Growth Mail Archive
10-31-23: When PIGS Fly: Europe’s Basket Cases Recover, While the U.S. Drowns in Debt
by Gary Alexander October 31, 2023 A decade ago, the biggest economic story in these columns for many weeks concerned the PIGS of Europe: Portugal, Italy (or Ireland, take your pick), Greece and [...]
10-24-23: Wall Street Often Seems Darkest Before the Dawn…of November!
by Gary Alexander October 24, 2023 “October is one of the peculiarly dangerous months to speculate in stocks. The others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, December, August & [...]
10-17-23: In The War Against Growth, The Luddites are the Losers!
by Gary Alexander October 17, 2023 The first (advance) estimate of third-quarter GDP will be released next week, on October 26, at 8:30 am Eastern time. Nearly all of the relevant data points [...]
10-10-23: What’s Next: Inflation, Deflation or No-Flation?
by Gary Alexander October 10, 2023 A century ago, hyper-inflation was reaching the explosion point in one nation, while a deflationary boom was about to begin in another. The first event caused [...]
10-3-23: The Fourth Quarter Explosion is About to Start
by Gary Alexander October 3, 2023 It happens often in sports – most recently when a woeful 1-3 Baylor team, on the road at favored Central Florida (3-1), trailed 7-35 late in [...]
9-26-23: As We Approach $100 Oil (Again), Let’s Recall the 1970s Oil Crises
by Gary Alexander September 26, 2023 As I write this over the weekend, Sunday’s sunset marks the start of Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar. It was on that [...]
9-19-23: Rising Debt, Fewer Workers and Slower Growth Since 2001 – Why?
by Gary Alexander September 19, 2023 Something more dramatic than the loss of 3,000 American lives happened on September 11, 2001. We seem to have lost our nerve and taken leave of [...]
9-12-23: September Speculations in Railroads, Real Estate and Russian Rubles
by Gary Alexander September 12, 2023 In the last 25 years, three events have haunted us, and they all share an anniversary this week, yet most of our attention this week may [...]
9-6-23: Labor Day Report: When is a Job Not a Job?
by Gary Alexander September 6, 2023 The August unemployment report was released at 5:30 am (my time) on Friday, September 1. Do we really expect all the bean counters at the U.S. [...]
8-29-23: Jerome Powell’s “Dream Speech” at Jackson Hole, 2025
by Gary Alexander August 29, 2023 Yesterday marked the 60th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, delivered in Washington, DC. I remember it well. It was a [...]
8-22-23: Decision Time: Will the 2020s Be Another Roaring ‘20s or Stagnant 70s?
by Gary Alexander August 22, 2023 Will the 2020s be more like another “Roaring 1920s” or the stagflationary 1970s? Like economist Ed Yardeni, I’d bet 2-to-1 for the ‘20s scenario, but nothing [...]
8-15-23: A Tale of Two Downgrades – A Bang (2011) and a Whimper (2023)
by Gary Alexander August 15, 2023 What is it about the first week of August in the third year of a Biden/Obama first term that causes the bond rating agencies to lose [...]