The Mainstream Economists (Finally) Realize Bond Vigilantes are Mythical….
It’s interesting to see the mainstream economists now telling everyone how there are no such things as bond vigilantes in the USA (see DeLong and Krugman here). This wasn’t always the case. Krugman...
View ArticleIs the Age of Macro Ending?
Analysts at Bank of America have posted an interestirng prediction for 2013 (via Business Insider): “One of the biggest surprises this year was the bear market in volatility. Massive liquidity programs...
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10 Questions (and Answers) for 2013
I’m doing a pre-emptive Q&A this week covering a macro view of 2013. I generally don’t believe in forecasting a full year out because I think it’s impossible, but that doesn’t mean we can’t...
View ArticleThe Biggest Problem with Modern Macro…
There’s been a lot of ink spilled in recent weeks over the problems (or lack thereof) in modern macroeconomics (see here and here). I’ve expressed my opinion that the state of modern macro is moving...
View ArticleUnderstanding Monetary Realism
I’ve updated the MR “recommended reading” page since I’ve added some notable pieces in the last few months. MR is obviously still a work in progress, but if you’re reading here you’ll probably think I...
View ArticleA Paradigm Shift: The Savings Portfolio
I really liked these quotes from Abnormal Returns which cite a blog post from The Zikomo Letter who riffs off my idea of the “savings portfolio”: The second post at The Zikomo Letter makes a great...
View ArticlePhilip Diehl, Former Head of the US Mint Addresses Confusion Over the...
Philip Diehl, former head of the US Mint and co-author of the platinum coin law comments on the recent confusion and discussions over the use of the platinum coin. This is a must read: I’m the former...
View ArticleLoeb Versus Ackman – Sharks Eating the Sharks….
If you’re not familiar with what’s going on with Herbalife stock these days you’re missing out. I don’t generally pay too much attention to individual stock stuff, but this is shaping up to be one of...
View ArticleSocial Constructs, Self Constraints & Monetary Myths
I really liked this piece by Paul Krugman on money in general. Of particular importance is this paragraph: “For people like me, on the other hand, the economy is a social system, created by and for...
View ArticleBurn This Into Your Brain….
I really like this quote from the NY Fed: “Most commonly used measures of the broad money supply include both currency and certain types of bank deposits, which in effect represent money created by...
View ArticleAll Your Bases and Dead Presidents Are Belong to the Government?
A serious wonk debate has broken out over the trillion dollar coin and its ramifications. As I said 18 months ago when I first discussed the coin here, this idea was never going to come to fruition,...
View ArticleAll Your Dorks Are Belong to This
Paul Krugman has another post up about the difference between money and debt. He raises a relevant question which starts to get to the heart of the real matter at hand: “My concern is that when saying...
View ArticleThe Continual Failure to Understand the Balance Sheet Recession
Ezra Klein and Bill McBride are excited that the government is reducing spending in the next years because he says it’s “real progress on the debt”. He says: “Let’s do some quick math. Start the clock...
View ArticleKeep Banks Out of Macro?
Scott Sumner says we should keep banks out of macro. I Think that’s a very strange comment coming from a monetarist or even any economist. Whether he knows it or not, monetary policy works primarily...
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The Recession Calls Were Wrong
When I started this website I knew pretty quickly what would generate traffic and attention. If you write about things that really scare people, conspiracy theories, Apple and gold you can drive...
View ArticleOn Using Technical Analysis
There’s been a broad discussion in recent weeks about the efficacy of technical analysis in investment strategy (see here & here). I’ve touched on this briefly in the past (see here), but my...
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GDP Declines -0.1% in Q4
I am kind of out of the loop here due to travel so my apologies on such a brief post. As you likely know by now, Q4 GDP fell by -0.1%. A decline in the rate was expected, but worse than analyst...
View ArticleWeekend Reading: There’s More to Life than Happiness
A big part of my work has been influenced by the French philosopher Volney who stated that human beings strive to become happy through becoming better and more virtuous. In Empire of Ruins he wrote...
View ArticleBack in the Saddle….
Sorry for the slowdown at the site. I got interrupted by the rare vacation. Things will be back to normal once I decompress and wake up to the reality that is “work”. But first, some travel...
View ArticleWhy Do People Hate Rising Stock Prices?
There’s a general disdain for rising market prices. Why? Because, the odds are, you aren’t participating in all of the gains. There’s some sad math behind the reality of the stock market and that...
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