Austrian Economics continues to gain in influence despite the ruling elite’s attempts to marginalize it. The latest example was the Wall Street Journal’s recent coverage of Peter Boettke. The Daily Bell deals with the WSJ article in Mises Shakes the World? The consensus seems to be that editors at the Journal [...]

Email received. Not likely from the real Dr. Seuss. Author unknown. I do not like this Uncle Sam, I do not like his health care scam … I do not like these dirty crooks, or how they lie and cook the books. I do not like when Congress steals, I [...]

Cyclic views of history are generally deterministic, simplistic and wrong. The nonsense spouted by Karl Marx is probably the most famous example. History is created by people, not external or mysterious forces. Individual behavior, not some pre-ordained script, creates history. As expressed in Lawrence of Arabia by T. E. Lawrence: [...]

A very well written description by Lew Rockwell of what has happened: Two years ago, the economy was seriously dragged down amidst an amazing banking crisis that spread throughout the world. The illusion created by loose credit — that housing could go up in price forever and we could enjoy [...]

How About This Weather?Math as Taught over the yearsObamaCare explained

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is out of options and luck. Of course, he couldn’t say that at Jackson Hole. Instead, he had to pretend that his magic was still strong and would be used, if necessary. By customizing mixtures of various powders (some apparently never used before), he would produce [...]

This blog consistently emphasizes the importance of microeconomics over macroeconomics. Indeed, I argue that macroeconomics is not economics but rather a part of either history or statistics or some other field. It is merely the summary of past aggregates. In that sense it is both history and statistics. It summarizes [...]

John Williams of ShadowStats concisely summarizes all you need to know in his reaction to the recently revised GDP data: Economic Data Will Get Much Worse. The kindest thing I can say about a stock market that rallies on the “stronger than expected” news that annualized growth in second-quarter GDP [...]

Here is an interesting piece of information about the US housing market: The high-end market, in particular, is under tremendous pressure. In fact, it is becoming non-existent. Guess how many homes prices above $750k managed to sell in July. Answer — zero, nada, rien; and for the second month in [...]

The only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable. John Kenneth Galbraith Claude Rains was “shocked, shocked!” when he learned that there was gambling at Rick’s in the classic film Casablanca. It appears that certain elites in our society are using the Claude Rains’ gambit. The phrase [...]

The recent news puts the Aministration’s “Summer of Recovery” in a perspective that they would prefer you not see before the elections. The reality is that there is no recovery and there will be no recovery with the economic policies of the Obama Administration. History books will reference President Obama [...]

Readers know that I am a big fan of Chris Martenson and his “Crash Course.” Everyone should watch it to understand where we have been, are and likely to go. Chris is in the midst of what some might call a survival series. I think it is more valid to [...]

For those wanting a primer on QE and its effect on the value of currency, I recommend that you read John Hussman’s article. As a teaser, Hussman had this to say about Ludwig von Mises and Ben Bernanke regarding their views on inflation/devaluation: My impression is that Ben Bernanke has [...]

Famous newsletter publisher Richard Russell opines on the market in his letter of August 20.  Emboldening added: It’s simply uncanny to see the stock market (most stocks) falling apart while the media and the government tells us that “things are looking better.” It’s as if the nation is watching a [...]

Robert Ringer describes American’s alternatives as “fight or flight:” Contrary to the “summer of recovery” blather we are being fed on a daily basis, the truth is that the economy is getting worse by the day – and the worst, by far, is yet to come. Economic judgment day may [...]

The following is undoubtedly redundant for regular readers of this blog. However, given the onslaught of propaganda that you are bombarded with every day, it does not hurt to reinforce a message as important as this: The Economy Is Not Recovering. From Financial Armageddon comes this news: You’ve heard what [...]

Paul Craig Roberts describes what may happen to the economy and his solution to preventing it. In recent years, it seems to me that Mr. Roberts has become a bit extreme, if not eccentric. Nevertheless, I believe his scenario for how the downturn plays out is plausible. For those wrestling [...]

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Here is a picture that is worth TRILLIONS of words. The chart shows the incremental GDP related to an additional dollar of debt.  Back in 1966, for example, a new dollar of debt was accompanied by an increase in [...]

David Rosenberg may be the best financial/economic analyst on the North American continent. This video interview with the WSJ is his current view of where the economy is and is heading. Economy Not RecoveringMartenson Rates FedDesperate Economic Action Ahead?

Hat Tip to Phil’s Favorites for the following: Is A Market Crash Coming? The WSJ Ponders… Courtesy of Tyler Durden In a unorthodox piece by the WSJ, which goes direct to discussing some of the less than pleasant possible outcomes of central planning, Brett Arends asks “could Wall Street be about to [...]

Recent articles on socialism and central planning have dealt with the unworkability of either a pure socialist or a “mixed” system. Mises and Hayek provided the theoretical framework as to why neither could work. Virtually all real-world experiments provided the empirical evidence along with human suffering and atrocities. Despite the [...]

One of the earliest to understand what was happening and where it ultimately had to end was Chris Martenson. For those who have not watched his “Crash Course,” I recommend it highly. It can be found on his website. Here is his latest take on markets: Thumbs Down For the [...]

The economic condition of the country continues to decline toward its rendezvous with an, as yet, unknowable catastrophe. Speculation regarding this outcome is natural because self-interest, if not self-preservation, is at stake. Here is but one possibility. It is not a prediction, but a look at a series of not [...]

I have always been an admirer of the work of John Williams of shadowstat.com. He has been ahead of the curve consistently in terms of what was going to happen. His statistical analysis is first-rate and has exposed a lot of tomfoolery in government-issued numbers. When he speaks, it is [...]