The strong Australian dollar makes some export industries chronically uncompetitive. Not only does this make them bad investments, it damages their ability to remain a going concern.
January 24th, 2012 | Dan Denning | 4 comments | ContinuedCurrencies
Commentary on worldwide currencies 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.
Introducing Mr Mario Draghi… Europe’s Incredible Economic Saviour
Mario Draghi, new ECB boss who completed his monetary apprenticeship at Goldman Sachs, has conjured up a sneaky way to print money while giving the impression he’s doing nothing of the sort.
January 19th, 2012 | Greg Canavan | 1 comment | Continued
Debts With Unsolvable Insolvency
Even before debt became such a big problem, real growth had already begun to disappear from the developed world. There has been none in Japan for the last 20 years…and almost no real growth in the US private sector for the last 10 years. In Europe, grosso modo, the story is similar.
January 18th, 2012 | Bill Bonner | 0 comments | Continued
The War Against the Euro
The Americans are trying to discredit the euro in order to perpetuate dollar hegemony, so goes the argument. Hmm. It’s possible. It’s also possible that all central bankers and monetary policy makers are singing from the same hymnal. Their answer to the end of the credit bubble is to try and pump it back up with currency debasement. In that case, this is a war of all against all.
January 18th, 2012 | Dan Denning | 5 comments | Continued
Downgrade of European Financial Stability Facility Becomes a Reality
“It won’t be long before the EFSF has its own credit rating cut,” we wrote yesterday. And it wasn’t! Standard and Poor’s delivered the coup de grace yesterday. It downgraded the European Financial Stability Facility from AAA to AA+.
January 17th, 2012 | Dan Denning | 2 comments | Continued
Coins… The Nearest Thing to a Permanent Thing
You can find a coin shop in nearly every town in the United States. The proprietor is unlike any you will find in any other store. He is unusually steeped in history, intensely aware of the larger context of the passing economic and political scene. This is because if it is a good shop, you will find the whole history of modern life on exhibit, and learn more from looking than you find in a multivolume history.
January 14th, 2012 | The Daily Reckoning | 0 comments | Continued
The Next Bubble in China’s Economy
We’ve battled this argument before, so we apologise if we repeat ourselves. But it needs to be said because the mainstream media continues to talk gibberish about China’s economy. This is the argument: a falling inflation rate in China allows the authorities to ease monetary policy to avert a hard landing.
January 13th, 2012 | Greg Canavan | 4 comments | Continued
Why Has Gold Been Down?
Shouldn’t gold be rising?
Yes, but nothing happens in a vacuum. There are some simple explanations as to why gold remains in a funk.
Europe’s Flawed Financial Transactions Tax (FTT)
Europe’s Financial Transactions Tax (FTT) may disincentivise financial transactions by adding to their marginal cost. But as long as the supply of credit and cheap money to the banking system remains abundant, the banks have an open invitation to speculate.
January 10th, 2012 | Dan Denning | 3 comments | Continued
Central Banks Go Bonkers
This week, a certain joke became a painful reality, with a reshuffle at the European Central Bank.
January 7th, 2012 | The Daily Reckoning | 2 comments | Continued
Why a Wish for Credit Demand Won’t Make It So
You can’t solve a problem if you don’t understand the cause. The 40-year boom in credit, which came to a shuddering halt in 2007/08, caused the current global economic malaise. It is the elephant in the room that few want to discuss.
January 6th, 2012 | Greg Canavan | 4 comments | Continued
Alan Greenspan and the Arithmetic of a Revolution
Hey… That rascal, Alan Greenspan, is back in the newspapers. And this time he has something sensible to say.
January 6th, 2012 | Bill Bonner | 7 comments | Continued
When the Public Sector Debt Bubble Blows Up
The private sector debt bubble blew up in 2008. The public sector debt bubble will blow up too. Maybe in 2012. Most likely not for a while longer. But when US debt begins to blow up, the feds will come in with everything they’ve got trying to stop it.
January 5th, 2012 | Bill Bonner | 1 comment | Continued
A Brief Retrospective of the Year Gone By
Before we say goodbye to 2011, let us pause to remember it…briefly. We spent 365 days with it – 365 days in a row. We can’t just move on to 2012 without a least a backward glance. What kind of a year was it? In what direction did it take the world, dear reader? Should we cheer that it is gone…or merely dry our eyes and hope for the best?
January 4th, 2012 | Bill Bonner | 0 comments | Continued
The Bear Dines Out
Needless to say, watching (and feeling) your money being eaten alive by a multi-year bear market is not pleasant. In fact it’s the kind of experience that might prompt you to make a change by, say, selling your shares and giving up on the market once and for all.
January 3rd, 2012 | Dan Denning | 2 comments | Continued
