Category Archive: 5) Global Macro

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When Did Our Elites Become Self-Serving Parasites?

2016-12-31

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2016-12-31

When did our financial and political elites become self-serving parasites? Some will answer that elites have always been self-serving parasites; as tempting as it may be to offer a blanket denunciation of elites, this overlooks the eras in which elites rose to meet existential crises.

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Fake News, Mass Hysteria and Induced Insanity

2016-12-30

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2016-12-30

Obesity Among US Adults Ages 20-74
We've heard a lot about "fake news" from those whose master narratives are threatened by alternative sources and analyses. We've heard less about the master narratives being threatened.

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India’s Rapid Progression Toward a Police State

2016-12-30

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2016-12-30

Mahad-Poladpur bridge collapse
India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, announced on 8th November 2016 that Rs 500 (~$7.50) and Rs 1,000 (~$15) banknotes would no longer be legal tender. Linked are Part-I, Part-II, Part-III, Part-IV, and Part-V, which provide updates on the demonetization saga and how Modi is acting as a catalyst to hasten the rapid degradation of India and what remains of its institutions.

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A Tale of Two Housing Markets: Hot and Not So Hot

2016-12-29

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2016-12-29

GDP Count
If we had to guess which areas will likely experience the smallest declines in prices and recover the soonest, which markets would you bet on?

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Grab-Bag of Resolutions for 2017

2016-12-28

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2016-12-28

Bitcoin One-Year Chart
Here's a grab-bag of resolutions with something for just about every persuasion. I resolve to never utter or write the word "Trump" in 2017. (Good luck with that...)

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Crisis of Meaning = Crisis of Work

2016-12-27

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2016-12-27

Real Average Hourly Wages
Allow me to connect two apparently unconnected dots. Dot #1: The last sugar plantation in Hawaii is closing down, ending more than a century of plantation life in the 50th state.

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When Assets (Such as Real Estate) Become Liabilities

2016-12-27

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2016-12-27

Equity in Real Estate
It will be the middle class that accepted the notion that "real estate is the foundation of family wealth" that will be stripmined by higher taxes on immobile assets such as real estate.

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Emerging Market Preview for the Week Ahead

2016-12-26

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2016-12-26

EM gained some limited traction as last week ended. However, renewed concerns about China could limit this bounce as President Xi signaled the possibility that growth could fall below the government’s 6.5% target.

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The Washington Post: Useful-Idiot Shills for a Failed, Frantic Status Quo That Has Lost Control of the Narrative

2016-12-25

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2016-12-25

US Federal Reserve System
Don't you think it fair and reasonable that anyone accusing me of being a shill for Russian propaganda ought to read my ten books in their entirety and identify the sections that support their slanderous accusation?

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The Burrito Index: Consumer Prices Have Soared 160 percent Since 2001

2016-12-25

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2016-12-25

Personal Consumption Expenditures
In our household, we measure inflation with the Burrito Index: How much has the cost of a regular burrito at our favorite taco truck gone up? Since we keep detailed records of expenses (a necessity if you’re a self-employed free-lance writer).

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Emerging Markets: What has Changed

2016-12-24

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2016-12-24

China President Xi raised the possibility of sub-6.5% growth. Fitch moved the outlook on Indonesia’s BBB- rating from stable to positive. The Philippine central bank raised its 2017 inflation forecasts for 2017 and 2018.

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The Disaster of Inflation-For the Bottom 95 percent

2016-12-24

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2016-12-24

Central banks are obsessed with boosting inflation, but the "why inflation is good" arguments make no sense for households being ravaged by inflation. The basic argument is that inflation makes it easier for debtors to service their debts.

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Modi’s Fantastic Promises

2016-12-24

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2016-12-24

New Notes disintegrating
This article continues right where Part VI left off (for earlier updates on the demonetization saga see Part-I, Part-II, Part-III, Part-IV, and Part-V). There is still huge support for Modi even among the poor. A big carrot is dangled before them, which makes many stay numb to their current suffering. During his election campaign in 2014, Modi promised to deposit more than Rs 1.5 million (~$22,000) in each poor person’s account once the...

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We Know How This Ends – Part 2

2016-12-23

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2016-12-23

History Most Definitely Rhymes
In March 1969, while Buba was busy in the quicksand of its swaps and forward dollar interventions, Netherlands Bank (the Dutch central bank) had instructed commercial banks in Holland to pull back funds from the eurodollar market in order to bring up their liquidity positions which had dwindled dangerously during this increasing currency chaos.

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Why the Massive Expansion of “Money” Hasn’t Trickled Down to “The Rest of Us”

2016-12-22

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2016-12-22

MZM Money Stock
There are numerous debates about money: what it is, how we measure it, and so on. In recognition of these debates, I'm referring to "money" in quotes to designate that I'm using the Federal Reserve's measure of money stock (MZM). Nowadays, "money" is often credit. We buy stuff not with currency/ cash, but with credit extended by lenders.

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What Have the “Experts” Gotten Right? In the Real Economy, They’re 0 for 5

2016-12-20

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2016-12-20

Personal Consumption Expenditures; Services; Housing; Rental of tenant-occupied nonfarm housing
If the "experts" were assessed on results, they'd all be fired. The mainstream media continually hypes the authority of "experts," i.e. people with a stack of credentials from top institutions. But does the mainstream media ever check on whether the "experts" got anything right? Let's compare the "experts" (conventional PhD economists) diagnoses and fixes with the results of their policies.

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Are You a Deplorable? Take This Quiz to Find Out

2016-12-18

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2016-12-18

Media Concentration
Regardless of your ethnicity, class or religion, if you perceive the institutions that govern American life as corrupted, riddled with favoritism and spin or as broken, you're a Deplorable. Are you a Deplorable? The answer might surprise you. Take this short quiz to find out.

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Emerging Markets: Week Ahead Preview

2016-12-18

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2016-12-18

EM ended the weak on a soft note, as the hawkish Fed decision continued to have reverberations for global markets. Worst performers in EM last week were CLP (-3.3%), ZAR (-2%), and KRW (-1.5%). With little fundamental news expected this week, markets may take a more consolidative tone, especially with the holidays approaching. However, we continue to believe that the global backdrop for EM remains negative.

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Is the Deep State at War–With Itself?

2016-12-18

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2016-12-18

Deep State Network
The recent pronouncement by the C.I.A. that Russian hackers intervened in the U.S. presidential election doesn't pass the sniff test--on multiple levels. Let's consider the story on the most basic levels.

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Why the Democrats Can’t Let Go of Losing

2016-12-17

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2016-12-17

Democratic party
The Democratic Party has become everything it once was against. The Democratic Party has become everything that it once loathed: elitist, globalist, interventionist, self-serving, warmongering and overflowing with hubris.

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