Category Archives: Economic fundamentals

What Happened to the “Feel Good” Economy?

Even though this video is from December (hat tip Philip Pilkington), it gives an informative and nuanced explanation of the rise in income inequality and consumer debt levels, and how they play into our unimpressive “recovery”. The interview of Steve Fazzari and Barry Cynamon by Marshall Auerback discusses how the rise of inequality has many drivers, but the biggest appears to be financialization which is so pervasive and well-protected politically as to make it hard to roll back. It also put focus on key metrics that often get lost in conventional coverage. For instance, inflation and productivity adjusted wages would now need to be over $20 to match the levels of the 1960s.

Yanis Varoufakis: Of Greeks and Germans: Re-imagining our Shared Future

Varoufakis addresses the need for Greeks and Germans to stop the blame game and work together.

Rob Parenteau: “Goebbelnomics – Austerian Duplicity and the Dispensing of Greece

A case study in Goebbelnomics, here used by austerians to justify the class and economic war against Greece.

Maya MacGuineas of Fix the Debt’s Profound Fiscal Irresponsibility

Budget season brings out the deficit/debt burden propagandists, and Maya MacGuineas of Fix the Debt is a prominent fixture. Sadly, her type needs to be debunked often.

Negotiations with Greece Close to Breakdown as Budget Strains Worsen

Things are not looking good for Greece.

Tech’s Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Amazon, Facebook, Google, Apple

This is a great talk on the outlook for the four dominant tech companies by Scott Galloway of L2. Trust me. Just watch it.

Nomi Prins: The Volatility/Quantitative Easing Dance of Doom

The battle between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ of global financial policy is escalating to the point where the ‘haves’ might start to sweat – a tiny little. This phase of heightened volatility in the markets is a harbinger of the inevitable meltdown that will follow the grand plastering-over of a systemically fraudulent global financial system.

Is There an Easy Way Out? Private Marketable Debt and Its Implications for a Eurozone Break-up

What are some of the more granular costs and risks of a Eurozone exit? This post looks at France as a test case.

Debunking America’s Energy Fantasy: Shale Gas and Tight Oil Peak in Next Decade

Oil and gas expert Arthur Berman gave a detailed talk last month about hype versus reality as far as the outlook for US shale gas and oil production is concerned.

Yanis Varoufakis: Presenting an Agenda for Europe at Ambrosetti

If you followed Yanis Varoufakis before he became a household word (at least in Europe and in finance circles), you’ll recognize that he is making a layperson-friendly case for the Eurozone reforms that he, Stuart Holland, and Jamie Galbraith call A Modest Proposal. A new wrinkle is that he argues that the scarcity of bonds eligible for QE argues for one of its ideas, infrastructure spending funded by the EIB (those bonds would presumably be eligible for QE purchases).

Wolf Richter: The US Oil Bust Just Got Worse

Wolf was early to point out the disconnect between declining rig counts, which the mainstream media has touted as proof that the oil bust was about to end, and rising production. That pattern has not abated.

Michael Hudson on the IMF’s Tender Ministrations in Ukraine and Greece

This RT interview with Michael Hudson focuses on the appalling state of the Ukraine economy and the role of the IMF, both in its policy-violating rescue package there and on a more general basis.

“File Under Improving Economy, Not”

Some economic sightings from house skeptics.

Gaius Publius: Astroturf “Progressive” Support for the TPP – Meet “270 Solutions”

It’s become routine to expose some of the supposedly organic proposals that come out of the Tea Party as actually sponsored by the Koch Brothers and other big corporate interests. We didn’t want to leave Democrats out in the cold in the astroturfing game. Gaius Publius discusses one ecosystem: a consulting firm, “270 Strategies” and one of its phony creations, the Progressive Coalition for American Jobs.

Bloomberg: “Consumers Aren’t Spending Even In a Booming Job Market”

The job market has allegedly disconnected in the last few months from retail spending. But is there really a divergence?