International

The Case for Austerity

May 14th, 2012 | By | Category: Economics, Featured, International, Politics
The Keynesians and declared anti-Keynesians have joined hands in order to promote an intensely Keynesian error: European fiscal austerity as a negative factor. One contributor in Forbes refers to austerity as a death spiral. The word "austerity," beginning with the Greek government's debt crisis two years ago, has been used by ...read more


Hear That? It’s The Sound Of The Doors Closing For Americans

May 11th, 2012 | By | Category: Featured, International, Personal Investing, Politics
We hate being right. After all, we have been predicting that people in the US and most of the western world will soon find themselves living in a Terminator-esque world where they will be tracked every moment of the day (US Government Builds World's Biggest Domestic Spy Complex), 1 the US ...read more


First We Conquer Iceland

Mar 7th, 2012 | By | Category: Featured, International, Macro Economics, Politics
The law of unintended consequences states that actions, especially governmental ones, always have unintended and unpredictable effects. These unanticipated effects can be far more powerful than the planned ones. Thus, economists often use this law as a warning to politicians that policies commonly 'achieve' the opposite of their intentions. For ...read more


The State of the Union, Just Another Reality Show

Feb 1st, 2012 | By | Category: Featured, Gold, International, Politics
It looks just like a reality show that's not going to be renewed for another season. President Obama's State of the Union ratings are headed in the same direction as American Idol's so far this season – down. Let me make a secret confession right here. For years, the producer of ...read more


Iran’s Desperate Gamble to Push Oil Up to $200

Jan 3rd, 2012 | By | Category: Featured, International, Oil
As this tumultuous and volatile year draws to an end, it's time to turn your thoughts to 2012. What will the new year bring…and what can you do to prepare for it? I've given it a lot of thought, drawing on my decades of market-watching experience. In the end, I came ...read more


The Euro Crackup

Nov 10th, 2011 | By | Category: Economics, Featured, Gold, International
Watching the euro melt has been like watching a train wreck in slow motion. You knew it was coming. You know which cars on the train are next line to be mashed. There is nothing you can do to stop it. You can only watch as it happens, with one ...read more


The China Bust: Tic Toc Part II

Oct 11th, 2011 | By | Category: Featured, International, Macro Economics
Mainstream economists are vague about -- or choose to outright ignore -- the cause of China's rising domestic prices. A recent article in The Seattle Times stated: "Economists blame China's inflation on the dual pressures of consumer demand that is outstripping food supplies and a bank-lending boom they say Beijing allowed ...read more


The China Bust: Tic Toc Part I

Oct 10th, 2011 | By | Category: Currencies, Featured, International
China is in the process of allowing its currency to rise. The reason for this is to address the worsening inflation rates in the country. Allowing the yuan to rise will indeed stop, or slow, inflation, but the way this fix works is not the way that is usually assumed. ...read more


Fun with Customs and Border Guards in the U.S. and Canada

Jul 25th, 2011 | By | Category: International, Politics
"Sir, you can go ahead and button your shirt back up," said the TSA agent. We'd only been trying to help. We were passing through Houston on our way from Acapulco to the Agora Financial Symposium in Vancouver. We'd opted out of the Rapiscan irradiation machine and so had to be felt ...read more


Slavery, A First World Tendency

Jul 25th, 2011 | By | Category: Featured, International, Politics
Traveling grants perspective. We can't be sure, but we think this must be especially true for Americans... Americans long ago settled for convenience over freedom: Paved roads and more commercial space per capita than any other nation on earth... to go along with various prohibitions on personal behavior, expanded domestic spying ...read more