We could use more people like Paul Volker, the former Fed chairman who saved the U.S. from hyperinflation in the early 1980s. He’s not only got the track record as a policy maker but also one as a forecaster. Of note was his prophetic speech reprinted in the April 10, 2005 ...

Household debt is at a record high relative to assets in the United States, according to Gluskin Sheff Chief Economist & Strategist David A. Rosenberg. As can be seen from the chart below (taken from a recent Rosenberg research note), the household debt-to-asset ratio is now 21.0%, compared to prior ...

The U.S. monetary base has doubled to $1.7 trillion (US) since September, a consequence of the Federal Reserve flooding financial markets with liquidity to head off a collapse of the financial system. This startling jump has many observers worried about inflation taking off. Some even think the magnitude of the financial crisis ...

I recently noted a warning to take all of the hype around positive U.S. housing numbers with a grain of salt. It was issued by Robert Brusca, an always entertaining independent Wall Street economist who isn't easily swayed by numbers. I am now posting again because Brusca just sent me ...

Sometimes you just want to slap Mr. Market around a bit. One week he’s in a selling panic; the next, he’s in a buying frenzy. Mr. Market needs a rest at Sunny Brook Farms. Call the people in the white coats.

Are prices for consumer goods and services going into free fall over the next few years? Is deflation the likely scenario as record-level declines in commodity prices and government bond yields seem to suggest? Not if the Federal Reserve has anything to do with it.

Let’s Volckerize the Fed. That’s the catchy title of a breakingviews.com piece by Martin Hutchinson on the need to stop the Federal Reserve from putting the world economy through a succession of credit binges and increasingly excruciating hangovers.

The C$ drop alters the investing landscape dramatically. The 25% plunge in the loonie since November, 2007 makes foreign diversification less appealing, exporters more attractive and inflationary pressures greater. How so?

Policy actions, such as the setting up of a Resolution Trust Corporation, should in time stabilize the banking crisis. However, the knock-on effect from the financial turmoil is yet to be fully felt on the economy.

“Despite their fantastic recent growth record, investors need to be very cautious about emerging markets,” says chief investment officer Eric Bushell in CI Funds’ latest Perspective Online. Their growth momentum is posed to decelerate due to high commodity prices and slippage in export growth as developed economies slow down.