Blogs

• What Bernanke Doesn't Understand About Deflation
• The Fourth Turning: Skies Darkening
• A Termite-Riddled House: Treasury Bonds 
• Overdose: The Next Financial Crisis
• Economists Question 8.8% Q1 GDP Growth Number
• Ben “Willy-Nilly” Bernanke 
• America Adds $210 Billion In Gross Debt In August, Rolls $620 Billion In Bills And Notes
• New Zealand Budget almost shock-proof: IMF
• Power Shortages Plague MENA
• Morning Update/Market Thread 9/1
• Russian oil exchange the way of the future
• Military Study Warns of a Potentially Drastic Oil Crisis
• Delays Plague Solar Energy On Fed Lands 

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by Richard Heinberg

This article ran for our enrolled users last week and is one in a series from respected guest commentators while Chris is vacationing with his family and working on his new book. Enjoy the fresh perspective.

The mainstream theoretical tools now commonly available to central bankers and government economic managers are worse than useless for addressing current global economic and environmental crises.  This sweeping statement is amply borne out, not only by ongoing economic data but also by the history of the economic ideas that have shaped the modern world.  That history is of course complex, but it can be summarized briefly to some advantage.

While economic philosophy can be traced back at least as far as Aristotle (382-322 BC), little of real substance was added to the discussion during the next two thousand years.

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• Student Loan Debt Clock near $850 billion
• Abandoned Properties Saddle County With Unwanted Surplus (Indianapolis)
• Fed Officials Discussed Further Stimulus Steps
• California Lawmakers Fail To Pass Budget By End Of Session
• Federal Spending Rises A Record 16% In 2009, Census Bureau Says
• Local Governments Shed Part-Time Workers in 2009, Census Says
• Miami Budget Woes
• Facts, Figures Related To The Iraq War
• Rising Prison Population Dampens Hopes Of Budget Relief (Connecticut)
• Budge Woes Threaten Police And Firefighters' Compensation In Grand Rapids
• Just As Berkeley Rejoices About Its Finances, UC System Revealed To Have $20 billion Pension Shortfall

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• IMF Eliminates Borrowing Cap
• Hyperinflation Ends The Game - So It Is Unlikely
• Was The Flash Crash Rigged?
• Waste In Greek Government Spending: Paying Deceased Pensioners
• Axa Holdings In Goldman Sachs Halved During Last Quarter
• BP's Gulf Crude Oil Nearly 40% Methane - Will Huge Dead Zone Follow?
• When Seafloor Meets Ocean, the Chemistry Is Amazing
• Tests Find Sickened Family Has 50.3ppm Of Corexit’s 2-Butoxyethanol In Swimming Pool
• Banks Grow Wary of Environmental Risks 

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• Policy Options Dwindle as Economic Fears Grow
• Bernanke Manages Expectations for Fed Role 
• The Age Of Mammon
• America's Hidden Debt
• Hygroelectricity: A New Type Of Alternative Energy, Extracted From Air’s Electrical Charge
• Hydrogen Tank Exploded in Green Fuel Station. Is The Technology Safe Enough for Cars?
• The Rechargeable Solar Lightbulb
• Newly Discovered Chlorophyll Scavenger Could Lead to Cheaper Biofuels
• Obama Could Kill Fossil Fuels Overnight With A Nuclear Dash For Thorium
• Backlash Over China Curb On Metal Exports
• Merkel Eyes An Extra Decade Of Nuclear Power
• Risk-Taking Rises as Oil Rigs in Gulf Drill Deeper
• China: Rare Earth Export Cuts Protect Environment

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by machinehead

This article ran for our enrolled users last week and is one in a series from respected guest commentators while Chris is vacationing with his family and working on his new book. Many of you will recognize today’s author from his insightful comments that appear frequently across ChrisMartenson.com. Enjoy!

Since early April, the yield on 10-year Treasury notes has dwindled from 4.0% to below 2.5% on August 24th.  Meanwhile, the 12-month change in the Cleveland Fed's median CPI has hovered feebly between 0.5% and 0.6% since March.  These abnormally low interest and inflation rates are fanning fears of renewed GDP contraction, a plunge into price deflation, or both.  Boardrooms and blogs are humming with rumors of a 'QE II' (Quantitative Easing II) program to counter a chilly deflationary dip.

One reason fears are so acute is that the Federal Reserve's main policy tool, the overnight interest rate on Fed Funds, is flatlined at zero.  Moreover, via 'extraordinary measures' beginning in September 2008, the Federal Reserve added some $1.4 trillion of securities, including $1.1 trillion of MBS (mortgage-backed securities), to its balance sheet in a stimulus bid.  Yet despite these heroic efforts, economic leading indicators have turned weak this summer, as sinking Treasury yields add to the disquiet.

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• Heal Job Market By Cultural Renewal, Not Fed Intervention
• Mauldin: The Dark Side of Deficits
• Mr Cable, shout it loud and proud from Brazil
• Russia seeks new sea routes to Asia
• EU's Barroso warns Italy on high debt
• China economy faces complicated domestic, international conditions: official
• Mexicana Airlines halts flights worldwide
• Wheat exports to China triple in deregulated market
• RVR secures new railway concession deal in Uganda

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• What I Learned From Jared Diamond
• John Williams on the Revised GDP Number
• Struggling Cities Shut Firehouses in Budget Crisis
• Foreclosures Fall, but Early Delinquencies Rise
• Wind Turbine Projects Run Into Resistance
• Brazil Government Gives Go-Ahead For Huge Amazon Dam

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• Bernanke: The Economic Outlook and Monetary Policy
• Banks Back Switch To Renminbi For Trade
• Joblessness In America: A Stickier Problem
• U.S. Economy Slowed to 1.6% Pace in 2nd Quarter
• CNBC And The Rally Killers
• Who Rules America?
• The Great Deleveraging Lie
• Regulating Finance: Killing Them Softly
• Black Stuff In A Green Land
• Acrimony Behind the Scenes of Gulf Oil Spill
• Brazil's Agricultural Miracle: How To Feed The World

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• Despite Reform, Banks Have Room for Risky Deals
• The True Natonal Debt
• Hard-Nosed Fed Sends Global Markets Reeling
• Yes Folks, Hindenburg Omen Tripped Again
• India’s Gold Demand Soars 94% in H1 2010
• Old-Age Pensions: Not To Be Taken For Granted
• Cancer & Desperation of QE2 
• America: A Walking Dead-Zombie Country 
• Indian Nuclear Bill Clears Parliament
• The Economic Insane Asylum
• The Elusive Canadian Housing Bubble: Canary In A Coal Mine
• Take A Deep Breath - Why The World Is Running Out Of Helium
• How Much Is Left? The Limits of Earth's Resources, Made Interactive
• Egg Recall Exposes Flaws in Nation’s Food Safety System

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