Watch Out Below

Posted on December 12, 2014 by MN Gordon

Six months ago a canary was sent down into the global economic coal mine.  At the time, oil was priced at over $110 a barrel.  Last month they pulled the canary retrieval line back up…the canary was dead.  The economy may be next.

Yesterday, oil’s price sat around $59 a barrel.  That’s down over 45 percent in the last six months.  No doubt, this qualifies as a market crash.  Moreover, since it’s a crash in the global economy’s most essential commodity, it surely signals something wicked this way comes.

The rapid fall in oil price is wreaking havoc upon the paper financing structure that was stimulating new exploration and production.  A similar event, triggered by an unexpected drop in house prices, occurred several years ago.  Bank balance sheets were shredded.

If you recall, when Lehman Brothers vanished from the face of the earth a little over five years ago, black swans relentlessly descended upon the LIBOR like common ravens upon fresh Southern California road kill.  Spread movements that were statistically not possible in a million years, somehow, happened every day. Continue reading →

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Something to Cheer About

Posted on December 9, 2014 by MN Gordon

This year’s on target to be a banner year for jobs growth.  With a month still left, total payrolls have already increased by 2.65 million.  An upsurge like this hasn’t been notched since the twilight of the last millennium.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics published the November employment numbers last Friday.  When they counted up the beans, they concluded 321,000 new jobs were added in November.  Although the unemployment rate held at 5.8 percent, economists and financial pundits celebrated the news with gusto…

“In one line: spectacular and, more to the point, believable,” said Ian Shepherdson, chief economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.  “We’ve had strong hiring indicators in a number of surveys, and lower jobless claims, so sooner or later, we were going to get a blockbuster number.”

Shepherdson, no doubt, is blind.  He’s so eager to applaud a “blockbuster” number he forgets to do one very important thing.  Namely, he forgets to open his eyes and look around. Continue reading →

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Preventing Taxpaying Milk Cows from Seeking Greener Pastures

Posted on December 5, 2014 by MN Gordon

Preventing Taxpaying Milk Cows from Seeking Greener Pastures
By Nick Giambruno, Senior Editor, International Man

It’s undeniable that the window of opportunity is getting smaller… especially when you connect all the dots and see the big picture.

To help connect those dots, it’s important to understand the things that make being an American citizen uniquely burdensome.

First, Americans are the only people in the entire world who effectively suffer under an inescapable, worldwide system of taxation.

For example, if an American and an Italian both moved to Singapore (or any foreign country) and earned income there, the American would still have to file and pay US income taxes.  The Italian would have no tax liability to Italy.  That’s how it works for citizens of virtually all countries… except American citizens.

The obligation for US citizens to file a stack of complex and almost incomprehensible forms each year usually requires the assistance of an expensive tax preparer. Continue reading →

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Central Bankers Unite

Posted on December 2, 2014 by MN Gordon

Government planners float the economy up on a sea of credit.  Financial markets rest on an eroding base of wet sandy debt.  With all the funny money sloshing around…no solid footings remain.

Here at the Economic Prism we long for a concrete foundation we can stub our toe on.  The resulting pain would be comforting.  For it would provide confirmation that consequences still exist.  Thus we’ll begin today’s supposition with some perspective…

“Credit expansion can bring about a temporary boom.  But such a fictitious prosperity must end in a general depression of trade, a slump,” noted 20th century economist Ludwig von Mises.

But what happens if a credit expansion is followed with an additional expansion of credit?  Does the debt ever have to be repaid?  With enough credit based money, can’t the economic depression be postponed ad infinitum? Continue reading →

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