Author Archives: Carlos C. Tapang
Prof. Haruhisa Ishida
Prof. Ishida was a very kind Sensei/Senpai (teacher/mentor). He was responsible for starting my career at Intel Japan in the late 1970’s. He mentored me while I was a research student at the University of Tokyo (‘Tokyo Daigaku). He was … Continue reading
The gold stampede has started, but you can still participate without getting crushed
In a stampede, it is best not to fight the mad crowd. Go along with the flow because there’s nothing else you can do. Be patient and don’t push around. Let the crowd itself push you along, waiting for an opportunity … Continue reading
Investing Out Of Conviction
I am no Warren Buffet, who can see beyond balance sheets and have an expansive view of a company in one look. I am just a mortal being with a simple economic viewpoint: when you increase the supply of anything … Continue reading
Gold Dips Again! Another Opportunity to Buy
Gold dipped to $921 per ounce Yesterday. Today it’s even lower at $915. It may go lower than $900, but I don’t expect it to go lower than the previous dip, which bottomed at about $860, in early April. This … Continue reading
It will be helpful if Geithner can show us some arithmetic
“It will be helpful if Geithner can show us some arithmetic.” That’s a quote from Chinese economist Yu Yongding, poking fun at Geithner’s mission to assure the Chinese that their investments in the U.S. are safe. The U.S. dollar is … Continue reading
U.S. to Lose Its AAA Credit Rating
Standard & Poor’s sovereign rating of the U.S. will most probably go down a notch in the coming months. The U.K.’s outlook has already been downgraded because it has borrowed against 100% of its GDP. The U.S. borrowing is currently … Continue reading
Warren Buffet Says the U.S. will have to Inflate Its Way Out
Last May 4th, during an interview in CNBC’s Squawk Box, Mr. Buffett stated that “A country that continuously expands its debt as a percentage of GDP and raises much of the money abroad to finance that, it’s going to inflate … Continue reading
Inflation = Increase in Money Supply
The Original Definition of Inflation Almost two centuries ago, the word inflation meant an increase in the money supply. Increasing the supply of any commodity (including money) causes its economic value to go down, but this effect comes only later … Continue reading
Macroeconomic Models, Feedback Loops, and Aggregate Decisions
An Economy Stalled? No matter how much the Fed injects money into the system, it doesn’t seem to be responding. The U.S. economy right now feels like an airplane that has just stalled: it’s still pointed up, but instead of … Continue reading
What if the Fed Fails?
Past Performance is no Guarantee of Future Performance So far we have taken it for granted that the U.S. dollar has held its value and will continue to do so. We accept as natural the small daily fluctuations in its … Continue reading
Perpetual Cycle of Life 