Blog

In the first two months of the current fiscal year that began on October 1st, the US national debt has grown $320 billion. That is $21 billion more than the same 2-month period last year, which illustrates that the growth of the national debt continues to accelerate.

It has been said that book reviews are supposed to include something critical. Nevertheless, I have nothing negative to say about “Currency Wars”. It is a great book, and you will not be disappointed with it. But I do have one important thought to keep in mind as you read it.

September 19, 2011 – The Swiss National Bank finally gave up.  For months it tried standing alone against all of the bad monetary policies being pursued by the ECB, the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England and indeed, nearly all of the central banks of the world, but it was a losing battle.  So lastRead more

In the twelve months ending August 31st, gold has risen 46.5%, but the XAU Index of precious metal mining stocks climbed only 17.7%. By itself, that is a good rate of return for mining stocks, but not what one would expect given gold’s appreciation over this period.

July 11, 2011 – Discussions by policymakers to increase the US debt limit are in the eleventh hour.  Sadly, so far the circus of intense political posturing has avoided highlighting the real issue. It is not the debt capacity of the US government that is of primary importance, nor how much will be cut fromRead more

June 14, 2011 – The solvency of the European Central Bank is being called into question by some brilliant in-depth research from OpenEurope.org.uk.  This independent think tank believes “the EU must now embrace radical reform based on economic liberalisation, a looser and more flexible structure, and greater transparency and accountability” in order for the “EU’sRead more

February 3, 2011 – An article today in The Wall Street Journal highlights the latest rise in the price of wheat.  Blaming bad weather, it notes that the “global wheat market is caught between freezing winds and a sirocco.” The WSJ therefore warns that “investors should beware of whiplash as weather normalizes.”  Given that wheatRead more

The rise in commodity prices over the past several months has been unrelenting. Equally unrelenting has been the stream of central bank apologists aiming to re-direct the blame for soaring prices to almost everything imaginable except the real cause, which of course is unrestrained money printing.

January 3, 2011 – It is that time of the year again to record my expectations and outlook for the year ahead.  But before looking at 2011, as always I first re-visit what I was expecting for this past year in order to evaluate whether my forecasts were close to the mark. My forecasts forRead more

December 21, 2010 – Last week the British pound fell 3.0% against the US dollar.  Some say it was because of UK bank exposure to Spain, which Moody’s warned could be downgraded.  Others blamed the UK’s close economic link and heavy debt exposure to Ireland, which Moody’s did actually downgrade last week by 5-levels toRead more