By SIMON CONSTABLE
Virtual signaling by corporate executives may be causing the cost of housing to skyrocket. It is yet another example of the law of unintended consequences.
The case in point is the supersonic rally in the price of lumber over the last few months, which came despite the seemingly ample supply of trees. Read more here.
By SIMON CONSTABLE
Wall Street seems to have gone cold on gold exchange-traded funds.
ETF investors investors dumped the most volume of gold since 2013 over the six months through March 31. It was no small quantity. The total sold amounted to a whopping 307.8 metric tons worth $17.5 billion at recent prices, according to a recent report from industry group World Gold Council. Read more here.
By SIMON CONSTABLE
Better stock up on corn flakes while you can still afford them.
An exceptionally weak harvest in Brazil and a likely U.S. drought this year should propel corn prices even higher by the end of the year. Read more here.
By SIMON CONSTABLE
Cryptocurrencies could be damned if they do get government acceptance, and damned if they don’t. Read more here.
By SIMON CONSTABLE
Six of the ten worst towns or small cities to start a business are in the garden state, according to an April-dated report by financial website WalletHub, titled “2021’s Best and Worst Small Cities to Start a Business.” Read more here.
By SIMON CONSTABLE
Inflation. It looms in the closet of many national economies, waiting to burst out like some dreaded ghost. It has brought even economies as great as the United States to their knees; back in 1971, President Richard Nixon was forced to freeze all salaries and prices because of it. Since then, it hasn’t said boo for decades, rising at only about 2 percent annually in the US since the 1980s. COVID only kept it away even more—crushing the rate to nearly zero. Read more here.