Government Likes What You Do For A Living
It seems like almost daily we are hearing of more and more government encroachment on our freedom and liberty, whether it is the IRS targeting certain groups or NSA evesdropping on private conversations or even passing around “captured” pictures but today we are going to look at the practices of the Department of Justice (DOJ). In this article Leif Simon of “The Offshore Living Letter” takes a look at “Operation Choke Point”.
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QE Ending Or Just Getting Started?
While the Federal Reserve has laid out specific plans to end their quantitative easing (QE) program, a new season of QE may be getting ready to kick-off across the pond. From Reuters:
The euro fell broadly on Wednesday, hitting a 19-month low against the Swiss franc, as speculation that the European Central Bank (ECB) will resort to quantitative easing was fueled by yet more bad news from the eurozone…ECB chief Mario Draghi fueled speculation that monetary policy would be further loosened in the eurozone over the weekend by saying the central bank would use “all the available instruments” to deal with the threat of deflation at the U.S. Federal Reserve’s annual conference in Jackson Hole. Developments on Wednesday only worsened the picture for the eurozone: data showed German consumer morale fell for the first time in 1-1/2 years, while Italy’s economy minister said the country must cut its growth forecast.
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Argentina Coming Apart at the Seams… Again
As you’ve probably heard Argentina has defaulted on it’s Sovereign debt. This is the second time in 12 years that Argentina is defaulting. Of course the Kirchner Government is trying to blame the U.S. for their troubles by saying that it is our fault…
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GNP vs. GDP
Once upon a time, Gross National Product (GNP) meant the goods and services that a country produced. But as our economy shifted more toward government and away from the free market, more of the total economy came under the control of the government. So the government changed the definition.
Will Putin Lose His Eastern European Energy Gamble?
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he doesn’t think the European community can do without the natural gas it gets from energy monopoly Gazprom. With a Russian economy starting to decline, however, it may be Gazprom that’s too strongly interconnected to the European market to break free. The narrative over European energy security reaches at least
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Investors: Do You Know How We Got Here…
And Where We are Going? Policy Makers- Blowing Bubbles Again Many hard-working Americans are scratching their collective heads about the following questions: Why have stocks performed in a manner that seems to be out of step with the relatively slow pace of economic expansion? Why has the economic recovery failed to gain traction, even though
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How is the Middle Class in the U.S. Doing? (Infographic)
In the United States we consider a family with a household income of less than $100,000 to be “Middle Class”. But how well are families really doing? Let’s look at middle class income, net worth, taxes, etc since the recession of 2008. According to the 2010 census, the median household income was $51,371. Which means that half the households earn more and half earn less.
If we break the population up into 5 segments of 20% each we can get a closer look at how the population as a whole is doing. Based on the $100,000 definition, the “middle class” probably comprises segments 3 and 4 of the total population. Households in the top 20% earned about $239,100 per household and those in the bottom 20% earned about $24,100 before taxes. But that doesn’t tell the whole story…
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Separatist Forces Growing in Europe
Throughout Europe regions that were once independent are seeking to shed the shackles of their non-productive neighbors. Those areas that feel they are paying more in taxes than they are receiving in benefits are looking to their historical roots and dreaming of independence. Among them are Scotland, Catalan, Spain and Venice, Italy.
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