Economic Overviews

The Misery Index is a lens through which to look at quality of life and, from an American perspective, such misery has risen steadily since 1994. How miserable is your state (and your state of being)? Take a look..

The real value of the stock market is positively correlated, over time, with the amount of freight hauled by the nation's trucks (in other words, the physical size of the economy has a lot to do with the real, inflation-adjusted value of the economy) and the latest numbers (see chart) strongly suggest that we are not in a stock market bubble.

Despite all you hear coming from the government’s media megaphone, there is no economic recovery underway, nor can there be one. The policies in place ensure that one will not happen.

Minor tidbits of good news, combined with manipulated and seasonally adjusted economic figures, are giving politicians worldwide reason for spreading their optimistic gospel of recovery that has nothing to do with reality. [They are nothing but] false hope and total misunderstanding of the real state of the world economy.

To what extent do residents of these 39 countries think their country's economy will improve or worsen by the spring of 2014? Take a look.

We have not seen so many financial trouble signs all come together at one time like this since just prior to the last major financial crisis in 2008. It is almost as if a "perfect storm" is brewing, and a lot of the "smart money" has already gotten out of stocks and bonds. Could it be possible that we are heading toward another nightmarish financial crisis?

There are four main macro issues shaping the investment climate: 1.the tapering anticipation in the U.S.; 2.the stabilization of the Chinese economy; 3.a cyclical recovery in Europe and 4.the long awaited Japanese purchases of foreign bonds.

There is nothing dry and boring about economic and politics when you have a sense of humor, an understanding of the realities of the situation and are prepared to let it all hang out. Peter Schiff did just that recently in a hilarious stand-up comedy routine at the NY's Funniest Reporter Show in which he talked about Bernie Madoff (Ponzi 101), Ben Bernanke (QExit) and using the name Peter Stiff.

With wage growth suppressed and consumers still driving over 70% of the nation's GDP, weak economic growth should not be a surprise.

New research shows that forecasters tend to underestimate the expected outcome of anticipated economic data for several months in a row, and then overestimate it for several months in a row thereafter. Why does that matter? Read on.