The thirst for yield has compressed spreads across high grade to high yield bonds, and bid up the prices of sovereigns and loans and just about any security that threatens to pay an income stream. Yield junkies a.k.a investors have even bought unrated, first loss securities, paying an uncertain coupon and with infinite duration, a.k.a

The policies that Japan has embraced in an effort to revive its flagging economy are indeed desperate measures. To be clear, I believe that they will work in at least boosting asset prices and reviving the economy for a period of time. The long run prognosis is not so good.

  The credit infused growth of the last twenty years has allowed many an inefficiency to persist undetected or un-addressed. The EUR is one such inefficiency. Unless national factor prices are flexible or factor productivities converge between countries in the Eurozone, a single currency must impede market clearing leading to inefficient allocation of resources leading

The trouble with gold is that it has long derived its value as an alternative  to fiat currencies and paper assets whose values are derived from collective trust or faith and little else.  Gold has very little use except as a supply constrained store of value. As trust and faith are restored in paper assets,