Call it “Financial Darwinism” “Bitcoin Surges Above $5,200 on Hopes of Renewed China Trade.” —The Wall Street Journal (10/12/2017). No, I’m not rooting for Bitcoin to skyrocket to the heavens because I have a position in it. God forbid! Rather, it’s because I see Bitcoin serving a useful economic purpose. Two, in fact: One. Lightning rod. ...Read More
Wall Street: Tens of Billions Everyone Else: Trillions . . . in Debt If you are just joining The Crash of ’08 “in progress” (as it were), here’s where things stand: Wide swaths of the country are broke. Their houses are underwater, their jobs (if they have them) are under pressure, and their savings (if they have them)...Read More
Pick Your (Economic) Metaphor The real question is, now what? Government interventions are only meant to light a fire under the real economy and unleash what John Maynard Keynes called our “animal spirits.” But government dollars can’t sustain growth. Like it or not, the stock market is bigger than the Federal Reserve and the U.S....Read More
Less Trust = Simpler Financial System “The more complex the transaction, the more trust is needed to sustain the transaction.” –Robert Shiller, “Animal Spirits Depend on Trust“; The Wall Street Journal (1/27/2009) Robert Shiller, the Yale economist who made his name calling the 2000 Stock Market Bubble, has an excellent piece in Tuesday’s Wall Street...Read More
