Investors as well as central bankers have been lulled into complacency by forty years of controlled inflation coupled with major economic growth. It’s possible that policy makers were hesitant to react when inflation started up with a vengeance about one year ago. But for many months since that time, it appeared that the Federal Reserve […]
DID THE FED BLUNDER WITH ITS INFLATION POLICY? Read More »
Are you surprised at the extent of resistance by Ukraine in their current war with Russia? It appears to many observers that the Russian Military and Putin Government probably miscalculated the Ukrainian people’s will to resist domination. By taking a look at the last 100 years of the history of Ukrainian-Russian relations we can see
UKRAINIAN RESISTANCE IS INGRAINED IN HISTORY Read More »
Inflation is upon us as evidenced by rising fuel and food prices, along with almost everything from clothing, to housing, to new vehicles. Most economists point to this round of inflation as owing to ultra-low interest rates coupled with low unemployment thereby providing strong demand. The supply chain, still recovering from Covid, cannot rise up
THE ROLE OF QUANTITATIVE EASING IN INFLATION Read More »
At the end of World War I, the U.S. economy went through a major boom era known popularly as the roaring twenties. Rising incomes meeting up with rising technological advances created progressive lifestyles for many middle and upper class Americans. It also nourished the get-rich-quick attitude that has long pervaded American society. Those times and
THE 1920’s, AN ERA OF GET-RICH-QUICK SCHEMES Read More »
Thanks to the war in the Ukraine and corresponding sanctions, crude oil markets have been roiled worldwide as traders in various parts of the world grapple with sharply higher crude oil prices. The trickle down has hit just about all phases of oil production to the retail level. The mayhem has reached the natural gas
THE FUTURE OF THE SANCTIONED CRUDE OIL MARKET Read More »
In Response to the military invasion of neighboring Ukraine, Russia has been sanctioned by numerous countries in an effort to force economic pain on the invaders. As an economic weapon in the face of military action sanctioning is not new—it dates back to 432 BC in Greece. It typically arises when a trading partner of
SANCTIONS ON RUSSIA—WHERE ARE INVESTORS MOST AFFECTED? Read More »
With the invasion of the Ukraine by the Russian military, and the corresponding sanctioning by the West, it appears that another Iron Curtain may be falling over Europe bringing with it another cold war. So far, the conflict has been limited to the Ukraine and potentially Belarus from whose territory part of the Russian Invasion
COLD WAR INCIDENTS THAT WERE CLOSE CALLS Read More »
When World War I ended in November, 1918, Germany’s economy was in a shambles. At the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, Germany was obliged to accept defeat and agree to pay a huge amount of money for reparations primarily to France and Belgium, owing to the great destruction and loss of life inflicted on those
INFLATION IN GERMANY AFTER WORLD WAR I Read More »
Ninety-three years ago on October 24, 1929, the U.S. stock markets went on a sharp decline that eventually fell by 89% of the all-time high of 381.17 reached on September 3 of that year. On July 8, 1932, the bleeding finally stopped as the Dow Jones Industrial Average bottomed out at $41.22, and didn’t reach
THE 1929 STOCK MARKET CRASH Read More »
The Federal Reserve has all but guaranteed us that interest rate increases will be forthcoming, perhaps as soon as March of this year. Further, the process of quantitative easing, or increasing the money supply as the Fed buys government bonds, will be dialed back to zero. We know that interest rate increases should have an
WHAT INVESTORS SHOULD DO ABOUT INTEREST RATE INCREASES Read More »