Mike Shedlock

Contributor since: 26 Feb 2010

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• Job Site of the Future: Unmanned Bulldozers and Drones for Routine Construction

  Published 22 January 2015 | viewed 0 times

  Why pay an expensive bulldozer driver for foundation work when a drone from the sky paired with an unmanned bulldozer on the ground can compute…

• Bloomberg Editorial Board Loses Mind

  Published 21 January 2015 | viewed 0 times

  A Bloomberg editorial on what the ECB needs to do is rather amusing. The article headline, albeit true in and of itself, contradicts the body…

• Deflation Bonanza! (And the Fool's Mission to Stop It)

  Published 21 January 2015 | viewed 0 times

  Of all the widely believed but patently false economic beliefs is the absurd notion that falling consumer prices are bad for the economy and something…

• 'Endgame for Central Bankers' Says Saxo Bank CIO

  Published 20 January 2015 | viewed 0 times

  Via email, Saxo bank CIO and chief economist Steen Jakobsen declares "Endgame for Central Bankers". He also asks "Why is it that Most People Trust…

• Swiss Peg Removal: Did Anyone Win?

  Published 18 January 2015 | viewed 0 times

  Swiss Economy Winners and Losers In reference to Rabbit Hole Intervention Fails: Wild Moves in Swiss Franc as Switzerland Abandons Euro Peg; Morals of the…

• Quote of the Day: 'Currencies Don't Move Much. Without Leverage, No One Would Trade'

  Published 18 January 2015 | viewed 0 times

  While researching material for an article on winners and loses in the record Swiss franc move, I came across this quote as reported by Bloomberg.…

• Grand Experiment Failure; Bankers Prefer Bubbles; Europe is not USA; Final Epitaph

  Published 16 January 2015 | viewed 0 times

  Lower Interest Rates May Reduce Consumption Saxo Bank CIO and chief economist Steen Jakobsen made a few comments the other day that hit me in…

• Rabbit Hole Intervention Fails: Wild Moves in Swiss Franc as Switzerland Abandons Euro Peg; Morals of the Story

  Published 16 January 2015 | viewed 0 times

  Today in a surprise announcement, the Swiss National Bank abandoned its silly policy of defending a peg to the euro. Previously, the bank had set…

• Reflections on the 'Sure Trade' of 2014; Yield Curve Inversion Possible? Five 'Sure Things' for 2015?

  Published 15 January 2015 | viewed 0 times

  100% of economists predicted yields on the long end of the US treasury curve would rise in 2014. Instead, they dropped all year. And just…

• Retail Sales Post Huge Downward Surprise; Lower GDP Revisions Coming Up; Economists Easy to Surprise

  Published 14 January 2015 | viewed 0 times

  So much for those allegedly strong Christmas sales. In fact, sales of nearly everything were down in the today's Commerce Department Retail Sales Report for…

• Zugzwang! Spanish Radical Left Party Podemos Surges Into Lead

  Published 12 January 2015 | viewed 0 times

  Podemos, a Spanish far-left populist party led by Pablo Iglesias is once again in the lead the polls. Chart from El Pais. Elections are scheduled…

• Biggest Bubble: Central Bank Credibility; Cautionary Tale of Global Gloom from Down Under

  Published 12 January 2015 | viewed 0 times

  Australian newspaper "The Age" has an interesting interview with Gerard Minack, former Morgan Stanley strategist. Minack is now out on his own, publisher of "Downunder…

• Average Hourly Wages vs. CPI: Are You Ahead?

  Published 09 January 2015 | viewed 0 times

  Average hourly earnings for all employees unexpectedly declined 0.2%, $0.06 per hour in December vs. November. This was the largest month-to-month percentage drop since the…

• Wading Through Molasses: 'Did the Real Economy, Not Counting Government, Expand in Last 20 Years?'

  Published 09 January 2015 | viewed 0 times

  I received an interesting question from reader Michael yesterday. Michael asked "Did the Real Economy, Not Counting Government, Expand in Last 20 Years?" Reader Michael…

• Eurozone Falls Into Deflation; ECB About to Do Something Stupid

  Published 07 January 2015 | viewed 0 times

  As expected, the Eurozone fell into deflation last month, but details show energy and unprocessed food are the only things in decline. Services are up…

• Ten Easy Obamacare Fixes

  Published 06 January 2015 | viewed 0 times

  "Medicare for All" Problems In the past few days I posted reader responses to Single-Payer "Medicare for All" Proposal; Live and Let Die; Why Does…

• Income Inequality Author Turns Down Prestigious Award; Can you Solve a Problem When You Don't Know the Cause?

  Published 02 January 2015 | viewed 0 times

  French economist Thomas Piketty, author of the surprise best-selling Capital in the 21st Century turned down France's top award, the Legion D'Honneur. "I do not…

• Bluff of the Day: Germany Warns 'Greece is No Longer of Systemic Importance For the Euro'

  Published 31 December 2014 | viewed 0 times

  In the obvious bluff of the day, Euro zone No Longer Obliged to Rescue Greece, Merkel Ally Says. Actually, the eurozone was never obliged to…

• Vermont Throws in the Towel on Inane Single-Payer "Medicare for All" Proposal ...

  Published 31 December 2014 | viewed 0 times

  ... Live and Let Die; Why Does Single-Payer "Work" in Europe? Proponents of the single-payer healthcare idea who tout the idea such a system will…

• China's Zombie Factories Provide Illusion of Work and Prosperity; Rebalancing Chinese Style

  Published 29 December 2014 | viewed 0 times

  China has zombie malls and even zombie cities, so zombie factories can hardly be a surprise. And as the malinvestments pile up, so do unrealized…