This past weekend, while I was enjoying the beauties of nature — and the company of my family — in Idaho, the leaders of the G8 were having a meeting in Italy. Members of the G8 spent most of the time patting themselves on the back, telling each other that they had done a marvelous job of stimulating the global economy. Many of them began discussing “exit strategies” to counter the future effects of possible hyper-inflation as a result of rampant borrowing and quantitative easing.
At any rate, it is clear that G8 leaders think that the recession is very nearly …read more

Perhaps it’s not fair to judge him on something that, really, no president has much control over. But Obama appears to be making plans and laying the groundwork for (potential) economic recovery.

Many people are starting to think that maybe we can help the US economy improve by purchasing products that are “Made in the U.S.A.” rather than mindlessly consuming products from abroad. (See a great poem about a “Made in China” boycott over at Leadership Turn.)
Today the B5 Media Business Channel is all about sharing what products we have that are “Made in the U.S.A.”
Most of the products we purchase are “Made in the U.S.A.” Except the electronics. I think close to 85% of our electronics are made somewhere else. On the other hand, we don’t actually have many electronics.
Here is …read more

One of the main things to keep in mind about investing, and even the economy, is that the whole thing is cyclical. There will be downs as well as ups. The idea is to arrange your personal finances — and your investment plan — in such a way that you can weather the down cycles and do well in the good times.
Unfortunately, we’ve hit an era in the US where we seem to believe that “economic stimulus” should be a constant. There seems to be a fear in letting the stock market correct itself and even plunge. Instead, we seem …read more