By Les Dunaway
The recession was pronounced “over” in June 2009 – two years ago – and we still have no real recovery and millions of people out of work. What’s going on? A series of charts from Market Watch gives some of the picture [read].
Well, mostly what’s happening is that the historical engine of job growth – start-up business – is sputtering, dragged down by the … Read more...
By Les Dunaway
I want to refer you to a well written, upbeat-but-not-rose-colored-glasses piece in todays WSJ “The Future Still Belongs to America“. I want to highlight one paragraph which is, I believe, is key to the conclusion
New ideas disturb the peace of once-stable cultures. Young people grasp the possibilities of change and revolt at the conservatism of their elders. Sacred taboos and ancient hierarchies totter; women … Read more...
By Les Dunaway
We had an interesting couple of weeks. The market is still headed down and no one outside the Beltway sees any positive signs.
By Les Dunaway
In today’s Wall Street Journal, Meredith Whitney looks at the state of the states. With the end of stimulus money and the end of QE2 (quantitative easing) just weeks away, this is timely. In January we talked about the states “The States – America’s PIIGS?” in relation the EU countries.
Several states have used stimulus money to put off dealing with systemic problems – … Read more...
By Les Dunaway
The long expected housing double dip has happened. Diana Olick, Reality Check, reports that March 2011 numbers are lower than the March 2009 trough. In a second piece she discusses reasons for the dip. Unfortunately, her analysis has since been damaged by today’s unemployment report. In her 23 March 2011 analysis she states “The pros are that the job market is slowly recovering. Jobs are key to … Read more...
By Les Dunaway
Well, this has been an interesting week and not all bad. The world got to see Ben Bernanke admit, live and in color, that his Fed can’t do much about unemployment and then tell us the inflation that’s hurting every American family “won’t last long”. It would have been interesting to understand the logic that led him to that conclusion.
Larry Kudlow “Gold Slams Bernanke” … Read more...
By Les Dunaway
This April 18th, 2011 will be one of those dates hated by school kids – because it will be part of the dreaded “essay question”. It’s still to be seen what the essay will describe – the beginning of America’s slide into oblivion or the beginning of her heroic escape from the yawning abyss of Euro-socialism.
One essay tied to 18 Apr 2011 can be written now … Read more...
By Les Dunaway
We’ve heard lots about America’s debt in the past weeks – unless you watch the 6 o’clock news, then all you’ve heard about is shootings and wrecks. Some commentators would have you believe that debt is bad. No, debt is not bad. Debt is a business tool. Arguably, the most important business tool. Look around, every thing you see – buildings, roads, hospitals, …. were built … Read more...
By Les Dunaway
In “The States – America’s PIIGS? ” we talked about the debt / spending problems that various US states and cities face. An insightful look at the underlying cause is found in “What’s Your State’s Deadweight Ratio?” by William Baldwin in the Mar 16, 2011 Forbes.
Mr Baldwin writes
“The structural problem is that government has too many mouths to feed. It’s possible to … Read more...
By Les Dunaway
Have you ever had storm damage to your house? If so, your homeowners insurance probably covered most of it but some of it came out of your pocket (or your plastic 😉 What if the plastic was maxed-out? Wow! Maybe that blue tarp needs to stay on the roof for a while? Well, Japan just had some damage and their plastic is waaaaay maxed-out. What does their … Read more...
by Les Dunaway
World markets took a hit today with Moody’s downgrade of Spain’s credit rating. This cut followed similar cuts of Greece (on Monday “to B1 from Ba1 with a negative outlook”) and Turkey(last May). The “negative outlook” comment means “we think it will go down more”.
The usual comments came from came from the people responsible for the problems in Greece, … Read more...
By Les Dunaway
The States may save the nation! Or rather, the tough, courageous governors these States have elected may save the nation. Chris Christi, Scott Walker and John Kasich are stepping up to deal with the can that’s been kicked down the road for far too long. Public employee unions have extorted dues from their involuntary members and used those dollars to purchase for-sale legislators. Legislators who expected to … Read more...