Tag Archives: debt

The unintended victims of higher interest rates

Who does higher interest rates hurt the most? The obvious answer is people who have variable rate mortgages. But there’s a group of people that are even more at risk, and are hurting more from the impact of higher interest rates. They are renters. Why renters? Because as the cost to borrow becomes more expensive, would-be buyers who… Read More »

Skin in the game | Dealing with asymmetric outcomes

The world is not fair Personal finance is like peanut butter. You can’t spread it too thin.😀 That’s why there are consequences for taking risks. But sometimes people can reap the rewards for their actions, but not accept any of the risks. Wall St. executives walk away with millions of dollars while their clients lose money. Pro war… Read More »

What you should know about negative real interest rates

How negative real rates distort everything Normally a mortgage is a liability. And bonds are a low risk, low return asset. However when real interest rates are negative you can throw these conventional concepts out the window. The graph below shows the difference between a government bond yield and inflation (CPI.) The economy experiences negative real rates when… Read More »

Island economics – Is the United States in trouble?

The US dollar fell last month and probably has further to drop. The US is facing massive stagflation pressures as it deals with rising prices, but no economic growth. This happened before in the 1970s. Here are 3 primary catalysts explaining why it’s happening again today. The US government butchered the pandemic response compared to other parts of the world… Read More »