The Great Recession: An ‘Affair’ to Remember
The business cycles doesn’t seem to care who is president. With the tightening of the Presidential race in recent weeks many are concerned with the speed, or lack thereof, of the U.S. economic recovery. Although the recession technically ended in June 2009, the climb out is happening all to slowly. This article discusses how little Read more ➝
Falling Off the Fiscal Cliff?
With the uncertainty of the Presidential election looming and even greater uncertainty about how Congress will tackle our fiscal woes, many are concerned that the United States will soon fall off a Fiscal Cliff. Although no one could deny that this is a possible outcome, most economist seem to believe that a less dramatic outcome Read more ➝
Beyond 7 Billion
For much mankind’s history, the world population has remained relatively stable, but with advances in agriculture and medicine our world’s population has begun to grow at alarming rates, never before seen. Worse still, it appears that population growth will occur in areas of the world with the least ability to deal with it. Where the growth is coming Read more ➝
The Wonders, the Weirdness, the Life Lessons of TED
OK, I am just going to come out and say it, I’m hooked on TED talks. For those of you who have not yet been moved, inspired or brought to tears by a TED talk I encourage you to jump on board. In 3-18 minutes, some of the biggest thinkers in the world will tell Read more ➝
European Banks Unprepared For Greek Exit From Euro
Bloomberg recently reported that European Banks are unprepared for a Greek exit from the Euro. Once again this issue has become paramount for investors as they try to determine if the Euro can be held together and if it cannot what the consequences will be. Investors who have not taken the time to consider this could Read more ➝
Near Flat Cargo Growth at Local Ports
The ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles report combined near-flat growth of 1.8% for the month of April as compared to a year earlier. Some Economist suggest that this is further proof of a slowing Chinese economy. This on top of already anemic growth rates in Europe have some concerned that there will ultimately Read more ➝
Europe takes a sharp turn to the Left
The recent elections in France and Greece suggest that Europe has taken a sharp turn to the Left electing officials who view the recently agreed upon austerity measures as too severe. Time will tell how this affects Europe which is already mired in a recession, but with pledges like those from France’s President-Elect Francois Hollande to Read more ➝
Home ownership at 15 year low but market “heading back”
“Housing is adding to growth now and I think it is going to continue going forward.” states Patrick Newport of IHS Global Insight. This in spite of recent data that shows home ownership at a 15-year low. “We are headed back to a market that we had 20 years ago, where to qualify for a home Read more ➝
U.S. Consumer Sentiment Climbs Toward ’08 Levels
Consumers are happier as measured by the Conference Board’s gauge and the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index. Both measures recently reached peaks last seen in 2008. Bloomberg quoted Barclay’s Capital economist Dean Maki, “The major driver of the improvement in confidence has been the labor market,” Maki said. “We would expect consumer confidence to continue trending Read more ➝
