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The Federal Reserve’s Housing Market Lessons to Be Learned [Once Again]
/in DrRichSwier.com, Economy, Elections, Politics /by DrRichSwier.comBy Edward Pinto Summary The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic were unprecedented in terms of widespread lockdowns, skyrocketing unemployment, and a financial market crash. The Federal Reserve took aggressive expansionary efforts in the form of Zero Interest Rate Policy (ZIRP) and quantitative easing (QE) to stabilize the economy, while Congress enacted massive fiscal stimulus. However, […]
Investment Challenges Ahead in 2023
/in Economy, Featured, ThePricklyPear.org /by ThePricklyPear.orgBy Neland Nobel In line with our promise to provide more guidance and opinions on personal finance, the following is offered as our take on what 2023 will likely provide for investors. We hope to provide a little theory to develop your thinking and some actionable ideas. Keep in mind this is for educational and entertainment […]
Yellen Blaming Consumers for Inflation Is Government’s Latest Attempt to Deflect Blame for Its Policies
/in Economy, Featured, Politics, ThePricklyPear.org /by ThePricklyPear.orgBy Jack Elbaum A few weeks ago, US Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen appeared on the Late Show With Stephen Colbert to discuss a range of issues both political and personal. The most widely reported moment in the interview came when Yellen talked about practicing her signature (don’t ask me why this is newsworthy, I have no idea). However, a significantly […]
There’s A Massive Red Flag That Could Spell Disaster For Americans’ Pension Plans
/in Economy, Featured, Politics, ThePricklyPear.org /by ThePricklyPear.orgBy Laurel Duggan U.S. government pension funds currently have the lowest cash holdings since the 2008 financial crisis, and corporate pensions’ cash holdings are barely above the 13-year low they hit in 2021, which could spell disaster in the event of a financial crisis. Over the past 15 years, public pensions had 2.45% cash holdings […]
The Prickly Pear New Year’s Resolution
/in Economy, Featured, ThePricklyPear.org /by ThePricklyPear.orgBy Neland Nobel Most of us look at the end of the year, reflect on the past, and look into the future. Many of us have resolutions to do things better in the coming year. At The Prickly Pear, we look at the economic horizon and we see storm clouds. That does not bode well […]
Congress Guts Budget Rules and Misses Chance to Cut Spending
/in Economy, Featured, Politics, ThePricklyPear.org /by ThePricklyPear.orgBy Matthew Dickerson Republicans in Congress missed a huge opportunity to begin putting our country’s fiscal house in order. Inflation caused by runaway government spending and money printing was the top issue on the minds of voters in the November midterm elections. The Left’s reckless pursuit of these disastrous policies has been a boon for […]
The Price of Easy Money Now Coming Due
/in Economy, Featured, ThePricklyPear.org /by ThePricklyPear.orgBy Wolf Richter The Crazy Stuff & Asset Prices that arose during Easy Money are coming unglued as Easy Money ended. The era of money-printing and interest-rate repression in the United States, which started in 2008, gave rise to all kinds of stuff, and the easy money kept going and kept going, and all this […]
Why Are So Many Men Leaving the Workforce?
/in Economy, Education, Featured, Healthcare, ThePricklyPear.org /by ThePricklyPear.orgBy Ryan McMaken Last week, CNN featured a story called “Men are dropping out of the workforce. Here’s why” The article went on to tell us virtually nothing at all about why so many men are leaving the workforce. Although as many as seven million men have stayed out of the workforce for varying reasons, […]
Arizona Income Tax Flattens to 2.5% in January
/in Economy, Featured, ThePricklyPear.org /by ThePricklyPear.orgBy Cameron Arcand Arizona’s income tax will switch to a flat rate of 2.5% on Jan. 1, which will be the lowest in the nation among states that assess a state income tax. Although it was initially expected to be implemented in 2024, Republican Gov. Doug Ducey announced in September that it would be bumped […]
The Second Housing Bubble of the Twenty-First Century Is Over
/in Economy, Featured, ThePricklyPear.org /by ThePricklyPear.orgBy Alex J. Pollock The 21st century, only 23 years old, has already had two giant, international housing bubbles. It makes one doubt that we are getting any smarter with experience. Among the countries involved in the second bubble, both the U.S. and Canada fully participated in the newest rampant inflation of house prices. Prices […]
Bidenomics: Nasdaq: -33%; S&P: -20%; Dow: -9%; Bonds: -12%
/in DrRichSwier.com, Economy, Elections, Immigration, Politics, Taxes /by DrRichSwier.comBy Dr. Rich Swier “Americans have lost $13.5 trillion in household wealth.” — Julio Gonzalez, @TaxReformExpert As we approach January 1st, 2023 Americans have now had nearly two years of Biden’s Build Back Better agenda. As a tweet by Carlos Löwenbraü put it, “If U hate Trump after this 24 month shitshow your commitment to stupidity […]
Under The Biden Economy, The Average Family Lost $7,100
/in Economy, Featured, Liberty, Politics, ThePricklyPear.org /by ThePricklyPear.orgBy Isabelle Morales President Biden’s policies have now cost the average American family about $7,100, according to a new report by the Heritage Foundation. While Democrats have proven time and time again that they value their social agenda more than Americans’ economic security, the level of harm represented in this figure is shocking… and infuriating. As the […]
Bob Farrell’s 10 Rules and the Market in 2023
/in Economy, Featured, ThePricklyPear.org /by ThePricklyPear.orgBy Neland Nobel Banks, brokerage houses, and financial pundits are all issuing their post-mortem reflections on 2022 and looking into the new year. They will attempt to tell us what is likely for stocks, bonds, real estate, gold, and crypto for the coming year. We will make our own attempt in due time, but we […]
18 Absurdities of the McConnell-Schumer Omnibus Spending Bill
/in Economy, Featured, Liberty, National Security, Politics, ThePricklyPear.org /by ThePricklyPear.orgBy Richard Stern Congressional leaders have dropped 6,825 pages of text for their “omnibus” spending bill, plus explanatory materials that include a list of at least 4,000 earmarks, on the doorstep of every American family. When announcing the gargantuan spending bill, its authors put “the federal government” before “American families,” and that is exactly what this bill […]
The EPA’s Latest Regulation Could Devastate The Trucking Industry
/in DrRichSwier.com, Economy, Elections, Politics, Regulation /by DrRichSwier.comBy The Daily Caller The Environmental Protection Agency finalized a rule Tuesday that will impose stricter emissions standards on new heavy-duty vehicles, a regulation that will significantly raise operating costs for truckers, experts and industry representatives told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “The costs associated with this are also a concern because these are costs […]
Secret Back Channel Between FTX and White House Closed the Day After FTX Filed for Bankruptcy
/in Courts & Law, DrRichSwier.com, Economy, Elections, Politics /by DrRichSwier.comBy The Geller Report What was the big guy’s cut? The level of criminality and depravity in this administration is only matched by its contempt for the American people and the idea of a nation of laws. No wonder they are treating this degenerate crook like a prince. Do we have any law and order […]
California Appeals Court Upholds Injunctions against Corporate Board Quotas
/in Courts & Law, DrRichSwier.com, Economy, Politics /by DrRichSwier.comBy Judicial Watch This is an important victory for Judicial Watch, as well as taxpayers and stockholders. The California Court of Appeal has upheld two injunctions against California quota requirements for corporate boards. Earlier this year, two California trial courts had found (here and here) state quota mandates for sex, race, ethnicity, and LGBT status unconstitutional. On December 1, […]
All of the 60 Largest Metros Experience Declines in Home Prices in November as Longest Boom Ends
/in DrRichSwier.com, Economy, Elections, Politics /by DrRichSwier.comBy Edward Pinto National Home Price Appreciation (HPA) Index – November 2022 Key takeaways: National YoY HPA for November 2022 averaged 6.7%, down from 8.5% a month ago and 16.7% a year ago. Historically, HPA in the low price tier has outpaced HPA in the upper price tiers. YoY HPA varied significantly among the 60 […]
How Blackrock Investment Fund Triggered the Global Energy Crisis
/in Economy, Environment, Featured, Liberty, National Security, ThePricklyPear.org /by ThePricklyPear.orgBy F. William Engdahl Most people are bewildered by what is a global energy crisis, with prices for oil, gas and coal simultaneously soaring and even forcing closure of major industrial plants such as chemicals or aluminum or steel. The Biden Administration and EU have insisted that all is because of Putin and Russia’s military […]
Rapid Factory Growth in Arizona Led by Record-Breaking Commerce Authority Effort
/in Economy, Environment, Featured, ThePricklyPear.org /by ThePricklyPear.orgBy Carly Moran Last week, two technology companies announced new factories in Arizona, leading to over 500,000 total private sector jobs created by the Arizona Commerce Authority under Gov. Doug Ducey. These three factories are a part of over a dozen manufacturing companies that announced their expansion in Arizona this year. In total, over 15,000 […]
U.S. Media Outlet Has Extensive Partnerships, Financial Dealings With Orgs Tied To Chinese Communist Party Influence Operations
/in Courts & Law, DrRichSwier.com, Economy, Elections, Politics /by DrRichSwier.comBy The Daily Caller Approximately 20 organizations that may be headed by members of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) or members of alleged Chinese influence operations have sponsored or partnered with The China Project (TCP), a China-focused New York media outlet, the Daily Caller News Foundation determined. TCP recently denied working for or with the CCP […]
Prevalence of GSE Appraisal Waivers
/in DrRichSwier.com, Economy, Politics /by DrRichSwier.comBy Edward Pinto This report tracks trends for GSE appraisal waivers monthly and provides data on the risk characteristics of these loans. To download the most recent data, please click here. To read our comment letter to FHFA on appraisal-related policies, practices, and processes, please click here. PDF to most recent report Slide deck on GSE Appraisal […]
Biden Claimed He Created 1 Million Jobs. Actual Number, 10,500
/in DrRichSwier.com, Economy, Elections, Labor & Unions, Politics /by DrRichSwier.comBy Jihad Watch Come on, man. What’s a little rounding error between friends? What’s a little rounding error between a corrupt hack and the country he’s running into the ground? “In the second quarter of this year, we created more jobs than in any quarter under any of my predecessors in the nearly 40 years before the […]
Philadelphia Fed: Job Gains This Year OVERSTATED by 1.1 Million, It Was Only 10K
/in DrRichSwier.com, Economy, Elections, Politics, Taxes /by DrRichSwier.comBy The Geller Report In the aggregate, 10,500 net new jobs were added during the period rather than the 1,121,500 jobs estimated by the sum of the states; the U.S. CES estimated net growth of 1,047,000 jobs for the period. Anyone who believes anything coming out of government agencies is not just gullible, they’re a danger to themselves […]
Is Thomas Sowell one of the most important thinkers of our time?
/in Commentary, DrRichSwier.com, Economy, Elections, Politics /by DrRichSwier.comBy MercatorNet – Navigating Modern Complexities ‘Maverick’ is an outstanding intellectual biography of this prolific African-American economist. Fans of Thomas Sowell have been eagerly awaiting the new biography by Jason Riley, with the appetite being whetted by the release of Riley’s one hour documentary on Sowell’s life in January. This is not a standard biography. Apart from […]
Why Business Should Dispense with ESG
/in Economy, Featured, ThePricklyPear.org /by ThePricklyPear.orgBy Samuel Gregg “Milton Friedman’s shareholder doctrine is dead.” Such was the headline of a 2020 Fortune magazine article critiquing Friedman’s famous New York Times opinion piece which, fifty years earlier, had argued that the social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. The Fortune article was just one of many op-eds, academic papers, […]
Arizona Ballot Proposition Roundup
/in Economy, Featured, ThePricklyPear.org /by ThePricklyPear.orgBy Cameron Arcand The Arizona-based Common Sense Institute released its 2022 Initiative Results & Free Enterprise Analysis report on Thursday, which analyzed how the proposition that voters approved will impact the economy. Its report looked at four propositions, including Prop. 130, which has to do with property taxes, Prop. 132, which requires a 60% approval by voters […]
Most Americans Think Inflation Is Still Increasing and Believe Twitter Engaged in Political Censorship
/in DrRichSwier.com, Economy, Elections, Featured, Politics /by DrRichSwier.comBy Dr. Rich Swier NEW YORK and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Dec. 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Stagwell (NASDAQ: STGW) today released the results of the December Harvard CAPS / Harris Poll, a monthly collaboration between the Center for American Political Studies at Harvard (CAPS) and the Harris Poll and HarrisX. Joe Biden’s approval rating remains steady at 42% as two-thirds of Americans think inflation […]
Starting to Be Housing Bust 2 for Homebuilders & New Single-Family Houses
/in Economy, Featured, ThePricklyPear.org /by ThePricklyPear.orgBy Wolf Richter To get rid of ballooning inventories amid spiking cancellations & plunging sales, builders try to sell to rental operations, but they pulled back too. If a homebuilder cannot sell their ballooning inventory of unsold new houses to households, at current prices and mortgage rates, amid plunging sales and soaring cancellation rates of signed contracts – […]
Weekend Read: Plausibility But Not Science Has Dominated Public Discussions of the Covid Pandemic
/in Economy, Education, Featured, Healthcare, Liberty, ThePricklyPear.org /by ThePricklyPear.orgBy Harvey Risch “Attacks on me, quite frankly, are attacks on science.” ~ Anthony Fauci, June 9, 2021 (MSNBC). Preposterous. For one thing, Dr. Fauci has not reported accurately on scientific questions throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. For another, the essential dialectic of science is arguing, questioning, debating. Without debate, science is nothing more than propaganda. Yet, […]