Economy 2010: From the Scandalous Known Past to the Uncertain
Future
Comments (10) New
A very
well written article
Posted,
Thursday, January 7, 2010 10:00 pm This was a very well written article and it serves a
most useful purpose. As you know I appreciate your writing. You are not
writing for an academic audience, even though the scholarship is there.... Andrew New
The
Plight of Retirees
Posted,
Thursday, January 7, 2010 12:42 am As one of those retirees getting 0.1 % on my money,
i am desperately awaiting that increase in interest rates. i have been
waiting and planning on it since the U.S.'s invasion of iraq. It has not happened yet. I know it, logically, must. Yet I know that China continues to
support the U.S. Treasury bond market. It could be 2012 or 2017 before we see
those double digit treasury rates again. Joe Answer
by R.T.: Interest
income has vanished over the last few years. Long-term Treasury rates are at
4.65% now, and are expected to rise 1.0% this year and next. Non-taxable
muni-bonds are giving a fair return, but one has to go 10 years+. Another alternative is some
high-paying dividend stocks. To
pre-order The Code for Global Ethics, by Rodrigue Tremblay, click:
The
Code for Global Ethics, Ten Humanist Principles New
Looting
the economy
Posted,
Thursday, January 7, 2010 2:05 am I enjoyed your last piece! Was Obama's little-publicized Christmas Eve
executive-decree bankrolling of Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac to the tune of an
additional $1,000,000,000,000.00 (one-trillion dollars) the biggest bailout
yet--with no legislative input? Here's one analyst that would agree. He's
very understated but stay with it and pay attention to what he's saying: http://www.forextv.com/Forex/Video.jsp?channel=276&movieie=61345 But wait, this is small potatoes compared to the
latest bailout scheme being "stealthed" through Washington D.C. by
Dem. Rep. Barney Frank and his merry band of financial
pirates. Yes, that's $4,000,000,000,000.00 (four-trillion
dollars). "Days of awe" indeed--for the "too big to fail"
banks and other financial "Madoffs"! Tom New
Another
excellent article
Posted,
Thursday, January 7, 2010 9:31 pm I have found your recent articles very insightful. I
am most interested about WWII and have written articles about it. This year
will be 65 years since this most damaging war to Western civilization. It
ought to be commemorated given the path of the U.S. military and NATO. Walter New
Small
Communities
Posted,
Wednesday, January 6, 2010 8:47 pm You say that “This time the crash will be
initiated in the huge bond
market, will spread to the commercial loan market and ultimately
to the stock market, and then will further crush the real economy in a way
that few understand today but will learn the hard way in the coming
years.” I am interested in what you write. It seems that you
can predict how the economy will unfold. Are you aware of any measures that
small communities can take to make a difference to what will transpire? A
reader Answer
by R.T.: I
am sorry if I gave you the wrong impression that I can predict the future.
—I can't. What
I can do is analyze the consequences that logically follow from certain
choices and policies, according to economic laws. Small
communities, and states for that matter, are presently seeing big drops in
tax revenues, as property values decline and contract. Raising tax rates is
not an option because taxpayers also have lowered incomes. Local governments
have no choice but to economize and streamline their operations, i.e. raise
productivity. To
pre-order The Code for Global Ethics, by Rodrigue Tremblay, click:
The
Code for Global Ethics, Ten Humanist Principles New
An
informative article
Posted,
Wednesday, January 6, 2010 3:21 pm This was an informative article. What are needed now
are more hard-hitting articles to wake people up. Ben Bernanke is misinformed
and Tim Geithner is misplaced, to put it politely. Neither is self-directed.
Rather they are pawns in a larger game that you can only touch from a
distance because of your position. Ray New
The
Costs of Wars
Posted,
Wednesday, January 6, 2010 3:32 pm As an interested reader I
was refreshed by your article and thank you for writing so lucidly on the
subject matter – this is empowering for ordinary people like myself. I would be interested to know how you
see the impact of the financial cost of the new wars ‘without
end’ on the various trends which you discuss. Could it be that this,
and the other factors, is rapidly leading us into a situation akin to recent
times when science was forced to drastically re-calculate (and bring forward)
critical timescales relating to anticipated trends in global warming? Is this
view far too pessimistic? Rob Answer by R.T.: U.S.-led
permanent wars cost the U.S. $110 billion plus a year in direct costs, plus
of course a large chunk of the Pentagon's basic annual budget of $660
billion. These
wars consume a lot of energy and are a subtantial contributor to pollution. I
am no expert in climate warming, but this is bound to have an impact. To
pre-order The Code for Global Ethics, by Rodrigue Tremblay, click:
The
Code for Global Ethics, Ten Humanist Principles New
An
understandable article
Posted,
Wednesday, January 6, 2010 11:59 am I read your new article today. I'm not one who
normally believes in conspiracy theories, but I think this is a 100 plan
going back to 1913 by the Fed to ultimately dismantle the U.S. as a super
power and institute a One World Gov't. There are many articles & videos
online about this as I'm sure you're aware. I also liked very much how
understandable your article was to non financial experts like myself. Thank
you again and keep the great articles Coming. Susan New
Questions
Posted,
Wednesday, January 6, 2010 11:59 am I just read a great article you wrote. I have a question and/or new article suggestion.
What does this mean to us? I'm extremly concerned about the coming financial
storm and I'd like to know how to prepare my family to get through it. I just
don't see any safe investments, currencies, properties, etc.. Maybe precious
metals and gemstones physically in my possession but I have my concerns there
too. There are a lot of folks who see this spending spree coming to a head
but not many discussing what to do about it. What say you? Bill Answer by R.T.: It
is not easy to navigate financially in those troubled waters. One
has to be careful and not be too deep in debt. There are a few basic economic
facts to keep in mind. Today's government deficits will be tomorrow's taxes
and one must prepare for that. If
there is inflation in the coming years, this means fixed income investments
should not have a maturity much longer than 5-6 years. Some good dividend
paying stocks can also be a protection against inflation. As
for real estate, this year and next should be the bottom of the 18-year real
estate cycle. In general, this should not be a time to sell, unless forced
to, but a time to buy. To pre-order The Code for Global Ethics, by Rodrigue
Tremblay, click: The
Code for Global Ethics, Ten Humanist Principles New
Wow!
Super Article!
Posted,
Tuesday, January 5, 2010 9:13 am Je veux vous dire que vos articles sont
particulièrement intéressants. Je partage entièrement
vos points de vue sur l'imminente prochaine crise financière et de
devises. Yves
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