Tag Archives: inflation

The State of the Economy – 2020 and Beyond

Past and future predictions Last year I predicted rough waters for 2020’s economy, and suggested 4 investments to protect against uncertainty. How did those suggestions work out so far? National real estate prices are +7% from last year. Year to date my silver stocks (WPM.TO) is +79%. Major telco stocks are down by about -3%. XCB.TO, an ETF… Read More »

How I obtained a negative interest rate mortgage

Why inflation matters U.S. government bonds in 1990 were paying investors 8% a year. That sounds amazing! Especially for a low risk investment. 🙂 But not everyone was buying them. Why? Because investment returns don’t tell the whole story. The inflation rate that year was 5.4%. That means the real rate of return on those bonds was only… Read More »

The Ugly Truth About Inflation

Why Do Governments Target 2% Inflation? The Bank of Canada maintains an inflation rate target of 2%. The official websites of Central Banks in the U.S., in Europe, and in Japan all appear to target this magical number when deciding how to conduct their monetary policies. But why? Inflation isn’t necessarily a good thing. There are ways to grow the economy and generate… Read More »