The weather has done it again. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics last week reported annualized growth of a piddling 0.2% for the first quarter of 2015. The culprit, of…
Why Worry About Climate Change When You’re $18 Trillion in Debt?
Which crisis scares you more – climate change or our growing debt? Climate change certainly receives a lot more attention in the media and a lot more attention from politicians,…
Bubble Busters
“I had a stick of CareFree gum, but it didn’t work. I felt pretty good while I was blowing that bubble, but as soon as the gum lost its flavor,…
No Animals Harmed in Drafting Fed Policy Statement
Thousands of years ago, Roman soothsayers would visit the oracles and interpret the entrails of slaughtered animals. We haven’t advanced much since then. Fortunately, no animals are slaughtered today, but…
Another Year of ZIRP?
When the economy recovers, interest rates will go up, right? That’s been the Federal Reserve Board’s line for years now. Yet as the Fed gushes about an allegedly booming economy,…
More Consideration of “Considerable”
Yes, we’ve already discussed the word “considerable” at considerable length, in relation to its use by the Federal Reserve Board in its recent policy statement. But apparently we are on…
Too Much Interest in Interest Rates
There has been much market panic of late over the possibility that the Federal Reserve Board will be raising interest rates sometime in the not-too-distant future. Small cap stocks were…
Janet Yellen Takes Us Through the Looking Glass
“When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.” Lewis Carroll, Through…
Less than “Less than Zero”
In June, the ECB lowered the interest rate on bank deposits, including reserve holdings in excess of the minimum reserve requirements, from zero to -0.10%. This week, surprising just about…
Only a Half Trillion Dollars
It’s a sign of how much trouble we’re in when a budget deficit of a half trillion dollars seems like fiscal restraint. It is progress, given that annual budget deficits…