
The Federal Reserve has a dual mandate set by Congress of maximum employment and stable prices. During Chairman Bernanke’s most recent press conference he indicated that the Federal Reserve has done a better job of maintaining price stability while falling short of fostering maximum employment. [As such,] we believe the Federal Reserve will continue to increase the monetary base and weaken the dollar as long as unemployment remains elevated. While the economy (measured by real GDP) and the unemployment rate have not benefited from a substantial increase in the monetary base, the price of gold and silver have benefited from money printing. We believe this statement is quite important for monetary policy and for investors. [Let us explain further.] Words: 388
November 8th, 2011 | Posted in Economic Overview,Economy | Read More »
The economic news is not very encouraging these days. Everywhere I’ve looked, and I’ve looked at 10 different indicators (surveys, polls and indexes), things appear to be either down or stagnant. Let me be more explicit. Words: 1058
June 12th, 2011 | Posted in Economic Overview,Economy | Read More »
von Mises once said, “There is no means of avoiding the final collapse of a boom brought about by credit expansion. The alternative is only whether the crisis should come sooner as the result of a voluntary abandonment of further credit expansion, or later, as a final and total catastrophe of the currency involved” and just that is happening before our very eyes. Words: 2242
July 11th, 2010 | Posted in Economy,Inflation/Deflation | Read More »
At times like these, it is hardly going out on a limb to say that we are headed for hard economic times. In fact, it seems like almost everyone in the financial world is either declaring that a recession is coming or is busy preparing for one. The truth is that bad economic signs are everywhere. Words: 1171
July 4th, 2010 | Posted in Economy | Read More »
Think the worst is over? Wrong. Conditions in the U.S. labor markets are awful and worsening. We can expect that job losses will continue until the end of 2010 at the earliest. In other words, if you are unemployed and looking for work and just waiting for the economy to turn the corner, you had better hunker down. All the economic numbers suggest this will take a while. The jobs just are not coming back. Words: 536
February 15th, 2010 | Posted in Economy | Read More »
The December jobs report (unemployment rate of 10%) has doused the hope that we were at the beginning of a sustained economic recovery. Unemployment, in short, has graduated from being a difficulty, a worry, to a catastrophe, with some 15.3 million Americans out of work. Words: 1098
January 22nd, 2010 | Posted in Economy | Read More »