There’s a viral video going around by Tony Robbins on the national debt. Unfortunately, he makes the dreaded error of confusing a currency issuer with a currency user. Of course, the two can never be compared since a currency issuer has no solvency constraint meaning that they can never “run out of” currency like currency users can.

There’s still a lot of confusion over QE and its actual economic impact despite some pretty clear-cut evidence about what the policy does.  A brief recap might help. Just to be clear – QE in the USA does not work by “funding” the spending of the US government.  I know this is a rather unorthodox perspective, but the government does [...]

I was on CNN radio again last Friday to discuss my article on the 9 economic myths. Topics we briefly touched on:

- Is there a bond bubble?
- Is the USA losing its reserve status and will this crash the dollar?
- Why the boom/bust cycle is here to stay.

One of David Rosenberg’s latest notes touched on 9 economic myths. If you’re familiar with his stance you probably know what his position is on each. So, instead of regurgitate them I am going to hijack his myths and insert my own opinions:

James Montier’s piece from the other day got me back to reviewing some of his past work and these comments on happiness really jumped out at me.  Investors are a funny lot.  They’re in the constant pursuit of profit, but few actually know what money is.  And in most cases money is mistaken as the end and not just the [...]

There’s a powerful piece in today’s NY Times in case you haven’t seen it yet.  This part hit me like a ton of bricks: “What are three quick ways to become a leader? a) Execute on the firm’s “axes,” which is Goldman-speak for persuading your clients to invest in the stocks or other products that we are trying to get [...]

I was on CNN Radio last week discussing my outlook on the markets, the economy and several other macro factors.  Points I hit on: Why market risks are elevated. Why oil is becoming an increasing concern. Why I don’t see a recession in 2012. What is MMT and why I disagree with their Job Guarantee policy proposal. Will Europe pull [...]