We have a lot of respect for our many American readers because many of them are long-time readers, friends, and family. We were born and raised in Colorado, lived on the East Coast (Baltimore and Washington DC) for ten years before moving to Europe (Paris and London) for three years, and now Australia for the last three years. It’s not Americans we’re upset with. It’s American politicians. We can’t tell you how many times in the last five years people asked us if we were Canadian…
August 15th, 2008 | Dan Denning | 6 comments | ContinuedThe Americas
Commentary on American economics, politics and society by your Daily Reckoning editors in Melbourne, Australia. Still haven’t subscribed to the Daily Reckoning? What are you waiting for… sign up here, it’s free!
A chronological listing of articles is below.
U.S. Dollar Strength or Oil Weakness?
Is it U.S. dollar strength or oil weakness? The greenback is strutting its stuff over the last few weeks, up nearly six percent against the euro. And the Aussie dollar, which had been within an eyelash of reaching parity, has since declined to eighty cents against Team America’s currency. Does it matter? Well, sort of. For reasons explained in this space ad nauseam, the U.S. dollar isn’t fundamentally strong. But relatively speaking, it might look less weak than it used to.
August 14th, 2008 | Dan Denning | 2 comments | Continued
Negative Equity Becoming the Norm in U.S.A.
U.S.-based real estate valuation company zillow.com says one third of Americans who bought a home in the last three years have negative equity. Many of the folks who bought at the top are facing the most brutal of double whammies. First, the last-in, first-out-in-the-street buyers had high loan-to-value ratios. That means that they borrowed 80%, 90% or even more of the value of the house. And now the value is falling, the second whammy.
August 13th, 2008 | Dan Denning | 1 comment | Continued
Everybody Wants Something for Free
Everybody wants something for free, and since I look and act like a real Earthling human, don’t I bleed, too? So who is the real victim here, you hateful bastards? But the desire for free stuff is pandemic, and Frosty Woodbridge at NewsWithViews.com talks about this very point when he says that “[The] U.S. Senate along with Obama and McCain protect the interests of 20 million illegal aliens that take jobs from American citizens! Has either man stepped up to stop 400,000 annual illegal alien…”
August 12th, 2008 | Mogambo Guru | 0 comments | Continued
The War on Terror Has Morphed Al-Qaeda Into a More Formidable Enemy
How’s the war on terror going? We don’t hear very much about it. But it’s the justification for hundreds of billions of spending, not to mention wire-tapping…
August 7th, 2008 | Bill Bonner | 0 comments | Continued
U.S. Economy is Still Growing but GDP Growth Rates Are Mostly Fraud
Yesterday’s news told us that the U.S. economy is still growing. But GDP growth rates are mostly a fraud. They measure economic activity - but do so clumsily…
August 4th, 2008 | Bill Bonner | 0 comments | Continued
Feds Buy Houses
The bill also allows the feds to give money to state and local governments, so they can buy houses and fix them up themselves…
August 1st, 2008 | Bill Bonner | 0 comments | Continued
The Percentage of the U.S. Economy Devoted to Consumer Spending Went Up and Up
In a consumer economy, they reasoned, growth came from consumer spending. If consumers didn’t spend enough, growth slowed. So, in order to boost GDP…
July 31st, 2008 | Bill Bonner | 4 comments | Continued
Train Travel is Going to Make a Comeback in the United States
In America, taking the train is tough. There aren’t many. But James Kunstler is sure there will soon be more. Mass transit, he believes, will be forced upon us by the price of energy…
July 29th, 2008 | Bill Bonner | 0 comments | Continued
Fannie and Freddie Say Goodbye to Veto
The big news this morning is that President Bush has dropped his threat of a veto for the housing bill that will bail both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac out…
July 24th, 2008 | Kate Incontrera | 1 comment | Continued