Originally Posted by 1510
The yield on the 10-Year Treasury note has quietly doubled since August. What would happen if it doubled again? Agricultural commodities are at five-year highs. Industrial metals, like copper, are also at five-year highs.
A barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude is now over $53. Two months ago, WTI crude was about $40 a barrel. That’s a 32 percent increase in two months. Is this change seasonal? Is it geopolitical? Is the economy booming? Or is it something more..
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the consumer price index increased by 1.4 percent over the last 12 months. Yet while prices are rising, the U.S. unemployment rate remains at 6.7 percent. That puts the misery index, which is the sum of the unemployment rate and the inflation rate, at 8.1 percent.
An 8.1 percent misery index may be nothing compared to the 19.72 percent notched when Jimmy Carter was in the White House. But a misery index above 10 percent will certainly bring much weeping and gnashing of teeth.
A bountiful harvest can always be demanded from the land. So, too, a bountiful supply of money can be demanded from the central bank. But remember, in an economy, like a harvest, you reap what you sow. What we mean is all money is not created equal.
There’s real money that’s earned through productive enterprise. And there’s fake money that’s created from thin air by central bankers pressing buttons on a key pad. The fake money is indistinguishable from the real money. But it has the lasting effect of cheapening the real money’s value..
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