The Radford Free Press – Page 258 – All life is problem solving.

Economics / banking, consumer confidence, consumption, fiscal policy, GDP, home prices, jobs, Obama, real estate, recession, recovery, Romney, unemployment /

Winding Down The Year

December 23, 2011

We have had a flurry of news this week causing the stock market to bounce around in near frenetic glee. If you to believe that the markets are even vaguely rational, which hopefully you are highly skeptical of, then have cause for optimism. If you’re like me and regard markets as deeply flawed and easily […]

Economics / banking, deficits, Euro, GDP, Keynes, Minsky, recovery, Spain, stimulus, wages /

Historic Grumpiness

December 19, 2011

I am not sure how to react to the drift of events. It seems as if our leaders, both here and in Europe, are determined to re-create the Great Depression. I guess it must have been fun the first time through. While else would they be so steadfast in their lunacy? We live in absurd […]

Economics / consumption, exports, GDP, retail sales, unemployment /

Sideways Consumers

December 13, 2011

A brief note to comment on today’s retail sales numbers: they were disappointing, especially after the hoopla associated with the traditional burst of spending after Thanksgiving. The government’s report has retail sales growing only 0.2% in November, down from the October rate of 0.6%, and September’s 1.3%. This flattening out of spending surprised most analysts […]