Isaac Nuriani

A minority of citizens say American dream “still holds true” as half of Americans earn less than $3,400 per month. As inflation soared in 2022 and the Federal Reserve set about the task of reining price pressures in with a singular, surgical focus on raising interest rates, sentiment among consumers struggled in the face of those headwinds…

Are Americans being unduly gloomy, and unreasonable in their unwillingness to accept the beneficial reality they’re actually living? Or are they entirely justified in their pessimism over what they see as an economy growing increasingly less responsive?

Let’s drill down on the spending that’s helped fuel the economy. It might interest you to know that real wage growth (earnings after inflation and taxes) has declined in each of the last three months. So, from where have Americans been getting the money for all the spending that sends GDP growth ever higher?

Coming right out of the gate in January, the federal debt ran up against the debt ceiling, which at the time was $31.4 trillion. A months-long and highly combative back and forth ensued between Democrats and Republicans…one that wasn’t finally resolved until the very beginning of June and just a few days before “X Date,” when the government would have had no choice but…

According to a Harris poll conducted for Bloomberg News, a whole lot of middle-class Americans are worried about the economy. In fact, the number who say they are worried about the economy has grown over the past year, even though inflation has steadily declined at the same time. 44% of middle-class Americans are “stressed” about the economy

Despite ongoing risks to the world economy posed by ongoing inflation and interest-rate challenges, there is another risk on the radar screen that experts suggest could be the most formidable of all through the foreseeable future: geopolitical tension. J.P. Morgan’s Jamie Dimon sounded the geopolitical “alarm,” suggesting tensions are set to impact global economy.

In a year marked by no emergency pandemic assistance, no national crisis of any kind… and characterized by low unemployment rate as well as an expanding economy (at least as indicated by headline GDP growth measures), the annual budget deficit is still projected to land at $1.7 trillion according to the Congressional Budget Office.

It appears we can say officially there is no consensus on the issue of whether the U.S. economy is in for a recession. March 2022 was the first time in this current cycle of tightening that the Federal Reserve raised interest rates. A month after that initial increase, economists polled by Reuters pegged the chances of recession at 25%

When Augusta’s director of education Devlyn Steele presented his 2023 outlook back in January, he suggested the prevailing theme of the economic year could be one of uncertainty. I’m not sure even he expected to hit the nail on the head quite as squarely as he apparently did

The threat of stagflation has been lurking about for some time on the American economic scene. Surprising considering just how robust the data has been that normally points to a sputtering economy. So far all we’ve seen is the inflation part of that equation, but analysts are concerned the “downturn” portion is just a matter of time.

Start talking precious metals, and the first image that typically pops into someone’s head is an image of a shiny piece of gold. It’s understandable. Gold always seems to have a certain allure that doesn’t always translate to silver. Maybe part of it’s the color of the metal. There’s an exoticism to gold’s appearance that doesn’t apply as readily to silver…

Did you know that Bidenomics is actually a thing? And that it’s supposed to be a good thing? It wasn’t always that way. Once upon a time, the term “Bidenomics” was a snide pejorative, used by the president’s political opponents as a sarcastic term for the economic “strategy” they like to say has produced, the highest inflation and fastest interest-rate increases in 40 years

It remains to be seen if, in fact, interest rates start declining next year after what has been a year and a half of the fastest rate-tightening cycle in 40 years. But expectations are growing that Federal Reserve officials will be making a more dovish tilt in their application of monetary policy beginning at some point in 2024

The day before signing the Fiscal Responsibility Act into law, President Biden said, “We’re cutting spending and bringing deficits down.” In the merely three months since the Fiscal Responsibility Act became law, the gross national debt already has risen by another nearly $1.5 trillion, suggesting that perhaps this promise remains elusive

You know how it goes. Inflation comes barreling out of the gate. The Fed starts pushing rates upward. At some point, the cost of money ultimately gets so high that the economy starts to break. Next, consumers stop spending, stores and manufacturers have less business, and workers get laid off. Last stop: recession.

Can anyone dispute that this has been one of the more challenging cycles of chronic inflation and higher interest rates in our history? For the past 2½ years, year-over-year inflation has remained stubbornly above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, at one point reaching north of 9% – it’s highest rate in more than 40 years

When we get near the end of 2023 and news outlets begin rolling out their “year-in-review” retrospectives, there’s one story that’s sure to be featured prominently: the saga of the debt-ceiling standoff, including how close America came to defaulting on its federal debt for the first time in history.

Inflation is by no means finished. But it does seem to be dissipating. And as this chapter of inflation draws to a close, so, too, will one of the fastest cycles of interest-rate increases in four decades draw to a close, as well.

By now, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). In the U.S., they’ve come to be known popularly as “digital dollars.” Basically, CBDCs are the digital versions of the same official currencies issued by central banks around the world…

2023 is barely half finished. Yet already we know America’s flirtation with debt default will most certainly prove to be one of the biggest news stories of the year. The way events unfolded still may be a fresh memory for some.

Last week was another big week in what has become perhaps the most prominent cycle of inflation and interest-rate movements since the historic era of the “Great Inflation” 40-odd years ago…

U.S. manufacturing index contracts for seventh straight month. Are we headed for a recession? That appears to be among the most pressing economic questions of the day. And there doesn’t seem to be a consensus opinion one way or another.

Last Saturday, President Biden signed into law a bill that suspends the debt ceiling through January 1, 2025. With that gesture, the federal government avoided defaulting on its obligations for the first time in history. So, crisis averted, yes? For now, absolutely.

Remember when the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank was the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history? Seems like just yesterday – which, in a figurative sense, it was. It’s been barely two months since Silicon Valley fell to earth and triggered a wave of anxiety over the banking system unseen since the 2008 financial crisis.

There’s little dispute that the turmoil we saw upsetting the financial system a month ago has subsided. But have we really seen the last of it? A number of expert observers, including former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, have been saying it’s a little too soon to give the “all clear” on the turbulence…

Despite all of the risk-management protocols in place for the banking industry, this most prominent of threats to Silicon Valley Bank – and the one that ultimately flattened it – was either missed or ignored by risk-management professionals at all levels.

Banking-Crisis Unpredictability Highlights Importance of Staying Ready for Trouble Bullion.Directory precious metals analysis 27 March, 2023 By Isaac Nuriani CEO at Augusta Precious Metals Precious metals have been on a […]

When it comes down to it, the primary appeal of precious metals for savers is their perceived capacity to act as safe-haven assets. That is, as assets with the tendency to strengthen during conditions that are unfavorable to economies,

You may have heard there’s a looming retirement crisis in America. In a nutshell, the term refers to the sizable difference between the amount Americans have saved for retirement and the amount they actually need to retire comfortably.

Even casual consumers of financial news likely recognize the terms “hard landing” and “soft landing” as they pertain to the economy. That isn’t to say they have a clear understanding of what each means, however. So, before I proceed to the real topic at hand…

Activity among central banks, state legislators and younger savers could suggest bright future for metals with central bank 2022 gold purchases now highest on record. In fact for well more than a decade, central banks have been relentlessly stocking up on gold.

Once again, the federal government has reached its statutorily determined debt limit – now an unbelievable $31.4 trillion. There can be no more spending until that limit is either raised or suspended and the United States may default on its obligations for the first time in history