$2 Trillion Underground Economy May Be Recovery's Savior … Estimates are that underground activity last year totaled as much as $2 trillion. The growing underground economy may be helping to prevent the real economy from sinking further, according to analysts. The shadow economy is a system composed of those who can't find a full-time or regular job. Workers turn to anything that pay...Read More
RCMP grapples with questions of FBI authority in Canada … In the wake of a dramatic RCMP reveal of two people arrested in Canada in connection with a plot to derail a passenger train, Canadians may have questioned why the United States Department of Homeland Security and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation were involved in the operation. Those who have followed the quiet evolution of Cana...Read More
Euro may only last five years, says senior German government advisor … The euro has a "limited chance of survival" and may only endure another five years, Kai Konrad, one of the German government's closest economic advisers, has claimed. "Europe is important to me. Not the euro," said Dr Konrad. In notably outspoken remarks for a senior German figure, Dr Konrad, chair...Read More
Germany will enter recession, says George Soros … As one of America's most successful investors warns the eurocrisis is far from over, we consider the investment case for Europe. Investors can be forgiven for feeling jittery about the eurozone again, after George Soros, America's most successful investors suggested the economy in Germany could be pulled under by the crisis. …&q...Read More
$2 Trillion Underground Economy May Be Recovery's Savior … Estimates are that underground activity last year totaled as much as $2 trillion. The growing underground economy may be helping to prevent the real economy from sinking further, according to analysts. The shadow economy is a system composed of those who can't find a full-time or regular job. Workers turn to anything that pay...Read More
RCMP grapples with questions of FBI authority in Canada … In the wake of a dramatic RCMP reveal of two people arrested in Canada in connection with a plot to derail a passenger train, Canadians may have questioned why the United States Department of Homeland Security and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation were involved in the operation. Those who have followed the quiet evolution of Cana...Read More
Euro may only last five years, says senior German government advisor … The euro has a "limited chance of survival" and may only endure another five years, Kai Konrad, one of the German government's closest economic advisers, has claimed. "Europe is important to me. Not the euro," said Dr Konrad. In notably outspoken remarks for a senior German figure, Dr Konrad, chair...Read More
Germany will enter recession, says George Soros … As one of America's most successful investors warns the eurocrisis is far from over, we consider the investment case for Europe. Investors can be forgiven for feeling jittery about the eurozone again, after George Soros, America's most successful investors suggested the economy in Germany could be pulled under by the crisis. …&q...Read More
Everything you 'know' about the Fed is wrong … 5 misconceptions about the effects of QE and monetary policy … Few would still argue against the assertion that the Federal Reserve has been central to the financial stabilization and economic recovery from the 2008 crisis. It fixed the plumbing and are now trying to incentivize animal spirits to pump water through the pipes. The d...Read More
The Economic Argument Is Over — Paul Krugman Has Won … For the past five years, a fierce war of words and policies has been fought in America and other economically challenged countries around the world. On one side were economists and politicians who wanted to increase government spending to offset weakness in the private sector. This "stimulus" spending, economists like Pau...Read More
The Austerity Movement Is Crumbling … The big news in economics last week was the paper by a UMASS Grad Student showing that economists Kenneth Rogoff and Carmen Reinhart had made an Excel spreadsheet blunder in their famous paper arguing that as debt-to-GDP goes above 90%, growth slows dramatically. It's easy and tempting to overstate the influence of Reinhart and Rogoff. Even if they h...Read More
Everything you 'know' about the Fed is wrong … 5 misconceptions about the effects of QE and monetary policy … Few would still argue against the assertion that the Federal Reserve has been central to the financial stabilization and economic recovery from the 2008 crisis. It fixed the plumbing and are now trying to incentivize animal spirits to pump water through the pipes. The d...Read More
The Economic Argument Is Over — Paul Krugman Has Won … For the past five years, a fierce war of words and policies has been fought in America and other economically challenged countries around the world. On one side were economists and politicians who wanted to increase government spending to offset weakness in the private sector. This "stimulus" spending, economists like Pau...Read More
The Austerity Movement Is Crumbling … The big news in economics last week was the paper by a UMASS Grad Student showing that economists Kenneth Rogoff and Carmen Reinhart had made an Excel spreadsheet blunder in their famous paper arguing that as debt-to-GDP goes above 90%, growth slows dramatically. It's easy and tempting to overstate the influence of Reinhart and Rogoff. Even if they h...Read More
International Tower Hill Mines (THM) is one of the stocks held by the Texas Retirement System who I mentioned above is looking ...Read More
Banker steps into the role of superhero … In other ages, we have called on shamans or saints in times of crisis when the usual remedies have not worked. In the stagnant world economy today, we have designated central bankers as our superheroes, and we are relying on their magical monetary powers to restart global growth. As the European Central Bank president, Mario Draghi, whom some have ni...Read More
Janet Napolitano: Immigration bill important step … Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano mounted a vigorous defense of the Senate Gang of Eight's comprehensive immigration plan on Tuesday, calling the legislation an "important first step" to reforming the nation's immigration laws. In testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Napolitano said the 844-page bill...Read More
Gold's Declining Price Is a Reversion to the Mean … Since the beginning of the economic crisis in 2008, conservatives have been predicting that inflation is right around the corner. They base this prediction on the vast increase in the money supply that the Federal Reserve brought about in order to keep the financial system from imploding. Because a too-rapid rise in the money supply did...Read More
How Did the World's Rich Get That Way? Luck …Why are some people so rich and others so poor? Is it from good choices or good luck? Hard work, smarts, and ability—or something else? That depends who you are comparing yourself to. If you are more successful than your friends, colleagues, and family members, surely a lot of it is because you are better at what you do, or have made bet...Read More