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Throwing Water on a GREECE Fire – An Explosive Action
- February 22, 2012
- Posted by: Ted Bullen
- Category: Banking, Economy, Government, Monetary Policy, News, Public Sector
No CommentsIt is common knowledge that if grease gets hot enough (above 600 degrees Fahrenheit,) it will catch fire. It is also common knowledge that such a fire is best extinguished by taking measures to smother the flames, and NEVER to throw water on such a fire. If such a mistake is made, the result is
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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
Brazil, 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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Food for Thought, But for Higher Prices
- January 20, 2011
- Posted by: Ted Bullen
- Category: Commodities, Food, Inflation, Monetary Policy, News
This week, the CRB BLS Spot Index exceeded 2008 record high levels. The foodstuffs sub-index also exceeded 2008 record highs. Both indices exceeded the previous highs by approximately 7%. Leading up to the index-highs of this week, food policy experts have warned of serious consequences resulting from food inflation, particularly if countries respond with counterproductive
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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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Insanity – Fed Considering Options That Are Sure to Fail
- October 15, 2010
- Posted by: Ted Bullen
- Category: Economy, Government, Monetary Policy, News
Albert Einstein is quoted as saying: “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” The Federal Reserve is expected to initiate a new round of Treasury purchases, thus monetizing more debt to add to the $1.7 trillion in longer-term assets it has already bought. Typically, “if a budget deficit persists
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Inflation Nation
- June 7, 2010
- Posted by: Ted Bullen
- Category: Economy, Government, News
Here’s what we know: The national debt surpassed $13 trillion this month The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has predicted that the national debt will surpass the U.S GDP by 2012. The IMF also projects that the U.S. economy will expand, in the short term, at a slower pace than the average of the past 50
