Mauldin Newsletters

A Primer on the Euro Breakup

2012-02-28T04:11:13+00:00

It's one thing to say that peripheral eurozone countries are better off leaving the euro, but how, exactly? And how severe can we expect the consequences to be, not only for those nations but also for the entire eurozone – and for the rest of us, worldwide? To minimize fallout from the event(s), it would be helpful to have a solid foundation, based on an historical understanding of similar events, on which we could build a reasonable set of expectations. In the following piece, Jonathan...

Tax That Other Guy

2012-02-25T12:04:19+00:00

Don't Tax You, Don't Tax Me Tax that Man Behind the Tree! – Senator Russell Long, Democrat Louisiana (1918-2003) Last week's letter on taxes drew more response than any letter I have written in years. Questions that were raised simply beg for an answer, and some of the replies were very thoughtful, well-written suggestions for alternatives. This week I am going to do something I can't ever...

The State of the World: A Framework

2012-02-23T14:43:19+00:00

Companies issue state of the enterprise addresses, and presidents issue state of the union addresses ... but you've got to be pretty confident to address the state of the world. Luckily for us, Stratfor founder and CEO George Friedman is just that confident – and it's well-deserved. George is the expert in geopolitics, and his company is the best source out there for geopolitical analysis. Thus, his recent article, "The State of the World: A Framework," is well worth a thorough read. It...

Ben Graham’s Curse on Gold

2012-02-20T23:48:16+00:00

This week we have a shorter Outside the Box, from my friend David Galland at Casey Research, with an interesting insight into why gold can be considered as a poor investment by some rather influential investors (like Warren Buffett) while others may see it as the core of a diversified portfolio. As usual when I use someone's material for an OTB, I include a link at the end, if you want to look deeper. The rather large team at Casey Research specializes in gold, natural...

The Cancer of Debt and Deficits

2012-02-18T15:14:47+00:00

We are coming to the point in the United States when even the US government will no longer be able to borrow at very low long-term rates. That point is a few years off, and we have time to change paths; but as I have shown in previous letters, the longer we wait to get the deficit under control, the fewer choices we have and the more painful they are. NO country can run deficits the size we are currently running, along with unfunded deficits over four times the size of the economy...

Face the Music

2012-02-14T02:13:50+00:00

No one does it like Kate Welling – we're talking financial-world interviews here, "interrogatory journalism," as Kate would put it – and her interview of Dr. Lacy Hunt, which you're about to read, is in my opinion one of the best she's ever done, and the best I've seen with Lacy. Kate's interviews, which she publishes in welling@weeden, normally get seen only by the institutional investors and other market pros who are her clients; but she has kindly allowed me to share this one, in which...

The Answer We Don’t Want to Know

2012-02-11T15:57:23+00:00

2012 will be the 11th time in my short life that I will be able to participate in the choosing of a president of the United States. While it may just be me, it seems like each and every election is cast as the most important election of our time and a defining moment for the American Experiment. The future of the Republic was being weighed in the balance, and only the proper outcome (which would of course be the election of the candidate you supported) would assure its survival....

American Gridlock, Part 2

2012-02-07T01:05:07+00:00

Today we dive into Part 2 of Woody Brock’s notes from his new book, American Gridlock (www.amazon.com/gridlock). He looks at what we can do in the future to prevent another crisis like we had in 2008, why we need to change, how we bargain with China (will be very controversial, in China at least!), what capitalism really is, and then he addresses the thorny issue of what it means to distribute wealth fairly. What can be said to those concerned with the top 1% of the population owning a grossly...

Who Took My Easy Button?

2012-02-04T17:12:13+00:00

Everyone knows by now that the US is facing difficult choices. Depending on what assumptions you use, the unfunded liabilities of Social Security and Medicare are between $50 and $80 trillion and rising. It really doesn't matter, as there is no way that much money can be found, given the current system, even under the best of assumptions. Things not only must change, they will change. Either we will make the difficult choices or those changes will be forced by the market. And the...

American Gridlock

2012-01-31T01:18:15+00:00

How do we resolve the current political gridlock over healthcare, the economy, and a myriad of other problems? It is clear that there are no easy solutions, and putting off making choices will just make the ultimate cost we pay that much more expensive. This week for our Outside the Box we deal with just this question, in a piece from a master of logic and reasoning and one of my favorite writers. I absorb everything I can get my hands on from Dr. Woody Brock. He has written...