From 1969, when the first Nobel in Economic Science was awarded, until Hayek’s win in 1974, I was among many who yearned for the day when a genuine friend of freedom and free markets would be so honored. It seemed every year that the award went to someone for attempting to quantify the unquantifiable, to count the angels on a pinhead, or to whitewash statism. We despaired, as Adam Smith surely did from the grave. Then in 1974, Stockholm fired a shot across the Establishment’s bow by recognizing Hayek. Two years later, Milton Friedman won the prize. In the decades since, more economists friendly to markets claimed it—including such luminaries as George Stigler, James Buchanan, Ronald Coase, Gary Becker, Robert Lucas, Robert Mundell, Vernon Smith, Elinor Ostrom, and Angus Deaton.
It seems that having a billionaire involved in policy is about the worst thing possible to happen to “American Democracy.” At least, that seems to be the selective outrage against the influence of Elon Musk now that he is supporting Republicans. Democrats, of course, have been silent if not supportive of George Soros taking over […]
https://pricklypear.news/wp-content/uploads/cr.webp10241792Neland Nobelhttps://pricklypear.news/wp-content/uploads/logo_2023.pngNeland Nobel2024-12-21 00:30:152024-12-20 05:58:46My Billionaire Is Better Than Yours
Editors’ Note: In the past, we have suggested that the Fed cut rates in error before inflation had been tamed. We felt this undermined their credibility on inflation. They started cutting before their 2% (Why 2%? How about 1.68745%) goal was reached and continued to cut as inflation by most measures has either quit falling […]
https://pricklypear.news/wp-content/uploads/jerome_powell_2.jpg13652048Owen Klinskyhttps://pricklypear.news/wp-content/uploads/logo_2023.pngOwen Klinsky2024-12-21 00:26:212024-12-20 06:09:04‘Election Interference’: Fed Leaves Trump With Parting Gift After Conveniently Cutting Rates Right Before Election
To the surprise of many, Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election handedly. Even more are surprised by his rapid—and sometimes head-scratching—nominations ahead of taking office again. So far, he has appointed TV personality and physician Dr. Mehmet Oz to be the Center for Medicare and Medicate Services administrator, business woman and former professional wrestler Linda McMahon […]
https://pricklypear.news/wp-content/uploads/ssroganrfk.jpg5871124Raymond J. Marchhttps://pricklypear.news/wp-content/uploads/logo_2023.pngRaymond J. March2024-12-20 00:28:112024-12-17 07:38:15Don’t Trust the Cabinet, Trust the Market
The federal government has only collected $628 billion in revenue for the same period, meaning the two-month total deficit is now as $624 billion. That’s the largest total ever for the first two months of the fiscal year, higher even than the $429 billion spent during the first two months of the 2021 fiscal year—October and November 2020. It should not surprise us, then, that the federal government is now on track to have the largest peacetime deficit of all time during the 2025 fiscal year. With the two-month total at over $620 billion, the year-end total is likely to be over $3.5 trillion by the end of the year. That would make the next annual deficit even larger than 2020’s budget busting deficit of 2020 when the covid panic fueled months of runaway spending.
https://pricklypear.news/wp-content/uploads/iStock-1455029754-scaled.jpg17072560Ryan McMakenhttps://pricklypear.news/wp-content/uploads/logo_2023.pngRyan McMaken2024-12-18 00:30:452024-12-16 06:13:08The US Is Now on Track for a $3.5 Trillion Deficit in 2025
We must read with caution the Chinese Communist Party’s claims about how much wind and solar generation it has achieved. China likes to present itself as “green” before the eyes of the international community by, for instance, justifying its massive increase in coal-fired power plants by saying they are needed to back up the additional […]
https://pricklypear.news/wp-content/uploads/greennonster-1.webp10241792Douglas Pollockhttps://pricklypear.news/wp-content/uploads/logo_2023.pngDouglas Pollock2024-12-18 00:28:042024-12-16 06:09:53Trump Must Save Industries From Green Fanatics
One of the features of The Prickly Pear is economic commentaries geared towards citizens who have wealth to protect in difficult and confusing times. We think this is a value-added. We spend a great deal of time reading about the subject and hope our condensation of views is helpful. These are intended to stimulate thought and hopefully help readers when they converse with their own financial advisors. We don’t provide financial advice because doing so requires intimate knowledge of a reader’s circumstances. Instead, we point out what we think is the macro view of things and let the reader interpret what action he or she might take. Because we are limited in space, we can’t provide all the reasons other than to say we are seeing enough potential negatives in various data points that we think caution is warranted. The economy is not as healthy as we are being told, and public impressions often conflate the stock market’s performance with the economy’s health. We have said in the past that these are two different things, but financial markets often depart from the economy and reconnect near major cycle tops and bottoms.
https://pricklypear.news/wp-content/uploads/alarmedsam.webp10241792Neland Nobelhttps://pricklypear.news/wp-content/uploads/logo_2023.pngNeland Nobel2024-12-17 00:30:022024-12-18 21:17:50Call Me Grumpus: An Admission of Concern
19 Metros below 2022 peaks: Austin -22%, San Francisco -10%, Phoenix -9%, San Antonio -8%, Denver -7%, Salt Lake City -6%, Sacramento -6%, Portland -6%, Dallas -6%, Seattle -5%, Honolulu -5%… The dynamics in the housing market are now sort of messy: The lowest demand for existing homes since 1995 has led to rapidly rising active listings, as […]
https://pricklypear.news/wp-content/uploads/housing.jpg9001200Wolf Richterhttps://pricklypear.news/wp-content/uploads/logo_2023.pngWolf Richter2024-12-17 00:28:172024-12-18 11:38:59Home Prices Drop in All 33 Big Metros, Most in Austin, Tampa, Dallas, San Antonio
We can make serious progress against ESG activism in the next four years. It’s time to ramp up the fight against corporate bias. The next four years will be difference-making ones. For years, corporate activists have infiltrated the boardrooms and governance structures of America’s biggest companies and brands, destroying their focus on fiduciary duty and […]
https://pricklypear.news/wp-content/uploads/iStock-1701579064.jpg14142121Isaac Willourhttps://pricklypear.news/wp-content/uploads/logo_2023.pngIsaac Willour2024-12-17 00:26:052024-12-15 06:59:14Five Tactics to End Corporate Wokeness
President Donald Trump is determined to tame the bloated bureaucracy beast. To that end, he has appointed, in spectacular fashion, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to head up a new “Department of Government Efficiency” (“DOGE”). In their pathbreaking op-ed in The Wall Street Journal on Nov. 20, Musk and Ramaswamy laid out their mission: “We won’t just write reports or cut ribbons, We’ll cut costs.” With the nation now $36 trillion in debt — or about $100,000 for every man, woman, and child in America — that mission is long overdue. But judging from the hyperbolic reaction even the mention of budget cuts has generated in the deep state and among its sycophants in the corporate media, Musk and Ramaswamy will face enormous headwinds.
https://pricklypear.news/wp-content/uploads/us-constitution.jpg339508Dr. John Eastmanhttps://pricklypear.news/wp-content/uploads/logo_2023.pngDr. John Eastman2024-12-16 00:30:402024-12-14 07:58:02How DOGE Can Tackle The National Debt By Returning To Constitutional Spending
Remembering Hayek’s Remarkable Nobel Lecture
/by Lawrence ReedFrom 1969, when the first Nobel in Economic Science was awarded, until Hayek’s win in 1974, I was among many who yearned for the day when a genuine friend of freedom and free markets would be so honored. It seemed every year that the award went to someone for attempting to quantify the unquantifiable, to count the angels on a pinhead, or to whitewash statism. We despaired, as Adam Smith surely did from the grave. Then in 1974, Stockholm fired a shot across the Establishment’s bow by recognizing Hayek. Two years later, Milton Friedman won the prize. In the decades since, more economists friendly to markets claimed it—including such luminaries as George Stigler, James Buchanan, Ronald Coase, Gary Becker, Robert Lucas, Robert Mundell, Vernon Smith, Elinor Ostrom, and Angus Deaton.
My Billionaire Is Better Than Yours
/by Neland NobelIt seems that having a billionaire involved in policy is about the worst thing possible to happen to “American Democracy.” At least, that seems to be the selective outrage against the influence of Elon Musk now that he is supporting Republicans. Democrats, of course, have been silent if not supportive of George Soros taking over […]
‘Election Interference’: Fed Leaves Trump With Parting Gift After Conveniently Cutting Rates Right Before Election
/by Owen KlinskyEditors’ Note: In the past, we have suggested that the Fed cut rates in error before inflation had been tamed. We felt this undermined their credibility on inflation. They started cutting before their 2% (Why 2%? How about 1.68745%) goal was reached and continued to cut as inflation by most measures has either quit falling […]
Don’t Trust the Cabinet, Trust the Market
/by Raymond J. MarchTo the surprise of many, Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election handedly. Even more are surprised by his rapid—and sometimes head-scratching—nominations ahead of taking office again. So far, he has appointed TV personality and physician Dr. Mehmet Oz to be the Center for Medicare and Medicate Services administrator, business woman and former professional wrestler Linda McMahon […]
The US Is Now on Track for a $3.5 Trillion Deficit in 2025
/by Ryan McMakenThe federal government has only collected $628 billion in revenue for the same period, meaning the two-month total deficit is now as $624 billion. That’s the largest total ever for the first two months of the fiscal year, higher even than the $429 billion spent during the first two months of the 2021 fiscal year—October and November 2020. It should not surprise us, then, that the federal government is now on track to have the largest peacetime deficit of all time during the 2025 fiscal year. With the two-month total at over $620 billion, the year-end total is likely to be over $3.5 trillion by the end of the year. That would make the next annual deficit even larger than 2020’s budget busting deficit of 2020 when the covid panic fueled months of runaway spending.
Trump Must Save Industries From Green Fanatics
/by Douglas PollockWe must read with caution the Chinese Communist Party’s claims about how much wind and solar generation it has achieved. China likes to present itself as “green” before the eyes of the international community by, for instance, justifying its massive increase in coal-fired power plants by saying they are needed to back up the additional […]
Call Me Grumpus: An Admission of Concern
/by Neland NobelOne of the features of The Prickly Pear is economic commentaries geared towards citizens who have wealth to protect in difficult and confusing times. We think this is a value-added. We spend a great deal of time reading about the subject and hope our condensation of views is helpful. These are intended to stimulate thought and hopefully help readers when they converse with their own financial advisors. We don’t provide financial advice because doing so requires intimate knowledge of a reader’s circumstances. Instead, we point out what we think is the macro view of things and let the reader interpret what action he or she might take. Because we are limited in space, we can’t provide all the reasons other than to say we are seeing enough potential negatives in various data points that we think caution is warranted. The economy is not as healthy as we are being told, and public impressions often conflate the stock market’s performance with the economy’s health. We have said in the past that these are two different things, but financial markets often depart from the economy and reconnect near major cycle tops and bottoms.
Home Prices Drop in All 33 Big Metros, Most in Austin, Tampa, Dallas, San Antonio
/by Wolf Richter19 Metros below 2022 peaks: Austin -22%, San Francisco -10%, Phoenix -9%, San Antonio -8%, Denver -7%, Salt Lake City -6%, Sacramento -6%, Portland -6%, Dallas -6%, Seattle -5%, Honolulu -5%… The dynamics in the housing market are now sort of messy: The lowest demand for existing homes since 1995 has led to rapidly rising active listings, as […]
Five Tactics to End Corporate Wokeness
/by Isaac WillourWe can make serious progress against ESG activism in the next four years. It’s time to ramp up the fight against corporate bias. The next four years will be difference-making ones. For years, corporate activists have infiltrated the boardrooms and governance structures of America’s biggest companies and brands, destroying their focus on fiduciary duty and […]
How DOGE Can Tackle The National Debt By Returning To Constitutional Spending
/by Dr. John EastmanPresident Donald Trump is determined to tame the bloated bureaucracy beast. To that end, he has appointed, in spectacular fashion, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to head up a new “Department of Government Efficiency” (“DOGE”). In their pathbreaking op-ed in The Wall Street Journal on Nov. 20, Musk and Ramaswamy laid out their mission: “We won’t just write reports or cut ribbons, We’ll cut costs.” With the nation now $36 trillion in debt — or about $100,000 for every man, woman, and child in America — that mission is long overdue. But judging from the hyperbolic reaction even the mention of budget cuts has generated in the deep state and among its sycophants in the corporate media, Musk and Ramaswamy will face enormous headwinds.