By Les Dunaway
The long expected housing double dip has happened. Diana Olick, Reality Check, reports that March 2011 numbers are lower than the March 2009 trough. In a second piece she discusses reasons for the dip. Unfortunately, her analysis has since been damaged by today’s unemployment report. In her 23 March 2011 analysis she states “The pros are that the job market is slowly recovering. Jobs are key to … Read more...
By Les Dunaway
Well, this has been an interesting week and not all bad. The world got to see Ben Bernanke admit, live and in color, that his Fed can’t do much about unemployment and then tell us the inflation that’s hurting every American family “won’t last long”. It would have been interesting to understand the logic that led him to that conclusion.
Larry Kudlow “Gold Slams Bernanke” … Read more...
By Les Dunaway
This April 18th, 2011 will be one of those dates hated by school kids – because it will be part of the dreaded “essay question”. It’s still to be seen what the essay will describe – the beginning of America’s slide into oblivion or the beginning of her heroic escape from the yawning abyss of Euro-socialism.
One essay tied to 18 Apr 2011 can be written now … Read more...
By Les Dunaway
In a move surprising only those who believe demagoguery is a substitute for economics, the Standard & Poor Ratings Services downgraded its outlook on the US to “Negative” from “Stable”. This is the first step toward a downgrade of the US credit rating from AAA, which would increase borrowing costs and hasten America’s spiral into economic ruin.
“More than two … Read more...
By Les Dunaway
On Tuesday, either the PC-censor was out sick or there’s a new kid who’s not yet trained – either way a piece was published that is worthy of attention
“Inflation Actually Near 10% Using Older Measure“.
What “older measure” you might ask. Well, the older measure based on actual arithmetic rather than “Hedonic Adjustments” .
The Bureau of Labor Statistics describes the process … Read more...
By Les Dunaway
We’ve heard lots about America’s debt in the past weeks – unless you watch the 6 o’clock news, then all you’ve heard about is shootings and wrecks. Some commentators would have you believe that debt is bad. No, debt is not bad. Debt is a business tool. Arguably, the most important business tool. Look around, every thing you see – buildings, roads, hospitals, …. were built … Read more...
By Les Dunaway
With our non-royalty political structure, the term sovereign is not a household word. It is one with which we need to become familiar. The term refers to governments, as in sovereign debt, sovereign default, sovereign bankruptcy and (less frequently) sovereign fiscal responsibility. The following press release tells of an important scholarly work on understanding this critical set of issues:
WASHINGTON, March 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Today, the … Read more...
By Les Dunaway
In “The States – America’s PIIGS? ” we talked about the debt / spending problems that various US states and cities face. An insightful look at the underlying cause is found in “What’s Your State’s Deadweight Ratio?” by William Baldwin in the Mar 16, 2011 Forbes.
Mr Baldwin writes
“The structural problem is that government has too many mouths to feed. It’s possible to … Read more...
By Les Dunaway
Have you ever had storm damage to your house? If so, your homeowners insurance probably covered most of it but some of it came out of your pocket (or your plastic 😉 What if the plastic was maxed-out? Wow! Maybe that blue tarp needs to stay on the roof for a while? Well, Japan just had some damage and their plastic is waaaaay maxed-out. What does their … Read more...
By Les Dunaway
This week’s column is a commentary, with references, on the “chalk talk” that Paul Ryan (R-WI) Chairman House Budget Committee has been presenting to House Republicans to reach a clear understanding of the crisis our country faces. The presentation does not propose solutions, it is only intended to reach understanding of the problem. Below is the description of the sessions from Politico – Mar 6, 2011, pasted … Read more...
by Les Dunaway
World markets took a hit today with Moody’s downgrade of Spain’s credit rating. This cut followed similar cuts of Greece (on Monday “to B1 from Ba1 with a negative outlook”) and Turkey(last May). The “negative outlook” comment means “we think it will go down more”.
The usual comments came from came from the people responsible for the problems in Greece, … Read more...
By Tom Kiser
Obscure and hidden away and apparently indirect though their effects may be at times, the laws of nature are and always will be the primary controlling principles by which we make a living and by which our lives will be governed.
… Read more...