"Find the trend whose premise is false, and bet against it."
- George Soros
It didn't used to be this way. Back in the days of Bretton Woods, and a gold-backed currency, the financial markets were relatively stable. If you wanted to make money you had to do it over a long period of time.
In the post-Bretton Woods era, and especially in the last decade, market bubbles and crashes happen every few years. An investor with a keen eye and an open mind can spot golden investment opportunities, or at least avoid the fallout from the bubble bust.
We are about to see the bursting of the next bubble...and its going to be a doozy.
I'd like to thank my buddy Bonddad, with whom I am collaborating on "The Great Depression" series, for giving you a link over here, where I typically post.
At the moment I am absorbed with finishing that series, but I wanted to give you a flavor for the type of analysis you can expect from me. My nom de blog was actually inspired by the Schlesinger history quoted extensively in part 1 of the "Great Depression" series, and at the time I was very much surprised to find that it was still availalble (which is sad, no?).
The money would finance schools, public works projects, social services and tax cuts for the middle class, according to an economic stimulus plan presented by the governors.
Gov. Deval L. Patrick of Massachusetts said, “We’re really talking about a bridge from where we are today to where we think the economy will be in two years’ time.” He spoke during a conference call in which he was joined by Mr. Paterson and the governors of New Jersey, Ohio and Wisconsin. All five men are Democrats.
By: Ian Welsh Wednesday December 31, 2008 12:42 pm
Ian Walsh nails it with a short and sweet indictment of Bernie Madoff being representative of the past few decades:
Okay, let's point out the obvious: the fact that Bernie Madoff was a crook was known to every competent financial professional. If they didn't know that, it was because they weren't competent or they didn't want to know and if they didn't want to know, they weren't competent. It is impossible to make 1% a month, every month. Impossible. . . .
It is clear to me that the root cause of many of the economic ills of 2008 was the "government subsidy" of immigration levels about ten times greater than our nation's immigration tradition. See Roy Beck's short YouTube video here: Our Immigration Tradition
When labor markets are glutted by an alphabet soup of work visa programs and the costs of the necessaries of life are bid upwards by the tidal wave of immigration, the "banker class" are the most significant beneficiaries. The U.S. middle class and lower class are the losers in this zero-sum game
Here is a collection of some of my published writings on these topics. I'm anticipating that there will be a big push for increased immigration in 2009, since both McCain and Obama's campaigns called for increased H-1B visas, for example. I wonder out loud if the voice of the middle class will be heard over the "soft rustle of lobbying dollars."
Barack Obama's pick for commerce secretary, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, vows to create millions of technology jobs that can't be outsourced. Sounds good, particularly in this melting economy.
On the other hand, Richardson supports expanding the H-1B visa program, which had greased the departure of good-paying tech jobs to lower-wage countries. The program lets U.S. companies employ up to 65,000 temporary foreign software designers, engineers and other skilled professionals a year.
It's Friday Night! Party Time! Time to relax, put your feet up on the couch, lay back, and watch some detailed videos on economic policy!
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