Economy

An analysis of the effect that rising crude oil prices is having, and will continue to have, on America's standard of living is very revealing. For every $1 increase in a barrel of crude oil the cost of what you pay at the pump for a gallon of gasoline goes up $0.03. That may not seem like much but the recent spike in the price of oil, were it to remain at its current level of $105 per barrel, would cost the median household somewhere in the neighborhood of $700 in 2011 - yes, $700! Words: 345

German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer once said that “all truth goes through three stages. First it is ridiculed, then it encounters strong opposition and finally it is considered to have always been obvious”. [We are now entering stage three where the eventual bankruptcy of nations is becoming obvious to all. Let's review the situation.] Words: 1091

Based on past massive monetary pumping, and using the time lag of 36 months which it normally takes before changes in money supply generate a visible effect on the prices of goods in general, we forecast that the yearly rate of growth of the CPI based inflation could rise to 2.4 percent by September of this year before jumping to 4.4 percent by December. Year on year, the rate of growth of the CPI less food and energy is forecast to climb to 1.5 percent by September before climbing to 2.7 percent in December. Let me explain. Words: 1670

Over the last half century, the richest Americans have shifted the burden of the federal individual income tax off themselves and onto everybody else - dramatically! At a time of national economic crisis, especially, they can and should contribute far more in taxes. [Let me show you the extent of this massive redistribution of wealth so you decide for yourself if this is, indeed, the case.] Words: 1140

Remember the song by The Barenaked Ladies called "If I Had a Million Dollars"? Well, if you were one of the many ultra-wealthy around the world who were worth billions (see list) and earns billions of dollars each year, year after year, where could you possibly spend such riches? Well, frankly, even being very extravagant, it actually is surprisingly difficult to spend that much money - and there's the rub. While this article, on one hand, outlines where and how a billionaire could make a small dent in his fortune (the uplifting part) it outlines, on the other hand, just how concentrated wealth is in the U.S. these days and the adverse effect such a concentration is having on our society. Words: 2156

The charade is over. American taxpayers finally seem to be aware that they are the servants, not the masters, of government at all levels. Government-employee unions have played a key role in causing bankruptcy in most American states, and their pleas for more bailouts financed by endless tax increases are finally ringing hollow. Words: 1192

The U.S. Federal government deficit for fiscal year 2011 has just been revised upwards by a further $378 billion to a whopping $1.645 trillion. As of January 2011, the total outstanding debt of the U.S. Federal government is $14.131 trillion. These numbers are huge, Huge, HUGE but Americans believe there is really no need to worry that much about such astrnomical numbers because they all know that it’s going to get much, much worse. They all know that there’s no sense worrying about this little milestone on the road to hell. Words: 1016

The ‘workforce elite’ in America today are public sector employees and they, led by state and municipal unionized workers, are now in open revolt to preserve their special status, and the status quo. Wisconsin is the current case study in what happens when the government, a monopoly service provider, confronts the fact that the taxpayer is tapped out and can’t take it anymore – and there simply isn’t enough money anymore. Those realities are going to result in major adjustments in worker incomes, future pensions and benefits and their overall standard of living. Let me explain. Words: 2137

Cycles repeat - just like clockwork - and, in spite of the on-going bull-bear debate, price eventually aligns to the dominate cycle. That being the case I am optimistic that the U.S. dollar is in for a short-term bullish run. Let me explain. Words: 808

If the U.S. dollar is being devalued so rapidly, then why does it sometimes increase in value against other global currencies? It is because there are times when one particular global currency will fall faster than the others but the reality is that they are all being rapidly devalued. As the 6 charts below illustrate, the UK, the EU, Japan, China and India, as well as the U.S., have all been printing money like there is no tomorrow. Unfortunately, this is a recipe for a global economic nightmare. Words: 1102