Latest Posts
Gulf Oil Spill Spells Higher Prices
By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com
A little more than a month ago, President Obama took a big step toward weaning the country off foreign oil. His bold plan, announced at the end of March, included opening up 167 million acres along the Atlantic coastline as well as parts of the eastern Gulf of Mexico and the northern coast of Alaska for drilling. (more…)
Nouriel Roubini Talks Doom Again
By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com
They call NYU economics professor Nouriel Roubini–“Doctor Doom.” He got the moniker because his ominous predictions, a few years back, came true. I really hate the “Doom” name. I think he should be called “Doctor Right on the Money.” So, when Roubini talks I listen. It seems the spotlight is off the U.S. for the moment because of Greek debt and rumors of default.
Public Employee Unions Work Against The Public
Greg Hunter’s
Unions in this country got started because industry took advantage of workers. But these days, it seems to be the other way around. I am not talking about unions in the private sector. Private sector union workers should be free to get what they can. If private sector unions get too much (health care, pensions and pay), it is the fault of company management. (more…)
Housing Sales and Inflation Surge
By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com
The big news in the economy last week was new home sales jumped 27% in March. It was the best monthly increase percentage wise since John F. Kennedy was in office. What the mainstream media did not tell you was new housing starts jumped up from a very low level– like the lowest level in history! This chart from shadowstats.com illustrates the point: (more…)
Failure Is the Only Reform We Need
By Greg Hunter’s
There was lots of talk this week about financial reform for Wall Street. The President gave a speech yesterday on the legislation that is making its way through the Senate. Obama said, “It is essential that we learn from the lessons of this crisis so we don’t doom ourselves to repeat it and, make no mistake, that is exactly what will happen if we allow this moment to pass (more…)
Bernanke Admits Printing $1.3 Trillion Out Of Thin Air
By Greg Hunter’s
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke admitted the central bank created $1.3 trillion out of thin air to buy mortgage backed securities. This shocking admission came from the Joint Economic Committee hearing on Capital Hill last week. I was dumbfounded when I saw Bernanke shake his head in the affirmative (more…)
Fraud, It’s Much Bigger Than Goldman Sachs
By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com
Goldman Sachs was charged with fraud last week by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The investment bank says the charges are “unfounded in law and fact.” Regulators allege “Goldman wrongly permitted a client that was betting against the mortgage market to heavily influence which mortgage securities to include in an investment portfolio, while telling other investors that the securities were selected by an independent, objective third party,” SEC Enforcement Director Robert Khuzami said in a statement. In other words
Bernanke Scolds Congress/Keeps Bailouts Details Secret
By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com
Earlier this week, Fed Chief Ben Bernanke told Congress to basically raise taxes and cut the federal budget. The inference was, if Congress doesn’t get its financial house in order, it will be their fault if the economy tanks. (more…)
Will the Bad Economy Cause Crime to Increase?
By Greg Hunter’s
Over the past 15 years or so, violent crime and property crime (theft) has been on a slow steady decline. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, in the past few years, that decline has leveled off. Part of the decline has been attributed to a good economy in most of those years. Part of the decline can also be attributed to good police work and fully staffed departments. (more…)
Follow The Money
By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com
In the classic 70’s Watergate movie, All the President’s Men, the secret informant, Deep Throat, said, “Follow the money.” It was how reporters Woodward and Bernstein figured out what was really going on in the Nixon White House. If you want to figure out what is really going on in the economy, you do the same thing—follow the money. (more…)
Ignoring the Good News?
By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com
I heard Jim Cramer of CNBC say last night people are “ignoring the good news.” I say when it comes to the mainstream media, just the opposite is happening. The folks at the financial news networks are especially good at ignoring the bad news even though they should know better. (more…)
IMAX on the Titanic
The One Surefire Economic Prediction
By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com
The one surefire economic prediction I can make is we are going to have big inflation. Already, (real) inflation is running at 9.4% according to shadowstats.com (calculated the way Bureau of Labor Statistics did it in 1980). The mainstream media seems to be finally catching on to this theme. In the last week or so, Forbes ran a story called “Prepare for inflation.” (Click here for the Forbes article.) Just last week, CNN penned an article called “The coming inflation wave.” (Click here for the CNN story.) Whether it is the exploding federal deficit or famed investor George Soros doubling his gold holdings, it seems all the signs are flashing more inflation is baked into the economic cake. (more…)
Don’t Let The Facts Get In The Way Of A Recovery
“Baghdad Bob”
By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com
For awhile, the term “green shoots” was the buzz word for the economic rebound. Remember that? The “green shoots” have now turned into a “recovery” almost every time the economy is mentioned. It seems we are constantly bombarded with stories of how the economy is turning around when the facts say otherwise.
I do want to be positive, but some of the spin I am hearing would make “Baghdad Bob”(Mohammed Saeed al Sahaf) proud. (more…)
Will the U.S. Dollar Survive?
By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com
Alf Field has been called the “world’s best gold analyst.” He is best known for his many spot-on predictions in the precious metals market. Field has written extensively on debt, the dollar and has predicted the gold price per ounce will reach $10,000. Before you laugh, the “paper” gold market was cited as a “Ponzi Scheme” at last week’s Commodity Futures Trading Commission hearing on increased transparency for the market. A recent story on “Zero Hedge” covering the CFTC hearing documents the big bomb dropped about the London Bullion Market Association (LBMA). (more…)