Doomed for Failure

Posted on October 7, 2016 by MN Gordon

We’ve been waiting for the U.S. economy to reach escape velocity for the last six years. What we mean is we’ve been waiting for the economy to finally becomes self-stimulating and no longer require monetary or fiscal stimulus to keep it from stalling out.  Unfortunately, this may not be possible the way things are going.

In short, the U.S. economy may never reach escape velocity unless it is first allowed to crash.  It has been too larded up and larded over with debt for any real sustainable growth to take root.  More evidence, to this effect, was revealed this week.

For example, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) anticipates the U.S. economy will expand by just 1.6 percent this year.  That’s about one percent less than last year’s estimated growth.  In other words, the rate of economic growth in the United States isn’t increasing; rather, it’s decreasing.

According to the IMF, “the slower-than-expected activity comes out of the ongoing oil industry slump, depressed business investment and a persistent surplus in business inventories.”  Could this be the twilight of the weakest economic recovery in the post-World War II era?  Only time will tell, for sure. Continue reading →

Posted in Economy, MN Gordon | Tagged , , , , | 8 Comments

Mass Money Debauchery

Posted on September 30, 2016 by MN Gordon

The present day offers the opportunity for many incredible experiences.  Perhaps one of the most rewarding of all is bearing witness to the final days before the greatest economic crackup the world’s ever known.  Not since Nero clipped coins in 64 A.D. and fiddled as Rome burned has there been such an intolerable collection of dingleberries in imperial office.

John Maynard Keynes, the godfather of modern day economic planning, in his 1919 work, The Economic Consequences of the Peace, wrote: “There is no subtler, no surer means of overturning the existing basis of society than to debauch the currency.”

Incidentally, Keynes attributed this acute insight to another innovative central planner, one Vladimir Lenin.  Regrettably, these two visionaries predicted today’s present state of affairs with remarkable foresight.

Here we are, nearly 100 years later, and the currency has been near fully debauched.  What’s more, the basis of society has been completely overturned.  Gawping at the Presidential debate earlier this week made this all too apparent. Continue reading →

Posted in Inflation, MN Gordon | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Harvard Report Whiffs on Fed Price Fixing Scheme

Posted on September 23, 2016 by MN Gordon

This month the bright fellows at Harvard Business School came out with a new report.  A lot of work went into its preparation.  In fact, the report contains the culmination of five years of in-depth analysis of U.S. competitiveness and surveys of global business leaders and the general public.

“Problems Unsolved and a Nation Divided,” is the title.  What these two independent clauses have to do with one another is unclear.  But the way they are strung together it appears the authors believe they are somehow correlated.

Perhaps problems are unsolved because the nation’s divided.  Or maybe the nation’s divided because problems are unsolved.  Here we turn to the report’s executive summary for explanation…

“Overall, we believe that dysfunction in America’s political system is now the single most important challenge to U.S. economic progress.  Many Americans are keenly aware that the system is broken, but are unsure why it is broken or how to fix it.

“While there is rising frustration with politics, there is, as yet, no framework for understanding the reasons for today’s poor performance and proposing effective solutions. Continue reading →

Posted in Economy, MN Gordon | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Why the Fed Destroyed the Market Economy

Posted on September 16, 2016 by MN Gordon

Swing voters are a fickle bunch.  One election they vote Democrat.  The next they vote Republican.

For they have no particular ideology or political philosophy to base their judgement upon.  They don’t give a rip about questions of small government or big government.  Nor do they have any druthers about the welfare or warfare state.

In effect, they really don’t care.  What’s important to the swing voter is much simpler.  In fact, it can be boiled down to the following essential question.  What have you done for me lately?

The answer to this question, of course, comes back to money.  As far as the swing voter’s concerned, if their brokerage account’s growing they vote the incumbent party.  If it’s shrinking, they vote the challenger party.

It doesn’t matter if the source of the stock market inflation is a fraud.  Nor does it matter that a stock market correction will help reestablish financial markets on a firmer foundation. Continue reading →

Posted in Inflation, MN Gordon | Tagged , , , , | 17 Comments