44.1 Linking the Long and Great Depressions to TodaySocial upheaval, mass unemployment and economic desperation - this isn't the first time. We look at how the modern unemployment rate came about during the crises of The Long Depression. Also, real GDP-per-capita growth comparisons between The Long and Great Depressions to today. [Emil’s Summary] Ad Astra is Latin for "to the stars", [...]
The post-Pfizer vaccine rush pushed most of the contango out of the WTI futures curve. The aftermath of the Georgia Senate vote, and with it dreams of even larger, more carefree fiscal “stimulus”, drained all the rest. As of this week, the entire crude curve is once more contango-free; backwardation front to back.The physical markets have been able to fundamentally [...]
43.2 Asset Bubbles & Money Financed Fiscal ExpansionHow does one define an asset bubble? Might there be fundamental, non-speculative reasons why prices are persistently high? Also, why did money-financed fiscal expansion fail in Japan? What does that experience tell us about the present? [Emil’s Summary] As many listeners have long suspected, your podcast host did, as a child, run away and [...]
43.1 The Fed doesn't do Money so it offers SuasionCentral banks cannot define, identify, measure or map modern money. And they haven't been able to since the 1970s. So instead they offer "moral suasion". That's a fancy word for threats, posturing and coercion. That's all fine and well until the global economy requires money. [Emil's Summary] As many listeners have [...]
42.2 Real Yields Near Record Lows say Economy's AwfulReal yields recently hit RECORD lows. Yes, inflation is rising but is that due to the real economy expanding? Real yields say, "No!". Real yields say, 'The real economy is AWFUL!' So what is driving inflation expectations higher? Fuel. Oil prices are up - but the economy isn't. [Emil’s Summary] A recent [...]
42.1 WSJ Columnist asks Fed: 'What the...?' Wall Street Journal columnist Andy Kessler recently spoke with Jeff Snider about central banks and monetary policy. He ended a recent column with, "The least the Fed can do is get out of the way. End QE now". [Emil's Summary] A recent Hidden Forces podcast with Demetri Kofinas featured professor Kevin Vallier and [...]
If you had known in October all that would transpire over the next 2 ½ months, how would you have positioned your portfolio? The conventional wisdom before the election was that a Biden win would be negative for stocks because he has promised to raise taxes and specifically corporate taxes. In 2016, conventional wisdom was that a Trump victory would [...]
It’s not just that there isn’t much inflation evident in consumer prices. Rather, it’s a pretty big deal given the deluge of so much “money printing” this year, begun three-quarters of a year before, that consumer prices are increasing at some of the slowest rates in the data. Trillions in bank reserves, sure, but actual money can only be missing. [...]
41.2 Copper Prices Signal Inflation (or something else?) [Emil’s Summary] Mary Toft had delivered a litter of rabbits – that was the news that reached the court of King George I in 1726. Obstetrician John Howard arrived at Toft’s bedside in September where he was presented with several animal parts, ostensibly from the supernatural womb. In October, she delivered nine [...]
41.1 Has the US Treasury Bond Rout Begun? (No.) [Emil's Summary] Mary Toft had delivered a litter of rabbits - that was the news that reached the court of King George I in 1726. Obstetrician John Howard arrived at Toft's bedside in September where he was presented with several animal parts, ostensibly from the supernatural womb. In October, she delivered [...]
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