Financial Markets

  • The Buffett Indicator: Reasons for Doubt

    “There are other reasons for the Buffett Indicator ratio to be trending higher. Corporate earnings are growing nearly twice as rapidly as the growth in nominal GDP. The Buffett indicator, though at high historical levels, is not per se signaling that the market is overvalued.” ~ Gregory van Kipnis

    The Buffett Indicator: Reasons for Doubt
  • Inflationary Inflection Point or Temporary Blip?

    “If bond yields cannot rise, the stock market will remain supported unless stagflation sets in. Should that transpire, the Fed will need to decide whether to ignore inflation and increase monetary stimulus, including the purchase of ETFs and common stock, in order to maintain full employment, or ‘hold’ and witness a politically unpalatable clearing of…

    Inflationary Inflection Point or Temporary Blip?
  • Where New Zealand Goes, the World Goes

    “In the 1990s New Zealand pioneered inflation targeting, an approach that every major country followed for the next three decades. In a few years we might look back at this fleeting Kiwi attempt at incorporating asset markets into monetary policy with the same admiring eyes that we now see their move to inflation targeting. Where…

    Where New Zealand Goes, the World Goes
  • The Business Economics of The Office

    “Though The Office may offer a somewhat exaggerated account of entrepreneurial alertness, economic calculation, and the vagaries of corporate management, the broader strokes of its characters’ endeavors are informative. Namely, these are concepts that lie in the pages of economics and business textbooks, accompanied by graphs that make the layman’s head turn. Yet, viewed through…

    The Business Economics of The Office
  • Lose a Ton of Money Fast With “Hot Stock Tips”

    “It warms my heart when a student or alum tells me they’ve opened a Roth IRA or when I can advise a high schooler who has been saving up so he can buy a share of Amazon stock to put the money in a mutual fund instead. Managing your money wisely isn’t especially glamorous, but…

    Lose a Ton of Money Fast With “Hot Stock Tips”
  • Bitcoin Continues Steady Mainstream Adoption

    “At the moment, the idea of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology is still emerging technology but at one point they were considered fringe. Their increasing adoption not only lends support for the ongoing rise of Bitcoin’s value but demonstrates an interesting inflection point for financial affairs.” ~ Ethan Yang

    Bitcoin Continues Steady Mainstream Adoption
  • The Back Door to Universal Basic Income

    “Low and falling barriers for lockdowns, stay-at-home orders, and other government-mandated nonpharmaceutical interventions are acting as a back door for the silent implementation of UBI & MMT schemes.” ~ Peter C. Earle & Kristoffer J. M. Hansen

    The Back Door to Universal Basic Income
  • How Did the Life Insurance Industry Survive the Pandemic?

    “It is of course a good thing that life insurers did not exacerbate the financial stresses brought on by the pandemic or its mitigation policies, which did indeed turn out to be the worst since the New Deal as I suggested in April 2020. ‘Tis a shame that nobody followed my suggestion, made that same…

    How Did the Life Insurance Industry Survive the Pandemic?
  • In Finance, Slow is Good

    “What the central bank RTGS/LSM two-step teaches us is that we need a good balance between fast and slow. Sure, real-time settlement is a nice feature. But let’s also have delayed settlement. If brokerages have a choice to use some combination of two-day and real-time settlement, we may arrive at a socially optimal stock settlement…

    In Finance, Slow is Good
  • Mastercard’s Crypto Ruse

    “With more corporate powerhouses supporting cryptocurrencies by the month, it appears that crypto is here to stay. Whether those cryptos are the ones currently popular or this announcement by Mastercard acts to initiate a path dependent development process is presently unknown and unknowable. Other recent initiatives by the massive processing firm suggest a focus that…

    Mastercard’s Crypto Ruse
  • Escape Hatches: Migration, Bitcoin, and the Ability to Get Out

    “Keep more mobile assets; have larger buffers, financial and physical; instead of a large house in a nice suburb, perhaps aim for a smaller home coupled with a condo or house in a different jurisdiction? Don’t put all your financial eggs in one portfolio – keep some gold and some bitcoin; keep healthy; update your…

    Escape Hatches: Migration, Bitcoin, and the Ability to Get Out
  • Are the Conditions Right for Another Commodity Super-Cycle?

    “With unemployment rates still elevated and much of the global economy in some form of lockdown, it is hard to imagine the conditions for an economic boom, especially one that will see wage increases, but the size and scale of the global monetary and fiscal response to the pandemic is unprecedented. It creates the conditions…

    Are the Conditions Right for Another Commodity Super-Cycle?