QUESTION: The distinction between the Repo Crisis and Quantitative Easing is the duration and purpose as distinguished from 2007-2009? HS ANSWER: Yes. Under QE, the Fed was buying in 30-year bonds in hope of creating a shortage of long-term paper that would in theory lead to consideration of buying long-term mortgage paper. It was trying […]
QUESTION: Would you please explain exactly what government debt is and who receives the interest payment that governments make on borrowings? I thought that Governments borrowed from their respective central banks and paid the central bank interest on the debt. I never understood why a government would have to pay any interest. My brother tells […]
QUESTION: I am 77 years old, and Seared in my memory is a short video and notes on the small villages in Japan abandoning government currency totally, and using chits exchanged at a table for all the village business. Foodstuffs, bicycle tires, or whatever. Maybe your fabulous researchers can find it. Germans using the currency […]
QUESTION: Martin, You repeatedly say that Socialism is dying. I live in a rural area of Oregon. As a personal observation, what I see around here is that more people, and especially the younger, are indeed moving TOWARD Socialism. The influence of the media is so strong that even people we know who advocate gun […]
The internet reshaped the retail consumer world by eliminating many small stores and forcing big stores to close locations as online shopping exploded. Many small book stores and camera stores were particularly vulnerable. Now climate change is having a similar impact. The strike with the United Auto Workers’ (UAW) and General Motors is not so […]
QUESTION: Hi Martin, I am curious about Industry/Technology, is there a cycle for the industry, the industrial revolution, internet, etc., is it linear or cyclical. Should we expect self-driving cars and continued advances or some kind of reversion to the industry/technology past? It seems that it may be linear, but maybe only up to a point […]
QUESTION: Hi Martin – was reading your latest post where you say “All currency is backed by the total productive capacity of its people.” – if this is the case, wouldn’t the number of productive workforces indicate a stronger currency? I take the case of India with a young workforce, and compare that with the […]
QUESTION: Martin, I appreciate all the information that you provide and just got done reading about money shortage and hoarding. Would it be good for US citizens to hoard also? Is there any difference in hoarding dollars or gold and silver coins? Thanks for your comments. DM ANSWER: In order for gold and silver […]
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QUESTION: What do you make of Trump’s proposal to restrict US investment in China? Will this send the US economy into recession as everyone is saying? DH ANSWER: I have never seen the press so anti-president in the history of this nation. Every possible thing they claim will destroy the US economy. The US trade […]
