The Looting Machine Called Capitalism
Paul Craig Roberts
I have come to the conclusion that capitalism is successful primarily because it can impose the majority of the costs associated with its economic activities on outside parties and on the environment. In other words, capitalists make profits because their costs are externalized and born by others. In the US, society and the environment have to pick up the tab produced by capitalist activity.
After rising almost incessantly for the last few months (post-trump), The Conference Board's consumer confidence index dropped in April (though remains near decade-long highs) with a notable drop in 'expectations' (and business conditions weakening).
This is yet another 'soft' survey catching down to 'hard' data's reality.
The Dow is up over 200 points this morning on the heels of better than expected earnings for CAT and MCD (among others). This surge has erased all of the losses since March 21st (when the market tumbled after disappointing bank earnings).
The 'odd' action today is that amid this exuberant equity buying, VIX is jumping, back above 11.
Another day, another market record, this time in nice round numbers, as the Nasdaq hits new all time highs, rising above 6,000 for the first time ever ...
... driven by the familiar five tech giants Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, which together now account for over 10% of the total US market cap.
While it is unclear if the Chinese, tired of fighting regulations in Canada, are behind the latest jump in home prices, today Case-Shiller reported that its index of Top 20 cities rose at a 5.9% annual rate, the highest increase since July 2014, citing tight supply and growing housing demand.