12 years ago with Sheryl Sandberg, long before she joined Facebook Inc. and wrote her book on female empowerment. We were listening to her boss at the time, U.S. Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, speak about the need for structural reforms to the Japanese economy, in a giant auditorium devoid of women. It was one of several male-dominated events that day. The author of "Lean In" leane...Read More
Bernanke hasn't thrown grandma under the bus … Is the Fed sticking it to the little guy by "punishing people who've done the right things"? It's certainly a common complaint, one that Bernanke hears nearly every time he entertains questions … Only 3% of Americans own any bonds outside their retirement account, but those who do, own a lot. The average (mean) holdin...Read More
The Kimberley Process, an international watchdog set up to stop the trade of so called "conflict diamonds," has suspended Central African Republic from the global body after a rebel coalition seized power in the nation last March.Reuters reports the resolution was passed by current Kimberley Process chair, South Africa, and sent to its 80 member states Monday.The ban, which comes weeks after rebel...Read More
China Plans to Reduce the State's Role in the Economy … Beijing has signaled that, even though the economy is weakening, there is unlikely to be a major government stimulus package this year. The Chinese government is planning for private businesses and market forces to play a larger role in its economy, in a major policy shift intended to improve living conditions for the middle class a...Read More
Why are our Bridges Falling? The Economics of the Infrastructure Deficit …Tonight I turned on the news to learn that a major bridge over the Skagit River on Washingon State's I-5 had fallen down. The bridge is not far from where I live. I have driven over it more times than I like to think. Why did it fall? The proximate cause is clear: A large truck, carrying an oversize load, hit a cru...Read More
Austerity About-Face: German Government to Gamble on Stimulus … With the euro crisis refusing to relent, the German government is backing away from its austerity mandates and planning to spend billions to stimulate ailing economies in Southern European. But can the program succeed? Wolfgang Schäuble sounded almost like a new convert extolling the wonders of heaven as he raved about his...Read More
China Plans to Reduce the State's Role in the Economy … Beijing has signaled that, even though the economy is weakening, there is unlikely to be a major government stimulus package this year. The Chinese government is planning for private businesses and market forces to play a larger role in its economy, in a major policy shift intended to improve living conditions for the middle class a...Read More
Why are our Bridges Falling? The Economics of the Infrastructure Deficit …Tonight I turned on the news to learn that a major bridge over the Skagit River on Washingon State's I-5 had fallen down. The bridge is not far from where I live. I have driven over it more times than I like to think. Why did it fall? The proximate cause is clear: A large truck, carrying an oversize load, hit a cru...Read More
Austerity About-Face: German Government to Gamble on Stimulus … With the euro crisis refusing to relent, the German government is backing away from its austerity mandates and planning to spend billions to stimulate ailing economies in Southern European. But can the program succeed? Wolfgang Schäuble sounded almost like a new convert extolling the wonders of heaven as he raved about his...Read More
The Bank of Japan must crush all resistance, and will do so … Kudos to Kyle Bass at Hayman Advisers for warning that the Bank of Japan would lose control of its ¥70 trillion bond buying blitz. The spike in the 10-year yield to 1pc on Thursday was certainly shocking to behold. His point is that the BoJ faces a "rational investor paradox". The authorities are trying to drive up t...Read More
Don't fear the bubble …The bubblista side of the argument, at heart, says that the flood of money being poured into the global economy by the world's central banks is driving up asset prices to well beyond fundamental valuations, and that if and when valuations revert to sanity, the unwind (the "burst") could be disastrous in all manner of unpredictable ways. This is a pred...Read More
Europe needs Britain, says ECB president Mario Draghi … Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, has issued a plea for a more co-operative Britain to stay in Europe. – UK TelegraphDominant Social Theme: Europe will do what we tell it to do.Free-Market Analysis: We have noticed recently that the top Eurocrats seem a bit more frazzled than usual. We wrote about a recent arti...Read More
Sen Al Franken (D-MN) was using such a circuitous "serpentine" walking pattern in an effort to avoid TRN's Jason Mattera's tough question that he inadvertently body checked one of his own staffers in the process. The absurd weaving to avoid the tough inquiry even brought the senator to laughter at one point as the beleaguered staffer tried to run interference for Franken by claim...Read More
The Bank of Japan must crush all resistance, and will do so … Kudos to Kyle Bass at Hayman Advisers for warning that the Bank of Japan would lose control of its ¥70 trillion bond buying blitz. The spike in the 10-year yield to 1pc on Thursday was certainly shocking to behold. His point is that the BoJ faces a "rational investor paradox". The authorities are trying to drive up t...Read More
Don't fear the bubble …The bubblista side of the argument, at heart, says that the flood of money being poured into the global economy by the world's central banks is driving up asset prices to well beyond fundamental valuations, and that if and when valuations revert to sanity, the unwind (the "burst") could be disastrous in all manner of unpredictable ways. This is a pred...Read More
Europe needs Britain, says ECB president Mario Draghi … Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, has issued a plea for a more co-operative Britain to stay in Europe. – UK TelegraphDominant Social Theme: Europe will do what we tell it to do.Free-Market Analysis: We have noticed recently that the top Eurocrats seem a bit more frazzled than usual. We wrote about a recent arti...Read More
Sen Al Franken (D-MN) was using such a circuitous "serpentine" walking pattern in an effort to avoid TRN's Jason Mattera's tough question that he inadvertently body checked one of his own staffers in the process. The absurd weaving to avoid the tough inquiry even brought the senator to laughter at one point as the beleaguered staffer tried to run interference for Franken by claim...Read More
The European Union's unending quandary … The pace of European disintegration continues to quicken. Recession deepens in the 17-member euro zone; it is now the longest downturn since the currency was launched in 2000. The union will survive only by becoming minimalist. Europeans – who are first of all Germans, French, Italians, Poles, Brits and others – may distrust their poli...Read More
Hamilton City Council backs living wage … Hamilton City Council's lowest-paid staff could receive more than $100 a week after a trailblazing decision to lift workers' minimum pay rates. The council is set to become the first city in the country to adopt a living wage policy guaranteeing its staff an hourly wage of at least $18.40. In a fiercely debated decision the council voted to i...Read More
Don't be fooled: Gold is no currency … An investment in search of a believable story …Gold is an investment in search of a story — or at least one that's true more often than not. That's not to say there aren't lots of tales told around gold … Gold bugs spun that yarn on the notion that paper currencies — especially the dollar — were having their...Read More