?A central bank is best that governs least, but is prepared to govern radically when called upon,? said 19th century man of letters, Walter Bagehot, an early editor of The Economist
?Banks have turned into gigantic gambling institutions. You never know what you own. I wouldn't touch them if you pointed a gun to my head,? said legendary hedge fund manager Bill Fleckenstein on Hedge Fund Radio. Click on my "Podcast" page above to hear the interview.
'There is one peculiarity about mass psychology in that when you are in a bubble, you can't see it. Bubbles are invisible when you are inside the bubble,' said the charming Jim Dines, of The Dines Letter.
'Total credit market debt in the world has gone from $80 trillion to $200 trillion in the last ten years, an 11% annual rate, while GDP has grown by 4%. This can't continue. It's a simple matter of arithmetic,' said Kyle Bass, of hedge fund Hayman Partners.
?We?ll still operating off of Jackson Hole, 2011 when Ben Bernanke delivered his famous speech preceding quantitative easing,? said foreign exchange trader, Ira Harris.
?You can reduce discretionary spending down to zero and it won?t have much impact on our fiscal problems because it?s such a small proportion of the total,? said Ben Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve.
'Changes in consumption stemming from per capita income rises from $1,000 a year to $5,000, as you are seeing in India, or $5,000 to $10,000, as you are seeing in China, is a very different kind of consumption. It is much more commodities heavy, it is food heavy, it draws a lot more on water supplies,' said Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group, an New York Based think tank.
Favorite headline of the day: ?Greece Offers to Pay Back Debt With Giant Horse.?
?People are investing with a rear view mirror. Last year, you had people legitimately scared out of the market. Unfortunately, you are losing a generation of investors at a time when they ?out to be thinking about buying high quality stocks,? said Hersh Cohen of Clearbridge Advisors.
?The next big story in credit is going to come from Asia and that will be in Japan,? said Tres Knippa of Kenai Capital Management.
