Bankism has replaced capitalism as the prevailing economic system throughout much of the world. In capitalism, businesses rise and fall on their own merits. No business is too big to fail. In bankism, too-big-to-fail banks don’t rise and fall on their own merits. They are saved by governments that in turn force the public to pay for banks’ mistakes by...
Trendpost
Despite public rhetoric, bankism will grow in 2015 because the financial system is unstable and QE is not over. For solvency and reputational reasons, both central and private banks need, and will collaborate on, low rates for liquidity and to inflate asset prices. This will keep bond and stock prices propped up for the first half of 2015. In the...
Deflation or depression?
For generations, in addition to the risks of recession and unemployment, the common economic pain inflicted upon the general public throughout the free world was inflation. Rising prices routinely outpaced rising wages. It cost more to buy less. As the post-World-War-II era song goes: Now listen Mr. President, all you Congressmen too, you got me all frustrated and I don’t know...
Trendpost
The formula is a simple one: Too much product is flooding the global marketplace and there’s a chronic shortage of people with enough money to buy those products. Price wars will mark a new age of retail marketing. Who will be the winners and losers? And even as commodity prices decline in many sectors, the cost of living will continue...
New age for new energy
The coming year will see the greatest diversification of energy sources yet as the trend away from fossil fuels accelerates — and energy alternatives on multiple levels dominate. Long relegated to theory, political rhetoric or wishful thinking, new energy is becoming mainstream. These new forms of energy progressively will replace fossil fuels in the same way the refrigerator replaced the...
Trendpost
US shale oil and gas production will continue to lead the petroleum industry, but engineers and investors will closely watch delivery rates and decline curves. Elsewhere, new processes will add value to coal, but won’t solve its essential problem: It’s inherently dirty. The nuclear power industry will reintroduce itself across the world through safer, cleaner fuels and reactors. And the...
Local news may never be the same
Small and mid-size print/digital news operations — the lifeblood of community and regional news coverage in the US and across the globe — will turn a corner in 2015, making a wobbly but complete landing in the new digital frontier. In 2014, the major chains completed a series of high profile maneuvers that saw them separate their publishing assets from...
Trendpost
In the year ahead, the era of selfie journalism fully takes root. As print-driven journalism fades, robust coverage of communities and the issues that drive life in those areas, suffers. General news coverage provided by dominant media outlets fades. And that encourages upstart media outlets to fill the coverage gaps – and local advertising gaps, too. Family-owned operations, satisfied with...
Aging well and creatively
By some estimates, there’s a $3 trillion-plus market in the US alone waiting to be tapped. Who’s the target: Aging boomers and senior citizens. As we enter 2015, the mystery continues. Why hasn’t a new and more inspiring generation of products and services for older people worldwide been created, marketed and already raking in the big bucks? As a Bloomberg...
Trendpost
In 2015, a more progressive and robust attempt to service the aging population with a new generation of products and services will emerge. They will cover a wide range, including: drawing more boomers and seniors to dynamic small and medium size cities, where creative activities abound within walking distance; natural health products that enhance overall quality of life; fitness programs...