I think there are really only two good reasons for having a significant amount of money: To maintain a high standard of living and to ensure your personal freedom. There are other, lesser reasons, of course, including: to prove you can do it, to compensate for failings in other things, to impress others, to leave a legacy, to help perpetuate your genes, or maybe because you just can't think of something better to do with your time.
But I'll put aside those lesser motives, wh... (more)
Fed Chair Ben Bernanke continues to stand on a stack of Lord Keynes' General Theory and proclaim that the world needs low interest rates to fill the gap in aggregate demand and bring prosperity to our times.
"The reason to keep rates low isn't to accommodate congressional fiscal policy," Bernanke responded during a recent congressional hearing. Consumers benefit from cheaper mortgages and lower interest rates, which help to stimulate the economy, claims the Fed head.
... (more)
Mark Dice tries to sell a 1 ounce solid gold coin for $25 outside of a coin shop in San Diego, CA. HINT- It's worth WAY more than $25, but does anyone want it?
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The average American family's net worth dropped almost 40% between 2007 and 2010, according to a triennial study released Monday by the Federal Reserve.
The stunning drop in median net worth -- from $126,400 in 2007 to $77,300 in 2010 -- indicates that the recession wiped away 18 years of savings and investment by families.
The Fed study, called the Survey of Consumer Finances, offers details on savings, income, debt, as well as assets and... (more)
Peter Schiff, CEO and chief global strategist at Euro Pacific Capital, explains why Washington's Keynesian approach to stimulating the economy has led to more overspending and excessive debt levels, during a Fraser Institute policy briefing on June 5 in Vancouver.
Casey Research chairman, author, and investor Doug Casey speaks to Cambridge House Live's Jonathan Roth at the June 4, 2012 World Resource Investment Conference in Vancouver.
Peter Schiff, CEO of Chief Global Strategist of Euro Pacific Capital, talks to Cambridge House Live's Jonathan Roth, at the World Resource Investment Conference in Vancouver - June 4, 2012.
The financial pages and popular culture are often strangely aligned.
For example, many young people today are consumed with the seeming emergence of a zombie apocalypse. Evidence seems to be everywhere. I dare not present any of the details. Too gross.
Plus, as a grown-up, I'm a skeptic of the whole zombie apocalypse theory. We are flooded with all kinds of information today that would have been shut off to us in the past. If a homeless lady grabs a baby from a crib... (more)
Sixteen months after it joined the struggling currency bloc, Estonia is booming. The economy grew 7.6 percent last year, five times the euro-zone average.
Estonia is the only euro-zone country with a budget surplus. National debt is just 6 percent of GDP, compared to 81 percent in virtuous Germany, or 165 percent in Greece.
Shoppers throng Nordic design shops and cool new restaurants in Tallinn, the... (more)
Many people became convinced that data releases earlier this year indicated that "recovery" in the U.S. was imminent. But as I have been saying for months, this evidence would ultimately be shown to be as reliable as sightings of Bigfoot. Lots of people claim to say they have seen it, some even produce plaster footprints, but in the end all we have is a guy in an ape suit. The economic recovery, that has been discussed so loudly and often in recent months, will be shown to be similarly m... (more)
US and European regulators are essentially forcing banks to buy up their own government's debt—a move that could end up making the debt crisis even worse, a Citigroup analysis says.
Regulators are allowing banks to escape counting their country's debt against capital requirements and loosening other rules to create a steady market for government bonds, the study says.
While that helps governments issue more and more debt, the strategy could ultimately explode ... (more)
You might have noticed that lots of people are really down on the so-called 1%. It drives many people, especially politicians, absolutely bonkers that there are lots of people out there sitting on millions, billions. Populists imagine that these people do nothing but hoard and count and let out menacing laughs about the advantages they have over others.
Therefore, the activists are proposing schemes to part this crowd from their money by force using government policy. It's a bruta... (more)
Australia's new carbon tax is going to cause costs to rise on everything across the board, it's a massive new tax on energy, therefore no industries will be able to escape the rising costs.
That said, the Australian government has declared it's illegal to "wrongly" blame the carbon tax for price increases, and they say those who do will face fines up to $1.1 million dollars.
Eduardo Saverin, the co-founder of the social network and Facebook Inc. (FB), stands accused of violating the social contract -- the idea that government is based on an agreement among its citizens to ensure mutual protection of person and property.
His decision to give up his American citizenship before the Facebook initial public offering drew criticism for his perceived breach of financial and patriotic duties, including the duty to pay income taxes.
Depending on how the Facebook stock develops, Saverin could end up paying *more* in taxes as a result of his expatriation. If Facebook's stock falls low enough, he could actually lose everything and still owe the US government millions.
Attorney and Host of The Mind of Money, Douglass Lodmell interviews well known author, economist and speculator, Doug Casey (http://www.caseyresearch.com). Doug has a wealth of information and thoughts on everything from the economy, international living, investing in gold and the future of of world. I highly recommend this video.
In an interview on CNBC’s Fast Money Halftime Report, Marc Faber of the “Gloom, Boom, and Doom Report” stated that a global recession in the final quarter of this year or any time next year is certain.
"I think we could have a global recession either in Q4 or early 2013. That's a distinct possibility.”
When asked what were the odds, Faber replied, “100%.” ... (more)
I first came to national attention back in 2008 and 2009 when the housing and credit markets imploded. I became known as the guy that other market "experts" laughed at when I warned of trouble brewing in the seemingly indestructible American economy. After the wheels ground to a halt in mid-2008, people noticed that my book Crash Proof, originally released in early 2007, read like a detailed preview of many of the events that eventually unfolded.
.jpg)
