The US economy: death by a thousand cuts?

  The fabled “death by a thousand cuts” refers to a traditional method of slow, lingering, extremely painful execution used for over a millennium in China, right up until last century.  In theory at least, no one cut would be lethal in and of itself (unless the executioner had been bribed, or was feeling merciful); … Continue reading The US economy: death by a thousand cuts?

How does the war in Ukraine end? And who “wins”?

  Those questions are discussed in an interesting article at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Wars sometimes start easily, but it is a tenet of strategy that they are always unpredictable and extremely hard to end. Putin’s war of choice in Ukraine is already escalating faster than most experts would have imagined just a… Continue reading How does the war in Ukraine end? And who “wins”?

The inflation tax we’re all paying

  Over the weekend, this article caught my eye. Red-hot inflation is costing the average US household an additional $296.45 in expenses as surging food and fuel costs stretch budgets, according to calculations provided to The Post. Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody’s Analytics, crunched the numbers after the latest Labor Department data showed… Continue reading The inflation tax we’re all paying

“He who has the gold, makes the rules”

  That’s a very old saw, a variation on the Biblical Golden Rule that doesn’t exactly square with what Jesus taught.  It seems China may now be in a position to do exactly that. If you thought the West was unprepared for inflation – or indeed for Russia – wait and see just how unprepared… Continue reading “He who has the gold, makes the rules”

Dominant superpower? No longer…

  Sovereign Man has an interesting – and painful – analysis of the USA’s vision of itself as the dominant superpower, versus its actual position.  It’s pretty sobering. It’s hardly controversial to assert that dominate superpowers don’t accumulate $30 trillion in debt (which, by the way, is 25% larger than the entire US economy). But… Continue reading Dominant superpower? No longer…

There are none so blind as those who will not see

  In my “Inflation Watch” report a couple of days ago, I noted: Last week we heard that inflation in January hit an annual average of 7.5%, the highest on record since 1982.  That, of course, is so much bull droppings, as we’ve said in these pages many times before.  If this country still measured… Continue reading There are none so blind as those who will not see

Inflation watch – 2022/02/15

  I’m going to make an “inflation watch” article a regular feature here, because a lot is happening that you’ll miss if you aren’t looking for it – but it affects you very nearly and dearly, nevertheless. First off today, vehicle prices.  Used vehicles are climbing to unheard-of price levels, so much so that some… Continue reading Inflation watch – 2022/02/15

The best summary of inflation reality that I’ve yet read

  If you’re still not sure why inflation is bad, or what it’s doing to the value of your money, you need to click over to Aesop’s place and read his brutally acerbic article “Economics 101: Inflation“.  This is why: From 1932 to present, decoupled from actual gold backing, the Fed has stolen 98.9 cents… Continue reading The best summary of inflation reality that I’ve yet read

A new threat to the US dollar’s dominance – and the current world economic system?

  The iconoclastic Fred Reed has some interesting thoughts on the new Chinese digital currency initiative – ones that, if correct, spell real trouble for the US dollar’s current dominance of world trade.  Like Mr. Reed, I’m not an international economist, but I’m a practical realist, and I can see the potential for currency disruption… Continue reading A new threat to the US dollar’s dominance – and the current world economic system?

The clearest predictor yet of out-of-control inflation

  Sundance points out that the latest wholesale price increases from Kraft-Heinz amount not just to inflation, but to embryonic hyperinflation.  Bold, underlined text is my emphasis. Last year, when CTH discussed the original Kraft-Heinz wholesale notification for January 2022, we warned it was only the first round.  The reason for waves of price increases… Continue reading The clearest predictor yet of out-of-control inflation