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Capital

by charleshughsmith

Executive Summary

  • The 6 Factors
    • Rising inequality
    • Reversion to the mean
    • Cost overages
    • Diminishing returns
    • Misleading measurement
    • Expertise mismatch
  • Why the 'success' of the Federal Reserve and other world central banks is ultimately dooming them to failure

If you have not yet read Why Our Central Planners Are Breeding Failure available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.

In Part 1, we examined a variety of reasons why the apparent success of Keynesian monetary and fiscal policy may be transitional and brief rather than permanent.

Here in Part 2, we delve into the six other dynamics that make success destabilizing.

Rising Inequality—Perceived and Real

The highly touted “recovery” has been highly uneven in its distribution. The benefits of rising income and wealth have flowed disproportionately to the top 5%, 1% and even 1/10th of 1%.  Those who didn't make it onto the limited-seating Recovery Bus feel the gap between the prospects and wealth of the top tier and their own wealth and prospects widening. Indeed, psychological studies find that we assess our wealth and social position not by our actual material prosperity, but by the narrowing or widening of the perceived wealth gap with our peers.

This is precisely the situation in the U.S. and China. Both economies are supposedly expanding smartly, but the gains are concentrated in a relative few hands; the Rising Prosperity Bus has few seats.  The vast majority perceive themselves as being left behind, and that is highly…

The 6 Reasons The Next Economic Rescue Will Fail
PREVIEW by charleshughsmith

Executive Summary

  • The 6 Factors
    • Rising inequality
    • Reversion to the mean
    • Cost overages
    • Diminishing returns
    • Misleading measurement
    • Expertise mismatch
  • Why the 'success' of the Federal Reserve and other world central banks is ultimately dooming them to failure

If you have not yet read Why Our Central Planners Are Breeding Failure available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.

In Part 1, we examined a variety of reasons why the apparent success of Keynesian monetary and fiscal policy may be transitional and brief rather than permanent.

Here in Part 2, we delve into the six other dynamics that make success destabilizing.

Rising Inequality—Perceived and Real

The highly touted “recovery” has been highly uneven in its distribution. The benefits of rising income and wealth have flowed disproportionately to the top 5%, 1% and even 1/10th of 1%.  Those who didn't make it onto the limited-seating Recovery Bus feel the gap between the prospects and wealth of the top tier and their own wealth and prospects widening. Indeed, psychological studies find that we assess our wealth and social position not by our actual material prosperity, but by the narrowing or widening of the perceived wealth gap with our peers.

This is precisely the situation in the U.S. and China. Both economies are supposedly expanding smartly, but the gains are concentrated in a relative few hands; the Rising Prosperity Bus has few seats.  The vast majority perceive themselves as being left behind, and that is highly…

by Chris Martenson

The Slow Money movement focuses on deploying capital, locally, to strengthen small food enterprises. Its goal is to improve the quality, dependability and sustainability of our food source, while financially nurturing communities and delivering an attractive return on investment to native investors.

Woody Tasch is the founder and chairman of Slow Money – in this week's podcast, he and Chris discuss the templates his organization is piloting across over 350 ventures in local food production, processing, distribution and marketing.

Woody Tasch: Slow Money
by Chris Martenson

The Slow Money movement focuses on deploying capital, locally, to strengthen small food enterprises. Its goal is to improve the quality, dependability and sustainability of our food source, while financially nurturing communities and delivering an attractive return on investment to native investors.

Woody Tasch is the founder and chairman of Slow Money – in this week's podcast, he and Chris discuss the templates his organization is piloting across over 350 ventures in local food production, processing, distribution and marketing.

by charleshughsmith

Executive Summary

  • The critical role of interest rates and carry trades
  • How capital flows across borders
  • The growth in supply of dollars is slowing
  • The rationale for the dollar strengthening from here by 50-100%

If you have not yet read Is Part 1: The Dollar May Remain Strong For Longer Than We Think available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.

In Part 1, we reviewed the key concepts that drive supply/demand (and thus the price/relative value) of the U.S. dollar. In Part 2, we’ll cover the dynamics that could push the value of the USD vis-à-vis other currencies much higher in the years ahead.

Interest Rates, Bonds and Carry Trades

To understand the price of any currency—measured in other currencies, gold, oil, etc.—we look at a currency as a special kind of commodity, one that greases transactional trade of goods and services and also serves as a store of value. Like any commodity, its price relative to other commodities is determined by supply and demand.

If demand is strong and supply is tight, the value will increase. This is the same for dollars, gold, oil, grain, bat guano, etc. The reverse is equally true: if demand slackens and supply balloons, the value will decline.

To understand the supply and demand for currencies, we need to understand the role of interest rates, sovereign bonds and carry trades.

The connection between interest rates and demand is self-explanatory: if interest rates paid at home are near-zero, and another nation’s bonds are paying a higher yield, it makes sense to sell (or borrow) one’s own currency and buy a bond denominated in another currency.

This is the foundation of currency carry trades.  PP.com’s own Davefairtex recently offered an excellent explanation of how carry trades work on the Gold & Silver Group forum:

 I believe that QE causes inflation in other countries by dropping rates to 0% which encourages carry trades, whereby traders borrow USD for extremely low rates here in the US, and then send it overseas to find a yield.  Cheap money in the US causes money to flow elsewhere, where rates are higher.

Carry Trade For Dummies:

Step 1) Borrow $1 billion US at LIBOR-1M rate; cost 0.16%.

Step 2) Trade $1 billion US for 1.075 billion AUD.

Step 3) Buy 1.075 billion 2-year AUD govt bonds; yield 2.52%

Step 4) Collect $23 million USD/year for doing no work at all.

Carry trades work in both directions for the dollar…

Why the Dollar Could Strengthen – A Lot – From Here
PREVIEW by charleshughsmith

Executive Summary

  • The critical role of interest rates and carry trades
  • How capital flows across borders
  • The growth in supply of dollars is slowing
  • The rationale for the dollar strengthening from here by 50-100%

If you have not yet read Is Part 1: The Dollar May Remain Strong For Longer Than We Think available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.

In Part 1, we reviewed the key concepts that drive supply/demand (and thus the price/relative value) of the U.S. dollar. In Part 2, we’ll cover the dynamics that could push the value of the USD vis-à-vis other currencies much higher in the years ahead.

Interest Rates, Bonds and Carry Trades

To understand the price of any currency—measured in other currencies, gold, oil, etc.—we look at a currency as a special kind of commodity, one that greases transactional trade of goods and services and also serves as a store of value. Like any commodity, its price relative to other commodities is determined by supply and demand.

If demand is strong and supply is tight, the value will increase. This is the same for dollars, gold, oil, grain, bat guano, etc. The reverse is equally true: if demand slackens and supply balloons, the value will decline.

To understand the supply and demand for currencies, we need to understand the role of interest rates, sovereign bonds and carry trades.

The connection between interest rates and demand is self-explanatory: if interest rates paid at home are near-zero, and another nation’s bonds are paying a higher yield, it makes sense to sell (or borrow) one’s own currency and buy a bond denominated in another currency.

This is the foundation of currency carry trades.  PP.com’s own Davefairtex recently offered an excellent explanation of how carry trades work on the Gold & Silver Group forum:

 I believe that QE causes inflation in other countries by dropping rates to 0% which encourages carry trades, whereby traders borrow USD for extremely low rates here in the US, and then send it overseas to find a yield.  Cheap money in the US causes money to flow elsewhere, where rates are higher.

Carry Trade For Dummies:

Step 1) Borrow $1 billion US at LIBOR-1M rate; cost 0.16%.

Step 2) Trade $1 billion US for 1.075 billion AUD.

Step 3) Buy 1.075 billion 2-year AUD govt bonds; yield 2.52%

Step 4) Collect $23 million USD/year for doing no work at all.

Carry trades work in both directions for the dollar…

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