Mark Skousen
Are Precious Metals a Good Inflation Hedge?
“Gold isn’t such a hot inflation hedge.” — Alexander Green
My friend Alex Green, investment director of the Oxford Club, recently made the bold statement that precious metals have been lousy inflation hedges. He wrote, “Gold hit a high of $875 an ounce in January 1980.
100 Years Ago: What a Difference!
I just received a copy of a fascinating book, “1913: In Search of the World Before the Great War,” written by British historian Charles Emmerson. It looked interesting because at this year’s FreedomFest we’re debating the impact of three major events that occurred 100 years ago:
Fed Ending Easy Money? Good!
The markets — stocks, bonds, gold, and commodities — tumbled after Ben Bernanke gave his most explicit signal yet that the Fed plans to end its easy-money policy of quantitative easing as “soon” as late 2013. Long-term Treasury bond rates rose to 3.3% and the dollar advanced on the news, while stocks fell more than […]
The Rise of Interest Rates: What it Really Means
The Federal Reserve controls interest rates, right? Not so fast. Ben Bernanke and Co. set the Discount Rate, the interest rate that banks pay to the Fed to borrow money short term. But they have a much harder time controlling long-term rates. Short-term rates are still low (less than 1%), but long-term rates recently have […]
How Fiscal Insanity Destroyed Rome… and Now America
“In the end, there was no money left to pay the army, build forts or ships, or protect the frontier. The barbarian invasions were the final blow to the Roman state in the fifth century, [caused] by three centuries of deterioration in fiscal capacity…” — Bruce Barlett, “How Excessive Government Killed Ancient Rome,” Cato Journal […]
Make Austerity Your Friend
“The solution to our problems is found in business, outside of government.”
— Tony Blair, Milken conference 2013
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: At 9 p.m. EDT tonight, I appear on John Stossel’s Fox Business (check local listings) show “Stossel” to discuss the growing debate “Austerity vs. Stimulus: Which is the Best Way Out of the Great Recession?”