New GDP Numbers: Maybe Media Underestimated U.S. Resilience

The new GDP numbers (which cover the first quarter of the year) show an annualized change of a bit less than negative 5%. That means that during the first quarter of this year, we produced about 95% as much … Read More

A Brief History Of The Definition Of Inflation

A reference by Michael Bryan, of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, discloses the history of the concept of inflation. A Federal Reserve Bulletin from 1919 defined inflation as “the process of making addition to currencies not based on a commensurate increase … Read More

Why Obamagate Is Worse Than Watergate

An innocent man’s life was knowingly, wholly and intentionally shattered to advance the political goals of a party that had lost an honest election. A nation was thrown into turmoil for years by a collection of elected officials and strategically … Read More

National Conservatism Will Lead Us To Greater Socialism

American Compass is the new “think” tank created by the National Conservative movement to persuade voters to adopt socialist economic policies. A recent article, Planning for when the market cannot, attacks the great Austrian economist F.A. Hayek and his explanation of … Read More

Video Shows Which Country’s Markets Did Best, Worst During Q1 Crisis

The video above shows cumulative total return during Q1 2020. Total return refers to all of the gains and losses associated with investing in a particular country’s stock market (using MSCI’s country level indices), including increases/decreases in stock prices, … Read More

If Trump Were A Fascist He Would Have…

A large swath of the political left seems to consider Donald Trump to be a Hitler or Mussolini in the making, and maybe they are right. He does have that Mussolini chin sometimes. In many ways, though, he doesn’t quite … Read More

The Federal Reserve Has Failed And Inflation Is Destructive

Prior to the establishment of the Federal Reserve, federal debt remained very low – typically 10 percent to zero – and only surging upward during wartime.  But since the establishment of the Federal Reserve, federal debt has surged and never … Read More

Permanent’ Job Destruction Terrifies The New York Times, But It Signals Quick Recovery

It’s not even a revelation anymore to say that “travel blogger” is a job. Amazing is that even the bloggers with limited followings are said to rate free travel, accommodations, and tours once on the road.

Such is life … Read More

A Decade-Long Viewpoint On The Oil & Gas Story

I had promised more of a summary this week on my takeaways from the extraordinary Mauldin Strategic Investment Conference, and indeed, this week’s Dividend Cafe forced me to deal with several issues that were front and center at the … Read More

China Targets Western COVID Research

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have issued a warning about China’s threat to COVID-19-related research.

The FBI is investigating the targeting and compromise of U.S. organizations conducting COVID-19-related research by China’s spies. … Read More

Dear Politicians, True Poverty Is A Perpetuation Of The Work Of The Past

“After hearing of the deaths in the gutters, I think about what will happen to my family if I die.” Those are the words of Jamshed Eric, as expressed to New York Times reporters Zia ur-Rehman and Maria Abi-Habib. Eric is … Read More

Asian Century Began In May 2020

Economic historians may date the start of the Asian century to May 2020, when most Asian economies bounced back to full employment while the West languished in coronavirus lockdown. Asia has emerged as an economic zone as closely integrated as … Read More

The 16th Amendment Imposed

The income tax established by the 16th Amendment imposed what resembled a flat tax – a one percent on the net income of individuals plus a surtax, ranging from one to six percent, on income above specific thresholds.  Therefore, it was … Read More

Oil Price Shocks And Catastrophic Financial Losses

Recently we saw oil prices reach historic lows and in a certain technical case, the option to buy oil in the short run even showed a negative price. Historically, how have severe price declines in oil correlated (a measure … Read More

What Do Oil Prices Tell Us About The Global Economy?

Oil prices aren’t everything in economics, but they can be a useful indicator for the broader economy. Oil is, in part, a growth commodity — one that can be used to make other commodities more valuable. Oil and its … Read More

N.T. Wright (So Far) For Everyone

I recently had a conversation with N.T. Wright, which you can listen to here.

It lasted roughly one hour. The book is The New Testament in Its World. The authors are N.T. Wright and Michael F Bird. N.T. Wright probably needs no … Read More

Contagious Holiness: The Jesus Model For Engagement In The Marketplace

I only read Dr. Craig Blomberg’s book Contagious Holiness in the past year, but it has been shaping my thinking for well over a decade. That’s because I first saw the title when the book was published almost 15 years ago.

You … Read More

National Conservatism Will Lead Us To Greater Socialism

American Compass is the new “think” tank created by the National Conservative movement to persuade voters to adopt socialist economic policies. A recent article, Planning for when the market cannot, attacks the great Austrian economist F.A. Hayek and his explanation of … Read More

Faith-Based Investing, A Comprehensive Overview

Below, please find a lightly edited transcript of the presentation above.

Hi, this is Jerry Bowyer and we’re talking today about the question, “What is faith based investing?” This is an overview of the topic of faith based investing. … Read More

Fed Now Owns All Markets

Since the Great Recession hit in 2008, central banks have been in the business of keeping insolvent governments from defaulting through the process of pegging borrowing costs near zero. These money printers are now in the practice of propping up … Read More

Who’s Decoupling From Whom?

China’s March export value rose 8.5% year on year, diverging widely from analyst forecasts which foresaw a 12% decline. Strong exports growth to Asia, and especially Southeast Asia, fed the unexpected improvement.

The March data denote a steady increase in Asian … Read More

If High CEO Pay Troubles You, It’s A Sign You’re A Terrible Investor

Here’s a hypothetical for readers. If you had $10,000 to invest in one company, only for your investment to turn into $300,000, what would your reaction be? The question answers itself.

Any investor yearns for a 30x return, but they’re … Read More

Optimism And Pessimism In Western Culture

On the page “Parallel Millennium” (started and managed by Dr Gottfried Sommer) Joseph Foreman posted a note that Communists and New Agers were as optimistic/utopian as Post-Millennial Christianity that built modern America (and modern India through pioneer missionaries … Read More

The COVID-19 Crucible: Pandemic As Purifier?

Sometimes in history a population suffers a major crisis that everyone must deal with. Obviously, our current pandemic and lockdown constitute such a predicament. But, when we consider how we should deal with it, or view it, the lessons … Read More