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Show Notes:
Welcome to Episode 12 of Offshoot with Christopher Thornberg from Beacon Economics.
Dr. Thornberg is an uncommon economist. Chris is as much at home with philosophy as the nuts-and-bolts of economics and forecasting. As the Founder of Beacon Economics, Chris is not only one of the few, like Hank Paulson, who called the collapse of the housing market, but also one of the few economists who can call it like it is, and share beliefs rooted in facts rather than opinion.
Chris’ no-nonsense delivery, deep knowledgebase, and genuine good nature shine through in this wide-ranging, fast-paced conversation. Immediately after speaking with him I already wished I could go back and drill further down on several topics by simply asking ‘why?’ a couple more times.
Listen in as Chris explores:
- Big wisdoms. They are worth learning, and relearning.
- Government spending. Every $1.00 of income lost in the COVID downturn was met with $2.60 of government spending.
- A 2005 repeat. The current economic picture looks a lot like ‘05, too much capital is in the system.
- The story. The political narrative is taking over the utility of data and the insight it can provide. It’s important to nail the facts before you guide policy and behavior. You need to get the plot, first.
- Inflation. It’s not going to be 8% going forward, it will be higher. Looking at unit money supply, M2/Nominal GDP, alone, will point to that. 20% more inflation may be needed to balance things out.
- Crypto. A generational Ponzi scheme.
- Government. What is its appropriate role?
- Class divide. How bad it isn’t, now, in the USA.
- Uncertainty. It’s value in a world of social media induced isolation.
- Business Partners. Good ones and their benefits.
- History. Know it. What’s happening now has happening many times in the last 500 to 600 years.
