Finally, statistics regarding the changes in net worth have made the mainstream media. These statistics, as reported in the NY Times, are horrific, as are the implications for the future of the country. Net worth may be the best single measure of a country’s well-being. Median net worth is a reasonable marker for the standard of living. Medians (or averages) are not good measures to capture what [...]
economy
Economic Laws Are Not Optional
Economic Laws Economic laws are not optional. They are like the laws of physics — inexorable! Economic laws are less precise in terms of their timing and effects, only because they deal with human behavior rather than physical particles. Human beings alter their behavior to cope with changing conditions. Particles do not. Free will and the survival instinct make prediction, especially regarding [...]
Financial Markets — Rated “R”
Financial markets are complex in normal times. When government is actively supporting them, they only become more so and more dangerous. If today’s financial markets were rated like movies, they would be rated “R” (perhaps, “X”). Whether the “R” stands for risky or restricted is immaterial. These markets are not for the naive or unseasoned investor. Traditional metrics no longer [...]
Why You Feel Poorer
You feel poorer because you are poorer. In the last fourteen years, has your income increased over 50%? If you think it has, has it done so after taxes? Even if it has, you likely have not kept up in terms of inflation. If you are a retiree, living on fixed income, a pension or bonds, you certainly have become poorer. If [...]
America’s Future
It is easy to describe why a nation dies from an economic standpoint, although that requires following a complex chain of reasoning. Most people learn and understand from experience and dismiss such argument as “theory.” That is why a video like the this one is invaluable. Most people, no matter how dull, can understand something they can see or touch. [...]
Killing The Golden Goose
First quarter GDP results, announced yesterday, declined 2.9%. Is that a sign that we are killing the golden goose? Whether it signals death or not, it certainly indicates something is very wrong. This number comes on top of the pretense of an economic recovery, one which allegedly has taken five years as opposed to a more typical five months to develop. Killing The [...]
The New Crash Course
Long-time readers of this site know my respect for Chris Martenson and his Crash Course. Several years ago I recommended readers view his Crash Course, an interesting, simple presentation explaining why our current path is unsustainable. I used this video as an integral part of a course I was then teaching on the 2007 collapse. Matters have not improved since then and Mr. Martenson [...]
How A Country Dies
A country dies slowly. Those living during the decline of Rome were likely unaware that anything was happening. The decline took over a couple of hundred years. Anyone living during the decline only saw a small part of what was happening and likely never noticed it as anything other than ordinary. Countries don’t have genetically determined life spans. Nor do they die quickly, [...]
Death Rattle of a Country
What Is A Death Rattle? Wikipedia defines a death rattle as the sound often heard before death: A death rattle, known clinically as terminal respiratory secretions or simply terminal secretions,[1] is a sound often produced by someone who is near death when fluids such as saliva and bronchial secretions accumulate in the throat and upper chest.[2] Economies do not utter sounds in any stage of existence. But the health [...]
Kyle Bass Provides His View of What Is Ahead
Kyle Bass is an outstanding analyst of economic and investment conditions. His track record is as good as anyone’s in terms of staying ahead of events. For anybody who is an investor or concerned about the economic future, watch this video. Mr. Bass is one of the few people I would pay to listen to. We live in interesting times [...]
Ludwig von Mises (1880 – 1973)
Ludwig von Mises was one of the great thinkers of the Twentieth Century. Many people think of him as an economist, even an eccentric one. Mises, however, was more broadly educated than the field of economics would suggest. He was an economist, historian, philosopher, friend of freedom, epistemologist and learned in many areas. He was the opposite of a dilletante; he was a [...]
Darkness is a Process and So Is Impoverishment
Darkness is a process. Light departs slowly. At first, the process is almost imperceptible. Then the darkness becomes noticeable and the process seems to accelerate. Economies and countries move from light to darkness in similar fashion. It is a slow process until it becomes noticeable. The descent into darkness results from government and its policies. The descent will continue so long as government continues to pursue wrongheaded policies. [...]