Conference Board CEO Confidence 4Q 2010

On December 27, I wrote a post about the latest Business Roundtable’s CEO Economic Outlook Survey and the Duke/CFO Magazine Global Business Outlook Survey. Subsequent to that post, the Conference Board released its 4th Quarter CEO Confidence Survey.   The overall measure of CEO Confidence was at 62, up from 50 in the third quarter. An …

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Updates On Economic Indicators January 2011

Here is an update on various indicators that are supposed to predict and/or depict economic activity.  These indicators have been discussed in previous blog posts: The January Chicago Fed National Activity Index (CFNAI)(pdf) updated as of January 27, 2011: – The Consumer Metrics Institute Contraction Watch: – The USA TODAY/IHS Global Insight Economic Outlook Index: …

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U.S. Dollar Decline – January 2011 Update

U.S. Dollar weakness is a foremost concern of mine.  As such, I have extensively written about it.  I am very concerned that the actions being taken to “improve” our economic situation will dramatically weaken the Dollar.  Should the Dollar substantially decline from here, as I expect, the negative consequences will far outweigh any benefits.  The …

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Keynes Quote On Currency Debasement

As those familiar with this blog know, I am very concerned about the vulnerability of the U.S. Dollar to a substantial decline.  I have written extensively about this situation. I think the following quote on the subject of currency debasement is particularly noteworthy.  It is from John Maynard Keynes, from his book Economic Consequences of …

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Trends In Economic Theory

The January 17-January 23 Bloomberg BusinessWeek issue had an article titled “Back to the Economic Future.” The article notes “John Maynard Keynes and Fredrich Hayek, who battled over the Depression, are getting a fresh look as the Long Slump lingers on.”  It discusses the current state of the (macro)economic profession and theoretical trends within the …

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misc. note

I recently wrote of “10 ‘Front and Center’ Problem Areas That Pose a Threat to the Economy” on the Seeking Alpha site.  (an additional link on the Global Economic Intersection site can be found here.) I haven’t posted this material to this blog as those familiar with this blog would likely find it repetitive. However, …

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Globalization And Success

The concept of being successful in the global economic environment is a complex one. The January 17-January 23 2011 Bloomberg BusinessWeek had a short interview of Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. I found the following excerpt notable, given Singapore’s successes in many areas: On Globalization Competition is intense, change is continuous, and the fruits …

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Financial Situation Facing Illinois

The state of Illinois has received much attention lately for its budgetary shortfalls and recently enacted personal and corporate income tax increases.  A January 13 Wall Street Journal article titled “Illinois Braces for Tax Increases” provides a summary of the current budgetary situation. I was quite surprised to see state Comptroller Judy Baar Topinka declare …

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Larry Kudlow Comment On January 13 Regarding “Too Big To Fail”

On Thursday, Larry Kudlow interviewed Rep. Spencer Bachus on CNBC. I found one comment Kudlow made, starting at the 6:17 mark,  to be especially notable: “Many people believe that the top 5,6,8 banks are in fact too big to fail and constitute government sponsored enterprises in effect.  That is an unfair advantage in the credit …

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