Economics Isn't Science or Literature … Economists use many of the same tools as scientists and engineers — matrix algebra, multiple regression, control theory. But they don't use them in the same way. In economics — especially macroeconomics — the goal is often to persuade other people of your point of view. As Federal Reserve economist Kartik Athreya writes in his...Read More
Prescription Painkiller Deaths Fall Almost 25% in Medical Marijuana States … A study that recently appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows a significant decrease in opiate overdoses in states that have adopted and implemented medical marijuana laws compared to states that have not. The authors showed that although opiate overdoses rose in states without medical mari...Read More
Economics Isn't Science or Literature … Economists use many of the same tools as scientists and engineers — matrix algebra, multiple regression, control theory. But they don't use them in the same way. In economics — especially macroeconomics — the goal is often to persuade other people of your point of view. As Federal Reserve economist Kartik Athreya writes in his...Read More
Prescription Painkiller Deaths Fall Almost 25% in Medical Marijuana States … A study that recently appeared in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows a significant decrease in opiate overdoses in states that have adopted and implemented medical marijuana laws compared to states that have not. The authors showed that although opiate overdoses rose in states without medical mari...Read More
Colonization by Bankruptcy: The High-stakes Chess Match for Argentina … Argentina is playing hardball with the vulture funds, which have been trying to force it into an involuntary bankruptcy. The vultures are demanding what amounts to a 600% return on bonds bought for pennies on the dollar, defeating a 2005 settlement in which 92% of creditors agreed to accept a 70% haircut on their bonds....Read More
It Begins: Council On Foreign Relations Proposes That "Central Banks Should Hand Consumers Cash Directly" … A year ago, when it became abundantly clear that all of the Fed's attempts to boost the economy have failed, leading instead to a record divergence between the "1%" who were benefiting from the Fed's artificial inflation of financial assets … and every...Read More
Colonization by Bankruptcy: The High-stakes Chess Match for Argentina … Argentina is playing hardball with the vulture funds, which have been trying to force it into an involuntary bankruptcy. The vultures are demanding what amounts to a 600% return on bonds bought for pennies on the dollar, defeating a 2005 settlement in which 92% of creditors agreed to accept a 70% haircut on their bonds....Read More
It Begins: Council On Foreign Relations Proposes That "Central Banks Should Hand Consumers Cash Directly" … A year ago, when it became abundantly clear that all of the Fed's attempts to boost the economy have failed, leading instead to a record divergence between the "1%" who were benefiting from the Fed's artificial inflation of financial assets … and every...Read More
We don't usually think of companies like Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (TSX-POT) as bargain stocks. But about a year ago Russia's Uralkali quit one of the world's two big potash cartels precipitating a world-wide price war for this vital crop nutrient and driving down the share prices of companies that produce it.But Saskatoon-based PotashCorp has been recovering and since March its shares ha...Read More
German economy 'losing steam' as business confidence plunges again … Survey of optimism among companies adds to gloom enveloping Europe's biggest economy … Germany's businesses are rapidly losing confidence in the prospect of a recovery in the eurozone, in a further blow to the single currency's biggest economy. Companies' assessment of the business climate is n...Read More
Uber taxi service banned in Berlin on safety grounds… German capital follows Hamburg with vote to ban taxi app firm, saying it does not protect passengers from unlicensed drivers … Berlin has voted to ban Uber on safety grounds as the app-enabled taxi service continues to run up against resistance in Germany. Officials said the Californian company, which operates in 110 cities around t...Read More
German economy 'losing steam' as business confidence plunges again … Survey of optimism among companies adds to gloom enveloping Europe's biggest economy … Germany's businesses are rapidly losing confidence in the prospect of a recovery in the eurozone, in a further blow to the single currency's biggest economy. Companies' assessment of the business climate is n...Read More
Uber taxi service banned in Berlin on safety grounds… German capital follows Hamburg with vote to ban taxi app firm, saying it does not protect passengers from unlicensed drivers … Berlin has voted to ban Uber on safety grounds as the app-enabled taxi service continues to run up against resistance in Germany. Officials said the Californian company, which operates in 110 cities around t...Read More
Here's what it will take to trigger the next stock market correction … As Wall Street hit another new record Thursday, it is worth considering what could cause a serious setback in stock market prices around the world. Since I started writing this column in 2012, I have repeatedly argued that the rebound in stock market prices from their nadir in the 2008-09 global financial crisis was t...Read More
Nobel gurus fear globalization is going horribly wrong … An interconnected world was meant to reduce inequality – but that doesn't seem to be happening. David Ricardo's Theory of Comparative Advantage has broken down after 200 years, or so I learned at the Lindau forum of Nobel laureates in Bavaria. The theory published in 1817 has been a guiding principle of free trade, taken...Read More
Here's what it will take to trigger the next stock market correction … As Wall Street hit another new record Thursday, it is worth considering what could cause a serious setback in stock market prices around the world. Since I started writing this column in 2012, I have repeatedly argued that the rebound in stock market prices from their nadir in the 2008-09 global financial crisis was t...Read More
Nobel gurus fear globalization is going horribly wrong … An interconnected world was meant to reduce inequality – but that doesn't seem to be happening. David Ricardo's Theory of Comparative Advantage has broken down after 200 years, or so I learned at the Lindau forum of Nobel laureates in Bavaria. The theory published in 1817 has been a guiding principle of free trade, taken...Read More
Christos Doulis, an analyst with Western Canadian-based PI Financial, is giving top billing to Premier Gold Mines Limited. (PG-TSX) adding it to his coverage list as a "speculative buy."He's also handing it a 12-month price target of $3.75 a share. He writes:An exploration and development outfit focused on North America, Premier boasts multiple gold projects in proven mining districts.In addition...Read More
At least 37 people have died after a gold mine located 60 km north of the Central African Republic town of Bambari collapsed, burying about 30 workers.The mine is owned by Canadian Axmin (CVE:AXM), but was taken over by rebels over a year ago, who now control the area.According to local media, the accident was due heavy rains that made the pit in which the miners were working collapse. A governme...Read More
Janet Yellen Takes On Jackson Hole … The economic-policy debate in the U.S. is moving from, "Why is the recovery so sluggish?" to "Is inflation starting to get out of hand?" This shift is premature, to say the least. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen should say so Friday when she addresses the annual summer confab of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. – Bloo...Read More