Tuesday, July 8, 2014

What's The News Across The Nation(s), July 8, 2014

Lots of money, high priced assets, low returns. easy loans. Sound familiar?

Paul Kruger doesn't think it's anything to worry about. In his opinion piece, Beliefs, Facts and Money, he opines that printing money is not the problem, lax regulation in the markets is the problem. When the Federal Reserve began printing money, it did not go into circulation, but was instead kept in banks. The regulators had raised the lending bar high enough to thwart the 'easy money' practices that lead to the Great Recession of 2008.

Today, Neil Irwin reports that interest rates are low, asset value is high and returns on these asset investments are low. What he portends is an 'everything' asset bubble. We see it happening in Houston. Commercial construction is booming. The price per square foot of existing commercial space is rising, yet investors are buying. Where is the money coming from to finance these acquisitions? Banks mostly. Some corporations have held onto cash also during the downtime but now the race is on and demand is exceeding supply.



Sources:
NYT: Beliefs, Facts and Money, July 6, 2014
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/07/opinion/paul-krugman-conservative-delusions-about-inflation.html

NYT:Welcome to the Everyting Boom, or Maybe the Everything Bubble
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/07/opinion/paul-krugman-conservative-delusions-about-inflation.html

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Worst Job In The World

Nearly one billion people defecated in the open. Who counted?

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United Nations Expands Same-Sex Marriage Recognition

The permanent staff of the UN Secretariat who have entered into a same-sex marriage will now be legitimized if the ceremony took place in a jurisdiction in which same-sex marriages are legal. In the past the UN only recognized the marriage if the home country allowed it.

This must be really irritating to the newly elected General Assembly President from Uganda. Speaking of Uganda and their harsh anti-gay laws let it be known that a white evangelical, named Scott Lively was instrumental in the legislation.

Mother Jones: Meet the American Pastor Behind Uganda's Anti-Gay Crackdown
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2014/03/scott-lively-anti-gay-law-uganda
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