Financial Markets
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Dollar Dominance, Dollar Dependence
“Skeptics to the global monetary hegemon have long called for its demise — on causes of design or ideology, theory or empirics. And for decades, they have been proven wrong.” ~Joakim Book
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Texas Continues to Push Back Against ESG, But Is It Enough?
“The TPSF manages funds designated for education on behalf of Texas taxpayers. If the funds have lower returns because of asset managers’ ESG crusades, Texas taxpayers are on the hook.” ~Paul Mueller and Thomas Savidge
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Importing Votes, Not Steel
“Cooperation between conglomerates can be swept aside by the government for political gain. Ultimately, it is the public who pays for these political plays.” ~Stefan Bartl
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Does Market Concentration Signal Monopoly?
“The Coasean theory of the firm is noticeably absent from antitrust discussions. Failure to understand that firms arise to lower costs can lead to incorrect conclusions.” ~Jon Murphy
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Stakeholder Statism is Coming
“ESG follows the trajectory of efforts by the progressive left to replace a free, voluntary, and competitive society… with centrally ordered institutions… to engineer their preferred society.” ~Richard M. Reinsch
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US Economic Growth Plunges in First Quarter 2024
“Much of the post-COVID economic growth has been built atop the unsustainable pillars of fiscal and monetary stimuli.” ~Peter C. Earle
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The Wasteful Cruelty of “Stakeholder Capital”
“When institutional investors vote to destroy the wealth of Chevron, they vote to destroy the dreams of single mothers in Wisconsin, pensioners in California, and small business owners in Nebraska.” ~Jeremy Kidd
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US Manufacturing is Doing Just Fine
“Faced with the increased prosperity that has correlated with lowered trade barriers, making the case that trade liberalization has led to widespread harm is no easy task.” ~Colin Grabow
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Eating The Rich Won’t Feed the Beast
“The hungry behemoth that is the US federal government is already eating the rich… Jeff Bezos’ great fortune would finance the government for… less than a week. ” ~Joakim Book
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Fixing A Big Mistake in Risk-Based Capital Rules
“Both long Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities guaranteed by government agencies are in current regulation included as ‘High Quality Liquid Assets.’ But of course they both can and have created plenty of interest rate risk.” ~Alex J. Pollock
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The Fed (Almost) Ruined Black Friday
“A record $1.3 trillion in credit card debt may be masking a weaker economy than the top-line spending numbers suggest, as consumers accrue debt to maintain a standard of living being crushed by rising prices in housing, groceries, and energy.” ~Spence Purnell
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Business Conditions Monthly December 2023
“Inflation expectations have edged higher, raising concerns about the erosion of purchasing power and living standards. In the lead-up to the November presidential elections, policymakers and market participants will closely monitor future economic data releases to gauge the trajectory of inflation and its implications for the broader economy.” ~Peter C. Earle
