By Doug Hornig and Alex Daley, Casey Research In the world of finance, there is always talk of bubbles – mortgage bubbles, tech stock bubbles, junk bond bubbles. But bubbles don’t develop only in financial markets. In recent years, there's been another one quietly inflating, not capturing the attention of most observers. It's an education bubble – just not the one of student debt that has graced the pages of the New York Times and so many other publications in recent months. The problem is not that we are overeducating ourselves as many would have you believe. Rather, it’s that we are spending a fortune to undereducate ourselves. The United States has always been a very educated … [Read more...]
“Darkest Days” for the Economy: Behind Us, or Just Ahead?
Economic skies forecast: slowly clearing, heavy rain returning, or cyclone? Many people still talk about a "recovery," or at worst only see a possible double-dip recession. But what if the mistake was to think the economy was only in a recession in the first place? It can't "double-dip" when it never truly recovered: "The respite following the 2009 stock market low is not a new expansion. It has failed to improve housing sales, barely caused employment to budge, and hasn't managed -- despite the unprecedented manufacture of new Fed money -- to get the total supply of credit back above its 2008 high." Elliott Wave Theorist, Sept. 2011 Indeed, the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing … [Read more...]
Adam Fergusson: “Inflating your economy means playing with fire”
GoldMoney founder James Turk interviews When Money Dies author Adam Fergusson, who discusses the parallels and differences between the Weimar inflation and the situation in the US and Europe today. "I don't see how any of these [Western] economies can grow their way out of the extraordinary debts that they have." … [Read more...]
America’s First Deflationary Depression: Is a Bigger One Ahead?
Social psychology precipitates economic depressions Don't blame Martin Van Buren for America's first deflationary depression. Social mood rode higher in the saddle than did our 8th President, who only stood 5' 6". Elected in 1836, by the time Van Buren assumed office in March 1837 a speculative bubble had burst and a banking crisis was at hand (sound familiar?) -- the national mood had turned south and the "Panic of 1837" followed. Van Buren was known as "The Little Magician," but he could not pull an economic recovery out of the hat. He met defeat seeking a second term. America's first deflationary depression lasted until 1842. Van Buren blamed over-zealous business practices and a … [Read more...]
Markets Fear Deflation
The best way to know the future is to survey millions of people and analyze their responses. That is exactly what the market does every day. And even better Mr. Market knows not only what people say they believe but where they are putting their money as well. In the following article Chris Ciovacco, the Chief Investment Officer for Ciovacco Capital Management shows us how the markets view the current possibility of deflation. Chris has an amazingly simple chart that shows us exactly what the market is thinking right now. That chart is the ratio of Treasuries to Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS). Currently the ratio is indicating a deflationary bias in the market. When you think … [Read more...]
Rick Rule: “Bet against the dollar as a store of value”
In this excerpt from the Casey Summit When Money Dies, seasoned resource investor/broker Rick Rule discusses risk management and explains why the greatest risk you face as an investor is located to the left of your right ear and to the right of your left ear. Listen to Rick's complete summit speech – plus those of nearly 30 other renowned financial experts – from the comfort of your home. More than 20 hours of audio recordings on CD or MP3, including the experts’ top stock picks. Learn more. … [Read more...]
Michael Maloney: “We pay tax for the privilege to have currency”
In this video excerpt from the Casey Summit When Money Dies, Rich Dad advisor Mike Maloney explains how currency is created, "fractional reserve banking," and why our banking system is a pyramid scam of epic proportions. Listen to Mike's complete summit speech – plus those of nearly 30 other renowned financial experts – from the comfort of your home. More than 20 hours of audio recordings on CD or MP3, including the experts’ top stock picks. Learn more. … [Read more...]
How Does Inflation Affect You?
When people go the the grocery store and see ever higher prices they know how inflation affects them. But when they are feeling more philosophical they might reason that if all wages and prices increased at the same rate it would all balance out in the end right? Well theoretically yes but in reality it never works that way. Prices of various items all increase at different rates so some people are benefiting while others suffer. Those on fixed incomes suffer the most because the cost of things they are buying increases but their income stays the same. This is where COLA or "Cost Of Living Allowance" comes in it is an adjustment that is made to compensate for the increase in prices due … [Read more...]
Wanna Beat Inflation?
In a recent article entitled Is Gold really a good Inflation Hedge? I showed the history of Gold and how it really was a fear hedge rather than an inflation hedge. Interestingly, I just read an article entitled "Wanna Beat inflation? Forget Commodities!" by newsletter author Dan Ferris. It seems almost like heresy to hear that statement from Dan since he writes commodity and oil-based newsletters. But some of the statistics he presented were very interesting so I thought I would pass them along to you. … [Read more...]
It’s All the Same Market in a Deflationary Environment
On September 22, the Dow and S&P opened down over 2.5%. Oil was down, copper was down, and even GOLD was down sharply. Watch this video excerpt from Robert Prechter's special video issue of the August Elliott Wave Theorist where he explains what is causing diverse markets such as these to move together in today's environment. Free Report: Stocks -- Buying Opportunity or Another "Free Fall" Ahead?Find out what these market moves mean to your investments with current analysis from Elliott Wave International. Bob Prechter has just released a FREE report -- with urgent analysis from his August and September 2011 Elliott Wave Theorist market letters, including another video … [Read more...]