Category: Recessions

What if This Time is Different?

What if This Time is Different?What if, before the world ever heard of coronavirus, every valuation multiple suggested the U.S. stock market was one of the most expensive in history? What if these valuations assumed – and required – continued economic growth, robust increases in company earnings, and sustained and substantial stock buybacks? What if […]

The Bernanke Legacy

With Ben Bernanke’s exit as Chairman of the Federal Reserve, every political physician will opine on his legacy.

There is No Tradeoff Between Inflation and Unemployment

Anyone reading the regular Federal Open Market Committee press releases can easily envision Chairman Yellen and the Federal Reserve team at the economic controls, carefully adjusting the economy’s price level and employment numbers.

Why the Wealth Effect Doesn’t Work

Across all financial media, between both political parties, and among most mainstream economists, the “wealth effect” is noted, promoted, and touted.

Our Economic Views

We are economic thought leaders following the free-market oriented Austrian economics, whereas most advisors follow Keynsian Economics and tout the merits of money printing and government intervention. Global central banks have printed tens of trillions of dollars out of thin air as global debts exploded. Yet most advisory firms act like this is just another “normal” investment environment and allocate capital the way they’ve always done so. In our opinion, this is not a normal environment and requires an acute understanding that the pillars of the world are now built on a mirage of bubbles with serious consequences for growing and protecting wealth.

In an attempt to offset continued economic weakness, governments are reacting with spending, debt issuance, and intervention in the economy on a scale without precedent in modern history. Although these policies may buy time, they cannot solve the underlying issues. Ultimately, governments will repay debt with their last remaining option – printing more money. As money floods the system, this will drive inflation higher despite continued weakness in the economy.

Under these circumstances, the current conventional model of a static bond and stock mix will fail. It will fail investors in realizing reasonable returns. It will fail investors in preserving their purchasing power after inflation. And it will fail investors in protecting their capital and securing their retirement.

The conventional experts do not foresee such risks. But these same experts missed the prior 2000 tech bubble and 2008 housing and stock bubble.  Today they are missing the bubble in government debt and the ramifications of unbridled money creation. WindRock understands these issues and positions clients to not only minimize their risk associated with these dangers, but to profit from them.