You know that scene in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington? The one where the good guy, Jimmy Stewart, stands up in the Senate protesting the graft and corruption he sees all around him. He’s not as smart as the other Senators. He was only elected by accident and knows that he’s not properly qualified to […]

What we know now: Coordinated global central bank market manipulations have distorted price discovery mechanisms impacting valuations in stock, bond, and property markets. Politicians are taking credit for record-high stock prices and the unprecedented 5,000-point surge in the Dow Jones industrial average. A 2017 gift that will keep giving: NY Stock Exchange — Margin debt […]

There is more debt, credit, and leverage today than there was preceding the banking crisis of 2008. No lessons were learned from that catastrophe as trillions of taxpayer dollars were provided in the form of bank bailouts from the U.S. Federal Reserve. Despite their name, U.S. Federal Reserve Banks are not part of the federal […]

Italy’s recent election was not that much of a shocker for Italians who have endured over 16 years of zero economic growth and youth unemployment around 27% or more, without much hope in sight. In fact, Italy’s underlying economic and employment problems are the same now as they were 16 years ago—too much debt and […]

In the same week that Goldman Sachs predicted Tesla stock to drop by nearly 50%, Elon Musk has promised to Power Puerto Rico. It’s very clear even to neophyte investors that Tesla’s stock is in bubble territory somewhere outside the stratosphere. Goldman cites massive cash burn, “production issues” with hundred kilowatt-hour battery packs — another […]

The Federal Reserve is not part of the federal government and it is not a bank. The Federal Reserve Board is referred to as The Board of Governors and is located in the Marriner Eccles building in Washington DC. Seven governors are appointed for 14-year terms with the chairman and vice-chairman being appointed to serve […]

Henry Paulson. Hank. Remember him? Of the crisis in 2008, he said: “Where I come from, if someone takes a risk and they’re going to make the profit from that risk, they shouldn’t have the taxpayer pay for the losses.” Quite the wisdom one expects from the 74th U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. Yet, as […]

Remember him?: The risks have not gone away since Hank Paulson was US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. Hank. Remember him? Of the crisis in 2008, he said: “Where I come from, if someone takes a risk and they’re going to make the profit from that risk, they shouldn’t have the taxpayer pay for the losses.” […]

Has the out-of-control cabal of central banks inflated grotesque asset bubbles in global property, stock, and fixed-income markets? Or are we to believe traditional media’s “fake news” mantra of “it’s different this time?” Well, bad news, folks. It’s never different, not this time, not anytime, NEVER.   Capitalism is being destroyed The US Federal Reserve, […]

Mervyn King’s decade at the Bank of England was a disaster. The Bank was too slack during the long and indisciplined boom, under prepared for the crash and playing catch-up thereafter. The legacy of Lord King’s (and Gordon Brown’s) career has been an economy still limping along far below peak output, real wages caught in […]