Many of our blogs focus on government policy and actions. We may not always be as clear as we should be as to why we pay such close attention to government policy, making an assumption that this is clear to our readers – that government actions can materially affect the economy and financial assets. A … Continued

Political conditions in Libya appear to be deteriorating. The rest of the Middle East and North Africa continue to be buffeted by protests. President Obama warned Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi yesterday that the “US was outraged by the violence.” This is good old fashioned saber rattling, but it indicates an escalation of global tensions. Crude … Continued

This blog was written by Haleh Vaziri, Ph.D, a long time friend and confidante of Sigma’s President, Bob Bilkie. Haleh has a rich training in, and personal knowledge of, Middle Eastern politics and culture, which make her views of the current tumult in that region of the world particularly timely and valuable. * * * … Continued

I have been watching stock markets for the better part of 25 years. In my career, I have witnessed many global geo-political “surprises.” The impact on common stock prices has typically been negative as investors generally abhor uncertainty. Hence, I have been observing with wonderment at the direction of global stock prices – with the … Continued

The United Nations reported on November 4, 2010 “There had been tremendous advances all over the world since 1970, as indicated by the Human Development Index… .” This Index measures health, education, and income levels across the globe. Some may assert it is not a comprehensive measure of the well being of the world’s inhabitants, … Continued

Gold prices spiked this week, gaining over $50 per ounce in one trading day. In the absence of evidence of widespread, surging consumer prices, and with relative calm on the geo-political stage, the natural question to ask is, “What does this signal?”. Japan and China have intervened in currency markets this week with Japan trying … Continued

The burgeoning growth worldwide of unfunded liabilities has received a lot of press lately. Defense spending (future blog), pension liabilities and public sector salaries have been drawing the most ire from both sides of the aisle. Public debt concerns across the world have been much in focus, with the Greek debt crisis and public spending … Continued

The debate over Keynesian orthodoxy is raging. Most recently, in a NYT op-ed, Paul Krugman suggested we are in the beginning stages of The Third Depression. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/28/opinion/28krugman.html We do not fully subscribe to Krugman’s analysis for a number of reasons. First and foremost, the Keynes prescription to spend to spur aggregate demand assumes borrowing capacity … Continued

This discussion relates to our blog posting of May 26, 2010 about the unraveling social contract in Europe. Since that time, “austerity” has become the policy prescription of choice by the governing classes to fix the budgetary ills of Europe generally and Greece specifically. Elected officials, for the most part, do not like to impose … Continued

Market volatility is back in vogue. We were just beginning to find comfort in the calm when instability returned. It is often difficult to discern the differences between “noise” and true fundamental shifts that would warrant large price moves in the major stock indexes in a single day. A war in the Korea’s – that … Continued

The May 23, 2010 New York Times most emailed article was Europeans Fear Crisis Threatens Liberal Benefits http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/23/world/europe/23europe.html It was an eye-opening piece, clearly reflecting the shifting sands in the social safety net that defines most of Europe. There are implications for the United States and other similar economic systems, the repercussions of which portend … Continued