Well, that was a mess. The Richmond Fed’s Manufacturing Survey was at first released before being taken back. Initially reported as a plunge in the headline number, it was quickly scrapped once the statisticians remembered they had just discontinued their average workweek component – but had kept a zero in its place when tallying the overall PMI. With it, the PMI was originally calculated to have gone from bad in May (-9) to horrible in June (-19). Refiguring the...
Read More »Powell Is the New Arthur Burns, Not the New Paul Volcker
Last year, just as it was becoming increasingly clear that price inflation was mounting, Jerome Powell repeatedly denied there was any reason for concern. He called inflation “transitory.” A few months later, he admitted it was not transitory, but denied it was “entrenched.” Then, by late 2021, he admitted price inflation was getting out of control but still took no action of any consequence. Through it all, the Powell plan was repeated delay and opposition to any...
Read More »How Money Printing Destroyed Argentina and Can Destroy Others
Inflation in Argentina is far worse than neighboring countries. It has only one cause: an extractive and confiscatory monetary policy—printing pesos without control and without demand. Original Article: “How Money Printing Destroyed Argentina and Can Destroy Others” The most dangerous words in monetary policy and economics are “this time is different.” Argentine politicians’ big mistake is to believe that inflation is multicausal and that everything is solved...
Read More »Rebuilding Ukraine. How much can the Lugano summit achieve?
Irina Zubchenko walks with her dog Max amid the destruction caused after shelling of a shopping center in March 2022, in Kyiv, Ukraine. Keystone How to set Ukraine on the path to recovery will be the focus of a major international conference hosted by Switzerland in Lugano in early July. But that may be easier said than done with war still raging in parts of the country and lingering concerns about corruption. “Priority number one remains ending the war, because...
Read More »Macro and Prices
(Combining the weekend macro commentary and price action review in one note. Check out the July monthly.) Three economic reports highlight the week ahead: Japan's labor cash earnings at the start of the week and the US employment report and China's CPI at the end of the week. In addition, the Reserve Bank of Australia meets early on July 5. The Bank of Japan's insistence that inflation, which is running slightly above target is not sustainable is that it is a...
Read More »Argentinien beschlagnahmt Crypto-Wallets
Die Wallets wurden im Zusammenhang mit Steuerhinterziehung beschlagnahmt. Es handelt sich dabei, Berichten zu Folge, um mehr als 1.200 Wallets, die angeblich „säumigen Steuerzahlern“ zugeordnet werden konnten. Crypto News: Argentinien beschlagnahmt Crypto-WalletsDie Steuerbehörde selbst hat die Beschlagnahmung veranlasst, die darauf von einem Gericht abgesegnet wurde. Allerdings geht man aktuell davon aus, dass die Versäumnisse nicht zwingend im Zusammenhang mit...
Read More »Swiss gold imports come under scrutiny as G7 targets Russia
Some Western countries plan to officially ban gold imports from Russia. In 2021, Russia dug up 314 tonnes of gold, nearly 10% of the metal mined globally. Ria Novosti An unexpected spike in Switzerland’s gold imports from Russia is under scrutiny as the leaders of the world’s wealthiest nations gear up to introduce a ban on the precious metal. The G7’s focus on gold, Russia’s second-largest export after energy, marks the latest effort by Western nations to ramp up...
Read More »Getting Whipped Will Really Hurt
The Federal Reserve’s various branches don’t just do manufacturing surveys anymore. This is a modern economy, after all, meaning industry isn’t the same top dog as what it used to be. While still important, and still able to tear down even the global-iest synchronized of growth-y, services are the big macro enchilada. Reflecting this fact, there are now regional Fed services surveys producing services indices to go along with the manufacturing sentiment stuff. I’ll...
Read More »Peter Lewin and Steven Phelan: How Do Entrepreneurs Calculate Economic Value Added? Subjectively.
At the core of the entrepreneurial orientation that is the engine of vibrant, growing, value-creating, customer-first businesses, we find the principles of subjectivism and subjective value. Subjective value embraces not only the value the customer seeks, but also the value that entrepreneurs establish in their companies: capital value. Once businesses master these two principles in combination, they can open new horizons of innovation and growth. Key Takeaways...
Read More »Who Really Makes US Foreign Policy? Who Benefits and Who Loses?
In a piece of news that shocked the mainstream media, but which shocked no one familiar with the academic industry writ large, retired US Army general John Allen was forced to resign as president of the Brookings Institution after it was revealed the FBI was investigating him for lobbying on behalf of the Qatari monarchy. Of course, the real news, scarcely noted by the Washington Post, New York Times, or any other purported paper of record, is that Allen was only...
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