Posts Tagged ‘Federal Reserve’
Unintended Consequences – Nothing New Here
In my 2011 book “Economic Consequences,” I examined the notion of unintended consequences. I offered several examples of government actions that may have been taken with good intentions (we can debate that another time) but ended up causing unpleasant, unintended consequences. A couple examples are the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Endangered…
Read MoreAre Air BNB’s Indicating a Real Estate Crash?
I have long held that the current investing environment has been artificial for more than the last decade. Higher stock and real estate prices have been fueled by currency creation and debt accumulation. It now seems we may be close to the reversal I have been forecasting. While I fully expect the Federal…
Read MoreSobering Math and Your Retirement
This week, as I was preparing my radio show and podcast, I was doing some research which led me to do some debt math, and the result was sobering. By way of background, I headed down this research path after discussing the current level of debt that exists in the United States, both at…
Read MoreStagflation and the Fiat Currency End Game
Over the past couple of weeks, we have been discussing the possible consequences of the recent debt ceiling suspension deal. This week, I want to offer you a perspective put forth by Matthew Piepenburg. While I’ll be sharing some of the piece with you, I would encourage you to read the entire commentary – it…
Read MoreBroke Government
With the debt ceiling drama debate now complete, ending as expected with an agreement to continue to operate with monster deficits for the foreseeable future, it’s a good time to discuss how far down the road the collective group of Washington politicians will be able to kick the public debt accumulation can. While…
Read MoreTwo Outcomes – A Reminder
In the June issue of the “You May Not Know Report,” a written newsletter delivered monthly to clients of our firm, I outline the Fed’s two policy options moving ahead. Both options will produce a difficult economic and investing outcome for retirees and aspiring retirees. And, both options require an investor prepare for…
Read MoreVery Disturbing Credit Card Data
Previously, I have written about increasing debt levels in the country among those in the private sector. In short, private sector debt levels have been increasing; specifically, credit card debt has been rising very quickly. Rapidly increasing levels of credit card debt had me concluding that Americans were increasingly dealing with rapidly rising…
Read MoreIs the Fed About to Reverse Course?
The Fed, the central bank of the United States, after increasing interest rates by .25% after its last meeting, issued a statement that was a bit different than other recent statements after the Fed decided to increase interest rates. Here is a comment by Fed Chair Jerome Powell pointing out the differences between the…
Read MoreMore on De-Dollarization
On these pages each week, I often comment on Federal Reserve policy and the effect that it will have on the economy and the markets. The current tightening policy of the Fed, required as a result of the prior easy money policies of the Fed in order to contain inflation, is now the…
Read MoreCrazy US Treasuries and A US Dollar Forecast
Last week, here in “Portfolio Watch,” I discussed some of the movement away from the US Dollar globally. This week, something else very interesting occurred. There is now a HUGE disparity between the yield on a 1-month US Treasury bill and a 2-month US Treasury bill. This from Wolf Richter (Source: https://wolfstreet.com/2023/04/20/short-end-of-the-treasury-market-goes-totally-nuts-doubts-creep-in-over-debt-ceiling/): Today was…
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