Free Republic

Tyler DurdenJanuary 29, 2016 With Citi's chief economist proclaiming "only helicopter money can save the world now," and the Bank of England pre-empting paradropping money concerns, it appears that Australia's largest investment bank's forecast that money-drops were 12-18 months away was too conservative. While The Finns consider a "basic monthly income" for the entire population, Swiss residents are to vote on a countrywide referendum about a radical plan to pay every single adult a guaranteed income of around $2500 per month, with authorities insisting that people will still want to find a job. The plan, as The Daily Mail reports,...

Bob BryanJanuary 29, 2016 Based on today's GDP release, it appears that the US economy is slowing but not near any sort of massive collapse. Peter Schiff begs to differ. The CEO and chief global strategist for Euro Pacific Capital, and noted perma-bear, said that serious economic destruction is just a few months away. "I think the Fed is going to have negative interest rates before the election because we're going to be in a serious recession," Schiff told Business Insider on Friday. In fact, Schiff said that we may already be in recession and this one is going to...

The U.S. economy slowed to a crawl in the last three months of 2015, new government data showed Friday, an indication of how tepid global growth is exposing new weaknesses in the nation's long and sluggish recovery. Gross domestic product, a measure of overall output, expanded at a seasonally adjusted rate of 0.7 percent between the months of October and December - just the second time in seven quarters that the nation has registered growth under 1 percent. The pace, in line with economists' expectations, shows an economy that is being driven by steady consumer spending but weighed down by...

The US economy finished 2015 with a pratfall, perhaps a foreshadowing of a bumpy ride in 2016. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth tumbled to 0.7% in the advance estimate of the fourth-quarter data, thanks to a decline in consumer spending that outpaced a slowing in the rate of growth in disposable income.

Mansion prices show no signs of slowing in rich enclaves such as the Hamptons, Beverly Hills and Aspen, suggesting that the global market panic has yet to spread to top trophy homes. According to sales data from Douglas Elliman, the median sales price in Beverly Hills for a single family home jumped 54 percent in the fourth quarter over the same period last year, to $5.5 million. In Aspen, the median single-family home price increased 35 percent to $6.7 million and 2015 was the market's best year ever for sales. In the Hamptons, a record number of homes sold for...

In shocking move, Japan adopts negative interest rate as deflation fight falters The Bank of Japan unexpectedly adopted a negative interest rate policy Friday, stunning investors with a move aimed at shielding the country's sluggish economy from volatile markets and slowing global growth. The BOJ said it would use a three-tiered system to charge for excess reserves parked with the institution, an aggressive policy pioneered by the European Central Bank that penalizes banks for holding cash and encourages them to loan it out. "The BOJ will cut the interest rate further into negative territory if judged as necessary," the central...

The spread between the yield on corporate bonds and that on treasuries passed the 2% mark yesterday for the first time in over three years yesterday. In the chart above I’ve annotated with red vertical lines the prior two occasions when spreads widened to this degree for the first time in at least two years. Notice that each of the two prior occurrences led to painful bear markets and recessions. Now this indicator alone isn’t sufficient evidence that another painful bear market and concomitant recession are on their way. However, when you pair it with the all the other data...

The term “City upon a hill” was first used by John Winthorp, one of the key founders of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, who said, “We will be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us, so that if we deal falsely with our God in this work we have undertaken and so cause Him to withdraw His present help from us, we shall be made a story and a byword throughout the world.” Yet, it was Ronald Reagan who made the term famous, in his frequent referral to the United States as the “Shining...

Who needs Congress when you've got a horde of unelected bureaucrats willing and able to write law and do the will of the president? Congress can't decide on anything anyway. They're always arguing. It takes great leadership to circumvent Congress and really get things done. Good job President Obama, you've built quite a legacy of destruction. Here's just another example of the Obama administration's government overreach that is systemic. The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) was established thanks to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act becoming operational in 2012. In just four short years, the CFPB has...

The Russian economy's heavy reliance on energy, plus Western sanctions imposed because of Moscow's role in the Ukraine conflict, have left the country in its worst financial position since the depths of the global financial crisis eight years ago...About half of Russia's annual budget relies on revenues from its prodigious production of oil and gas,...

<p>The International Franchise Association, the industry's largest trade group, wants the Supreme Court to take up its challenge to portions of Seattle's $15 minimum wage law.</p> <p>Seattle's City Council in June 2014 voted to raise the minimum wage in increments, hitting $15 an hour by 2017 for businesses with at least 500 staffers. The $15 level is more than double the federal hourly minimum of $7.25. The International Franchise Association and five Seattle franchisees quickly sued Seattle, which like New York City has moved to treat smaller franchised businesses like larger companies.</p>

Donald Trump is right when he calls for high trade tariffs to protect American jobs, according to one brave economist. The Republican presidential candidate’s protectionist rhetoric has been playing well with voters heading into the primary season. But Trump has been attacked by economists and the media for violating the sacred belief that free trade is always a good thing, writes Peter Morici, a professor at the University of Maryland. Morici argues that China hasn’t been playing fair, however, and says the artificially weak yuan has cost America hundreds of thousands of jobs. “Trump’s proposals for fixing trade — starting...

Politicians and environmentalists concerned about global warming are pushing policies to cut carbon dioxide emissions from the energy sector. It's too bad they are pushing costly green energy technologies. ExxonMobil's annual energy report shows just how expensive it is to use green energy to cut CO2 emissions. Replacing coal power, for example, with wind or solar energy costs upwards of $100 and $200, respectively, per ton of CO2 reduced. That’s much more expensive than replacing coal with natural gas or simply improving vehicle engine efficiency. Pushing electric cars, however, is the most expensive way to reduce CO2 emissions, costing $800...

If you were Donald Trump, you would probably summarize the academic paper's finding as follows: China is beating us. A new working paper from the economists David Autor, David Dorn and Gordon Hanson argues that trade with China is having persistent, negative effects on parts of the American labor market. Research from the same authors, published in 2013, found that the American workers most exposed to Chinese trade have experienced material declines in wages, higher unemployment and an increased likelihood of receiving government benefits like disability payments."The idea that trade competition with China has hurt various workers and communities is...

Digital Currency: The Key Tool of 21st Century Monolithic Nanny State Tyranny   January 28, 2016 - 6:47 am | Current Events & Politics, Economics & Investing There has been talk of doing away with paper currency for several decades, but up until now that has mostly been idle conjecture and mostly bluster. Gradually, however, the building blocks of such a system have indeed been developed. These enabling technologies include: Credit cardsDebit cardsPostal metersCredit and debit card enabled pay phonesCredit and debit card enabled vending machinesCredit and debit card enabled “pay before you exit” parking garage kiosksGrocery and warehouse...

The Tea Party movement began as a response to federal bailouts of Wall Street and auto makers in 2008 and 2009. These unprecedented government interventions in the economy padded the wallets of special interests by privatizing profits and socializing losses. Where was Donald Trump on this? As it happens, he appeared on television more than once to discuss what was happening. And when he did, he came in favor of the bailouts that soured conservative voters, especially Tea Partiers, on both George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Of the auto companies, which were failing because of years of union intransigence...

Big stock market declines are often lead indicators for recession, and global markets are heading into their last week of trading for the month with the risk of seeing one of their biggest ever January declines.Despite a big bounce in markets Friday, which saw the S&P 500 rise two per cent, fear is in the air. Bank of America Merrill Lynch economists said in an update Friday that they now see a 20 per cent chance that the U.S. economy will slip into a recession this year, up from the 15 per cent chance they predicted in December.The rising chance...

George Soros in China's Crosshairs After Predicting Tough Economic Times Ahead China is putting a face on the economic pessimism it accuses of helping weaken the yuan and the economy: billionaire investor George Soros. A front-page commentary published in some editions of People's Daily on Tuesday appeared to warn Mr. Soros would lose any bets he made based on a recent prediction that hard economic times for China are "unavoidable." Other state media followed suit. Denouncing "radical speculators," China's official Xinhua News Agency dismissed the famed currency trader's view as "the same prediction several times." The Global Times, in its...

The Federal Reserve this week will update its assessment of the U.S. economy and could take note of recent volatility in global financial markets. But any move or definite signal on interest rates is extremely unlikely. All the action will come in Wednesday’s policy statement, due out at 2 p.m. EST, since Chairwoman Janet Yellen isn’t scheduled to hold a press conference and officials won’t release updated economic projections until March. Here are five things to watch out of the two-day policy meeting that starts Tuesday. 1 Flexible Messaging The Fed won’t raise its benchmark federal-funds rate on Wednesday... 2...

Indiana may have lost as much as $60 million in hotel profits, tax revenue and other economic benefits when a dozen groups decided against hosting conventions in Indianapolis last year due at least in part to the controversy surrounding the state's religious objections law. A document prepared by the tourism group Visit Indy shows that the 12 out-of-state groups were surveyed and all said that the state's controversial law played a role in their decision to hold their events elsewhere. The document was obtained by The Associated Press ahead of its formal release Thursday. The Republican-backed law garnered quick and...