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.

Elevating Markets: A Signal of Reviving Bank Lending?

Earlier this week Bill Gross who runs Pimco’s bond fund made a conditional case for investing in high-yielding bonds, even though on first cut the yield benefit appears insufficient to justify the extra risk. Put bluntly, he suggests that investing in...

Profit Taking in Metals After Eight Consecutive Weeks of Rising Prices

The rise in the gold price ran into profit-taking on Wednesday. Having raised $160 to $1345 some short-term profit taking is only to be expected, and silver followed suit.

Gold Moves Above Key Trading Level

It transpired last week that of the 43-odd tonnes per annum the Bundesbank expects to be returned from the New York Fed only 5 tonnes arrived in 2013. Furthermore, of the 373.7 tonnes stored with the Banque de France only 32 tonnes was delivered.

GoldMoney's Alasdair Macleod Interviews Jim Puplava on Markets, Economy, and Gold

Jim Puplava comments on what he sees as the bright spots within the American economy and the effects of growth in domestic energy markets.

Europe Is Drowning Under Too Much Government

Its banks are being increasingly propped up by the U.S.

The Christmas and New Year's break, when Europe shuts down and stops thinking, is now well and truly over, and we are reawakening to the same old problems: Greece, Spain, Cyprus, Portugal, Italy, France…all with their hands out for money from Germany, Holland, Finland, and Austria.

The Impossibility of Economic Calculation in a Fiat World

The purpose of keeping accurate accounts is to quantify net worth at any given point in time – as well as the change from a prior date. It goes without saying that the measure used, money, should be constant if comparisons over time are to mean anything.

2013 Outlook

I have not faced the prospect of a new year with so much trepidation as when I contemplate what is in store for 2013. Systemic risks abound, which of themselves are not the main story, only milestones on the road to final currency destruction, unless governments somehow regain their senses.

The Value of the Dollar

We start with the definition of value. According to the glossary of von Mises’ Human Action, value is “always relative, subjective and human, never absolute, objective or divine”. It is reflected in human conduct, placing value in the same subjective category as fairness and morality.

The Coming Silver Price Eruption

There was a degree of predictability about the knockdown in gold and silver at the US futures market (Comex) last Wednesday. The reason is that the Commercials (together the producers, processers, fabricators, bullion banks and swap dealers) have large short positions, so they have a vested interest in lower prices.

Europe Is Now Sinking Fast

The Good are Being Dragged Down by the Bad

With the Eurozone having being displaced from the financial headlines by the American presidential election, you might have briefly thought that its problems had gone away. They haven’t.

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