Category Archives: Primers

Must-read articles outlining my macro views.

Primer #7: Housing envy and the ‘Joneses’…How a realignment in consumer expectations will pull at aggregate house prices

Posted on February 17, 2011 by financialinsights

“A house may be large or small; as long as the surrounding houses are equally small it satisfies all social demands for a dwelling. But if a palace rises beside the little house, the little house shrinks into a hut.” … Continue reading →

Posted in Economy, Primers, Real Estate, Social trends | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 45 Comments

Primer #6: The Great Connection…

Posted on October 5, 2010 by financialinsights

One of the big goals of this blog is to examine the relationship between Canadian house prices, consumer spending, employment, and the Canadian economy in general.  If you’ve been reading this blog for any time at all now, you’ll know … Continue reading →

Posted in Economy, Primers, Real Estate | Tagged , , , , , , | 22 Comments

Primer #5: The role of demographics in Canada’s coming housing bust

Posted on September 21, 2010 by financialinsights

Hello again I’d like to reiterate that the point of these primers is to explain the big-picture factors that have shaped my opinion on the direction of the economy in general, and housing in particular.  So far we have seen … Continue reading →

Posted in Economy, Primers, Real Estate, Social trends | Tagged , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

Primer #4: CMHC- The enabler to Canada’s housing addiction

Posted on September 10, 2010 by financialinsights

Hello again In our primers, we’ve now covered some of the important concepts that will be referenced frequently on this blog, namely deflation, the housing bubble, and the significance of mass psychology in financial events.  This primer will add on … Continue reading →

Posted in Primers, Real Estate | Tagged , , , , , , | 26 Comments

Primer #3: The dangers of mass psychology (or why overwhelming majorities are always wrong)

Posted on September 8, 2010 by financialinsights

Hello again In our first primer we discussed the notion of deflation and why a period of deflationary pressure is inevitable.  We explained how inflation is created in our fractional reserve banking system via credit-based money creation by our banks.  We also … Continue reading →

Posted in General investing, Primers, Real Estate, Social trends | Tagged , , , , , , | 25 Comments

Primer #2: Is there a housing bubble?

Posted on September 7, 2010 by financialinsights

Hello again In our last primer we looked at how money is created and destroyed in our fractional reserve banking system.  We examined the implications of this process on inflation (which buoys asset prices like real estate) and deflation (which … Continue reading →

Posted in Primers, Real Estate | Tagged , , , , , , , | 31 Comments

Primer #1: What is deflation?

Posted on September 6, 2010 by financialinsights

You’ll hear lots of discussion on this blog about deflation, as I believe it will be the dominant financial force over the next several years. We should take a minute and understand just what it means. Those who know me … Continue reading →

Posted in Economy, General investing, Primers, Real Estate, Social trends | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 32 Comments