page-loading-spinner

Insider

by charleshughsmith

Executive Summary

  • The obesity epidemic
  • Failings of the national healthcare system
  • New models for obtaining care
  • The basics of prevention

If you have not yet read The Rising Threats To Our Health, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.

In Part 1, we reviewed some of the major global health issues that will challenge households, economies and nation-states around the world as the global population ages and lifestyle/pollution/age-related chronic diseases affect hundreds of millions of people.

In Part 2, we look at issues that are specific to the U.S. and other developed economies, and consider the impacts of these issues on us as individuals: the bottom line is prevention is in our court.

Overweight/Obesity

While many of the problems listed in Part 1 are found mostly in developing economies (severe pollution, etc.), many others are pressing issues in both developing and developed economies (smoking, chronic lifestyle disorders such as metabolic syndrome, hypertension, heart disease, etc.)

The U.S. leads the world in percentages of overweight (generally defined as a body mass index (BMI) of over 25) and obese (BMI over 30) residents, though a number of countries are close behind.

 

 

While the specific causes of metabolic syndrome (pre-diabetes) and the causal connections of obesity to other conditions such as inflammation, sleep disorders, etc. are still under investigation, it’s clear that…

Putting Our Health Into Our Own Hands
PREVIEW by charleshughsmith

Executive Summary

  • The obesity epidemic
  • Failings of the national healthcare system
  • New models for obtaining care
  • The basics of prevention

If you have not yet read The Rising Threats To Our Health, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.

In Part 1, we reviewed some of the major global health issues that will challenge households, economies and nation-states around the world as the global population ages and lifestyle/pollution/age-related chronic diseases affect hundreds of millions of people.

In Part 2, we look at issues that are specific to the U.S. and other developed economies, and consider the impacts of these issues on us as individuals: the bottom line is prevention is in our court.

Overweight/Obesity

While many of the problems listed in Part 1 are found mostly in developing economies (severe pollution, etc.), many others are pressing issues in both developing and developed economies (smoking, chronic lifestyle disorders such as metabolic syndrome, hypertension, heart disease, etc.)

The U.S. leads the world in percentages of overweight (generally defined as a body mass index (BMI) of over 25) and obese (BMI over 30) residents, though a number of countries are close behind.

 

 

While the specific causes of metabolic syndrome (pre-diabetes) and the causal connections of obesity to other conditions such as inflammation, sleep disorders, etc. are still under investigation, it’s clear that…

by charleshughsmith

Executive Summary

  • Other currencies are inflating faster than the USD
  • The USD is still backed by a preponderance of the world's assets
  • The potential for a global currency crisis is rising
  • Why USD will be the (initial) safe haven when it arrives

If you have not yet read Part 1: How Much Higher Can The U.S. Dollar Go?, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.

In Part 1, we reviewed the technical evidence in support of a second move higher in a multi-year U.S. dollar rally. Here in Part 2, we ask: What conditions might drive such a move higher?

To answer this question, let’s start with another question: What’s scarce in the world of foreign exchange (FX)?

We ask this because capital, profits and gains flow to what’s scarce and in demand. This boils down to supply and demand: gains go to whatever is in high demand and scarce, and whatever is not in demand and over-supplied will lose value.

Supply and Demand

Like every other commodity, currencies respond to supply and demand: whatever currency is scarce and in demand will rise, while currencies that are in oversupply and not in demand will decline.

Though many presume the world is awash in dollars as a result of Federal Reserve quantitative easing, the reality is that expansion of USD via bank loans (credit) and Fed money-creation is modest compared to the expansion of other global currencies such as China’s renminbi (RMB), a.k.a. yuan.

Consider this chart of bank credit expansion in the U.S. and in China since the onset of the “Great Recovery” in early 2009: China’s bank credit has soared by 260%, a sum that is roughly 140% of China’s entire Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while U.S. bank credit rose by a modest 12% of U.S. GDP.

 

If we compare M2 money supply, we find…

Why The Coming Currency Crisis Will Push The USD Higher
PREVIEW by charleshughsmith

Executive Summary

  • Other currencies are inflating faster than the USD
  • The USD is still backed by a preponderance of the world's assets
  • The potential for a global currency crisis is rising
  • Why USD will be the (initial) safe haven when it arrives

If you have not yet read Part 1: How Much Higher Can The U.S. Dollar Go?, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.

In Part 1, we reviewed the technical evidence in support of a second move higher in a multi-year U.S. dollar rally. Here in Part 2, we ask: What conditions might drive such a move higher?

To answer this question, let’s start with another question: What’s scarce in the world of foreign exchange (FX)?

We ask this because capital, profits and gains flow to what’s scarce and in demand. This boils down to supply and demand: gains go to whatever is in high demand and scarce, and whatever is not in demand and over-supplied will lose value.

Supply and Demand

Like every other commodity, currencies respond to supply and demand: whatever currency is scarce and in demand will rise, while currencies that are in oversupply and not in demand will decline.

Though many presume the world is awash in dollars as a result of Federal Reserve quantitative easing, the reality is that expansion of USD via bank loans (credit) and Fed money-creation is modest compared to the expansion of other global currencies such as China’s renminbi (RMB), a.k.a. yuan.

Consider this chart of bank credit expansion in the U.S. and in China since the onset of the “Great Recovery” in early 2009: China’s bank credit has soared by 260%, a sum that is roughly 140% of China’s entire Gross Domestic Product (GDP), while U.S. bank credit rose by a modest 12% of U.S. GDP.

 

If we compare M2 money supply, we find…

Total 1089 items