What Does Michael Burry Say About Today’s Economy and Investment Scene?

Michael Burry was the hero of Michael Lewis’s book The Big Short, about the Crash of 2008, and also the hero of the popular film of the same name.

Tim Carney recently highlighted how Iowa’s important early role in the Republican primaries has produced “a gravitational pull to pander” on the Renewable Fuel Standard. Its ethanol mandate is “an indefensible subsidy” to Iowans from others’ transportation and grocery budgets for, at best, highly questionable environmental benefits.

Venezuela is currently going through its worst crisis in history, replete with an endless list of interesting problems. Foremost among these are severe shortages in even the most basic of necessities. Economists have used these shortages as textbook examples to illustrate the pernicious effects of price controls.

[Greg Morin is the CEO and owner of Seachem Laboratories Inc. Greg is a chemist, entrepreneur, writer/blogger on a host of libertarian topics, and a Mises Institute Society Member.]

THE AUSTRIAN: How did you first discover the Mises Institute?

On Wednesday December 16, 2015, Federal Reserve Bank policymakers raised the federal funds rate target by 0.25 percent to 0.5 percent for the first time since December 2008. There is the possibility that the target could be lifted gradually to 1.25 percent by December next year.

Philip Mirowski, known for his book More Heat than Light: Economics as Social Physics, Physics as Nature’s Economics in which he criticizes neoclassical economics for adopting methods from the natural sciences, recently published a book on neoliberalism and the economics profession during the financial crisis.

Publishing new research is a vital part of advancing Austrian economics and building the case for a liberal society. That’s why, in addition to writing for the Mises Wire, most of its contributors also do academic work intended to engage the mainstream in economics and add to the knowledge developed by previous generations. It’s this work that provides a foundation for the kind of public writing and analysis we do on this blog.

With more financing in place, the world’s tallest skyscraper is moving forward.

Recent media reports indicate that the final segment of financing has been obtained for the $1.2 billion Jeddah Tower project in Saudi Arabia. This is the financing that would be necessary to bring the project to record heights. Media reports also show that the structure has risen to more than seventy-five meters (246 feet) and construction is proceeding at an uninterrupted pace.