Economy

In light of recent comments made by both living former Federal Reserve Chairmen, I thought it appropriate to look back 22 years to the succession from Volcker to Greenspan.  What follows is a blurb from a New York Times article circa…

In July, I blogged on an interesting take on how employment affects equity returns during cyclical recoveries by Van Hoisington and Lacy Hunt. Their thesis was that a recovery in which employment lags the overall upturn significantly is…

The September 2009 Manufacturing ISM Report On Business showed the manufacturing sector and economy expanding.  But no matter, the markets wanted more. Equities sold off in a major way today. We’re talking over 200 points on the Dow…

Last week I was at the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting to listen to their ideas on how to solve some of the world’s most pressing problems like poverty and education. I may have more to say about this topic in a later post, but I…

For the last few months I have been casting around looking for bullish data points as counterfactuals to my more bearish long-term outlook. I have found some, but not enough. If you recall, early this year, I stated that we are in…

Today’s jobless claims report should dispel the notion that the labor market in the United States is getting significantly better.  Initial jobless claims rose again to 551,000 from 534,000 the week prior.  The 4-week average is…

Marshall Auerback pointed out a statement from Dallas Fed Chief Richard Fisher today that is not getting a lot of attention despite its importance.  He said: I expect that when it comes time to tighten monetary policy, my…

This is how the famed investor and Chairman of Tiger Management began an interview with CNBC yesterday. Yes, the recession is probably over, he says.  But, in his view there is likely to be problems going forward because the U.S. has…

In what is shaping up to be a common occurrence at these global meetings, protesters are shaking things up.  My understanding, however, is that there are more police on hand than protesters.  Rubber bullets, pepper spray and tear…

The most newsworthy item in this clip is Emanuel saying that the healthcare bill cannot pass the Senate with a public option. Along those lines reports are now coming out that the Obama Administration is negotiating with Senator Olympia…