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BRICS Thrown at the U.S. House of Cards May Cause Things to Come Tumbling Down
- April 18, 2011
- Posted by: Ted Bullen
- Category: Commodities, Economy, Government, Inflation, Monetary Policy, News
No CommentsBrazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, each representing large and populous developing countries with growing economies, have formed a consortium known by the acronym BRICS. They met four days ago to call for an end of the U.S. dollar as the world’s reserve currency. These emerging economies are seen as the engine for global
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A Measure of Meal plus Oil No Longer Makes a Full Loaf of Bread
- March 3, 2011
- Posted by: Ted Bullen
- Category: Commodities, Economy, Food, Inflation, Monetary Policy, News, Oil & Gas
In February, reports of the Fed claim that QEII had been successful were floated, though not taken seriously. The reason is that food/commodity prices, especially grains, are the highest that they have been in twenty years. This has been exasperated with the speculator-driven rise in oil prices due to the unrest in Libya with the
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Debt Addiction Intervention Needed
- November 26, 2010
- Posted by: Ted Bullen
- Category: Economy, Government, Monetary Policy, News
Earlier this week, Forbes published an article by Shaun Rein, Managing Director of China Market Research Group. As we have done previously, he decries the Federal Reserve’s quantitative easing measures, saying (http://www.forbes.com/2010/11/22/ben-bernanke-wrong-quantitative-easing-leadership-managing-rein.html): 1) “Low interest rates and an increased money supply are worthless tools if companies don’t think there are ways to make money. More
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The Fed Says Potato, the Market Says Potahto – Let’s call the Whole Thing Off!
- November 16, 2010
- Posted by: Ted Bullen
- Category: Economy, Government, Monetary Policy, News
The Wall Street Journal reported, today, that investors are selling off U.S. government debt, challenging the Federal Reserve’s efforts to push interest rates lower, and, instead, driving rates, in many cases, to their highest levels in more than three months (See previous blog post: Inflation Nation). The rise in borrowing costs is a most unwelcome
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QEII – No Luxury Liner for the Average Citizen
- November 6, 2010
- Posted by: Ted Bullen
- Category: Economy, Government, Monetary Policy, News
As the country was watching the election results of November 2, 2010, the Federal Reserve was quietly implementing the second monetization of debt, called QEII. This Keynsian-style move of issuing debt and buying it back has some unintended consequences: First, the dollar is devalued. It is estimated that the dollar will be worth 20% less
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GE Incandescent Light Bulb Factory to go Dark
- September 9, 2010
- Posted by: Ted Bullen
- Category: Consumer Products, Economy, Environmental Sustainability, News
GE has announced the pending closure of the last major factory making ordinary incandescent light bulbs in the United States. Two hundred jobs will be lost as the operation shifts to “green” light bulbs (compact fluorescent lamps or CFLs) that are to be made in China. China manufactures 85% of the world’s total CFLs. Replacing
