Tag Archives: reserves

I have long been a dollar bull, not for any over-arching reasons based on inflation, deflation, rising geopolitical multi-polarity or any of the other issues that touch on the dollar’s valuation vis-à-vis other currencies. My analysis focuses on a few basics:  the dollar’s status as the global reserve currency, Triffin’s Paradox (a.k.a. Triffin’s Dilemma) and global capital flows into the dollar and dollar-denominated assets such as U.S. Treasury bonds.

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Today marks the launch of our new and (hopefully) regularly recurring “Straight Talk” series, featuring thinking from notable minds the ChrisMartenson.com audience has indicated it wants to learn more about. Readers submit the questions they want addressed and our guests take their best crack at answering. Our hopes are high you’ll enjoy the expert insights and alternative perspectives this new series brings. 

Our inaugural Straight Talk contributor is Mike Shedlock, author of Mish’s Global Economic Trend Analysis, one of the most visited and respected economic blogs on the Web. Mish is an outspoken deflationist and outlines his rationale for being so in his answers to our questions. He is also a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. 

1. You’ve gone from mainframe computer programming analyst (in 2005) to being one of the most widely-read econobloggers in the world today. To what extent do you attribute your competitive advantage to holding a non-traditional background vs. the more ‘classically’ trained analysts and commentators?

Mish: It certainly helps not having a background in economics as taught by academia today. Nearly everyone in academia is a Keynesian or Monetarist.

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by machinehead

This article ran for our enrolled users last week and is one in a series from respected guest commentators while Chris is vacationing with his family and working on his new book. Many of you will recognize today’s author from his insightful comments that appear frequently across ChrisMartenson.com. Enjoy!

Since early April, the yield on 10-year Treasury notes has dwindled from 4.0% to below 2.5% on August 24th.  Meanwhile, the 12-month change in the Cleveland Fed’s median CPI has hovered feebly between 0.5% and 0.6% since March.  These abnormally low interest and inflation rates are fanning fears of renewed GDP contraction, a plunge into price deflation, or both.  Boardrooms and blogs are humming with rumors of a ‘QE II’ (Quantitative Easing II) program to counter a chilly deflationary dip.

One reason fears are so acute is that the Federal Reserve’s main policy tool, the overnight interest rate on Fed Funds, is flatlined at zero.  Moreover, via ‘extraordinary measures’ beginning in September 2008, the Federal Reserve added some $1.4 trillion of securities, including $1.1 trillion of MBS (mortgage-backed securities), to its balance sheet in a stimulus bid.  Yet despite these heroic efforts, economic leading indicators have turned weak this summer, as sinking Treasury yields add to the disquiet.

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