Tag Archives: Great Depression

Harvard Professor/Economic Historian Niall Ferguson wrote recently that he is of the opinion that, while all the fiscal and monetary government stimuli undertaken by many of the governments of the world's developed countries since 2007 may have averted a second Great Depression, they will, most likely, still experience a "slight" depression. Campbell reviews the rationale behind Ferguson's position and then presents his view that, as he sees it, most developed countries will face, instead, "a form of" Stagflation where the prices of non-durable goods (food, energy, and basic consumables) inflate, but the price of durable goods (long-term assets such as houses, cars, refrigerators, etc.) deflate. Campbell's commentary makes for a very thought-provoking read. Words: 922

Unless the S&P 500 rebounds and stays above 1250-1260, the recent 10% drop in the index may well be an indication that the markets have capitulated and a signal of the beginning of a renewed severe downturn. Words: 752

Investors are beginning to understand that the U.S. dollar is not the safe haven they perceived it was a few years ago and concurrently, neither are U.S. Treasury notes and bonds. Given the American national debt and deficit problems, from both a fundamental and technical perspective, the U.S. greenback has the potential for considerable downside. Ergo and by axiom, gold bullion has significant upside potential to $1,500 per ounce over the short to mid-term time horizon of 1 – 2 years and $4,000 per ounce over the longer term. Words: 1104

There are very compelling arguments for both inflation and deflation. The answer will eventually depend on decisions made in Washington and how people react to those decisions. For now, let’s stop fooling ourselves and admit that we don’t know. It is a problem that has to be dealt with and there is no easy medicine. Either path will be painful, but that’s what we get for our two and a half decade debt binge. Words: 1142

Periodically in history, the expansion of credit creates the illusion of prosperity which, regretfully, ends in the inevitable bust which seems to be the case today. The sheer magnitude of credit destruction occuring right now is depressionary. The return to growth will be a long and painful process. Words: 625