Free Republic

Following a security breach that exposed the credit information of 143 million people to hackers, it was revealed that Equifax Chief Information Security Officer Susan Mauldin was a music major in college. Equifax, which is a credit reporting agency, hired Mauldin as their Chief Information Security Officer in 2013. Previously, Mauldin was the Senior Vice President and Chief Security Officer at First Data Corporation until 2013. Prior to that, she was also SunTrust Banks’ Group Vice President from 2007 to 2009. How she got any of these positions, or the skillset required for them, is still an open question considering...

The US government is on an unsustainable path. Deficits are soaring and the Obama administration is planning massive tax hikes. Moreover, businesses have little reason to hire already because of massive overcapacity. Add increasing health care costs to the list of reasons for businesses not to hire. Given that government spending crowds out private investment, these policies all but assures that unemployment is going to remain high for a long time as noted in Structurally High Unemployment For A Decade. Killing The Goose Last week in Thoughts on the Economy: Problems and Solutions I listed the problems and some of...

In this issue: The Psyche of the American Consumer The Consumer Weakens The Paradox of Thrift An Economic Blue Screen Of Death Those Wild And Crazy Analysts London, Stockholm, Malta, and Becoming a Grandfather This week I am in California giving two speeches to the Financial Planning Associations of San Diego and Orange County. This and next week's letters will be the broad outline of the speech. We will look at how the retreat of the American consumer will affect the stock market. Has the recent drop (can we say crash, gentle reader?) in stock market valuations given us an...

India - The Next Big Player July 29, 2005 By John Mauldin India - The Next Big Player U.S.-Indian Relations and the Geopolitical System Your Own Private CIA Briefing Ouzilly and on to London Last week we looked at China, and this week we look at India, the next rising superpower in Asia. I have asked my friend (and fellow Texan) George Friedman of Stratfor to give us his insights on the political implications of what appears to be a closer US-India relationship. Stratfor has been described by folks like Barron's as being a private CIA. I find their daily...

Those Clever Chinese July 22, 2005 By John Mauldin Last week I said that for this week's letter we would look at the US trade deficit and China, and in particular the possible revaluation of the currency and its effect upon the trade deficit. China obliged by revaluing the yuan (Renminbi). This is both more, and less, than it seems. There is a lot to cover, so let's jump right in. Let's first look at what China did. They allowed the yuan to rise by 2%, with a daily 0.3% trading band based on the price of the previous day....