The Economy & Investing
86 articles filed under The Economy & Investing.
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The Economy & Investing
Is “Social Audio” a Thing of the Past?
In 2021, Clubhouse was an application everyone was talking about. Many of my colleagues in the internet infotainment world were getting involved. Back then, the audio chat room had 10 million users, which gave…
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The Economy & Investing
Ready for an Uncomfortable Conversation?
Let’s Take an Honest Look at Our Secretary of the Treasury This is painful to watch. Janet Yellen, who was appointed by the Biden administration to lead the Treasury Department, is responsible for “formulating…
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The Economy & Investing
Update on the Digital Dollar
The greatest threat to freedom and democracy in the US is not domestic terrorism from the radical right. Nor is it woke-ism coming from the radical left. In my mind, the biggest and most serious threat is the…
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The Economy & Investing
Collectible Investment Secret
Middle Age Crisis + Wealth = Peak Values I’ve written a fair amount about investing in collectibles. But one thing I don’t think I ever mentioned was an ingenious strategy I learned from one of my favorite…
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The Economy & Investing
The Cost of Retiring Comfortably
If you have less than a million in your retirement account, but still dream of retiring without having to worry about running out of money, you might want to begin your planning by figuring out where you want…
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The Economy & Investing
Then: The Housing Bubble
Now: The Car Debt Bubble? According to a report published recently by YahooFinance, Americans are borrowing more money to buy cars than ever before. What’s worse, they are often borrowing more than the cars…
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The Economy & Investing
The Supply Chain Is Mostly Fixed
But Cost of Shipping Is Still High The supply chain, a major headache during the pandemic economy, is now in much better shape. According to Bloomberg: “Containers that took up to 120 days to ship between…
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The Economy & Investing
Is Inflation at 6.5% Good News?
After peaking at 9.0% in June of 2022, inflation today is down to 6.4%. That’s a considerable improvement. Will it begin to climb again? Or might it continue to go down? My bet is that it will gradually move…
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The Economy & Investing
Sean’s 100% Guaranteed Market Predictions for 2023
I’ve told you about Sean MacIntyre. He and his partner, Lindsey Hough, are running a personal finance business called DIY Wealth. It used to be called Creating Wealth, and I used to be its guru. Sean is the…
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The Economy & Investing
Inflation and the Rise of Monopolies
Bill Bonner predicted the inflation we are experiencing now many times over the past year or two. His prognostication was based on basic economics: He watched how the Fed was trying to engineer the supply and…
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The Economy & Investing
Gold and Silver: Should You Be a Buyer?
I bought a bunch of gold in 2002. Back then, it was selling for about $400 an ounce. Today, an ounce will cost you more than four times that much, as it’s trading at roughly $1,800. That’s a gross profit of…
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The Economy & Investing
More Data on the Next (Biggest?) Financial Crisis
I got into the business of publishing economic and investment advice in the early 1980s. Since then, I’ve witnessed four significant “crises.” * The stock market crash of 1987 * The dot-com crash of 1995 * The…
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The Economy & Investing
Out of the Frying Pan…
The Fed raised interest rates last week, the last cut of seven this year meant to curb 40-year-high inflation. The benchmark federal funds rates stood at near zero in March. With this last raise of 0.5%, it…
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The Economy & Investing
Cathie Woods vs. Warren Buffett
Cathie Woods (of Ark Investing) is a crypto/disruptive technology investment superstar. She attracts the young, hip, and adventurous. The Hustle recently published a short article on her track record over the…
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The Economy & Investing
Energy Supply and Demand Likely to Be a Big Topic This Winter
That’s because of sanctions against Russia for the war on Ukraine, the unwillingness of OPEC to increase production, and the politically driven campaign to move too quickly away from fossil fuels towards green…
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The Economy & Investing
Slight Uptick in GDP, but Pink Slips Are Up, Too!
Slight Uptick in GDP, but Pink Slips Are Up, Too! There has been a bit of positive news on the economy recently. GDP is up slightly. And inflation is slightly down. Neither is significant. It feels temporary…
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The Economy & Investing
More Layoffs: A Sign of… What?
As you know if you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, I’m pessimistic about the economy. American GDP is down. Inflation is up. And rising crime and taxes are driving big companies and wealthy…
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The Economy & Investing
The $32 Billion Crypto Scammer
If you’ve heard about this crypto scammer but want to wait for Michael Lewis to finish his book or wait for the movie that will be made from it, here’s a good, short review of the story of Sam Bankman-Fried…
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The Economy & Investing
Would You Ask This Question? If Asked, Could You Answer It?
If I were in charge, nobody would be allowed to become an employee until he/she had spent some time running a business. And nobody would be allowed to run a business until he/she had spent some time as an…
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The Economy & Investing
Job Growth in October Was Stronger Than Expected
Does That Mean the Economy Is Stronger Than I’ve Been Saying? The Biden administration is telling us that the US is not in a recession. In fact, they say, the economy is “very healthy.” Those are the very…
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The Economy & Investing
Speaking of Major Cities… Can You Afford to Live in One?
K and I are in LA this week, visiting four of our five grandkids. LA is a sprawling collection of little cities and towns, some of which are very nice, and most of which are ordinary and even depressing. But…
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The Economy & Investing
Feeling a Bit Better…
That’s odd. Writing about the recent death of two friends somehow improved my mood. I have the mental energy now to get back to the gloomy subject of my last two blog posts. Last week, I told you what I think…
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The Economy & Investing
More on the Long, Hard Road Ahead
We received a lot of responses to Tuesday’s essay about the seriously bad state of the US economy. Most were versions of “I think you’re right! What can I do about it?” But a few were along the lines of “What…
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The Economy & Investing
Buckle Up – It’s Going to Be a Long, Hard Ride
The Republicans are grousing about inflation. It’s higher than it’s been in 40 years, they point out. It’s hurting working-class and even middle-class Americans. And it’s all Biden’s fault. The Biden…
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The Economy & Investing
What We Can Learn from the Bond Rate
Anyone whose financial comfort is dependent to some degree on the US economy (i.e., everyone in the world) should be praying that the Federal Reserve is making the right moves to keep it from slipping off the…
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The Economy & Investing
Should I Build That Apartment Building?
(It’s All About Supply and Demand) I’m back in the office today. I am determined to work diligently. With purpose, but without attachment. I sit down, close my eyes, and think good thoughts. I’m happy to be…
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The Economy & Investing
Why We Need a Recession
Inflation is up. Not just a little. A lot. And according to the standard definition, the US is in a recession. Working- and middle-class Americans have noticed. Everything from milk to toilet paper to…
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The Economy & Investing
Tipping Is Going Up: What Gives?
This chart was derived from a study by Toast, a point-of-sale (POS) platform that restaurants and other retail food services use to cash out customers. The study found that… * The average tip in full-service…
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The Economy & Investing
Decoding America's Confusing Unemployment Statistics
A New Take on “Who’s on First?” COSTELLO: I want to talk about the unemployment rate in America. ABBOTT: Good subject. It’s 3.6%. COSTELLO: That many people are out of work? ABBOTT: No, that’s 23%. COSTELLO…
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The Economy & Investing
About the Inflation Reduction Act
What a wonderfully Orwellian world we live in. Congress has just passed a bill called the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that, as far as I can tell, is practically designed to increase inflation. Its supporters…
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The Economy & Investing
Real Estate: A Time to Buy. A Time to Sell
In April and May, housing prices in the US were at all-time highs. In some areas, they are higher than they were at the early 2007 peak, right before the real estate industry began melting down before…
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The Economy & Investing
The Latest Example of What We Can Look Forward To
Robinhood, the stock trading app that was so hot a year ago, announced that it is laying off around 23% of its workforce. This is its second significant layoff. The first was 9%. The layoffs will be primarily…
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The Economy & Investing
The Recession of 2022: How Bad and Long Will It Get
It’s official. The US is in a recession. According to a report issued last week by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the real GDP (gross domestic product) decreased in the second quarter of the year by 0.9%. It…
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The Economy & Investing
What Is the “Wage-Price Spiral” – and Why Is It a Problem?
Prices are going up. And real incomes (nominal income minus inflation) are going down. (Wages up 5%; Inflation up 9%) From Bonner Private Research: “Workers will, of course, push employers for wage increases…
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The Economy & Investing
About the Future of America…
Once the Digital Dollar Is Put Into Circulation! We’ve all been deluged recently with reports on the rise of inflation and the risk of an extended economic recession. And for the past year or so, I’ve been…
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The Economy & Investing
Is the American Middle Class Shrinking?
“The American middle class is shrinking!” So said the headline. And it sounded right to me. Over the past 20 years, our elected officials and the Federal Reserve have done so many whacky things, trying to…
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