Economic Overviews

The level of complacency in world financial markets is downright astounding - even stupid - and only an eventual thundering crash of the system will bring the madness to an end.

There is certainly something to be said for being positive and thinking that anything is possible and, as Americans, optimism seems to come naturally for us. When we deny reality and engage in irrational wishful thinking, we are engaging in something called “hopium” - the irrational belief that, despite all evidence to the contrary, things will turn out for the best.

Dozens of “analysts are convinced that the U.S. economy is going to hell in a hand basket – and soon. How sound are their analyses of the current economic situation? Will they be proven to be very insightful or nothing less than fear mongers looking for attention? Their views are all here. You be the judge.

Most of the hundreds of financial articles posted every week are just "financial entertainment" - unfounded forecasts, fear mongering or cheerleading. That being said, there are a number of articles that are absolutely MUST READS if you want to become an informed investor and be in position to understand what is evolving in the financial environment and be in a position act accordingly. Here they are.

The infographic below shows the difference in living costs around the world using CPI data as a relative indicator of a country's living costs compared to New York (for example, if a country has a CPI of 70, on average, it enjoys 30% cheaper living costs compared to New York).

This infographic shows the difference in Monthly Personal Disposable Income around the world using data from 2014. In this context personal disposable income refers to the income per person after all taxes have been paid.

If you believe that ignorance is bliss, you might not want to read this article. [Why? Because] I am going to dispel the notion that there has been any sort of “economic recovery”, and I am going to show that we are much worse off than we were just prior to the last economic crisis. [Ready to become informed? Then, read on!]

Just because something has happened in the past does not mean that it will happen in the future but the fact that so many red flags are appearing all at once has got to give any rational person reason for concern. What red flags, you ask? Read on!

Anti-tax demagoguery in the U.S. has resulted in Americans paying almost four times as much as the citizens of other wealthy countries for things such as retirement security and health care on the private market – 10.6% of our economic output versus an average of just 2.7% among Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member states. As the title of this article suggests low taxes in the U.S. come at a very high cost.

Dozens (dare I say hundreds?) of "analysts" (should I say alarmists?) are convinced that the U.S. economy (and that of the world for that matter) is going to hell in a hand basket - and soon. How sound are their analyses of the current economic situation? Will they be proven to be very insightful or nothing less than fear mongers looking for attention? Their views are all here. You be the judge.