Banking

Pensions are run like Ponzi schemes; as long as the cash coming in to the fund is equal to or exceeds beneficiary payouts, the scheme can continue but it’s a catastrophe when economic conditions deteriorate and tax revenue flattens or declines, as is occurring now. When the stock market inevitably cracks, it will wipe pensions out.

If you're at all interested in money, you probably know that there are a bunch of U. S. notes and coins that nobody uses anymore. The whys and wherefores of this "forgotten" money makes for an interesting history.

The Wall Street Journal writes that "many US states have been slow to improve their finances nine years into the economic expansion raising a risk they won't be prepared when another downturn hits, making them susceptible to big spending cuts that make the next recession worse".

People should be careful when applying the word “fiat” to currency/money. The word is routinely used to mean irredeemable or non-physical, but that’s not what it actually means.

The U.S. and Canadian banking systems are similar to some degree, but also uniquely different. Today's graphic compares the two countries' banking histories, market shares, number of banks, investment outlook, leverage, and many other factors.

Today’s infographic from BestAccountingSchools provides an introductory guide to cryptocurrencies, and it highlights the history, important terms, and statistics about the crypto space. It also profiles some of the pioneers that made it all happen.

Federal fiscal policy is entering uncharted territory. We now expect fiscal policy to boost growth by 0.7pp in 2018 and 0.6pp in 2019 on a Q4/Q4 basis, however, we anticipate that the growth effects will fade later in 2019 and turn slightly negative by 2020.

2018 is likely to be the year when the 2007-9 crisis returns with a vengeance but, this time, it will be a lot more serious. Central banks will panic and print money at a level never seen before in history leading to collapsing currencies and hyperinflation.

Since 1962 Congress has voted to raise the debt ceiling 75 times without a single reduction so, practically speaking, a ceiling that is raised automatically is no ceiling at all so why not dispense with the pretense of a debt “ceiling”?

Historic pumping of new liquidity into the overall global financial system is what has given us our current BUBBLE markets but all this pump priming and asset bubble situation is coming to and END in...2018...creating the environment for a downturn in all our markets.