A Different Light
One unspoken but key assumption of those who foresee a return to economic normalcy -- which many seem to believe is already underway -- is that the behavioral patterns that emerged in the wake of the worst financial crisis this...
Losing the Buzz
Despite the sharp sell-off in share prices we've seen over the past five weeks (notwithstanding today's bout of irrational exuberance), the divergence between equity and credit markets remains remarkably wide. But my guess is, just as we saw back in...
Losing the Buzz
Despite the sharp sell-off in share prices we've seen over the past five weeks (notwithstanding today's bout of irrational exuberance), the divergence between equity and credit markets remains remarkably wide. But my guess is, just as we saw back in...
Not Necessarily True
Many people would argue that more government intervention -- along with more public sector spending and borrowing -- is the only answer to our current woes because the private sector is neither willing nor able to help out. But two...
A Matter of (Mis)Perception?
In "Declinism Resurgent," The Economist notes that Americans are quite pessimistic right now: Six months from polling day, America’s election campaign has opened with a blizzard of tendentious commercials, contrived razzamatazz and mind-numbing trivia. Was the stadium in Ohio at...
The 100-Percenters
Looks like the one percent is joining the 99 percent...and shunning stocks: "For the Rich, Diamonds are the New Stocks" (CNBC) New studies show that the wealthy are pulling back from stocks and stashing more of their money into real...
Scary Stuff
If every picture tells a story, here's one from a post, "serfchart," at Michael Krieger's A Lightning War for Liberty, that might even give Freddy Krueger the willies: As Krieger puts it, "this is what you get when a society...
Double-Quote Reality
If these three reports are any guide, it looks like the "recovery" is still "on track" -- that is, the same dismal, downward spiral it's been ever since the "experts" told us that the recession was "over," the housing market...
A Bottom in Housing?
Despite the fact that home prices are more affordable than ever -- the percentage of people looking to buy a new one remains near multi-decade lows -- Doesn't quite sound like "recovery" to me (but then again, what do I...
Long…and Wrong?
While Wall Street is telling people that it's onward and upward from here, the Hemline Index, a theory which states that the length of women's skirts and dresses tends to rise and fall with stock prices, looks to be saying...
The Fed Does Comedy
It's a joke, right? "Fed’s Kocherlakota: Economy Closer to Max Employment Than Data Suggest" (Real Time Economics) A top Federal Reserve official said Thursday he is paying close attention to inflation and that recent elevated readings signal that the economy...
The Simplest Explanation
I'm sure there are many rational individuals who, like me, have wondered why the stock market has in recent days remained fairly resilient despite mounting evidence that the European debt crisis is spiraling out of control and economies in Europe,...
