The curious task of economics is to demonstrate to men how little they really know about what they imagine they can design. - F.A. Hayek
Posted in Fun Facts, Macroeconomics on Jun 17th, 2008
When working properly they are. But the appropiate question is, “As compared to what?” Government policy is often lauded because it is supposedly a stabilizing influence in an otherwise turblulent world. Now I understand that stabilizing prices is not the same thing as stabilizing interest rates, but I still think the following is informative.
Every day […]
Posted in Macroeconomics, Money on Jun 5th, 2008
What is the World’s Most Profitable Company? If you guessed Exxon-Mobil, you would, of course, be correct. But what if I asked you who was the second most profitable company? Is it:
Posted in Macroeconomics on May 14th, 2008
The answer is probably no.
And you’ll get a kick out of this:
The Board is audited annually by a major public accounting firm. In addition, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) generally exercises its authority to conduct a number of reviews each year to look at specific aspects of the Federal Reserve’s activities. The audit report of […]
Posted in Macroeconomics on Apr 1st, 2008
In many ways, today’s prevailing economic conditions are unusual given the signs of an economic slowdown. Interest rates are far below historical averages, real productivity growth remains strong, credit appears to be widely available – the “credit-crunch” notwithstanding, and the national unemployment rate is well below its post-WW II average. Is this low unemployment rate […]
Posted in Macroeconomics on Mar 31st, 2008
Gross Domestic Product growth (GDP) slowed to an annual rate of 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007 according to Thursday’s release from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. AIER employs GDP as one of six coincident indicators of business cycle activity to show us where the economy actually is, and usually to provide confirmation of […]
Posted in Inflation, Macroeconomics, You Can't Have it Both Ways on Mar 25th, 2008
On the balance sheet of the U.S. Federal Reserve you will find the following line item: “Notes and bonds, inflation-indexed.”
Posted in Macroeconomics on Mar 24th, 2008
Read a bit more about this here. Insights and guidance, as always, appreciated. Where are markets seizing up? It does not appear to be in bank credit; it does not appear to be in the commercial paper market? Is it simply that the MBS market has frozen? Perhaps, and that does not seem to have […]
Posted in Macroeconomics on Mar 23rd, 2008
What the country with the highest GDP growth rate in 2007 was? See here. I know nothing about the place. Is it oil? Wheat? Copper? Poppies? It’s really gotta be lots of commodities … or is it something else?
Who has higher GDP, Europe or America?
Of 216 countries for which data are reported, where does the […]
Posted in Macroeconomics on Mar 19th, 2008
While funny, I’ll just add that it is not necessary reflective of my view.
Posted in Macroeconomics on Mar 18th, 2008
Read about it here.
![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](http://www.kitconet.com/charts/metals/gold/t24_au_en_usoz_2.gif)
![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](http://www.kitconet.com/charts/metals/silver/t24_ag_en_usoz_2.gif)