• May 26, 2006

The Problem with Stable Prices

Can you have too much of a good thing? And specifically, can targeting low inflation and stable prices create problems that are even larger than the ones a stable price policy is trying to avoid? Today we look at a very interesting set of ideas proposed by one William R. White of the Monetary and Economic Department of the Bank of International Settlements (BIS). The BIS can be understood to be a kind of a central banker's central bank. So when they talk about appropriate central bank...

• May 19, 2006

A Foolish Conversation With John Mauldin

This week I am in La Jolla for my annual Strategic Investment Conference. It is packed, and of course I am quite busy, so not much time to write my regular e-letter. But a few weeks ago, Rich Smith from The Motley Fool did a fairly wide-ranging interview with me that just came out this week, and I thought he did an excellent job in putting together a coherent piece from what was a long conversation covering a lot of topics. So, let's see what Rich found interesting in my musings.

By...

• May 12, 2006

Do Trade Deficits Matter?

This week we look at the links between the US trade deficit, the low savings rate in the US, home prices, and interest rates, all in an effort to answer the question: "Do trade deficits matter?" I think I will offer a few practical, if simple, insights to the matter.

At the end of last year, I did a series of e-letters on the debate over dinner in London between Bill Bonner and Charles and Louis-Vincent Gave. Both had just published a book. Bill's book, Empire of Debt (which is still...

• May 5, 2006

It’s Value Time Again

Is the market overvalued? Fairly valued? Or are there really rocket boosters underneath the trading floors? We will look at the data, some historical charts which I think you will find very interesting, and some of the recent economic numbers which are important, all in an attempt to answer these questions.

This week's letter was prompted by a very fair question from a reader. I got in late Tuesday night to Orlando where I would speak to the Investment Management Consultant's...