Tag Archives: Debt and the Fallacies of Paper Money

  Political Correctness Comedy How to most effectively create a “safe space” on campus Cartoon by Nate Beeler We have recently come across a video that is simply too funny not be shared. It also happens to dovetail nicely with our friend Claudio’s recent essay on political correctness and cultural Marxism. Since this is generally a rather depressing topic, we have concluded that having a good laugh at it might not be the worst idea. It is especially funny (or terrifying, depending on...

A Sudden Turn for the Worse Freddie Mac HQ – a strange time for posting losses Photo via nytstyle.com Freddie Mac posted a loss of $354 million this quarter, versus a $2.16 billion gain the previous quarter.  Fannie Mae did slightly better with net earnings of $1.1 billion, which were still substantially down from $2.5 billion the previous quarter though. Instead of delving into the entrails of the financial statements, I would like to ask a broader question:  Why is Freddie reporting...

There is a paradox of capitalism, we’ve reached a point where those at the top, have an unlimited budget to maintain the status quo, increase their wealth, and develop an ever increasing sophisticated toolbox to manage empire and maintain their dominance.  As we explain in Splitting Pennies – this is no where more obvious than Forex.  The last 100 years we’ve seen capitalism evolve brightly.  Industries that shouldn’t be industries, now employ millions of workers. Paradigm shift,...

  A Week to Remember Today we look back to the recent past with singleness of purpose.  Context and edification for the present economy is what we’re after.  We have questions… How come the recovery has been so weak?  Why is it that, nearly seven years after the official end of the Great Recession, the economy’s still mired in a soft muddy quagmire?  Squinting, focusing, and refocusing, there’s one particular week that rises above all others. Photo credit: Talks at Google Hank the...

  Misinformation and Delusions PARIS – Too bad about Ted Cruz. His tax plan was pretty good. A flat tax of 10% on anything over $36,000. And a 16% “business transfer tax” to replace the corporate income tax and all payroll taxes. Photo credit: David J. Phillip / AP Ted Cruz bows out… allegedly he did so because of losing the Indiana primary. But we know better of course. He read this article, and that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Sorry ’bout that. Not perfect. But a step...

  Tax Receipts vs. the Stock Market Following the US Treasury’s update of April tax receipts, our friend Mac mailed us a few charts showing the trend in corporate tax payments. Not surprisingly, corporate tax payments and refunds mirror the many signs of a slowing economy that have recently emerged. An overview in chart form follows below. First up, corporate tax receipts in absolute figures. Corporate Tax Receipts Corporate tax receipts in absolute dollars and cents – this is quite...

A New Bull Market in Gold? On April 10, the Incrementum Fund’s advisory board held its quarterly meeting. Two of the regulars (Zac Bharucha and Rahim Taghizadegan) were unable to attend this time, but we were joined by special guest Brent Johnson, the CEO of Santiago Capital. The transcript of the meeting with all charts can be downloaded further below. Gold, June futures contract, daily As indicated, the main (but not the only) topic of the discussion was gold. This was an obvious choice...

Objective Reality After spending three weeks with objective truth at the ranch, we are now forced to return to the world of myths, delusions, and claptrap. Yes, we are in Buenos Aires looking at a TV! And there they are… talking about the world of politics, money, culture… the world of Facebook and CNBC… of Trump and Clinton… of ZIRP and NIRP… and of Game of Thrones. Photo credit: HBO The royal seating accommodation fought over in “Game of Thrones”. It looks decidedly uninviting – a...

  Europe’s Political Class Under Fire All over Europe not only religious and national holidays are observed, but also a socialist holiday, which we always thought was a bit strange – and in a way quite telling (as far as we know, there is no holiday celebrating the free market). Traditionally the rank and file comrades tend to gather around their leaders on May Day, waving their party-approved banners  and dutifully applauding at the appropriate moments. Not anymeure, as Clouseau would...

Odd Couple While checking on the US primaries a few days ago, we came across a piece of news informing us that pretend candle-swallower Ted Cruz had picked Carly Fiorina as his “vice-presidential running mate”. Our first thought upon hearing this was “WTF”? The match made in heaven… two loooosers find each other. Photo credit: AP It’s not so much that he’s picking another “loooooser” as The Donald would put it…the real absurdity of it is that even if Cruz were to win every single one of...