…Calmly observing the changing world

When we are children, we conceive of banks as places to safely deposit money. If, by chance, you grew up watching It’s A Wonderful Life every Christmas, you probably have the idea that money deposited in banks is loaned out into your community: If modern banking truly worked this way, you would understand that when [...]

Sometimes our modern age can feel so anchorless  that we long for something real to rid ourselves of the detached feeling. Often, the more our jobs deal with the abstract, the more we crave the concrete in our private lives. Neel Kashkari ran the infamous TARP program in Washington, DC. He didn’t ask for the [...]

We’ve been watching Greece teeter on the brink for what now seems like an eternity. In another trend, we’ve been watching Fitch attempt to get tough with its ratings, in an effort to brand itself as the good rating agency. Both trends continued today, as Fitch downgraded Greece’s debt rating to BBB+. The Hellenic Republic [...]

Just Say No – To Minarets The Swiss people have passed a ban on all minaret (a Moslem tower from which prayers are sung) construction within the country – despite the Swiss government’s active campaign against the ban. Unsurprisingly, worldwide criticism quickly flooded European media outlets. Presumably, tolerance should be extended to everyone – except [...]

Senior precious metals analyst John Nadler has recently and repeatedly said that gold is not in a bull market: We will repeat that which should be obvious, in case you have doubts about where this writer stands: Gold is NOT in a bull market. The dollar is in a bear market. Kitco No word on [...]

Earlier this year, Ireland lost its AAA credit rating, but now the assessment is much bleaker. Yesterday, Fitch cut Ireland’s credit rating by two “levels” to AA-. This puts the country on par with the Italians, and more likely to default than Slovenia or Abu Dhabi. Ireland’s woes are now familiar. Dependent on banking and [...]

Marxist czars are ascending to heights of power over the American economy. Bankrupt corporations stay in business by borrowing money at near-zero interest rates from the equally bankrupt government. The invisible hand of the market has been replaced by the translucent hand of the Federal Reserve as they no longer conceal their “ongoing market activities”. [...]

Last night we made our second attempt at signing loan documents – we barely made it as we finished up at 11:58PM. The long, grueling battle was triggered when we embarked on a course called an “e-signing”. Instead of physically signing documents, we could just click a button with a notary present. As with most [...]

Sometimes writers and entertainers struggle to come up with content that illustrates the hidden absurdities in the news by drawing comparisons to fictional scenarios which are obviously absurd. However, it seems that more and more, the real news is so bizarre, and so difficult to believe on its own, that no fictional parody is required. [...]

As my bride and I adjust to our new life together, I am finally getting around to posting the pictures of our drive across the country. It was something of a sprint more than a leisurely stroll, but we still managed to see the absolute necessary minimums. Here are the photos. Things will soon firmly [...]