Slope of Hope Blog Posts

Slope initially began as a blog, so this is where most of the website’s content resides. Here we have tens of thousands of posts dating back over a decade. These are listed in reverse chronological order. Click on any category icon below to see posts tagged with that particular subject, or click on a word in the category cloud on the right side of the screen for more specific choices.

Economix

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I just finished reading Economix: How Our Economy Works (and Doesn’t Work), in Words and Pictures and absolutely loved it. Yeah, yeah, it’s a comic book (oh, sorry, “graphic novel”) but it’s a fantastic way to learn about the history of economics. Whether you have a kid whom you’d like to learn about this stuff, or if you’d like to learn more yourself (in a fun way), I highly recommend it. It’s sort of what my own Panic Prosperity and Progress would be like if I could manage to draw well!

The Increasing Cracks In The Silicon Valley Mirror

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There’s probably no other place more enthralled with its own state of being today than Silicon Valley. Now probably more than ever the tech capital just might be believing their own hype more now, than in the “glory days” of the 90’s.

Today the belief is so strong, so internalized that the coding kingdom is where the new rulers of the universe reside, that it would make the Kadashians think about trying to keep up with the “Coders.” (does anyone need anymore proof than the new Kim Kadashian app?)

The problem with mirrors is just that – they’re mirrors. And unless you take your gaze away from it and look around once in a while, what happens more times than not is you miss all that’s happening around you. Till one day you either walked smack dab into a wall, or worse – never left the couch as the city around you fell into chaos.

This is where I believe a great many in the “disruptive” world are going to find themselves. No, not them disrupting – but the world they now inhabit is about to be – disrupted. i.e., The valuations, the deals, the whatever that were once taken for granted as a “never-ending story” is seemingly not only coming to an end. That end – might already have taken place. (more…)

The Fed’s Black Swan

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This CNBC article starts off with the usual pablum about interest rates and how the Fed may decide to hold off beyond next spring given the lack of inflation expectations and effects in the economy. It’s brain melting mainstream media Pap 101.

Fed now expected to stay lower for a lot longer

Really? Ya think? As if its ears were burning here comes my favorite US market related macro chart…

sp500
Mark-up of a chart created at SlopeCharts

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