Archives for Macro - Page 2
Infrastructure spending was a hot topic during the US election campaign. It is typically seen as a valid way to boost economic growth while providing real benefits to the people. However, government spending is always a zero-sum game. Anything the government spends must be taken from the private sector economy.…
We are increasingly hearing from a variety of commentators that peak oil consumption is just around the corner. A few days ago, Royal Dutch Shell Plc stated that it expected demand to peak in the next 5 to 15 years. Even OPEC has a scenario whereby oil consumption will peak…
Economic growth was low or non-existent for millennia, until the start of the industrial revolution in the late eighteenth century. Technological advances and abundant, cheap energy soon changed that. Growth soared, as did energy consumption and population. This growth slowed around the turn of the century, and took a further…
It is usually accepted that the first Persian Empire has been the greatest of all time. But it was destroyed by Alexander the Great (a most remarkable Macedonian) in 330BC, after only 200 years as the dominant empire. Nonetheless, it introduced many new standards, and did return for part two.…
“Australia is a lucky country run mainly by second rate people who share its luck. It lives on other people’s ideas, and, although its ordinary people are adaptable, most of its leaders (in all fields) so lack curiosity about the events that surround them that they are often taken by…
After writing about how technology will ultimately defeat globalism a couple of weeks back, here is evidence that it is happening now. I argued that technology, such as advanced robots, would see manufacturing returning to the end market. Thus US companies would manufacture in the US, not in, for example,…