Investor CAFÉ Newsletters
Top Economist Warns of the Welfare State, the Biggest Threat to Prosperity
HONG KONG — The opening Mont Pelerin Society (MPS) address by Allan Meltzer, of Carnegie-Mellon University, warned attendees that the welfare system in America is getting out of control and could result in slow economic growth for years to come. “The greatest threat today is the welfare state,” Meltzer said. “Lowering taxes does not appeal to […]
Take this Simple Test on Investing: Only 34% Got it Right!
“The college educated are more likely to own stocks and less prone to use high-cost borrowing.” — Journal of Economic Literature Financial literacy is important, but sadly, only a handful of states require students to take personal finance or an investment course. I earned a Ph. D. in economics and never took a class in […]
Tim Geithner’s Stress Test: Can the Government Do No Wrong?
Most Austrian economists argue that the best response to the 2008 financial crisis was to “do nothing.” By refusing to bail out the banks, investment firms and insurance companies, the government would be sending a clear message that Wall Street and the private markets must avoid irresponsible decisions in the future. A few make an […]
How Popular is the Libertarian Movement?
“Libertarians are living in a fantasy world.” — Paul Krugman, New York Times The New York Times magazine published a cover story last week with the headline, “Has the Libertarian Moment Finally Arrived?” It highlighted Sen. Rand Paul’s recent growth in popularity and his potential as a presidential candidate in 2016. But the reporter did […]
Good News: The Deficit is Falling
Doomsayers at various investment conferences, including FreedomFest, have been predicting “the end of America” and massive deficits in the United States. But so far, they have been dead wrong. Deficits have been shrinking since 2009, when we hit the bottom of the Great Recession (see the chart below). Indeed, the U.S. deficit now is under […]
Latest Gross Domestic Product Growth Shows Value of Using Gross Output
Stocks sold off sharply today. Finally, the much anticipated correction is happening, but I don’t see any fundamental reason for the decline. It’s purely a technical correction. Real gross domestic product (GDP) rose in the 2nd quarter at a 4% annualized rate as a sharp improvement from the negative GDP announced in the first quarter. […]
If the Stock Market Is any Gauge, Obama Has Been Great!
I received a note the other day from a social Democrat, who wrote: “When Obama came to power the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 7,900, today it is over 17,000. When he came to power, the Federal Budget deficit was 11% of gross domestic product (GDP), today it is 2.8%. When he came to power, […]
Even Investment Bulls Can Get a Good Idea from the Bears
I am bullish on the stock market, but I heard something from a couple of investment bears at the annual FreedomFest conference last week that may point to a new opportunity to earn precious profits. The annual event just concluded Saturday night in Las Vegas, and one of the panel discussions that I found to […]
Is Wall Street Just another Las Vegas?
“Wall Street is a gambling house peopled with dealers, croupiers and touts on one side, and with winners and suckers on the other.” –Nicholas Darvas, “Wall Street: The Other Las Vegas” I am in Las Vegas for FreedomFest, “the world’s largest gathering of free minds.” Among our hundred-plus speakers and several thousand attendees are wealthy […]
What Advice Would Benjamin Franklin Give America on Independence Day?
Today’s Skousen CAFÉ is an Independence Day version of a previous write-up from January 2013 that warned about the threat of inflation at the time of Ben Franklin’s 307th birthday. What would this founding father extraordinaire, the first scientific American and financial guru say about America on the eve of Independence Day 2014? As a […]
