10/14/2021
Today

Financial Markets Are Not Expecting A U.S. 'Default'

David Woo, RealClearMarkets

Is it possible for the United States, the issuer of the world's reserve currency, to default? Financial markets don't seem to think so. Default rhetoric is nothing new and the US has always managed to raise the debt ceiling in time (some 80 times since 1960) to avoid the worst-case scenario. Why should this year be any different?Yet, with US federal debt within a hair of the $28.4 trillion debt ceiling (Chart 1), and the cash balance of US Treasury at the Federal Reserve rapidly dwindling (Chart 2), Janet Yellen warned last week that, unless Congress acted soon, the US would be on course to...

President Biden Is Building Back the Misery of the '70s

Editorial, Issues & Insights

It's starting to look like the only thing Biden is "building back" is the misery of the 1970s.

How To Earn the Top Social Security Benefits

Paul Katzeff, Investor's Business Daily

How High Your Pay Must Be To Get The Top Social Security Benefits

Best Type of Retirement Account Isn't a Ret. Account

Kailey Hagen, Motley Fool

Health savings accounts (HSAs) are designed to house medical savings. But they actually make pretty great retirement savings accounts as well.

Why So Many People Undercharge For the Work They Do

Paulette Perhach, Vox

Setting a rate can be a minefield for folks navigating an industry alone.

Rich Countries Must Bear Cost to Achieve "Net-Zero"

Larry Fink, New York Times

Rich countries must bear the cost if we can ever hope to achieve a net-zero world.

Europe Made Energy Bed, & Must Shiver

Mark Milke & Lennie Kaplan, Financial Post

Price spikes have consequences

Book Review: Amor Towles' 'The Lincoln Highway'

John Tamny, RealClearMarkets

Girls was a semi-popular HBO television production that aired from 2012-2017. To say that it was not for everyone is quite the understatement. The show could be very crude, and your religion didn't have to lean Pentecostal for you to feel that way. Just the same, the series was at times very well written and insightful. One episode toward the end of the show's run had Marnie (one of the "Girls") in a bad spot. As so many do in real life, she was looking to shift the blame for her declining situation to others only for a grizzled, one-time character to tell her something along the lines of...

Vaccine Mandates Weren't the Cause of Southwest Meltdown

Aaron Mak, Slate

Republicans blamed vaccine mandates, but the truth is stranger.

Federal Mandate Creates Cultural, Econ. Havoc

Jeffrey Tucker, Brownstone Institute

We had better hope and pray that the anger against the government and the ruling class does not ultimately turn against the free economy itself. In order for that not to happen, the intellectual opposition to the current regime needs to get its thinking straight, give up its old habits, see the current struggle for what it is, and start celebrating the freedom of everyone.

A Call to Amend Section 230 for Social Media Transparency

Kalev Leetaru, RCP

Amid growing bipartisan agreement that increased regulation of social media platforms and their content moderation policies is needed, the path forward remains...

Supply Shortages Create Winners and Losers, Not a Bear

Market Minder, Fisher

The latest surveys show how far expectations have deteriorated.

You Don't Have a Financial Plan? Why Not?

Carrie Schwab-Pomerantz, Schwab

Here are the top five reasons people give for not having a financial plan—and why everyone needs one.

Transitory Inflation Makes Itself Right at Home

Richard Moody, First Trust Advisors

The Real Essentials of Automation

Martin C.W. Walker, LinkedIn

With advances in artificial intelligence (AI), it seems that the range of economic activities that can and will be automated is now limitless. Not for the first time, society is both thrilled and fearful of the opportunities.

Cities With Highest and Lowest Homeownership

David Heacock, FilterBuy.com

Income inequality has been a major social, political, and economic issue since the Great Recession, and the uneven effects of the COVID-19 economy has only made the gaps between America's haves and have-nots even starker. These divergent economic fortunes will continue to have a major effect on housing in the U.S.

Focus On Data, Not Spin

Brian Wesbury & Robert Stein, First Trust Advisors

GDP: Suddenly Not So Great Expectations

Richard Moody, Regions Bank

Investment Expenses: What's Tax Deductible?

Hayden Adams, Charles Schwab

The IRS allows taxpayers various tax deductions for investment-related expenses if those expenses are related to producing taxable investment income. Do your expenses qualify?

The Incredible Shrinking Dollar's Price Impact

Trish Regan, American Consequences

Whether it's breakfast at your local diner or raw materials for global supply chains, inflated prices are hitting closer to home than ever.

Republicans Becoming the Anti-Business Party

Paul Krugman, New York Times

Corporations learn that extremism is not their friend.

No, Biden's $3.5 Trillion Spending Plan Does Not Cost "0"

Ryan Bourne, Cato

Economists are attuned to our terms being bastardised by politicians. In the mouths of presidents and Congress, "investment" is widely used as a synonym for "spending." "Infrastructure" today seemingly means any social policy Democrats think is worthy. A carbon tax was recently dubbed by White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki as a "corporate polluter fee." And in the most shameless dictionary land‐​grab of all, President Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Ron Klain, and Psaki have repeatedly tried to redefine what we understand by the "cost" of the reconciliation bill—claiming that a $3.5 trillion bill...

Make Expanded Child Credit Part of U.S. Safety Net

Melissa Kearney, Brookings

Based on comments at an Institute for Research on Poverty webinar, Melissa S. Kearney breaks down the reasons why an expanded Child Tax Credit or child allowance should be part of the U.S. safety net.

What Are Nobel Journalists Doing?

Joakim Book, Am. Institute for Economic Research

For weeks, economists on social media and over dinner tables around the world have speculated on who might be receiving this year's Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. It's a fun little game that economists play - and some, stubbornly, refuse to play - on par with guessing the movies and actors nominated for the Academy Awards.

Covid-19 and Natural Immunity: The Various Studies

Editors, Brownstone Institute

Individuals whose livelihoods and liberties are being deprecated and deleted need access to the scientific literature as it pertains to this virus. They should send a link to this page far and wide. The scientists have not been silent; they just haven't received the public attention they deserve.

President Biden Wants To Snoop In Our Bank Accounts

Damon Linker, The Week

To help pay for Democratic spending priorities and cut down on unpaid taxes, the Biden administration is proposing to empower the Internal Revenue Service to collect information from banks about accounts "with total annual deposits or withdrawals worth more than $600."

Is President Biden's Administration Simply Afraid of Trade?

Dan Pearson, Hill

Rather than being timid about trade liberalization, Biden should make the case that more-open markets are good for our country and good for the vast majority of Americans.

The Great Southwest Airlines Mandate Rebellion

Ron Paul,American Consequences

After thousands of canceled trips, it appears vaccine mandates don't fly with the pilots' union at Southwest Airlines.

A Nobel Prize Reminder That Facts Tilt To the Left

Paul Krugman, New York Times

A well-deserved Nobel reminds us why facts seem to have a liberal bias.

Joe Biden's OCC Wants to End Banking As We Know It

Kenneth Kalczuk, AIER

"Omarova is right to point out the deficiencies in central banking. Nonetheless, ending traditional banking to fix central banking would be like closing schools to improve student retention. There are easier ways forward." ~ Kenneth Kalczuk

Facebook's Outage Proved We Need It, Warts and All

Michael Cohen, MSNBC.com

Facebook has become for millions of people their primary tool for interacting with the world.

Fisher Investments on Election-Year Uncertainty: This, Too, Shall Pass

Fisher Investments Editorial Staff, Fisher Investments

Ken Fisher on Nixing the VIX

Fisher Investments Editorial Staff, Fisher Investments

Will Uncle Sam Force Big Tech to Break Up?

Fisher Investments Editorial Staff, Fisher Investments

Shattering the Debt Ceiling Myth

Fisher Investments Editorial Staff, Fisher Investments

Work Hard, Play Hard: Life Lessons From Sammy Hagar

Chris Taylor, Reuters

You probably know Sammy Hagar as a music legend, either from his solo career or as a longtime frontman for Van Halen. What you might not know: The gravel-voiced 70-year-old is also an impressive business titan, with successful ventures ranging from spirits to restaurants.

Why You Need To Rethink Your 60/40 Portfolio

Joe Kalish, Institutional Investor

Relief is in sight, but not right away, says NDR.

High Inflation Is Here To Stay

Bruce Yandle, Reason

But the people in power won't even say as much, let alone do something about it.

Why Retire at 65?

Charles D. Ellis, HumbleDollar

ONE OF THE VERY best financial decisions is available to almost every American worker. That's the good news. The bad news: Most workers won't take advantage of this opportunity. Worse yet, they don't know about it, and no one is telling them—even though they may need to make the right decision to be financially comfortable in their elder years. What's that best financial decision?

Economist vs Economist: 2 Ways To Tell The Story

Greg Mankiw, Greg Mankiw

Krugman vs Henderson on Card/Kreuger

A Nobel Prize for the Credibility Revolution

Alex Tabarrok, Marginal Revolution

The real importance of Card/Krueger is the methodology used not the result

Can Companies Buy Their Way Into The S&P 500?

Jamie Powell, FT Alphaville

This paper says yes.
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