My parents’ Christmas-tree decorator predicted the so-called “housing bubble.” Or so some might think. While he moonlighted as a tree and lighting expert at Christmas each year, his day job was as a mortgage broker for a major bank. One night while decorating my parents’ house ahead of Christmas 2007, he expressed worry to […]
If Michael Burry Spotted the So-Called Housing “Bubble,” Then We All Did Read More »
It “was a hard company to keep alive.” That’s how Elon Musk described the rise of PayPal. Musk’s fortune is an effect of him creating companies that investors didn’t think amazing. With Tesla, SpaceX and PayPal, Musk would have gladly traded enormous amounts of equity in the past for capital, but for a persistent
In Elon Musk’s Success We Can See the Absurdity of the Attacks On Alan Greenspan Read More »
Matthew Lynn writes that a “financial castrophe” is in our future. He claims it’s due to the national debt. Lynn’s analysis implies that markets are quite stupid. Misunderstanding and non sequitur follow. Let’s start with Lynn’s headline assertion that “A financial catastrophe is looming.” Except that there’s $39 trillion worth of debt, get it? Lynn
Matthew Lynn Is Blissfully Innocent of “Coverage Ratios” Read More »
People power economic growth, but declining global birth rates are a bullish phenomenon. Yes, both statements are true. If declining birth rates foretold economic decline as Washington Post columnist Megan McArdle believes, stock markets in countries like South Korea would be experiencing sickening collapses. That’s because South Korea has the world’s lowest birth rate in concert with
Declining Global Birth Rates Aren’t “Suspicious,” They’re Bullish Read More »
If one-half of the commodities in the market rise in exchange value, the very terms imply a fall of the other half; and reciprocally, the fall implies a rise.” – John Stuart Mill, Principles of Political Economy, p. 419 Government is an ass. Human action taking place free of government control exceeds its opposite. AEI’s Mark
A Bullish Case Against Mark Perry’s “Chart of the Century” Read More »
Mitch Daniels looks admiringly in the mirror through the words he puts on a page. See his latest Washington Post op-ed, and his comment that “No impulse is more human than wishfulness, the tendency to grasp at any straw that enables us to avert our eyes from difficult realities and put off facing them.” Daniels is
No ‘Debt Denialism,’ Mitch Daniels, Just a Focus On Markets Read More »
No individual, corporation, or government ever gets to choose how much money to borrow. Only in academic and pundit circles is such a fanciful notion accepted as realistic. A recent op-ed penned for a think tank purported with alarm that “Congress Knows It Has a Spending Problem, But Won’t Fix It.” And at Fox News last
A $50 Trillion National Debt In 2030 Will Signal Opposite of Debt Problem Read More »
Any margin artificially created by the Fed looms as a huge opportunity for market actors with real access to credit. Continue reading on Forbes.
If Jerome Powell Is Wrong, Markets Will Correct His Mistakes Read More »
Conservatives and libertarians talk rhapsodically about markets, while sometimes ignoring the market signals that reject their occasional alarmism. Which is why Montgomery College economics professor David Youngberg shouldn’t be singled out for predicting a debt crisis. Most conservatives and libertarians do. In Youngberg’s case, hopefully he’ll see this critique for what it is: a push
If a Debt Crisis Loomed, There Would Be No Federal Borrowing Read More »
To reference Neil Sedaka, who recently died at age 86, is to age oneself. Some of Sedaka’s most famous songs (“Laughter In the Rain,” “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do,” and “Love Will Keep Us Together”) were either performed by the songwriter/musician, or by other musicians in the 1970s. Which means that if you’re
In the Prosperous Future That Awaits, We’ll All Be Neil Sedaka Read More »
