Category Archives: Economic fundamentals

“Is The West Prepared to Deal With Potential Iranian Sabotage of the Oil Market?”

A discussion of some of the ways Iran could use economic, as in oil, leverage to retaliate against an Israel strike.

Private Equity Pummeled by Higher Interest Rates as Portfolio Companies and Credit Funds Struggle; Use of PIK Loans Now Recalls Late 1980s LBO Crisis

More and more private equity and private credit deals are looking over-extended. How bad might things get?

Gas Crunch Looms as Demand Outpaces Supply Growth

Why a gas price squeeze looks likely.

Economic Models Ignoring “Look Out the Window” Climate Change Effects

Supposed forecasting mavens are simply ignoring the real economy effects, like poor harvests, of climate change.

Satyajit Das: US Presidential Politics – The More They Bicker, the More They Stay the Same

US presidential candidates promise policy choices but have little room to manoeuvre. Ergo, politics turns into a contest like American Idol

The Sanctions Poison Pill in Putin’s Peace Offer

A discussion of Putin including a not-much-discussed deal term that the West will never accept: sanctions relief.

Rob Urie: Failed US Economic Policies Lie Behind Current Geopolitical Tensions

How US fealty to neoliberalism undermined its economy. And why China’s choices are not likely to produce happy outcomes.

OK, Forget it, False Alarm, Labor Market Is Fine, Bad Stuff Last Month Was Revised Away, Wages Jumped. No More Rate Cuts Needed?

New and revised labor market data suddenly says the US economy is just fine. Mr. Market’s continued rate cuts look off the table for now.

The Fed and the “Soft Landing” – Policy or Luck?

The Fed has little to do with the fall in inflation. Limited labor bargaining power and easing supply chain problems were more important.

Richard Wolff and Michael Hudson: West’s Colossal Failure: Peace Summit in Switzerland, US Decline, Rise of BRICS

Michael Hudson and Richard Wolff, in fine form, discuss the remarkable US success in driving its strategic rivals into alliances.

Fall Fashion’s Economic Forecast

A sampling of fall/winter women’s frocks does not make for an upbeat economic forecast.

Is It Climate Change or Genocide?

The case that the elite lack of willingness to address climate change amounts to genocide.

Who Holds All These US Treasuries? Update on the Investors in the Ballooning US National Debt in Q2

As the Fed unloads Treasuries, others are purchasing them…including foreign central banks.

Days After Rate Cut, S&P’s Flash PMI Sees Rising Inflation and Exhorts the Fed to “Move Cautiously” with “Further Rate Cuts”

S&P: “The “reacceleration of inflation” suggests “the Fed cannot totally shift its focus away from its inflation target.”

The Fed’s Reactive-Looking Half-Point Rate Cut

The Fed’s half point rate reduction was unseemly large. What gives?