Posts Tagged ‘ consumer economy ’

Oil Prices Will End the Futility Economy

Jan 5th, 2010 | By | Category: Economics, Featured, Oil
On the first business day of the new year and oil traded above $80 a barrel, which means the price has re-entered the danger zone where it can crush industrial economies. This is a central element of the predicament we find ourselves in. The US economy is essentially a Happy ...read more

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Posted in Economics, Featured, Oil | 36 comments


Obama Hostage to Wall Street, Americans Hostage to Consumerism

Dec 16th, 2009 | By | Category: Featured, Macro Economics
Okay, so President Obama didn't run for office to help out a bunch of fat cat bankers on Wall Street - or so he said on CBS's "60 Minutes" show Sunday night. But maybe it didn't seem like such a bad idea once the election was over. Anyway, the net ...read more

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Posted in Featured, Macro Economics | 12 comments


The Bottom for Credit Thanks to Peak Oil

May 8th, 2009 | By | Category: Energy, Featured, Macro Economics, Oil
Euphoria managed to out-run swine flu last week as the epidemic-du-jour, with "consumer" confidence jumping and the big bank stocks nudging up. The H1N1 virus fizzled for now, at least in terms of kill ratio, though we're warned it might boomerang in the fall with a vengeance. No one was ...read more

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Posted in Energy, Featured, Macro Economics, Oil | 7 comments


The Consumer Economy Isn’t Coming Back

Mar 10th, 2009 | By | Category: Featured, Macro Economics
At the risk of confirming my critics' dumbest charge -- that I am a "doomer" -- the mandate of clarity requires me to ask: to what state of affairs do we expect to recover? If the answer is a return to an economy based on building ever more suburban sprawl, ...read more

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Posted in Featured, Macro Economics | 15 comments


Forecasts 2009

Jan 1st, 2009 | By | Category: Featured, Macro Economics, Oil, Politics
There are two realities "out there" now competing for verification among those who think about national affairs and make things happen. The dominant one (let's call it the Status Quo) is that our problems of finance and economy will self-correct and allow the project of a "consumer" economy to resume ...read more

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Posted in Featured, Macro Economics, Oil, Politics | 14 comments


Unanticipated Change in Store

Nov 14th, 2008 | By | Category: Politics
The current occupant of the White House has sedulously prepared for his successor the biggest shit sandwich the world has ever seen, and there is naturally some concern that Mr. Obama might choke on it. The dilemma is essentially this: The consumer economy we all knew and loved has died. ...read more

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Posted in Politics | No Comments »