Author: John Ransom

Despite the prognostications of those who have been saying since 2009 that the economy is “finally” on the mend, there is very little data to support the contention. Quite the contrary: There is a lot of data to support the idea that we have an economy that has had no development in either plot or […]

Bring along lots of dry statistics — it’s the very best sauce a humorous book can have. Ingeniously used, they just make a reader smack their chops in gratitude. – Mark Twain   If you were betting on a hike in interest rates by the Fed this year, so far— as in years past —you’ve […]

In Wall Street parlance they call it a “dead cat bounce”. That’s when a stock that is getting killed briefly pops back up giving investors hope that the cat really isn’t dead, but resurrected. And that hope makes investors do the worst of all possible things: Bet more money on a stock that’s already dead. […]

The good news is that unemployment is going to continue to decline, says a new research note from investment house Goldman Sachs. The bad news is that doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily have a job as the joblessness rate continues to decline. “The unemployment rate is falling,” reports IBT,“but that traditional sign of health for the […]

The worm has turned for China and the U.S. But unfortunately it’s because both countries are rotten apples, full of worms. Remember when China was lecturing Obama about having greater fiscal discipline? Sure you do: It’s memorable in popular culture because Saturday Night Live did a hilarious, mostly true sketch about China’s then-president Hu Jintao […]

I always thought it was Skynet that was going to run the Apocalypse. Or perhaps an Atari computer system named Joshua that just wanted to play chess with its floppy disks. Or maybe Skynet was just a beginning. Because it turns out that it’s something far more sinister, far more evil will take us down. […]

In 2011, masochistic Liberals embraced China as the model empire from which the United States could learn much. They were organized, we heard. They could manage change better then the West, we were told. They got things done, it was said. “Perfect order and global governance are not realistic expectations,” George Soros told a group […]

I interrupt the reality TV shows that are the Republican GOP Presidential Race and, on alternate days, the Barack Obama Show or Hillary’s Hilarious Magical Email Mystery Tour, for this public service announcement: Buried under the Jeb Bush rhetoric is a lot of big government covered up by a thousand point of light. As much […]

This was the year that, finally, mercifully, monetary policy was supposed to normalize. At least that’s what Janet Yellen was telegraphing to the markets at the beginning of the year. The speculation back then was the economy was so healthy, so full of jobs, that maybe in June, certainly in September, the Federal Reserve Bank’s […]

Since monetary policy can’t ensure a growing economy and president Obama acts like he doesn’t consider a healthy economy even necessary, the only thing left to do is what they should have done long ago: Get rid of the regulatory burden that’s keeping the brakes on the economy. It will do more than just help […]

The non-event this week of whether the Fed will or won’t raise interest rates, symbolically, metaphorically, or categorically, will make headlines whether we like it or not. And, it will make headlines whether it matters or not in the long run to the market and the economy. That’s just the nature of the news, the […]

On the anniversary of 9/11, an attacked aimed at the financial infrastructure of the country, it’s important that we don’t forget the fight going on in Iraq. It’s the single biggest threat to the U.S. economy, as I mentioned to David Williams on our daily webinar at RansomNotes.tv. Turns out that maybe, given what happened […]

A new survey of Harvard business alumni is exhibit Number One on why our ruling elite just can’t manage to understand the gravity of the crisis that this country is facing. The study of 2,716 Harvard Business School graduates, some of the most powerful people in the U.S economy, shows that by a large margin […]

Last week the government bragged about how the deficit would be much smaller this year than anticipated. “In a report providing political ammunition to both parties,” reported the Associated Press,“Congress’ official budget analyst projected Tuesday that this year’s federal deficit will drop to $426 billion, the lowest shortfall of Barack Obama’s presidency.” So it stands […]

Fear, at least the fear measured by the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX), is in high feather right now on Wall Street. And that’s probably good for you, as David Williams and I discussed on the most recent RansomNotes.tv. “Perhaps the most widely cited gauge of volatility is the CBOE Volatility Index VIX, which saw the […]

The thinking behind the Fed rate hike theory has said that this is the year that the Fed FINALLY raises interest rates because everyone who wants to work now has a job.  With the labor force getting tighter, economists reasoned, eventually inflation would follow. But when the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the August […]