Analysis Topic: Economic Trends Analysis
The analysis published under this topic are as follows.
Friday, February 08, 2013
Deflation Questions / Economics / Deflation
By: Jeff_Berwick
Robert Blumen writes: What is deflation?
According to dictionary.com, it is “a fall in the general price level or a contraction of credit and available money”.
Falling prices. That sounds good, especially if you have set some cash set aside and are thinking about a major purchase.
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Thursday, February 07, 2013
Illusions of Euro-zone Economic Stabilization / Economics / Euro-Zone
By: Mike_Shedlock
In Germany Rebounds but ... I noted a recovery "of sorts" in Germany, a contraction in France at the steepest rate in four years, and a record decrease in services employment in Italy.
Thus, it should be no surprise to see the Markit Eurozone Composite PMI® shows national divergence hits record high.
Yet, in aggregate, the eurozone contraction decelerated with the eurozone composite PMI rising from 47.2 to 48.6.
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Thursday, February 07, 2013
Euro-zone Prisoner of Bureaucracy, The Good, the Bad, and the Greek / Economics / US Economy
By: John_Mauldin
“The euro will not survive the first major European recession.” – Milton Friedman, 1999
“It seems to me that Europe, especially with the addition of more countries, is becoming ever-more susceptible to any asymmetric shock. Sooner or later, when the global economy hits a real bump, Europe’s internal contradictions will tear it apart.” – Milton Friedman, 1999
“… there will be asymmetric shocks hitting the different countries. That will mean that the only adjustment mechanism they have to meet that with is fiscal and unemployment: pressure on wages, pressure on prices.” – Milton Friedman, 1998
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Thursday, February 07, 2013
U.S. Econcomy ALL IS WELL! PhD in Stupidity / Economics / US Economy
By: James_Quinn
“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.” – Aldous Huxley
I woke up this past Saturday morning and opened my local paper to find out that all was well. An Associated Press article declared a healthy jobs market, fantastic auto sales, a surging housing market, and a stock market rocketing to new all-time highs. What’s not to love? If the mainstream media says the economy is as good as new, it must be so. Why should we let facts get in the way of a good storyline? The stock market has surged to 2007 highs, so the country’s employment situation must be strong.
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Wednesday, February 06, 2013
Hidden Good News Buried in Bad U.S. GDP Economic Data / Economics / US Economy
By: Money_Morning
Martin Hutchinson writes: The markets were hit with an unexpected twist last week. On Wednesday the Bureau of Economic Analysis shocked markets by announcing that U.S. Gross Domestic Product had declined by 0.1% in the fourth quarter.
That marked the first time economic output had fallen since the end of the Great Recession.
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Sunday, February 03, 2013
Debt Delinquancy - Seamless Collapse Economics / Economics / Global Debt Crisis 2013
By: Andrew_McKillop
MAYBE THE MAYANS WERE RIGHT
The New Age mystics told us that the Mayans told them the world would end in Dec 2012, but in reality the world ran out of Mayans an awful long time ago: about 1550 AD. Nearer to us, the world has already run out of credit, more than 5 years ago, or 1800 days back in time from today.
Friday, February 01, 2013
January 2013 Jobs Report: Four Reasons U.S. Unemployment Will Stay High / Economics / Unemployment
By: Money_Morning
Diane Alter writes: The U.S. Labor Department released the January 2013 jobs report Friday, showing the unemployment rate inched upward from 7.8% to 7.9%.
Employers added 157,000 jobs in January, short estimates of 168,000, which would have kept the unemployment rate stable.
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Thursday, January 31, 2013
Paul Krugman May Be the World's Last Flat Earth Keynesian Economist / Economics / Economic Theory
By: Money_Morning
Keith Fitz-Gerald writes: Nobel Prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist Dr. Paul Krugman is at it again.
A favorite of the Keynesian crowd, he claimed earlier this week that fixing the deficit is important but added that "doing it now would be disastrous." He also observed that the 10-year U.S. debt situation isn't really all that bad.
At least he's consistent. I'll give him that.
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Thursday, January 31, 2013
France Is Dead Broke, But At Least Its GDP Came In Positive / Economics / France
By: Raul_I_Meijer
US GDP came out today and it was a stinker: -0.1%. Enter a choir of 10,000 pundits who all figured out that all that bad smell was the result of one thing only: cuts in military spending. That's the sort of thing that tells me - or more correctly: confirms - that the optimism bias has become so strong and infectious it's no longer worth even discussing. And that's before I notice - caveat: I haven't read all the eerily similar comments - that nobody I read bothers to explain by how much military spending has raised US GDP lately. Or to what degree they hope it'll go up again. Soon.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Keynes Said: Lets Euthanize The Rentiers, Instead, We Euthanized The Economy / Economics / Economic Theory
By: Andrew_McKillop
In the end notes to his 1936 'General Theory', John Maynard Keynes said that he looked forward to the "Euthanasia of the Rentier", to be replaced by “communal saving by the agency of the state; maintained at a level which will allow the growth of capital up to the point where it ceases to be scarce”.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Why There's No Real Inflation - Yet / Economics / Inflation
By: Money_Morning
Martin Hutchinson writes: According to Milton Friedman, "inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon."
If that is true, then you have to wonder where the heck all of the inflation is.
Every central bank in the Western world is holding interest rates down, and almost all of them are printing money like it's going out of style.
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Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Nanny Society - Loser Economy / Economics / Government Spending
By: Andrew_McKillop
EPIDEMIC STATUS
Wikipedia defines "the nanny state" as a system or process where governments play the role that a nanny has in child rearing. This could seem good, but as early as 1965 British MP Iain Macleod lashed out at the underside of the nanny state: authoritarian, interfering, overprotective, repressive. Since then, this politically correct mix has taken over in almost all Western states, becoming ever more intense, and is now a sure and certain driver of economic failure. The process is simple: the state "babies" its governed population, but pretends to be aghast at the consequences when it finds out that creating and sustaining a nation of zombies with no interest in creating wealth - only consuming it - is a loser.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
John Williams Forecasts U.S. Dollar Hyperinflation Before End of 2014 / Economics / HyperInflation
By: Videos
Anybody who thinks the U.S. is in a so-called recovery isn’t listening to economist John Williams. He contends, “We haven’t had a recovery and we’re not about to have one, and it’s getting worse.” Williams says it’s because, “The consumer is in very serious trouble. . . . The average guy is not making it. His income is not keeping up with inflation.” As far as Congress getting the budget and debt ceiling under control, Williams says, “Both sides are faced with devil’s choices.”
Sunday, January 27, 2013
Is China's Economic Miracle Government Sponsored Fraud? / Economics / China Economy
By: Graham_Summers
A few months ago, we asked, “is China an economic miracle or one giant government sponsored fraud?” Our views were the latter with corruption as one of the key driving forces for wealth creation and economic growth in China.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Can U.S. Economy Avoid Recession in 2013? / Economics / Recession 2013
By: Money_Morning
Diane Alter writes: The U.S. economy is currently two-for-two in its attempts to skirt recession 2013.
The first came after we narrowly avoided a tumble over the fiscal cliff with a down-to-the-wire deal on New Year's Day. The second came Wednesday with the passage of a three-month extension on raising the debt ceiling.
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Friday, January 25, 2013
High Unemployment Isn’t Just an American Dilemma / Economics / Unemployment
By: InvestmentContrarian
George Leong writes: We have nearly eight percent of Americans pounding the pavement, but it is more likely double that if you count the workers actually unemployed or underemployed. But the problem of high unemployment is not only an ongoing issue in America; it’s a problem that is found in pockets all around the world, from the rust belt in Ohio to the massive manufacturing plants in China.
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Thursday, January 24, 2013
Nouriel Roubini: Financial Tensions Could Lead to Protectionism / Economics / Global Economy
By: Bloomberg
Nouriel Roubini of Roubini Global Economics and Ian Bremmer of Eurasia Group appeared on "Bloomberg Surveillance" today from the World Economic Forum in Davos. Roubini said that "problems are global, but policies are national" and that "coordinating among different countries is going to become increasingly difficult. Political tensions, economic and financial tensions, like currency wars, can lead eventually to protectionism." Video for viewing and embedding here:
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
The Free Money Miracle? / Economics / Economic Theory
By: MISES
Jonathan Goodwin writes: The "Miracle of Wörgl," refers to the story of currency demurrage and the impact it had on the economy of Wörgl, a small town in Austria. For a bill of such currency to retain its face value, the currency holder must pay a regular, periodic payment (a tax) for a stamp or other marking. Wörgl is regularly touted by advocates of demurrage as a successful implementation of such a currency, one designed to encourage velocity due to the incentive to spend it in order to avoid the periodic tax.
The experiment at Wörgl was implemented by the town’s mayor, Michael Unterguggenberger in the midst of the Great Depression. Wörgl, like many towns throughout the world at the time, was suffering from high unemployment and low economic activity. The experiment began on the 31st of July 1932, with the issuing of "Certified Compensation Bills," a form of currency commonly known as Stamp Scrip, or Freigeld. It resulted in a boom in government projects, and a corresponding increase in employment and economic activity not just in the government sector, but throughout the town.
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Tuesday, January 22, 2013
United States on the Verge of an Explosion of Greatness! / Economics / US Economy
By: Bloomberg
David Tepper, founder of Appaloosa Management, told Bloomberg Television's Stephanie Ruhle on "Market Makers" today that he's "going to come out of the closet right now...we are bullish... This country is on the version of just an explosion of greatness. Do you like that? Explosion of greatness."
On how he founded Appaloosa, Tepper said, "after you work on Wall Street it's a choice, would you rather work at McDonald's or on the sell side? I would choose McDonald's. Over the sell side."
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Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Why Investors Need to Look to the Emerging Markets for Growth / Economics / Emerging Markets
By: InvestmentContrarian
George Leong writes: The key to the global economy is a rise in consumer spending. My view is that the emerging markets will continue to be an excellent place to invest some capital, whether it’s the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) or the Southeast Asian “Little Tigers,” comprising Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. I’m bullish on this area of the world. My reasoning is that the newfound wealth and growing middle class in these markets will drive consumer spending and economic growth.