In the 20th Century, many important investing principles developed including asset allocation for diversity and the efficient market hypothesis. More recently, politics has risen to cause a shift in the desired measurement of economic welfare. The trendy newcomer is ESG. What is that? ESG is the acronym of Environmental, Social [...]
Years ago now, in 2009 and following, I joined a small minority of economists critical of the Zero Interest Rate Policy chosen by Ben Bernanke and others in charge of the Federal Reserve Bank (Fed) to cure the Mortgage Bond crisis. The current crisis is a direct consequence of over [...]
For decades, commentators on the Federal Reserve Board (the Fed) have referred to the action of raising federal funds interest rates as taking away the punch bowl at the party. After finally arousing from sleep after the inflation fire was already getting out of control, Fed Chair Jerome Powell has [...]
This past week I taught a seminar on effective budget making. It broke down the basics on proper ratios of spending, saving, giving and debt repayment. As I presented, I jokingly said if I could gain access to Congress, I would love to enlighten Washington on these basic principles. As [...]
It’s never fun to pay capital gains taxes on investments you hold. It’s significantly less fun to have to pay them in a year where your account balances have suffered heavy losses. That however, is the scenario many may face this year. Today, I want to provide some insight into [...]
I have to admit, over the past few months I have written quite a few depressing columns. It’s probably justifiable given just how much pessimism there seems to be out there right now. However, this week I want to hopefully give you a good dose of optimism. With Russian president [...]
Driving through my neighborhood yesterday I saw something I haven’t seen in a while, a home with a for sale sign in the yard. The housing market has been so red hot for so long, that signs don’t even have a chance to hit the ground before the home owner [...]
A little over a year ago, my wife and I were in the market for a new vehicle. Our kids were getting older and we found our sedans were just not large enough for our needs and purchased a newer SUV. We no longer needed one of the cars, but [...]
In the 1980 presidential election debates, Ronald Reagan began his famous quip, Well . . . There you go again! Sometimes it seems we cannot learn from our mistakes. Today I will connect some dots of seemingly unrelated ideas and decisions that have made life in these United States more [...]
This past week on a straight party line vote, Democrats passed the Inflation Reduction Act. Among other things, the law will attempt to fight climate change and lower carbon emissions here in the US at a cost of roughly 370 billion. As someone who believes in the importance of stewardship, [...]
