Economics

Has military Keynesianism come to an end?

"There are few better ways of appreciating how the Republican Party has transformed in the last two years from a party of defense hawks to a party of deficit hawks than tracking how the sequester has turned from a threat to the nation’s defenses to an unparalleled opportunity to bring the government to heel. The whole panoply of vested interests surrounding defense that has ensured that federal spending on guarding our shores and keeping tyranny at bay has, since Eisenhower, become the main Keynesian engine of economic growth. Does the hushed response to this most profound assault upon defense spending mean the end of Keynesian militarism?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHas military Keynesianism come to an end?

Americans Are War Weary … And The Neocons Don’t Like It

"Americans may not know what's going on 'over there' or even know where 'over there' is on a map. But they do know that it's very expensive. Americans also know that the U.S. economy is a total disaster. CNBC can wave their pom-poms about a rising stock market, and the CPI can say 2% until the end of time. But the truth cannot be hidden. When Americans look at the unemployment surrounding them and the relentlessly rising bills hitting the mailbox, it doesn't cut it that the propaganda machine tells them it's only an illusion. The steel-tight system that the warmongers have crafted is eating itself alive." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAmericans Are War Weary … And The Neocons Don’t Like It

Junk Bonds Soar in Price as Investors Seek Higher Rates

"Junk bonds are high-risk bonds. They are rated CCC — barely above default status. They pay higher interest rates because there is risk of default. You may not get your money back. The rush to buy junk bonds indicates desperation on the part of investors to get something like a decent return on their money. But to get less than 6%, an investor must put his money at risk — high risk. Investors are saying that they trust Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve. They are saying that the FED can create $1 trillion in fiat money from now on, and prices will not rise -- long-term rates will not rise -- the economy will recover." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJunk Bonds Soar in Price as Investors Seek Higher Rates

Report: Obama officials issued $216 billion in regulations last year

"The Obama administration issued $236 billion worth of new regulations last year, according to a report from a conservative think tank. The analysis from the American Action Forum, led by former Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin, found that the administration added $216 billion in rules and more than $20 billion in regulatory proposals in 2012. Complying with those rules will require an additional 87 million hours of paperwork, the report said. The group put the total price tag from regulations during Obama’s first term at more than $518 billion." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingReport: Obama officials issued $216 billion in regulations last year

Stop Fooling Ourselves: Americans Can’t Afford the Future

"Simply continuing along the status quo is a vote for digging ourselves deeper as the constraints of the future arrive. Behavior change is necessary in order to improve our chances. At the core of the needed change is redefining prosperity. In modern society, it has largely come to be defined by material possessions, usually assuming that the more (and the more expensive), the better. In the future, we'd do much better to define it by: our health (both physical and emotional), our purpose, our ability to meet our needs sustainably, our relationships, our level of happiness. In sum, all things that were once valued much higher in our culture." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingStop Fooling Ourselves: Americans Can’t Afford the Future

Official Inflation Measure Shows Strongest Climb in More Than Three Years

"U.S. consumer prices rose 0.7% in February for the largest gain since June 2009. Gasoline prices rose 9.1%, also making the largest jump since June 2009. The indexes for electricity, natural gas, and fuel oil also increased, leading to a 5.4 percent rise in the energy index. Among major grocery store food group indexes, the fruits and vegetables index rose 1.4 percent, with both the fresh fruits and fresh vegetables indexes increasing 1.8 percent. The index for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs also rose in February, increasing 0.5 percent." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOfficial Inflation Measure Shows Strongest Climb in More Than Three Years

Debt addiction, USA: How much debt reduction has the crisis caused?

"The trend of ever-rising overall debt has thus continued. The deleveraging in the household and financial sector has, however, resulted in a reduced pace of debt accumulation overall, despite heavy borrowing from the federal government. In 2010, for the first time since 1992, the economy has grown faster than total debt, and this has continued in 2011 and in 2012, if at a slowing pace. Consequently, total debt stands at 359% of GDP today, slightly down from its peak of 381% in 2009. At 359% debt-to-GDP is back to where it was at in early 2007. Again, not much deleveraging has occurred in total." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingDebt addiction, USA: How much debt reduction has the crisis caused?

Not Your Father’s Stock Market Anymore

"Unfortunately, we live in a world where the majority of investors are granting far too much credit to the market data they are being fed. They are making decisions based on faulty premises. They often do not even understand the basics of monetary expansion and how that affects purchasing power. The most important issue, however, is that the powerful artificial forces affecting stock markets cannot hold free-market adjustments at bay forever. That is why it is important to select stocks based not just on 'mainstream' indicators of performance and industry leadership but also on the business cycle, apparent monetary stimulation and other outside forces." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNot Your Father’s Stock Market Anymore

Land prices rising even after year of record drought

"American farmers may have suffered an historic drought last year, but the price of their land is skyrocketing. In Iowa, the land prices jumped 24% in 2012 and and have gained 63% over the last three years, according to a study by Iowa State University. Last year, farmers recovered some $14.7 billion in insurance payments for crop damage, a record sum. US government forecasters expect overall farming income to gain 14 percent this year. 'Farmers have cash on hand and with low interest rates, the best place to make investments is to buy more land that they can farm to be more profitable in their operation,' said Lyle Hansen, a real estate agent." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLand prices rising even after year of record drought

Nigel Farage: Eurozone completely incompatible with nation-state democracy

"There has been a major political event since we last met and no one has mentioned it. Italy had an election. And 55% of the electorate voted for Eurosceptic political parties, indeed Mr Grillo's movement managed to get 26%. It is quite tough in European politics these days to tell who the comedians are. And what is absolutely clear is that Eurozone membership is completely incompatible with nation-state democracy. You can do what you like to take away the powers of national parliaments but people will go on voting, and there is a trend developing right across Europe; the Eurosceptic parties are going to get stronger and stronger." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNigel Farage: Eurozone completely incompatible with nation-state democracy