The most important website in America is: http://www.usdebtclock.org/  Now, don’t be overwhelmed by the dizzying speed of growth in our debt!  You’ll get used to it. However, it is easy to miss the amount of “unfunded liabilities” on the bottom.  This is the most important item on the most important website in America. It shows … Continue reading America’s Most Important Website

While religion has no place in a blog about “honest economic analysis and existential opinions,” I could not avoid remembering Luke 23:34 when listening to the outcome of the Greek referendum.  It said:  Forgive them, for they know not what they are doing. I understand that nobody wants austerity.  Besides, why me?  The last two generations … Continue reading Slow-Motion Suicide

The smartest people on Wall Street like to say that the smartest people on Wall Street work at Goldman Sachs.  Because of their apparent sincerity, it is worth the effort to follow their forecasts.  In no particular order, here are some of their latest predictions: 1,  GDP growth in the U.S. will be flat this … Continue reading Smart Is As Smart Does?

It was two hundred, thirty-nine years ago that the Age of Enlightenment gave birth to The Great American Experiment, known as Democracy.  That birth was midwifed by a group of wealthy, white men, who courageously risked their lives and their wealth by signing the Declaration of Independence.  This single piece of paper gave us the … Continue reading Thanks To Wealthy, White Men

Wall Street was expecting 233 thousand jobs were created in June, with whisper-numbers as high as 300 thousand.  When the actual number of 223 thousand were announced, we also learned that our estimates for April and May were over-estimated by 60 thousand jobs.  Economists were disappointed but traders were happy, because a weaker employment picture … Continue reading Jobs, Jobs . . . Skills