Tag Archives: economy
The deleveraging divergence
Back in 2008 when it entered our vocabulary, The Economist called deleveraging “a fate worse than debt.” The process of reducing leverage — borrowed money — from personal, corporate and governmental finances is expected to take several years, if not … Continue reading
Get rid of paper money to fix the economy … ?
Could you operate your financial life without cash in your wallet? Some people already get by without cash, using credit or debit cards for most transactions or even swiping their iPhone to debit an electronic account. Matthew Yglesias, Slate’s business … Continue reading
Earnings overshadowed by less important economic news
Every Thursday morning at 8:30 Eastern, the government tells us how many people signed up for unemployment benefits during the previous week. Before this announcement, the talking heads in the media tell us what number they expect. Once the announcement … Continue reading
European debt crisis presents difficult challenges
The government debt situation in Europe has been the largest driver of market volatility over the past two months. Concern continues to grow that select European countries are close to defaulting on their loans. European banks may have catastrophic exposure … Continue reading
Slow economy is a drag on standard of living
Economists who aren’t predicting a double-dip recession are at least expecting a low-growth U.S. economy for an extended period of time. What is the impact of an economy that doesn’t grow at it’s historical annual rate of approximately 3% year … Continue reading
Changing world demographics will have economic impact
Harvard Professor Richard Cooper recently made a presentation at a meeting of the Boston Security Analysts Society. His presentation analyzed international census data and included a variety of predictions about global demographic changes over the next 30 years that will … Continue reading
Even weak economy can produce good investment returns
Emerging market countries have earned a lot of attention from investors because of their 29.05% average annual return from 2003-2010 (MSCI Emerging Markets Index). Going forward, much of the assumption that emerging markets will continue to lead has to do … Continue reading
Many things could go right for the U.S. economy
It has been hard to avoid negative news recently. We all know that there is a debt crisis in Europe, unemployment and home price declines remain problems in the U.S. and political combativeness has drained confidence in U.S. leadership. While … Continue reading →