If you’ve ever wondered how we’ve come to see America’s economic, social and moral decline, Angelo Codevilla’s insightful essay, published in the American Spectator a few days ago, illustrates how the pieces fit together. It’s rather lengthy, but well worth the time to read!
A brief summary is below… do make sure to read the…

Links to interesting articles I have read over the past few days that you might also enjoy…
Remember: In 1930, They Didn’t Know It Was “The Great Depression” Yet
China in Africa – Beijing Does Deals, Not Gifts
The Fallacy of a Drilling Moratorium
All You Need to Know About Public Sector Work (A whistleblower’s shocking account)
The Complete…

After having suffered the worst May since 1940 (Dow), equities have continued their sell-off into early June, amidst concerns about spreading European debt crisis, Chinese tightening and fading US recovery. The rally off the March 2009 lows was driven by liquidity, stimulus and improving economic and earnings data, particularly in the US. Now that…

Links to interesting articles I have read over the past few days that you might also enjoy…
Fiscal Crises and Imperial Collapse (Niall Ferguson) – video presentation
Barney Frank Proven to Be a Liar and a Fraud!
Using Behavioral Finance to Better Understand the Psychology of Investors
Scientists Create Artificial Life: World First as Craig Venter Makes Designer…

After months of optimism and growing complacency last week brought a sudden reversal of market sentiment. Optimism was replaced by worry and fear. Confidence was erased, despite a 110 billion euro EU/IMF bailout package for Greece and good US economic data; fear of a sovereign debt meltdown in Europe contributed to Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s…

Links to interesting articles I have read over the past few days that you might also enjoy…
The Future Of The Global Public Debt Explosion
Milken conference video: Commodities Overview and Outlook
The Biggest Losers: Who Gets Hurt from a Greek Default or Restructuring
Excess Bullish Sentiment Waning
How hedge fund manager Steve Cohen averaged 30% returns for 18…

I think most Americans would agree taxes are heading higher. Yet, curiously, most may not care. (A Gallup survey shows 45% of Americans are happy with their tax rates and 3% believe them to be too low.) In fact, I suspect a significant portion of the population may welcome the tax increases with hardly…

Here we are again, back to the disturbing – but entirely unsurprising – war on the ‘free market’ (or whatever is left of it after decades of government interventionism).
The pattern of governments creating a mess and promptly laying the blame at the feet of the private sector is not at all new, so EU’s…

At the outset it must be said that, regardless of the day to day fluctuations of financial news, we are entering into unprecedented territory. What may be construed as long term planning may well be categorically different than medium term common sense.
The increases in the total federal debt outstanding are off of all known…

Over the past weeks we’ve been digging down into what might, or might not be the real story. Everybody seems to have an opinion or three, from world class money managers to yowling cretins, and none of them seem to fully add up. Whither the economy?
There is a bewildering array of evidence pointing…