Stephen Johnston

Contributor since: 20 Feb 2011

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• Next Time Perhaps We Should Let The Market Set Interest Rates

  Published 06 February 2012 | viewed 0 times

  I thought perhaps I would indulge in a little gallows humor at the "sudden" discovery of the insolvency of western nations - after all it's…

• January 2012 Update: Can You Spare a Moment for the Real Economy? Water

  Published 30 January 2012 | viewed 0 times

  In my last briefing I began to discuss two of three trends I want to cover in detail over the course of 2012 - pension…

• January 2012 Update - Can You Spare a Moment for the Real Economy? Part 1

  Published 23 January 2012 | viewed 0 times

  Despite the undoubted, but cheap, appeal of adding to the chatter about which country is thought to be going bankrupt this week or which government…

• Trees, Meet the Forest

  Published 16 January 2012 | viewed 0 times

  Are we witnessing the end of a mercantilist, Keynesian financial system? Gustave Flaubert said "The future is the worst thing about the present." Gustave would…

• Leverage is Dead, Long Live Value Investing

  Published 19 December 2011 | viewed 0 times

  My purpose today is to leave you with some hopefully constructive ideas to mull over the holiday season. Most of all I want to give…

• Unexpected Risk of 2011...Counter-Party Risk

  Published 01 December 2011 | viewed 0 times

  "Never, ever take counterparty risk. It is the one risk you are almost never rewarded for taking." Joshua Brown summarizing a recent presentation by bond…

• Keynesian Wreckonomics World Tour 2011

  Published 01 November 2011 | viewed 0 times

  The causes of economic events, as opposed to the often more head-line grabbing symptoms, are frequently overlooked by the mainstream financial media. So while recent…

• Coming Soon to a Pension Plan Near You - Hobson's Choice

  Published 17 October 2011 | viewed 0 times

  A Hobson's choice is a free choice in which only one option is offered. As a person may refuse to take that option, the choice…

• Monthly Update - September 2011

  Published 12 September 2011 | viewed 0 times

  Some Thoughts Macro, Value & Austrian Haven't heard of EROEI? You can be forgiven if its not a topic that is on the tip of…

• Some Thoughts Macro, Value and Austrian

  Published 08 August 2011 | viewed 0 times

  Since the downgrade of the US does not come as a surprise to adherents of the Austrian School of Economics and the unraveling of government…

• Monthly Update - June 2011

  Published 05 July 2011 | viewed 0 times

  Some Thoughts Macro, Value and Austrian "Just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn't mean politics won't take an interest in you"…

• Some Thoughts Macro, Value and Austrian

  Published 23 May 2011 | viewed 0 times

  "Everyone wants to live at the expense of the state. They forget that the state lives at the expense of everyone" - Frederic Bastiat By…

• Wealthquake

  Published 28 April 2011 | viewed 0 times

  Complacent, comfortable and sitting on an economic fault line - that's what I see when I visualize the West. Over the next 20 years as…

• Demographics are Destiny

  Published 27 April 2011 | viewed 0 times

  The 19th century belonged to the UK, the 20th century belonged to the US and it appears that the 21st century may belong to China.…

• The Dying of Money

  Published 27 April 2011 | viewed 0 times

  Will Rogers famously quipped, "It is difficult to make predictions, especially about the future". Ignoring Mr. Rogers' sage advice I will attempt to make some…

• And They're Off...

  Published 26 April 2011 | viewed 0 times

  The race to the bottom in the foreign exchange markets appears to be beginning in earnest. According to one analyst over 25 countries have intervened…

• Standing in a Bucket Trying to Pull Yourself Up by the Handle

  Published 26 April 2011 | viewed 0 times

  Winston Churchill once said "that for a nation to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift…

• Some Thoughts Macro, Value and Austrian

  Published 18 April 2011 | viewed 0 times

  Allow me to begin with a generalization. While overly specific predictions about the future are bound to be incorrect perhaps it is possible to make…

• Some Thoughts Macro, Value and Austrian

  Published 15 March 2011 | viewed 0 times

  With the recent unrest in some of the world's most critical petroleum producing regions I thought I might spend some time on the topic of…

• ZIRP and the Law of Unintended Consequences...

  Published 22 February 2011 | viewed 0 times

  It is axiomatic that central banks can control interest rates or exchange rates - not both. As of late, they are falling over themselves to…