But the people in power won’t even say as much, let alone do something about it. News that the September Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 5.4 percent on a year-over-year basis should be evidence enough for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, White House economists, and even the president to admit that we have more than a temporary inflation uptick on our hands. Better yet, it's proof th... read more

Why does the dollar bill in our pockets have value? According to some commentators, money has value because the government in power says so. For other commentators the value of money is on account of social convention. What this implies is that money has value because it is accepted, and why is it accepted? … because it is accepted! Obviously, this is not a good explanation of why money has v... read more

Inflation ran at a fresh 30-year high in August as supply chain disruptions and extraordinarily high demand fueled ongoing price pressures, the Commerce Department reported Friday. The core personal consumption expenditures price index, which excludes food and energy costs and is the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation, increased 0.3% for the month and was up 3.6% from a year... read more

The world is anxiously watching the Chinese housing market, in the wake of property developer China Evergrande Group’s potential default. Market watchers have been drawing comparisons to the U.S. crash in 2008, and some even to Japan’s property bust two decades earlier. But although there are some similarities, China’s situation is fundamentally different from either of those two episodes... read more

Gold futures were inching higher Friday in an attempt to claw back from the lowest finish for the commodity in more than six weeks and end the week virtually unchanged. December gold GCZ21, -0.18% GC00, -0.18% was trading $2.50 higher, or 0.2%, to reach $1,752.50 an ounce on the session, following a 1.6% drop on Thursday, which represented the sharpest one-day dollar and percentage decline f... read more

The natural course of the U.S. "empire" is that of currency devaluation and an eventual credit collapse, said Dan Oliver, founder of Myrmikan Capital. "What backs the dollar? The Fed's assets do, and if you look at the Fed's assets, what do they own? They own a bunch of Treasury bonds. They own the debt of an insolvent Congress," Oliver told David Lin, anchor for Kitco News. "If and when, I... read more

The Federal reserve says that inequality is a problem. At the same, the Fed also pretends to have nothing to do with it. Last September, for instance, Jerome Powell bemoaned the "relative stagnation of income" for people with lower incomes in the United States, but then claimed the Fed "doesn't have the tools" to address this issue. Instead, Powell, being the chairman of this ostensibly "in... read more

The land mines for the markets are becoming more numerous. Seasonal weakness is combining with continuing uncertainty over the impact of the delta variant on consumer behavior, high labor and material costs affecting pricing and delivery of goods, and poor data out of China. While the S&P 500 is still about 1% from its highs, those land mines are taking their toll on large sectors of the m... read more

The Treasury Department has determined that the nation’s child-care system is “unworkable,” saying it is plagued by market failures that put quality care out of reach for many families. In a report released Wednesday, Treasury details the struggle many parents face to afford child care, especially as bills pile up before their peak earning years. At the same time, Treasury found tha... read more

Gold prices nudged up on Monday with some support from weaker U.S. bond yields, but a resurgent dollar kept the metal on a tight leash as investors awaited U.S. inflation readings later this week. Spot gold rose 0.1% to $1,789.42 per ounce, while U.S. gold futures steadied at $1,791.30. Benchmark 10-year U.S treasury yields eased, lowering the opportunity cost for holding non-interest-bea... read more