[Editor’s note: In “The Cost Of Procrastination: America’s Broken Economy,” I compared the haphazard character of the country’s overnight economic rethink, prompted by the pandemic,
Month: December 2021
The Best (And Simplest) Bear Case For Bulletproof Stocks
It’s fair to suggest the macro consensus headed into 2022 is that inflation will remain generally elevated (even if it starts to abate in the
World’s Wealthiest 10 Now $729 Billion Richer Since Pandemic
2021 was another good year to be rich. Every New Year’s Eve, I refresh the numbers for the world’s top 10 richest people and, when
The Cost Of Procrastination: America’s Broken Economy
“Whatever availability you put down when I hired you is what I expect,” a self-important man in a denim button-up said, scolding an earnest-looking teenager
The Tragedy Of Inflation Inequality (By The Numbers)
Whenever I get the feeling I’ve talked too much about so-called “K-shaped” inflation (the phenomenon in which rising prices affect households differently based on demographics),
US Jobless Claims Trendline Falls Below 200,000
US jobless claims hovered near a 50-year low in the week through Christmas Day. Initial claims in the week ending December 25 were 198,000, down
Comatose
Markets felt comatose Thursday. Within whatever scant coverage you managed to run across, there was a bull market in the word “mixed.” With no viable
Why Goldman Expects Inflation To Settle Down In 2022
If at first you don’t succeed. Around this time last year, Goldman’s economic team projected core PCE inflation would exceed 2% in the spring of
Howard Marks’s ‘Perpetual Motion Machine’ In The Pandemic Era
Back in 2017, long before I stopped reading his memos, Howard Marks delivered one of the most incisive takes ever written on the extent to
Black Sheep In Hong Kong
Meanwhile, in Hong Kong. Stand News, a pro-democracy holdout, became the latest casualty of Xi’s crackdown on dissent in the city. The media outlet shut
Two Economic Arguments You Probably Shouldn’t Make
Some things are obvious, but for various reasons, we choose to ignore them. For example, one popular argument among those who harbor a constructive view
In Red-Hot US Housing Market, 19% Surge Counts As ‘Cool’
The rate of appreciation in US home prices is slowing. Albeit only slightly. I’m not convinced of the utility in dedicating separate coverage to every
Wall Street, Fed Too Optimistic On US Economy, One Bank Says
The apparent demise of Build Back Better will deal a blow to an already waning US fiscal impulse and the world’s largest economy won’t live
‘Living With It’: Record Stocks, Record COVID
It’s an odd pairing. Record high equities and record high COVID cases, I mean. That’s not to say we haven’t seen something like it before.
Everyone Loves A Rally
“We like this,” one CIO said, on the first day of the last week of the first year of the rest of our lives. US