Green Retirement

Economists are finally cool. Yes, even sexy.   If you’re a young man who wants to pick-up chicks, see the photo above of Dr. Nouriel Roubini, study to become an economist.   Economists are hip.   Everyone wants to be able to say - “My friend is an economist.  And he says that the economy is going to….”  Economic bloggers have become internet celebrities, they’re latest youtube videos are watched by thousands, it’s never been a better time to be an economist.

Who talks about astrologists and psychics anymore?  If you want to know the future - ask an economist.  Economists study and know the internal workings of that strange beast called the economy.    And as you know, the economy affects you, and your job,  and the value of your house and retirement accounts.  They can rattle of, and explain, such terms as GDP, inflation, interest rates, bonds, stocks, currency, consumer confidence, and lots of statistics.  Economists like astrologers, have a whole language unto themselves, and they love to use charts.

Although economists have become very popular, even respectable, it is important to remember that most economists missed the economic collapse.  Only a very few economists predicted the economic collapse.  The vast majority of economists were busy finding reasons why the credit and housing bubbles would go on forever.  So before you add an economist to your Facebook friends list, follow an economist on Twitter, or subscribe to one of their blogs, make sure you are choosing the right economists.

To help you out, I’ve put together a list of my five favorite economists, with a brief description of their economic views.  Why should you care about my list?  I predicted the global economic collapse and the stock market bottom.  If you had been reading my blog, you would not have lost 50% of your net worth in the collapse, and you would have been in a position to take advantage of a 50% rise in the stock market.  These are the economists I follow and respect.

Mike Whitney
An economics writer for Counterpunch, a progressive newsletter and website, Mike Whitney does a great job of translating how the actions of the Federal Reserve and Government affect individuals.  He digs beneath the financial propaganda to pull out the truth behind the numbers.  Mike Whitney not only predicted the credit crisis, he did stellar work covering and explaining the credit crisis as it unfolded.

Nouriel Roubini
A.K.A. “Dr. Doom“  A nickname he picked-up, from fellow economists and t.v. pundits during the housing bubble, by constantly warning everyone that the housing bubble was going to collapse and the U.S. economy would enter a recession.  The most famous of the economists who foresaw the collapse, his many appearances on t.v. can be found on youtube, and his pronouncements are now taken seriously by investors.  I agree with his latest analysis, that there is a strong possibility that the U.S. economy will experience a double dip recession.  I disagree with Roubini’s opinion that Ben Bernanke deserves re-appointment as Chairman of the Federal Reserve.

Paul Craig Roberts
Also an economics writer for Counterpunch.  Paul Craig Roberts is a macro-economist, looks at the big picture, who has been warning about the economic collapse for years.  He correctly sees the correlation between outsourcing of jobs, and illegal immigration, and the negative consequences they both have on the overall economy.  Because he is a macro-economist his predictions can take years to develop.

Peter Schiff
A libertarian hedge fund manager who is running for Senate in Connecticut, Peter Schiff and I both share the dubious honor of being laughed at by people, when we warned them about the coming economic collapse.  You can watch on youtube, as the laughable economist Art Laffer, laughing at Peter Schiff when he appeared on CNBC and warned their viewers about the coming economic collapse.

Paul Krugman
A Nobel Prize winning economist, Princeton professor, and New York Times columnist, Paul Krugman understands the relationship between a strong middle class and a strong economy.  He also predicted that the housing bubble would end up crashing the economy.  Because of his reputation, his Nobel Prize, his tenured professorship, Paul Krugman does not hold back from attacking the powerful interests that dominate Washington and Wall Street.  His liberal Keynesian economic policies, represent a social democrat tradition that was popular during the Great Depression, and which almost went extinct over the last thirty years.

So, there you have it, my five favorite economists.   I enjoy reading their commentaries, I usually learn something new, and I trust their opinions.  Although I may not agree with all of them all of the time, and their predictions may not always be accurate, these five economists come closest to turning an art into a science.  Also, even though this blog is focused on retirement, I do write about the economy.  What happens in the economy affects everyone’s retirement.  Read why I believe the U.S. Economy is headed for a Double Dip Recession.  Subscribe to this blog, to receive my economic predictions, and to learn how going green saves your retirement.