Extraordinary Strains, John Hussman, Hussman Funds
“The more troubling issue is that Fed papers on the effectiveness of QE focus almost singularly on the effect of QE on interest rates and risk premiums in the financial markets, with the notable absence of any analysis of the resulting effect on the real economy. This is like showing that squirting gas into an engine will make the engine run faster, without any concern for the fact that there is no transmission that connects the engine to the wheels. In a nutshell, the problem with QE is the lack of any material transmission mechanism from monetary interventions to real economic activity. This is a problem that the Fed should have recognized years ago, because there is strong and consistent historical evidence that real economic activity has very weak “elasticity” with respect to financial market fluctuations, particularly in equity values. Invariably, a 1% change in the value of the stock market is associated with a change of just 0.03-0.05% in GDP, and even that change is transitory. What the Fed has been doing is little but bubble-blowing, while at the same time driving the global financial system further from equilibrium rather than toward it.”
Small Firms Seek Skilled Workers but Can’t Find Any, Maltby and Needleman, Wall Street Journal
STUDY: 20% Of Companies Lie On Earnings Reports, Matthew Boesler, Business Insider
Why We Don’t Rebalance, Jason Hsu, Research Affiliates
Coming: The End of Fiat Money, Leslie P. Norton, Barron’s
The Soviet Banking System—and Ours, Judy Shelton, Wall Street Journal