America's Economic Future – A Discussion By Ted Kavadas
Occasionally I have written about investment frauds. My last post on this topic was on November 27 and is found here: https://www.economicgreenfield.com/2009/11/27/investment-frauds/ Here is a story from December 28 titled “Ponzi collapses nearly quadrupled in ’09”: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/AP-Ponzi-collapses-nearly-apf-898755198.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=4&asset=&ccode While I find this article’s statistics to be of interest, I do not necessarily agree with some of its …
Here is a link to the latest (December 29) press release of The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence readings: http://www.conference-board.org/economics/ConsumerConfidence.cfm I found the large difference between the Expectations Index and Present Situation Index to be notable. The Expectations Index, at 75.6, was the highest in two years. However, the Present Situation Index fell to 18.8 and remains at a 26-year …
One of the terms that I frequently mention is “Sustainable Prosperity.” I think the term and its meaning have tremendous significance to our economic future at this juncture. Providing an exact definition for the term is difficult due to the complexity of the underlying concepts. “Sustainable” can be defined in terms of time, as well …
Below is an excerpt from a reader’s letter found in The University of Chicago Magazine, Nov-Dec 2009 p. 10-11. It is from Frank R. Tangherlini. I found the ideas he presents to be interesting and notable: http://magazine.uchicago.edu/0912/every_issue/letters.shtml “Second was Michael Fitzgerald’s article on the Chicago School and the economy…my experiences as a youngster during the Depression …
Here is one more excerpt from Larry Summers’ speech of March 13. I find this excerpt to be of particular significance with regard to the concept of Sustainable Prosperity: http://www.brookings.edu/events/2009/0313_summers.aspx “Of fundamental importance is ensuring that we do not exchange a painful recession for another unsustainable expansion. That would not only be irresponsible – it …
For those who may have missed it, there was a notable development on December 24 concerning Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Here is The Wall Street Journal link and the Treasury Dept link: http://www.ustreas.gov/press/releases/2009122415345924543.htm http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126168307200704747.html Basically the government announced plans to cover an unlimited amount of losses at both companies. It is yet another testament …
Below is an article from The Detroit News of December 16 titled “Nearly half of Detroit’s workers are unemployed”. Among other things, Detroit’s economic situation seems to refute the theory, with which I vehemently disagree, that we as a nation do not “need” manufacturing in order to be successful. http://detnews.com/article/20091216/METRO01/912160374 back to <home> SPX at 1117.83 …
As I, as well as others, have been frequently mentioning bubbles, I thought it would be interesting to post a few comments (excerpts) that Larry Summers made concerning their effects during his March 13, 2009 speech. I found these comments to be very interesting, especially in light of our current economic condition and prospects for Sustainable Prosperity. …
The following chart is from the CalculatedRisk Blog on December 13 http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/ and depicts Total Household Net Worth as a Percent of GDP. The underlying data is from the Federal Reserve Flow of Funds 3Q 2009 report. I am posting it here for reference purposes, and I might comment upon it in the future. I find it …
Here is a story from yesterday on comments by Joseph Stiglitz about his views on 2010 economic performance: http://www.cnbc.com/id/34507080 From the article: “Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz warned there’s a “significant” chance the U.S. economy will contract in the second half of next year…” I find Stiglitz’s view significant because it is in marked contrast to that of the …