Forbes: Blame Tyrannical Rule For Iran's Dismal Economy, Says Shah-In-Waiting

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Over the past few months, increasing numbers of Iranians have taken to the streets to demonstrate. Initially, the protests were over missing bank deposits, but recently the concerns of the participants have included worries about high inflation, lack of jobs, and unpaid wages. As so often happens, the mass protests seem to have been prompted by lack of economic fundamentals.

What, if anything, can be done about the dire economic situation?  To gain some insight, I spoke with the former Shah's son Reza Pahlavi, who is a possible Shah-In-Waiting for a new regime in the country, about the plight of Iran and the Iranian people. Read more here.

Reza Pahlavi

Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0,

 via Wikimedia Commons

Featured in How Stuff Works: Bitcoin Futures Trading Isn't Blowing Up — Yet

In a surprising move in November 2017, the U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) gave its blessing for bitcoin futures to be traded on two major U.S.-based exchanges: the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and the CBOE Global Markets Exchange. And just a few short weeks later, on Dec. 11, bitcoin futures trading opened for business, with investors making bets on the future price of the controversial cryptocurrency alongside conventional commodities like oil, corn and pork bellies. Read more here.

U.S. News: When Are Small Companies Worth Your Investment?

By SIMON CONSTABLE

Don’t you love it when the little guy wins against the giant? It goes back thousands of years to the biblical story of David, the boy who used a slingshot to defeat the Philistine giant Goliath.

The stock market may be about to do similar, with small-capitalization stocks outperforming large-cap stocks. Read more here.

WSJ: What Is Alternative Risk Premium?

By SIMON CONSTABLE
It used to be an obscure technical term: alternative risk premium. But you are going to hear a lot more about it soon. Read more here.

WSJ: Why Fund-Flow Stats Aren’t the Indicator They Used to Be

By SIMON CONSTABLE 

Smart investors used to be able to identify market tops and bottoms by watching the weekly flows of money into and out of mutual funds. Then came ETFs and everything changed. Read more here.

Julie Jason: Keeping tabs on economic trends

If you are an investor, do you watch economic trends? Some economists believe that being aware of economic trends gives investors an edge. I spoke with economist Simon Constable a few weeks ago to discern how his work might provide some insights and guidance to today’s investors. Constable is co-author of “The Wall Street Journal Guide to the 50 Economic Indicators That Really Matter: From Big Macs to ‘Zombie Banks,’ the Indicators Smart Investors Watch to Beat the Market.” Read more here.

PJ Media: How Income Taxes Increase Economic Inequality

By SIMON CONSTABLE

New research suggests that some politicians may have been barking up the wrong tree when it comes to battling income inequality.

Take for instance, Bernie Sanders, the former left-wing candidate for U.S. president who in 2015 said that a 90 percent top income tax rate on the wealthy would not be too high. His idea was to reduce income inequality and he cited the eye-watering tax rates as the right way to do it. Plenty in the media rushed to his defense.

The problem is that the evidence from the real world doesn’t support such assertions. Read more here.