Alasdair Macleod's Blog

Economist

Alasdair Macleod started his career as a stockbroker in 1970 on the London Stock Exchange. In those days, trainees learned everything: from making the tea, to corporate finance, to evaluating and dealing in equities and bonds. They learned rapidly through experience about things as diverse as mining shares and general economics. It was excellent training, and within nine years he had risen to become senior partner of his firm.

Subsequently, he held positions at director level in investment management, and worked as a mutual fund manager. Mr. Macleod also worked at a bank in Guernsey as an executive director.

For most of his 40 years in the finance industry, he has been de-mystifying macro-economic events for his investing clients. The accumulation of this experience has convinced him that unsound monetary policies are the most destructive weapon governments use against the common man. Accordingly, his mission is to educate and inform the public in layman’s terms what governments do with money and how to protect themselves from the consequences.

Green Shoots of a US Recovery?

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There is growing hope in some quarters that economic recovery is at last under way in the USA. Is this just an election-inspired pick-up in sentiment, now rapidly vanishing, or do we take it more seriously; and if it really is recovery, what are the inflationary consequences?

My Kind of Town (Chicago?)

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Quite a bit of media attention has been devoted recently to a working paper by two International Monetary Fund economists that re-examines the “Chicago Plan”. First put forward by University of Chicago economists in 1933, this proposal calls for the abolition of fractional reserve banking and the replacement of bank credit with government money in order to do away with credit-induced business cycles.

Gold Bullion Flowing from West to East

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Earlier this month Eric Sprott circulated a paper, co-authored by him, which concluded that Western central banks have considerably less physical gold than they claim.

Money Printing Is the Only Thing Keeping the System Afloat

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The first thing to note is that the Fed issues money because it deems it necessary. The hyperbolic trend increase in the quantity of money is a reflection of this necessity, implying that if the Fed’s money issuance is at a slower rate than required, then strains will appear in the financial system.

Why Germany Is Going to Exit the Eurozone

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Germany has no option left but to exit the Eurozone. This fact is becoming increasingly clear, especially to the German people themselves, who now fear remaining in the Eurozone (and having their remaining national savings syphoned away by their profligate neighbors) more than than the pain of leaving it.

The Growing Pressures Likely to Blow the Eurozone Apart

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There was yet another European Union summit at the end of June, which (like all the others) was little more than bluff. Read the official communiqué and you will discover that there were some fine words and intentions, but not a lot actually happened.

Abandoning Ship

The Eurozone Is Failing at an Accelerating Rate

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The ECB is meant to be independent of politics and political pressures. But the reality facing any central banker is that s/he cannot stand by and let politicians drown in their own mess. The politicians know this, and it's what is behind current attempts to move away from austerity towards Keynesian growth.

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