Axel Merk

Merk Funds

Contributor since: 26 Feb 2010

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• Debt Ceiling Jeopardizes Dollar's Reserve Status

  Published 24 May 2011 | viewed 0 times

  U.S. Treasury Secretary Geithner has warned that delays in extending the U.S. debt ceiling may cause irreparable harm. While borrowing costs for the U.S. government…

• ECB Pushing Greece Over Brink

  Published 20 May 2011 | viewed 0 times

  Disagreements on how to address Greece's reform process boiled over this week when European Central Bank (ECB) President Trichet walked out of a meeting. Trichet…

• ECB - Nothing New, Nothing Special, Not a Problem, Absolutely Not

  Published 05 May 2011 | viewed 0 times

  After raising interest rates by 0.25% a month ago, the European Central Bank (ECB) left interest rates unchanged at today's meeting of its Governing Council.…

• The Dollar: It's Payback Time!

  Published 03 May 2011 | viewed 0 times

  It's payback time for Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve (Fed). In some ways, this should neither surprise, nor scare anyone. Unfortunately, however,…

• Fed Wants Even Higher Inflation

  Published 27 April 2011 | viewed 0 times

  Today, the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) announced it will continue to purchase government securities as previously announced ("QE2"), including reinvesting principal payments from…

• U.S. Dollar - Review and Outlook

  Published 14 April 2011 | viewed 0 times

  We believe that continued U.S. dollar weakness may be a consequence of the diverging monetary approaches central banks are taking around the globe. While many…

• ECB Takes Away Punch Bowl

  Published 07 April 2011 | viewed 0 times

  Today, the European Central Bank (ECB) raised its main refinancing rate by 0.25% to 1.25%. ECB President Trichet has long argued that its monetary policy…

• Does a Weak Dollar Cause Inflation?

  Published 05 April 2011 | viewed 0 times

  Should investors be concerned that a weaker U.S. dollar causes inflation? The price at the gas pump should be a stark reminder that a weaker…

• Fed and ECB - A World Apart

  Published 04 March 2011 | viewed 0 times

  The U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) and the European Central Bank (ECB) are divided by a common goal: price stability. Fed Chairman Bernanke has made it…

• Politics of Inflation

  Published 16 February 2011 | viewed 0 times

  Merk Insights provide the Merk Perspective on currencies, global imbalances, the trade deficit, the socio-economic impact of the U.S. administration's policies and more. Read past…

• Reagan for President...of China!

  Published 03 February 2011 | viewed 0 times

  Merk Insights provide the Merk Perspective on currencies, global imbalances, the trade deficit, the socio-economic impact of the U.S. administration's policies and more. Read past…

• 2011: Year of the Yellow Brick Road

  Published 06 January 2011 | viewed 0 times

  The Wizard of Oz would be proud of our policy makers: perception may be reality when it comes to investor confidence, even if we live…

• Fed - Inflation, Inflation, Inflation

  Published 14 December 2010 | viewed 0 times

  In August, Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Bernanke stated inflation was too low; in October, the Fed's Minutes lamented that the market appeared not to take…

• Debunking Bernanke's Myth

  Published 07 December 2010 | viewed 0 times

  In his interview with "60 Minutes", Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Ben Bernanke suggested it is a myth that quantitative easing implies printing money. With all…

• Pragmatic ECB Squares the Circle - Whatever it Takes

  Published 02 December 2010 | viewed 0 times

  The one thing worse than a fire in a building is a fire in a building when emergency exits are bolted shut: a panic in…

• The Dollar: Every Man For Himself

  Published 11 November 2010 | viewed 0 times

  The Federal Reserve's (Fed's) strategy of firing up its printing press may have the debasement of the U.S. dollar as its goal (see Fed Targets…

• Fed's Bizarre Tactics Target Weaker Dollar

  Published 12 October 2010 | viewed 0 times

  Is the Federal Reserve (Fed) experiencing a midlife crisis? Ever since Fed Chairman Bernanke gave a speech in Jackson Hole, Fed behavior can be summarized…

• ECB Triumphant over Fed

  Published 08 October 2010 | viewed 0 times

  While central banks in the U.S., Japan, U.K., Switzerland and Brazil, amongst others, may be looking for excuses to print more money, the European Central…

• Ben in Luck

  Published 21 September 2010 | viewed 0 times

  Ben had served his master for seven years, so he said to him, master, my time is up, now I should be glad to go…

• U.S. Dollar Threatened by Fannie and Freddie

  Published 24 August 2010 | viewed 0 times

  Social subsidies may make good politics, but all too often bad economics. When Fannie Mae was created in 1938, the seeds were planted for the…