F.A. Hayek’s famous quote is: The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design. While Hayek’s quote is most appropriately placed against government central economic planning of socialism, it applies against any government action that tries to manage the economy by going […]
Archives
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Brief Beef With The Fed
12 Dec 2022
For several months, we’ve witnessed the Fed discuss the need to orchestrate a, “soft landing,” for the economy. Attempting to orchestrate an easy descent from this inflationary high; however, I believe the entire goal displays a flawed understanding of economics. Despite that, Mr. Powell still possesses a rational reason to attempt the impossible. To start […]
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In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus warns us against our hypocrisy, given the seemingly universal nature of our ability to point out the flaws/sins of others while studiously ignoring our own: 7 “Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will […]
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BATG Economic Update
03 Oct 2022
We haven’t had an update on the economy in a bit, so this post will share some of the data I’m finding interesting, which I believe is telling us where the market is going. Last week the price of the ten year US Treasury Bond fell, leading to a yield of over 4%, a level […]
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The Federal Reserve has to be pleased with the way their tightening cycle has gone, not that they ever wanted to be here. The Fed has engineered meaningful tightening, markets have had nasty reactions in the downward direction, and yet we haven’t had a true financial panic. Further, job opportunities are still relatively plentiful, and […]
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Recession!?
01 Aug 2022
Fellow Berean Matt Beal touched on the 2nd Qtr GDP Growth (negative) last week, and I thought I’d add to the discussion. But because I’m particularly lazy (and the ramp up to the new semester is consuming me), I encourage you to listen to a radio interview I had with Columbus Ohio’s WTVN radio late […]
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Headline: “Biden administration plans to make sweeping changes to ‘broken’ student loan system”
07 Jul 2022
So notes CNBC yesterday. We’ve already highlighted the gross inequity of forcing people that never were a party to a loan to assume the payments of others (as in here, here, and here), in many cases people that make far less money than the beneficiaries of student loans, so I’m not highlighting that this morning. […]
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The Biden Administration has finally accepted some blame for the ongoing inflation that they helped fuel, and like a good soldier, Janet Yellen has taken the spear for her boss, President Biden. President Biden was obviously anxious to make good on a progressive agenda after his inauguration, pushing his major spending bills, and he pushed […]
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How far will the stock market fall?
21 May 2022
We’re in a bear market now, even if the S&P500 managed to claw above the oft-quoted 20% down definition on Friday. Importantly, the standard 20% off the highs is only the symptom of the bear market that rages. Bear markets emerge to bring reality to false expectations of the future. Low interest rates beget speculation […]
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Here at BATG, we took a long look at inflation in a series of posts back in the fall, and it’s still front and center in the public discussion. Yes, I blamed the Fed, but I’ve always blamed the Fed–price fixing never works, and the Fed is the ultimate price fixer. Yet there is now […]
Bert Wheeler
Jeff Haymond
Marc Clauson
Mark Caleb Smith
Tom Mach