Juggling Dynamite

Former Finance Minister of Greece Yanis Varoufakis was teaching economics at the University of Texas at Austin when he was elected to Greek parliament by a landslide vote in January 2015. In his book, And the Weak Suffer What They Must? Europe’s Crisis and America’s Economic Future, Varoufakis details how the European Central Bank, International Monetary Fund, and European Commission collectively ignored the warning signs of a financial crisis and instead choose to act on shortsighted interests. He also explains how the United States, a major player in Europe’s financial history, can help the financial crisis. Here is a direct audio link.

Want a strong, merit-based, evolving, vibrant economy that can expand and support a thriving middle class? Stop using government powers to enable a few to cheat and take unfair advantage at the expense of everyone else.

Columbia University Professor of Economics and Nobel Laureate Joseph Stiglitz discusses the problem of extreme income inequality in the United States and the negative economic impact of monetary policy. Here is a direct video link.

The 18 large US broker/dealers that make up the ‘XBD’ Index stumbled the past year, leading the broader S&P lower into February and with a lesser rebound since. Similar price action was noted in the fall of 2007…

When the broker/dealers’ stock prices lose “confidence” the SP500 isn’t far behind… pic.twitter.com/gtsE9Ay3yo

— Cory Venable CMT (@CoryLVenable) April 24, 2016