While I’m not always a huge fan of Ben Stein, he does come up with some interesting insights every now and again, and he does have some clever and funny things to say about them. For Fortune Magazine, he recently offered these 4 lessons that he learned from the recession:

Economic forecasting is difficult.
Financial market forecasting is more troublesome than economic forecasting.
The financial sector in this country has lied a great deal.
The government cannot predict the economy or financial markets.

These are, of course, very good lessons to learn. It is important to realize that neither the government, nor the financial “experts”, …read more

U.S. now only importing tons and tons of crap
China’s trade surplus with the United States fell in January as demand for Chinese goods weakened amid fears of a U.S. recession. With the high cost of energy, the falling value of real estate assets, and the tightening credit market, consumers are less inclined to indulge in discretionary spending on poisonous toothpaste, tainted pet food, and hazardous toys. According to one trade specialist, “Those are the extras.”

The United States and other trading partners complain that China’s currency, the yuan, is kept undervalued, giving its exporters an unfair price advantage. …read more