“That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all lessons that history has to teach.” -ALDOUS HUXLEY POINTS TO PONDER 1. The initial report on third-quarter GDP showed a respectable 2.7% growth rate, reinforcing… Read More
“When is becomes serious, you must lie.” -JEAN-CLAUDE JUNCKER, PRESIDENT OF THE EURO GROUP, THE ORGANIZATION OF EU FINANCE MINISTERS THAT EFFECTIVELY CONTROLS THE EURO CURRENCY It’s been my long-held belief, based on personal experience, that it really is possible to defy the laws of physics. You… Read More
“The tax on capital gains directly affects investment decisions, the mobility and flow of risk capital” (as well as) “the ease of difficulty experienced by new ventures in obtaining capital, and thereby the strength and potential for growth in the economy.” -JOHN F. KENNEDY POINTS… Read More
“By a continuing process of inflation, Governments can confiscate, secretly and unobserved, an important part of the wealth of their citizens…Lenin was certainly right. There is no subtler, no surer means of overturning the existing basis of society than to debauch the currency.” -JOHN MAYNARD KEYNES… Read More
“Let’s be honest with ourselves. The US economy is not on the path of a sustainable and healthy recovery from a Great Recession that began almost four years ago.” -DAN DIMICCO, CEO OF STEEL GIANT, NUCOR. POINTS TO PONDER 1. Although the long-term… Read More
“How many things we regarded yesterday as articles of faith that seem to us only fables today?” – MICHEL DE MONTAIGNE, FRENCH RENAISSANCE PHILOSOPHER Land of the setting yen? After nearly 34 years in the investment business, one strongly and widely held view—clutched… Read More
“The US is the best looking horse in the glue factory.” -ERSKINE BOWLES, CO-AUTHOR OF THE SIMPSON-BOWLES DEFECIT REDUCTION PLAN. “We have a leaderless government right now.” -ALAN SIMPSON, THE PLAN’S OTHER CO-AUTHOR. A most important election. Presidential elections are almost… Read More
“Every monetary policy action has costs and benefits, and my assessment is that the potential costs and risks associated with these actions (QE3) outweigh the potential meager benefits.” -CHARLES PLOSSER, PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF PHILADELPHIA POINTS TO PONDER 1. Looking… Read More
“The fact that the Keynesians…are in total disarray just shows that their global explanation of how the world works is simply wrong. If Keynesian policies worked France should be booming today.” -CHARLES GAVE The game that will live in infamy. Silly me—after all… Read More
“What we need is a central bank that has the humility not to do what it cannot do. And the Fed cannot do what others have failed to do, namely to plan an economy from a central desk in the capital city.” -JIM GRANT, FOUNDER OF GRANT’S… Read More
