Plain Sense Economics

The Wall Street Journal reports that China is decreasing its holdings of  U.S. dollars
Fresh data suggest China is moderating its appetite for investing in U.S. securities, a trend that could mean lower flows of cheap capital from Beijing and a possible rise in borrowing costs across the American economy. An analysis of [...]

Was it Popeye’s friend, Wimpy, who kept asking for a hamburger on credit? Today’s credit markets are anything but robust, with reduced demand and supply for borrowed funds. Always eager to find obscure terms for modern dilemmas, economists refer to this condition as a liquidity trap. With a little prodding from Facebook friend and neighbor, [...]

I find that the older I get the more interested in history I become. Perhaps that’s because more events described in history texts are ones that I either experienced or knew about in contemporary times. Or, perhaps history is just comforting. Today we note some parallels with the European Debt/Monetary crisis and the early years [...]

Pretty exciting title for this post, huh?
I get little news snippets sent to me, via email, from the Wall Street Journal. Here’s one that arrived this morning.
The 10-year Treasury yield, the benchmark for U.S. consumer and corporate borrowing, rose to 4% for the first time since June.
The move extends a steady increase by Treasury yields, [...]