Case Study - Real Estate

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Bond Market Discipline

The bond market is our country's banker . This piece by bond manager Bill Gross is spot on. Look particularly at the 3rd bullet point at the top of the article. He argues that unless entitlements are substantially reformed the U.S. will default but not in the conventional way. When the largest bond manager in the country is dumping U.S. debt you know the party is almost over.

Market Focused Vs Goal Focused

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U.S. near insolvency..but can solve

Federal Reserve Board member and Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher renders a strong assessment of U.S. perils and solutions. He makes the clear case that we are on a path to insolvency but has confidence that we can take the right steps to avoid this outcome. Hope so.

Low Taxes,Stable Money

I saw this excellent thought provoking article on how governments have previously successfully pared down debt . Roughly opposite formula of what we are following here in the U.S. The object is to create an environment for capitalism to thrive. A very good read.

Foundational Economics

This is a good description of the differing views of economics . The past couple years , well really the past half dozen or more have been dominated by so-called Keynesians . Lord Keynes would likely be non-plussed since he believed that indeed fiscal stimulus and deficit spending from time to time was good. We have taken that to mean all the time which even he did not profess. Enjoy!

Good Advice- Don't Panic

Some good advice on markets and panics. For the main, it pays to stay the course. Some interesting times indeed but our focus should be on our long term goals and how we get there. You have to be in (the market) to be in (to achieve market returns).

Customers and Clients- there is a Difference

A pretty good article in the WSJ describing some of the differences between advisers and brokers. Interestingly the writer using the words "selling us investment products" in the entry sentence which to me already indicates a broker versus an adviser. We often tell our clients that brokerage firms have no clients...they only have customers. Webster's says a client is "one under the protection of another". That is a long way from what customers get from sales organizations . As the article says, the distinction is "more than academic".

Solving the New Retirement Reality

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Government has Peaked

Ran across this excellent article that provides international perspective to the issue of government largesse. Revolves around a written a couple decades ago by historian Martin van Creveld titled the Rise and Decline of the State. One quote "the amazing ability of government to aggravate the social problems it was designed to cure."

The Future of America

Respected historian (and Brit) Paul Johnson on the future of America. A very interesting perspective ,particularly about when the avalanche of deficit spending began. Well worth the read.

Enterprise versus Greed

An excellent article on the distinction between enterprise and greed. Often in common parlance these terms are used interchangeably but that is incorrect. As the author states at the end of the piece, Gordon Gekko in his infamous diatribe about greed really should have been about enterprise. Enterprise and innovation create value . That is our future.