Category Archives: Economic fundamentals

Wolf Richter: Housing Bubble Trouble in Silicon Valley & San Francisco

Housing is going pear-shaped in California tech-land….and you can’t blame it on a tech bust.

Wolf Richter: Markets Are in a Tizzy. So What Will the Fed Do?

What will the Fed do next, now that investors have finally started to react to its tightening of monetary policy, after years of somnolent money-making?

Stumped by the Stock Market Slump? Start by Picturing a Used Car Dealership

Trading stocks can be a lot like buying a used car.

Michael Hudson: The Vocabulary of Economic Deception

Michael Hudson gives a wide-ranging interview, discussing the importance of euphemism in obscuring power relationships and exploitation.

Why It’s So Hard for Most Countries to be Economically Independent from the West

Western countries insist both on “free trade” with poor countries and farm subsidies for themselves.

Do Climate Policies ‘Kill jobs’? An Economist on Why They Don’t Cause Massive Unemployment

Sadly, an upbeat take on what “green” policies might means for jobs greatly understates the depth of economic restructuring needed to reduce the pace of climate change.

Wolf Richter: “Severe Collapse” of Home Prices Might Trigger a “Financial-Institution Crisis” in Australia: OECD Frets about the Banks

Australia looks to be on the verge of a nasty unwind of its housing bubble. A plunge would damage not only its banks but also retirement funds, since banks play an outsized role in the Australian stock market.

France’s Macron Makes Concessions While ‘Yellow Vest’ Protests Continue

Some background on the demands the gilets jaunes are presenting to French president Macron.

The Inconvenient Truth about Climate Change and the Economy

The new IPCC Report is overly optimistic about global productivity growth and fossil fuel energy use. More dramatic, immediate action on climate change is needed

Why “Green Growth” Is an Illusion

Wishful thinking and tinkering like “green growth” won’t cut it. Nothing short of a mass mobilization for deep de-carbonization across the global economy can avert the looming climate catastrophe.

G20: You Can Smell Tear Gas in the Streets as the Oil Industry Squabbles

What the G20 and OPEC meetings mean for the political relations, economies, and people of the world.

Brexitonomics

A short discussion of why economists’ efforts to model the impact of Brexit leave a lot to be desired.

American Life Expectancy Continues to Fall: Rise in Suicides, Overdose Deaths the Big Culprit

America’s falling life expectancy is a symptom of rising social distress.

White House Doubles Down On Coal Despite New Climate Report

Yet more official climate change denialism…