money

Paul Craig Roberts: The Missing Recovery

"The recovery exists only in the official measure of real GDP, which is deflated by an understated measure of inflation, and in the U.3 measure of the unemployment rate, which is declining because it does not count discouraged job seekers who have given up looking for a job. No other data series indicates an economic recovery. Neither real retail sales nor housing starts, consumer confidence, payroll employment, or average weekly earnings indicate economic recovery. Neither does the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy. The Fed’s expansive monetary policy of bond purchases to maintain negative real interest rates continues 3.5 years into the recovery." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPaul Craig Roberts: The Missing Recovery

Peter Schiff: The Fed’s Tightening Pipe Dream

"The Fed Chairman has been talking about tightening for some time. In 2010, he said, 'As the expansion matures, the Federal Reserve will need to begin to tighten monetary conditions to prevent the development of inflationary pressures.' Back then, the same mainstream analysts were predicting recovery and a reversal of quantitative easing (QE). Instead, we have subsequently seen QE2, Operation Twist, and now QE3 to eternity. While these mainstream commentators are at best guessing as to why or when the Fed might reverse course, I understand that it is extremely unlikely to do so for the foreseeable future. In fact, I've bet my net worth on it." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPeter Schiff: The Fed’s Tightening Pipe Dream

Swiss to Ban Big Cash Purchases to Curb Money Laundering

"Switzerland is proposing to ban cash payments in excess of 100,000 francs ($107,500), including on watches and real estate, and wants to tighten the due diligence requirements for banks to prevent money laundering. Transactions above that amount will have to be processed through a bank. According to the proposal, banks will also have to undertake thorough checks to ensure funds are tax-compliant and must in the future refuse to accept any funds they believe are not declared. The measures implement recommendations from the Financial Action Task Force, an international organization tasked with co-ordinating the fight against money laundering." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSwiss to Ban Big Cash Purchases to Curb Money Laundering

Red White: Why a Founding Father of Postwar Capitalism Spied for the Soviets

"In the 1930s, internationalists in the U.S. Treasury Department were determined to resolve the flaws in the international economic system once and for all. In the words of Harry Dexter White, a then little-known Treasury official who became the unlikely architect of the Bretton Woods system, it was time to build a 'New Deal for a new world.' Working with his British counterpart, the revolutionary economist John Maynard Keynes, White set out to create the economic foundations for a durable postwar global peace. Despite having never held any official title of importance, White had by 1944 achieved implausibly broad influence over U.S. foreign and economic policy." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRed White: Why a Founding Father of Postwar Capitalism Spied for the Soviets

Epic investor debate featuring faceoff between Peter Schiff and John Mauldin

"An epic debate about the creation and preservation of wealth featuring Rick Rule, Peter Schiff, John Mauldin and Grant Williams. The highlight is a classic faceoff between Peter Schiff and John Mauldin that takes place around 7:30 in and goes on for several minutes and really heats up at 9:30. The debate took place February 24, 2013 at Cambridge House's California Resource Investment Conference in Palm Springs." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEpic investor debate featuring faceoff between Peter Schiff and John Mauldin

Cash airlift helped avert Greek bank run during debt crisis

"Greece's central bank had billions of euros of banknotes shipped in from other central banks to avert a bank run during the country's debt crisis as depositors withdrew their money. Fears the debt-laden country might ditch the euro and return to the drachma led Greeks to pull out billions of euros of savings in the last three years, stashing their cash under mattresses or in safe deposit boxes. To meet the high demand for cash, the Bank of Greece had loads of banknotes secretly airshipped from abroad, feeding it to banks throughout the country to avoid shortages that could have intensified worries and set off a bank run." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCash airlift helped avert Greek bank run during debt crisis

Fed’s Evans: Keep Easing and Economy Will Hit ‘Escape Velocity’ by 2014

"The U.S. economy should emerge from the doldrums next year if the Federal Reserve sticks to its super-easy monetary policies, a top Fed official said on Thursday, even as he warned that cutting back too early would be a 'big mistake.' The Fed is buying $45 billion in Treasuries and $40 billion in mortgage bonds per month, its third round of 'quantitative easing,' and has said it will continue the purchases until it sees substantial improvement in the labor market outlook. 'I don't think we are anywhere near the end of the program,' Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans told reporters after speaking to the CFA Society of Iowa here." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFed’s Evans: Keep Easing and Economy Will Hit ‘Escape Velocity’ by 2014

Japan seen nominating “deflation basher” as BOJ head

"Japan's prime minister is likely to nominate an advocate of aggressive monetary easing - Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda - as the next central bank governor to step up his fight to finally rid the country of deflation. The yen fell on the nomination news to a 33-month low and the yield on five-year government bonds hit a record low as markets moved to factor in bolder monetary policy. Kuroda has long criticized the BOJ as too slow to expand stimulus, and is expected to push for more radical efforts to achieve a 2 percent inflation target set in January." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJapan seen nominating “deflation basher” as BOJ head