Economics and Investing:

The War against Cash, Part I – Sent in by G.G.

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Negative Power Prices Highlight Some Regulatory Problems

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Items from Professor Preponomics:

U.S. News

Report: Fed-Up Creditors Seek to Put US Energy’s Zombies Into Bankruptcy (Reuters) From the Article: “Rising financial stress in the U.S. energy sector has prompted some suppliers and vendors to take unusual legal action to collect unpaid debts: forcing struggling companies with billions of dollars in debt into bankruptcy.”

International News

The Commodities Party is Officially Over and “Now We are Suffering the Big Hangover” (Business Insider) Hint: There will be a significant shift in supply in relationship to the substantial drop in demand. High cost producers are not likely to survive for one reason… It’s that dreaded four letter word: DEBT.

Everything Central Banks Have Tried Has Failed According to Citi’s Buiter (Zero Hedge) Spoiler Alert: Central Bank QE has failed. “The reason for this failure? What we said from day one dooms all unconventional monetary policy – too much debt.”

Hope and Fear in the Endless Greek Crisis (GreekCrisis.net) From the Article: “…the capital controls imposed in June remain in force and the economy has fallen back into recession.”

Oil Collapse Sees Venezuela Burning Through Its Savings (Bloomberg) From the Article: “…the collapse in oil means the spendthrift government of President Nicolas Maduro may now struggle to meet its $1.5 billion debt payment in February.”

Angela Merkel Going to be Less Popular In Germany (Business Insider) From the Article: “…given that Germany is the economic powerhouse of Europe, nobody sees the trouble brewing. They’re oblivious to the incurable balances the euro has created in trade in Europe…”

Personal Economics and Household Finance

The Best Frugal Household Hacks (US News) Great Story: “Last spring, the blogging husband-and-wife team known as “Mr. and Mrs. Frugalwoods” realized that they wanted to live a different kind of life, unlike the typical consumer-driven lifestyle usually featured on television.”