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A Different Kind of Oil Peak
In 1956, a geophysicist named Marion King Hubbert hypothesized that all rates of oil production follow a bell-shaped curve and will eventually peak and decline. Since then, “peak oil theory” has been the basis of much...
Read MoreWhat is Financial Repression?
With government debt soaring worldwide this year, what are the implications for savers and investors in the post-virus world? The global economic shutdown ordered to reduce transmission of the COVID-19 virus has dramatically reduced...
Read MoreThe 2010's Have Been Amazing
Over the recent holidays I was intrigued to hear an air of pessimism from a young relative who questioned bringing children into a world such as exists currently. This response is certainly not new throughout world history, yet each...
Read MoreBirth Rates and Immigration
Demographics have a much larger impact upon economic dynamism than the public and most politicians seem to understand. Historically, as nations become more developed the birth rate declines. This seems to be immutable as it crosses...
Read MoreClimate Change and the U.S. Economy
The fourth National Climate Assessment was released by the U.S. government on November 23, 2018. The Atlantic magazine, and other media, summarized the report by suggesting economic doom is inevitable. Dr. Steven Koonin wrote a...
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Socialism? Really?
A study in October 2017 by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation found more Millennials in the U.S. would prefer to live in a socialist country (44%) than in a capitalist country (42%). The significance of this finding cannot be...
Read MoreFebruary 2018-- Special Notice for CDCR Retirees
At Valley Financial Services, we recently received a call from an individual who retired from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation more than ten years ago. The person called about a letter received from CalPERS...
Read MoreBetter or Worse?
Regardless of your political leanings, there seems to be agreement that things in this world are getting worse. “If it bleeds, it leads” say the media titans. Consequently, we are bombarded by news reports showing the world...
Read MoreJanuary 2017-- Poverty is Going Extinct!
I came across a fascinating article recently by Johan Norberg writing in the December 2016 issue of the Spiked Review. In it he makes the extraordinary claim, "poverty is going extinct." For purposes of clarity, the income definition...
Read MoreFilial Responsibility Laws
Imagine your parents outliving their money. A terrible thought, right? Should this occur, there will be one of two outcomes. Either your parents will move in with you (or someone else), or your parents will become indigent. Hopefully,...
Read MoreBrexit—What are the Implications?
So far only one client has called with concerns about Friday’s market decline (June 24, 2016) following the United Kingdom’s vote to exit the European Union (EU)—also known as Brexit (British Exit). I have received...
Read MoreThe Genius of Liberated People
On May 21, 2016 the Wall Street Journal published an article called “How the West (and the Rest) Got Rich” written by Dr. Deirdre McCloskey, distinguished professor emerita of economics, history, English and communication...
Read MoreMarch 2016-- Corporate Tax Rates
What follows is from a speech on March 1, 2016 at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business by Larry Summers, Harvard economist and former U.S. Treasury Secretary during Bill Clinton's administration: "With respect to private...
Read MoreNovember 2015-- What is the Forecast?
History tells us March 9, 2009 was the end of a severe bear market that saw nearly every asset class tumble by close to 50%. What began in October 2007 amidst a profound slide in real estate values became a free fall in September 2008...
Read MoreSpring 2015-- Peak Oil Demand?
Conventional wisdom proclaims the demand for, and the price of, oil will inevitably rise in the coming decades. Surely worldwide population growth and an exploding middle class among the developing nations will be the driving forces...
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