The Federal Reserve can lower interest rates to zero, or even–as the European Central Bank has done–into negative territory. But it can’t make lenders lend or would-be borrowers borrow if they don’t want to. And it certainly can’t make a shopper open their wallet and spend if they’re more inclined to save. Economist John Maynard...Read More

The Financial Times published a good piece this week on the boom in 1980s “classic cars.”  Yes, I put “classic cars” in quotation marks because, frankly, everything to come out of that decade is horrendously ugly and best forgotten. The FT writes: The 1980s, often recalled as fashion’s ugliest decade, is back in favour when...Read More

The Economist ran a piece over the weekend prodding German Chancellor Angela Merkel to “Build Some Bridges and Roads” as a way of jolting Germany’s slowing economy back into growth. My response:  Who’s going to be driving on them in another 10 years? Take a look at the following chart, which comes from the United...Read More

It’s a slow news day, and my post on investing in collectibles spurred an interesting StockTwits conversation about “nostalgia investing.” Worthless: Thoughts on Investing in Collectibles – Sizemore Insights http://stks.co/b0hVe $STUDY — Charles Sizemore (@CharlesSizemore) Jun. 27 at 09:01 AM @CharlesSizemore Funny last night and this morning going through my 4k baseball cards from the 50s...Read More

Here’s a little something to think about following Mother’s Day. I trot this chart out every few months to drive home an important point: Over the long term, China is destined to undergo a Japan-style demographic malaise.  It is unavoidable, and there is no policies the Chinese government can implement at this point to stop...Read More