The New Money

I think the interviews with leading financial figures are one of the strong points of Barron's. I have read many of these interviews and I always gain a great deal of insight into business. Sometimes, I think it might be better to move away from some of the traditional courses in business school toward an education that focuses on the study of history, economics, technology, and the detailed analysis put forth by those who manage money on Wall Street.

This is another example of a great Barron's interview:

Strauss, Lawrence C., 2010. Enjoy the good times while they last. Barron's, Nov. 6.

Scott Minerd, CIO of Guggenheim Partners, has an interesting, historical-based perspective on what the future holds in terms the the US economy and investing.

Overall, Mr. Minerd sees short-term gains and long- term trouble as the following passage indicates:

"Well, in the near term, with so much liquidity available, asset prices will rise for a number of categories, particularly financial assets like stocks and bonds and commodities. That's a bull market, which most people enjoy. But in the long run, after an extended period with low interest rates, which I believe the Fed will be able to engineer, the question becomes: How do you reverse this aggressive monetary policy without having a financial accident?"

In addition, he sees huge negative issues with regard to fiscal policy given a deadlocked congress. Further, he feels there will be a "paradigm shift in the way we view money."

This second idea is big, and worth exploring in greater detail as part of future posts.

As for fiscal policy, I think it is the responsibility of the public to continue to engage the policy process even though the mid-term election has passed.