I generally shy away from making time-specific economic and stock marketstockcrashimages-1 predictions simply because odds are very low you’ll be correct on both the prediction and the timing. However, there are certain times when the environment is conducive for a prediction that comes along with an expiration date. Today is one of those times.

In the coming years, Europe appears set to lurch from the frying pan of depression to the fire of high inflation. When it does, the lessons of the Great Inflation [outlined in this article] will suddenly be all too pertinent.

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 no escaping the inevitable - if you aggressively debase your currency eventually you are going to have a currency crisis. The first one has now begun. Words: 350; Charts: 2

In an odd twist of fate the future of the U.S. dollar is in the hands of Asian governments [and particularly China and Japan. Let's hope they continue to put their own interests first.] Here’s why.

It’s been exactly two years since Standard & Poor’s did the unthinkable and downgraded the U.S. government’s debt rating...and yet, it’s as if it never happened…

History clearly shows that stocks don't fall during periods of rising interest rates. Sure, they might fall a little when a rate hike is announced - maybe for a week or so - but they usually bounce back quickly - and then they go higher.

At this point, thanks to a long-standing policy of wanton money printing, the Fed has more liabilities than ever before in its history - by an enormous margin - and this precarious balance sheet is dangerous, because if the Fed goes bust, everyone loses [- including YOU. Let me explain why that is the case]. Words: 398

One look at the chart below clearly illustrates that owners of Government bonds need all the help they can get right now!

Little has been done in the past six years to restructure economies and cut debt i.e. learn the lessons of 2008. Because we’ve partially recovered from that traumatic period, that’s led to complacency. All the while, the debt that caused the bust in the first place has compounded and threatens to undo the world again. Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.