Economic Overviews

The Federal Reserve is in quite a pickle. Mr. Market expects them to print money to support the economy...but if the economy continues down this path, we may have a deflationary depression on our hands...Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has said he will not allow this to happen under any circumstances. The Fed wants to keep interest rates low and create inflation so that it can pay off existing debt with cheaper dollars, avoiding insolvency. [The fact of the matter, however, is that] the Federal Reserve cannot stop printing money or the U.S. will experience the economic phenonmenon referred to as the Minsky Moment. [Let me explain just what the aforementioned all means.] Words: 1195

The Federal Reserve is in quite a pickle. Mr. Market expects them to print money to support the economy...but if the economy continues down this path, we may have a deflationary depression on our hands...Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has said he will not allow this to happen under any circumstances. The Fed wants to keep interest rates low and create inflation so that it can pay off existing debt with cheaper dollars, avoiding insolvency. [The fact of the matter, however, is that] the Federal Reserve cannot stop printing money or the U.S. will experience the economic phenonmenon referred to as the Minsky Moment. [Let me explain just what the aforementioned all means.] Words: 1195

The permabears are coming out the woodwork. Bad, scary articles and news seem to attract more attention and eyeballs than good news articles or those that offer a counterbalanced view. Whenever someone gets interviewed on US TV, it’s for someone proclaiming the end of the expansion – you never see them interviewing someone offering a counter view of a more positive nature. This article gives you a balanced, opposing view to the tiresome popular perma-bear consensus so that you can make your own balanced decision. [As for our own conclusion, we don't see imminent recession. Here's why.] Words: 1315

The permabears are coming out the woodwork. Bad, scary articles and news seem to attract more attention and eyeballs than good news articles or those that offer a counterbalanced view. Whenever someone gets interviewed on US TV, it’s for someone proclaiming the end of the expansion – you never see them interviewing someone offering a counter view of a more positive nature. This article gives you a balanced, opposing view to the tiresome popular perma-bear consensus so that you can make your own balanced decision. [As for our own conclusion, we don't see imminent recession. Here's why.] Words: 1315

Econintersect has been playing with an economic index based on the world as seen by Joe Sixpack. For lack of a final name, we have used a development tag of “Joe’s Index” which is based on Joe’s real income and the change in his home value, which, to various degrees, Joe sees as income (and/or wealth) gain or loss. Joe’s Index is indicating Joe Sixpack is coming back to the consumption trough. [Let us explain why we have come to that conclusion.] Words: 380

Econintersect has been playing with an economic index based on the world as seen by Joe Sixpack. For lack of a final name, we have used a development tag of “Joe’s Index” which is based on Joe’s real income and the change in his home value, which, to various degrees, Joe sees as income (and/or wealth) gain or loss. Joe’s Index is indicating Joe Sixpack is coming back to the consumption trough. [Let us explain why we have come to that conclusion.] Words: 380

The future of the eurozone all boils down to Germany. I've been forecasting for months that Germany will increasingly focus on domestic interests and that it will ultimately opt to leave the Euro rather than prop up the EU. The former (focusing on domestic issues) is already underway and I believe the latter will occur once the EU Crisis spreads to France which I expect to happen before autumn. At that point, it's game over for any notion of the current EU lasting because Germany will walk! [Let me explain further.] Words: 675

The future of the eurozone all boils down to Germany. I've been forecasting for months that Germany will increasingly focus on domestic interests and that it will ultimately opt to leave the Euro rather than prop up the EU. The former (focusing on domestic issues) is already underway and I believe the latter will occur once the EU Crisis spreads to France which I expect to happen before autumn. At that point, it's game over for any notion of the current EU lasting because Germany will walk! [Let me explain further.] Words: 675

This past week we received the latest PMI readings for the world as a whole (48.9), the eurozone (46.4), and for 30+ individual countries [Read: Telling It Like It Is: Latest PMIs Reveal Truth About the Global Economy]...and the latest numbers signal contraction and even more so when adjusted to reflect the concentration of GDP by countries/region. [Let me explain.] Words: 600

This past week we received the latest PMI readings for the world as a whole (48.9), the eurozone (46.4), and for 30+ individual countries [Read: Telling It Like It Is: Latest PMIs Reveal Truth About the Global Economy]...and the latest numbers signal contraction and even more so when adjusted to reflect the concentration of GDP by countries/region. [Let me explain.] Words: 600