On Monday, we offered readers the following forecast of what would happen at the FOMC meeting this week: On Wednesday, the Fed will continue its pause in interest rate cuts. That decision will leave the federal funds target unchanged at 4.50%. The Fed’s current rate lowering cycle began with a 0.50% rate cut on September 18, […]
In contrast, PolitiFact says SS is not a Ponzi scheme. Who is correct? Fact-Checking PolitiFact Please consider the PolitiFact Tact Check on Social Security During the three-hour Feb. 28 appearance, Musk said, “Social Security is the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time.” Critics of President Donald Trump and Musk, a White House adviser, used Musk’s comment as evidence that Trump […]
Senator Ron Johnson (R, WI) has budget concerns. So do I. Is This Any Way to Run a Budget? Ron Johnson asks Is This Any Way to Run a Budget? The 535 members of Congress could be considered the board of directors, and the news media as the watchdog auditor, of a financial entity that spends […]
After years of playing second fiddle to gold, silver is finally showing signs of breaking out. With gold soaring to record highs in 2024, silver has lagged behind — until now. Recent price action suggests that silver may be on the verge of a powerful bull market, one that could rival or even surpass gold’s […]
International Man: At $1.1 trillion, annualized interest on the US federal debt is now the second-largest budget item—and is on track to become the largest. Meanwhile, long-term interest rates are climbing, even as the Fed lowers short-term rates. Can the US government keep kicking the can down the road? Or will Trump have to reset the […]
Denial doesn’t end well, and the ‘Economy of Denial’ is destined to deconstruction. Even the most opinionated become circumspect when the discussion turns to The Addiction Economy, for the term The Addiction Economy calls things by their real name, which disrupts our protective shield of denial. Yes, denial, for ours is an Economy of Denial, where the surface […]
Trump wants the Fed to cut interest rates to weaken the dollar and boost exports. But that’s not what helped him get elected. Conflicting Dollar Goals It’s impossible to get what you want when you have conflicting goals. Inflation was a key reason Trump won the election. In isolation, a weak dollar would help exports, […]
This article was written by Brandon Smith and originally published at Birch Gold Group Ever since the days of Herbert Hoover and the official start of the Great Depression the concept of trade tariffs has been readily demonized across most of academia and among the majority of modern economic ideologies. Is is actually one area where […]
We certainly do live in “interesting” times. In all my years of writing, I have never seen a stock market correction, a global trade war and a government shutdown all happen at the same time. If the federal government does indeed shut down on Friday, we will complete that very impressive trifecta. Needless to say, […]
The stock market has topped out and is headed down. The Dow Jones Industrial Average peaked at 45,014 on December 4, 2024, and was at 41,911 by March 10, 2025, down 3,101 points or 6.9% in just over three months. The S&P 500 Index peaked at 6,130 on February 18, 2025, and was at 5,614 […]