Image by F1 Digitals from Pixabay Money might be the most misunderstood topic in finance. Everyone knows exactly what it is, yet definitions greatly vary. Most reduce money’s meaning to some combination of the four functions famously stated by William Stanley Jevons in his 1875 essay Money and the Mechanism of Exchange: a medium of..
Image by Dinh Khoi Nguyen from Pixabay Inflation is one of the most important, debated, and controversial investment themes today. It’s impacting every asset class from fixed income to commodities to equities. Yet, inflation’s widely misunderstood. While well-known among layman and expert alike, inflation’s definition changed over time. However, not everyone has noticed. As inflation’s..
Image by Tim C. Gundert from Pixabay Many types of currencies have been used throughout history. Sometimes commodities defined them. Other times, private bank notes circulated as mediums of exchange. Today, fiat currencies reign supreme while some eye cryptocurrencies as the future. Like so many aspects of money, currencies are hotly debated. This results from..
Image by Penny from Pixabay Everyone loves to talk about money. While commonplace, money actually means different things to different people. Its many and conflicting definitions lead to vastly different economic conclusions and tend to confirm one’s preferred viewpoint. As a result, money’s lost all utility as an objective investment tool. However, redefining it in..
Image by Christian Storb from Pixabay I can’t shake money from my mind. It features prominently in this age of pervasive central banking, Wall Street bailouts, investment market obsessions, and cryptocurrency culture wars. Many seem to have prospered by betting big on money-related investment themes from speculating on Bitcoin, to buying profitless technology stocks, or..
Image by bridgesward from Pixabay Everyone loves to dunk on the Federal Reserve (Fed). To many, the setters of U.S. monetary policy never get it right. Its stable of Ph.D. economists are always too late, or too slow, or too early, or too fast. Shockingly, many have built prominent careers in peddling this viewpoint. Yet,..
Image by PDPics from Pixabay There’s no escaping the Federal Reserve (Fed) when it comes to investing these days. The Great Financial Crisis (GFC) showed how the movement of money through the financial system can impact markets and mainstreamed these previously obscure discussions. As a result, flexing your financial system “plumbing” expertise is now fashionable…
Image by Kranich17 from Pixabay Not a day goes by without the need for money. Whether buying a cup of coffee, checking your investment portfolio, or contemplating monetary policy, money is always top of mind. Yet despite daily use, money confounds us. Even experts ascribe mythical qualities to it. For example, many believe that banks..
Image by RayMark sourced from pixabay Powell’s Real Choice: His Reputation Or Esteem—Part 3 The following is Part 3 in a series outlining my belief that central banks and fiat currency regimes ultimately lead to increasing amounts of leverage. Part 1 can be found here and Part 2 here. Over the past few months I..
Image by QuinceMedia sourced from pixabay Powell’s Real Choice: His Reputation Or Esteem—Part 2 The following is Part 2 in a series discussing my belief that fiat currency regimes with central banks ultimately result in increasing amounts of leverage. Part 1 can be found here. I have to admit, I was about to “pull the..
