Is America's democracy broken? Europe's hair-trigger economy The U.S. must embrace a growth agenda America has multiple deficits How to target untaxed wealth … With the release of the president's budget, Washington has once again descended into partisan squabbling. There is in America today pervasive concern about the basic functioning of our democracy. Congress is viewed less fa...Read More
Industrial eclipse … Earlier this year, we noted that China's output of services was poised to overtake its industrial production, probably as soon as this year. That would represent an interesting milestone for China's economy, which is renowned for the hum of its assembly lines, the belch of its smokestacks and the clang of its construction sites. Today's GDP report brings that...Read More
Algae-powered apartment complex blooms in Hamburg BIQ House … A 15-unit net-zero energy apartment complex clad with an algae-filled bio-adaptive shell, is completed in Hamburg, Germany, as part of the International Building Exhibition. – Mother NatureDominant Social Theme: Hard to build a house these days.Free-Market Analysis: It is getting more difficult to live, isn't it? We only...Read More
Big money flowing into stock, bond funds … Go with the flow: Investors added a record amount of cash to mutual funds in the first quarter. Stock and bond funds attracted a combined $193 billion, industry consultant Strategic Insight said. That tops the previous record of $140 billion in net deposits in the first quarter of 2007. ETF cash haul: Including exchange-traded funds, net deposits in...Read More
Gold tumbles to two-year low … The slide in gold prices became a rout on Monday as the precious metal tumbled a further 5 per cent to its lowest level in two years. Bullion was swept up in a wider sell-off across markets after Chinese growth figures disappointed. But the momentum behind gold's fall has been building for several months, with investors increasingly questioning whether the...Read More
Disappointing Chinese growth figures spook markets … An unexpected slowdown in China's economic growth has cast fresh doubt over the strength of its recovery, sending jitters through the stock markets. Chinese GDP grew by an annualised 7.7pc in the first three months of this year, down from the previous quarter's 7.9pc growth, according to official government figures. Analysts had ho...Read More
Bin €500 notes to spread debt burden … The €500 note is one of the many mysteries surrounding the birth of the euro. For whom, exactly, was the equivalent of $600 or £400 designed? No other significant currency is available in a form that allows £1m-worth to be comfortably carried in a briefcase and which is effectively non-negotiable in everyday use. – Financial...Read More
North Korea Capability-cobalt 60 weapon poisoning of world … North Korea's ultimate defense! – Godlike ProductionsDominant Social Theme: Nuclear war is just around the corner.Free-Market Analysis: We have wondered recently why the US has not acted more forcefully as regards North Korea's various "provocations."One theory being floated by certain more "far out&quo...Read More
Big money flowing into stock, bond funds … Go with the flow: Investors added a record amount of cash to mutual funds in the first quarter. Stock and bond funds attracted a combined $193 billion, industry consultant Strategic Insight said. That tops the previous record of $140 billion in net deposits in the first quarter of 2007. ETF cash haul: Including exchange-traded funds, net deposits in...Read More
Gold tumbles to two-year low … The slide in gold prices became a rout on Monday as the precious metal tumbled a further 5 per cent to its lowest level in two years. Bullion was swept up in a wider sell-off across markets after Chinese growth figures disappointed. But the momentum behind gold's fall has been building for several months, with investors increasingly questioning whether the...Read More
Disappointing Chinese growth figures spook markets … An unexpected slowdown in China's economic growth has cast fresh doubt over the strength of its recovery, sending jitters through the stock markets. Chinese GDP grew by an annualised 7.7pc in the first three months of this year, down from the previous quarter's 7.9pc growth, according to official government figures. Analysts had ho...Read More
Bin €500 notes to spread debt burden … The €500 note is one of the many mysteries surrounding the birth of the euro. For whom, exactly, was the equivalent of $600 or £400 designed? No other significant currency is available in a form that allows £1m-worth to be comfortably carried in a briefcase and which is effectively non-negotiable in everyday use. – Financial...Read More
North Korea Capability-cobalt 60 weapon poisoning of world … North Korea's ultimate defense! – Godlike ProductionsDominant Social Theme: Nuclear war is just around the corner.Free-Market Analysis: We have wondered recently why the US has not acted more forcefully as regards North Korea's various "provocations."One theory being floated by certain more "far out&quo...Read More
The 'laws of economics' don't exist … In a world increasingly framed by economic debates, the phrase "the laws of economics" has become ever more prevalent … Referencing "the laws of economics" as a way to refute arguments or criticize ideas has the patina of clarity and certainty. The reality is that referencing such laws is simply another way to justif...Read More
The Scary Message for Everybody in Obama's Budget … Most Americans will ignore the dickering over the federal budget that President Barack Obama wants Congress to pass this year. But there's an important message for just about everybody in that budget: The pain is going to get worse. It would be easy to conclude that Washington has imposed enough austerity on the U.S. economy already...Read More
China posts surprise trade deficit for March …China swung to a trade deficit of $880 million in March, the General Administration of Customs reported Wednesday, as imports surged 14.1% from a year earlier. The deficit, which followed February's $15.2 billion surplus, missed a forecast for a surplus of $14.7 billion from a Dow Jones Newswires survey and a $15.2 billion projected surplus t...Read More
Are We About to See a Global Gold Selling Spree? … Heavily indebted euro zone nations such as Italy and Portugal could come under pressure to put their bullion reserves to work as a result of plans for Cyprus to sell gold to meet its financing needs. A European Commission assessment of what Cyprus needs to do as part of its European Union/International Monetary Fund bailout showed Cyprus is...Read More
Margaret Thatcher made Britain a less, not more, desirable place to do business The ex-PM's greatest mistake was her failure to recognise that social cohesion is crucial to long-term economic growth … 'Margaret Thatcher's most important long-term legacy is likely to be the huge rise in inequality which she caused. – GuardianDominant Social Theme: Margaret Thatcher's fre...Read More
The 'laws of economics' don't exist … In a world increasingly framed by economic debates, the phrase "the laws of economics" has become ever more prevalent … Referencing "the laws of economics" as a way to refute arguments or criticize ideas has the patina of clarity and certainty. The reality is that referencing such laws is simply another way to justif...Read More
The Scary Message for Everybody in Obama's Budget … Most Americans will ignore the dickering over the federal budget that President Barack Obama wants Congress to pass this year. But there's an important message for just about everybody in that budget: The pain is going to get worse. It would be easy to conclude that Washington has imposed enough austerity on the U.S. economy already...Read More