Reality Check continued

Here, I warned against ARMs -- adjustable rate mortgages. What I did not foresee was the 2004 bankruptcy law: making 100% liable for the mortgage -- a recourse loan -- for anyone who refinances. This is a major risk to home owners.... keep reading

Neither of these is familiar to most people. One of them is more widely practiced by the would-be rich than the other. The other is not. I have done my best to follow both. So far, they are working.... keep reading

Consumption requires prior production (purchasing power) or the likelihood of future production (credit). To discuss consumption apart from production is fantasy-world economics, i.e., Keynesianism.... keep reading

It is not consumer confidence that is crucial to an economy. Rather, it is worker productivity. Without this, consumer confidence is a mirage leading into consumer debt. Keynes did not believe this. Neither do his intellectual heirs.... keep reading

The economic recovery that matters is the recovery of America's international competitiveness. Here, America enjoyed advantages for decades: science, technology, investment, and entrepreneurship. Today, only entrepreneurship offers America a clear-cut advantage.... keep reading

Disney's 1934 cartoon is a good introduction to Federal Reserve policy. The FED speaks for grasshoppers of every era.... keep reading

Strong inflated the dollar in the 1920s. This produced the boom which led to the Great Depression. From the week he came on the job -- October, 1987 -- Greenspan has used monetary inflation to produce a series of asset bubbles, which is the cost of staving off recessions.... keep reading

If you have heard someone forecasting American deflation, you have heard an argument that has been wrong every year since 1932 -- every year. It will be wrong next year, too. You had better invest accordingly.... keep reading

This detailed list of free goodies for illegal aliens gives some indication of why the government gets bigger and bigger, and why deficits are never-ending.... keep reading

Why the guerrillas' war of the flea against American troops will cost American taxpayers for years to come, at an accelerating rate. What I described in 2003 has gotten far worse.... keep reading

Occasionally, we read of "4th of July rhetoric." When was the last time you heard 4th of July rhetoric? A generation of Americans has grown up that has never seen a 4th of July parade or heard a 4th of July oration. Why? The answer may amaze you.... keep reading

This rule of business is the life blood of the investment newsletter industry and the subscription website industry. I designed this site to honor this business principle. Don't violate it.... keep reading

In the world of money market funds, "breaking a buck" refers to that most feared event, when a fund's shares fall below one dollar. It is assumed that this cannot happen. It can.... keep reading

The American investment structure, from the tax code to the Evening TV News, is hostile to selling short. The pressure for mandatory optimism is intense. So, when a crash comes, it's worse than it would otherwise have been.... keep reading

Dollar bubble, Dow bubble, real estate bubble: Which really is a bubble? We know the NASDAQ was a bubble because it popped. Are there signs that we are still surrounded by bubbles? Here are some guidelines.... keep reading

The influx of investors with no background in real estate indicates that it's late in the cycle. Here are some basic rules that I laid down in this 2003 report.... keep reading