Charles Hugh Smith's Contributions

Those who follow the mainstream media’s “all Federal Reserve, all the time” coverage of financial news naturally conclude that Senator Chuck Schumer neatly summarized reality last year when he declared that the Federal Reserve “is the only game in town.”

Purchasing power and exposure to real costs are more realistic measures of inflation than the consumer price index.

People are confused about the Fed, and I think it would be better if everybody had a clear understanding of what the Federal Reserve is and what it is not.

Central-planning manipulation "works" by closing all the safety valves of market feedback, creating a dangerous but politically appealing illusion of stability and "growth."

The more successful participants will naturally garner more profit and premium, leaving less for those who don't control assets and skills that carry high premiums in the marketplace.

Financial promises made under different conditions and assumptions are null and void, period.

Few investment/finance topics spark as many strong emotions as gold, for its adherents and detractors are equally committed to their views, and equally unlikely to switch camps.

Absolutely nothing within the Status Quo can possibly be truly reformed until the default option of doing nothing will guarantee collapse.

We cannot understand our fundamental financial problems if we do not understand the proper use of credit. Credit has a key role in capitalism; credit-starved economies are underdeveloped economies...

The global economy has only experienced three major transformations in the past 1,000 years, and arguably, we are living through the fourth. Those who understand the nature of this transition and position themselves intelligently will be disproportionately better off.

If we shed our fixation with the Fed and look at global supply and demand, we get a clearer understanding of the tailwinds driving the U.S. dollar higher.

The Federal government and Federal Reserve are trying to inflate another housing bubble to save the "too big to fail" banks from a richly deserved day of reckoning.

...imagine my delight when correspondent Paul Wegzyn gifted me with $100 trillion. Wow--I'm a trillionaire! Since Paul was visiting the San Francisco Bay Area, he presented me with my $100 trillion bill in person. Paul is holding up another form of paper money, a $100 Federal Reserve note

Though much has been written about the popping of the housing bubble in the U.S. and Ireland, remarkably little has been written about the many housing bubbles that remain unpopped.

Longtime readers know I have repeatedly explained why healthcare, i.e. sickcare, will bankrupt the nation.

At some point, absorbing more information about the unsustainability of modern society yields diminishing returns. It becomes emotionally draining and thus counterproductive.

The Federal Reserve's policy of targeting unemployment is based on a curious faith that low interest rates and lots of liquidity sloshing around the bank system will magically lead employers to hire more workers.

The road to debt-serfdom is paved by the banks and enforced by the Central State.If there is any point that is lost on ideologues, Progressive and Conservative alike...

Rather than attempt to predict the unpredictable – that is, specific events and price levels – let’s look instead for key dynamics that will play out over the next two to three years.

The Keynesian model is a Cargo Cult, mired in a distant, romanticized past where Central Planning, intervention and manipulation were solutions rather than the root of the economy's fatal disease.