Just as government policies have incentivized farmers and municipalities to waste their precious water resources, government borrowing and spending is draining our capital and distorting the structures of production in the economy. What we see now cannot be sustained much longer.
The Fed Is Draining Our Economy Like Farmers Have Drained Their Aquifers Read More »
Despite elevated inflation, the United States government is spending more than ever, which means consuming more units of issued currency. Tim Congdon at the Institute of International Monetary Research shows how the inflationary burst was directly linked to broad money growth due to rising government deficit spending. Market participants and economists like to believe that the central bank will manage the economy as if it were a car. The current optimism about the U.S. economy reminds us of the same sentiment in 2007 when no one seemed to worry about rising imbalances.
The Dangerous Myth of a “Soft Landing” Read More »
In the following article Douglas French looks at the shaky Fractional Reserve Banking system that has been around since it was created by the Banking Act of 1933 (aka. the Glass-Steagall Act), which also created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Will Fractional Reserve Banking survive to celebrate its Centennial anniversary? Recent trends in Idaho (of all places) could spell the end of fractional reserve banking (but not the FED).
Is this the End of Fractional Reserve Banking? Read More »
Recently there has been talk about the FED creating a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). A CBDC is similar to a cryptocurrency, except that its value is set by the central bank and equivalent to the country’s fiat currency. Some countries like Venezuela have already tried a National Cryptocurrency in an effort to solve their inflation problem, but since the same guys are pulling the levers, it worked out about as well as you would expect.
Is it Really Paranoid to Worry about a Central Bank Digital Currency? Read More »
There is an old stock market saying that says, “don’t fight the FED” and that turns out to be pretty good advice. The FED can access trillions of dollars to influence the market direction.
Don’t Fight the FED Read More »
We’ve been saying for a while that the FED’s been “behind the curve”. First they said inflation was “transitory” and nothing to worry about (while we said to start worrying). Then they said they would start tightening “later”. And finally it begins, but it should have begun months ago, the inflation “genie” is out of the bottle and the FED is going to have a difficult time getting it back in. In today’s article, Ryan McMaken tells us how the FED’s actions are “too little too late”
The Fed’s New “Tightening” Plan Is Too Little, Too Late Read More »
In anticipation of the September 25-26 Fed meeting, CNBC ran this headline (Sept. 21): “Record High Stocks Face Fed Rate Hike.” implying that the Fed’s interest rate decisions actually affect the stock market. Common wisdom says that “falling interest rates means higher stock prices, while rising interest rates means lower stock prices.” At first blush this might sound logical because rising interest rates makes fixed income investments more attractive because they pay more and have less risk than stocks. So some of the available capital will flow into bonds, etc. thus starving the stock market and putting downward pressure on prices. In this article, Elliott Wave International contends that there is actually no consistent relationship between interest rates and the stock market and they present examples of how the exact opposite of what you would expect has happened.
Do the FED’s Interest Rates Affect the Stock Market? Read More »
The Federal Reserve announced last month that they would start to reduce their $4.5 trillion balance sheet in October, thereby starting the process we call Quantitative Tightening (QT) which could have a significant impact on the Stock and Bond markets.
Bulls, Bears and Fed Bond Purchases Read More »
In the following article Chris Vermeulen of The Gold and Oil Guy, looks at the current trend in Mortgage Delinquencies in an effort to determine whether the market is still bullish. He also looks at FED actions and how they affect the markets. According to Wikipedia the Federal Funds Rate is, “the interest rate at which depository institutions (banks and credit unions) lend reserve balances to other depository institutions overnight, on an uncollateralized basis.” ~ Tim McMahon, editor
Mortgage Delinquency Rates Increase Read More »
The FED Thinks it has a “Magic Wand” that can boost the economy and solve all of our country’s problems. But as interest rates near zero… Housing is a major portion of GDP and lower interest rates make housing more affordable, thus boosting the economy but there is an actual limit to how low-interest rates can go and a theoretical limit to how long they can stay at zero.
Yellen’s Wand Is Running Low on Magic Read More »
