Michael Pento

We now live in a world where deflation has become public enemy number one. In this current economic environment, governments seek a condition of perpetual inflation in order to maintain the illusion of prosperity in the developed world. But in reality, deflation is the free-market approach to rectify a secular...

The prevailing view amongst Keynesians is that the austerity measures being taken in Europe to prevent a complete currency and bond market collapse is the cause of their current recession. But blaming a recession on the idea that an insolvent government was finally forced into reducing its debt is like...

Two lovers of the notion that inflation can cure everything that ails an economy recently squared off in a battle over who adores counterfeiting the most. Paul Krugman, who probably has a statue of Al Capone at his bedside, chided Ben Bernanke in a New York Times Magazine article for...

I would have thought that the decoupling myth between global economies would have been completely discredited after the events of this past credit crisis unfolded. Back in 2007 and early 2008, investors were very slowly coming to the realization that the U.S.-centered real estate crisis was going to dramatically affect...

The three primary factors that determine the interest rate level a nation must pay to service its debt in the long term are: the currency, inflation and credit risks of holding the sovereign debt. All three of those factors are very closely interrelated. Even though the central bank can exercise...

The prevailing notion among the mainstream media and economists is that interest rates are rising because of improving economic growth. But like many of the readily accepted tenets of today's world of popular finance, this too has its basis in fallacy.

Interest rates have increased by nearly 40 basis points...

Please don't believe the hype that the American economy is healing. While it is true that some data is showing improvement, the true fundamentals of the economy continue to erode.

America's trade deficit hit $52.6 billion in January. That's the highest level since October of 2008 and is clear evidence...

Back in early 2011, I was one of the few economists to warn that global GDP growth would slow dramatically in the near future and that the emerging market economies would not be immune from that upcoming contraction. My prediction was based on the premise that the then incipient sovereign...

Everything I've been warning about regarding the fallout from global central bankers' love affair with inflation is coming to fruition. Consumers are once again dealing with the fact that the cost of filling up their gas tank is eating a significant portion of their disposable income. The price of a...

It is a sad situation when everything the man in charge of our central bank professes to understand about inflation is wrong. Mr. Bernanke does not know what causes inflation, how to accurately measure inflation or the real damage inflation does to an economy. He, like most central bankers around...

They always tell you no one rings a bell when a market top or bottom is reached. But a bell is now ringing for the end of the 30-year bull market in U.S. debt. And ironically, the bell ringer is our very own U.S. Treasury Department!

The U.S. Treasury Borrowing...

If you ask most investors what is the main driver for the price of gold they are likely you tell you that it's the direction of the U.S. dollar. Therefore, the only due diligence most investors perform is a perfunctory glance at the Dollar Index (DXY). While it is true...

The Fed is becoming more concerned about the sustainability of the U.S. recovery, just as the economy looks to be gaining momentum. The unemployment rate has dropped from 9.4 percent in December of 2010, to 8.5 percent twelve months later. The American economy has added 1.5...

The original parameters used to construct the European Monetary Union were set up by the Maastricht Treaty of 1992. The Treaty on European Union contained strict limits on debt and deficits. In particular, deficits were not to exceed 3% of GDP and gross public debt was to be south of...

The latest round of optimism on display late last week from Wall Street was based upon the supposed resolution--once again--of all Europe's problems. However, the sad truth is the move upward only brought the S&P500 near the unchanged mark on the year in nominal terms and much lower when adjusted...

Paul Krugman extolled the benefits of war this Sunday on Fareed Zakaria's program Global Public Square. After all, he asserted, only spending equivalent to another World War could lead us back to prosperity. That, and a healthy dose of inflation.

Krugman argued that inflation would address our debt problem by...

The reliance upon the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency and "safe haven" asset has created a perverse, but deeply entrenched, mindset among global investors. In fact, many believe the major financial players have no alternatives to owning U.S. debt and dollars. They argue that the market for U.S....

The debt ceiling debate that has dominated the headlines over the past month has been thoroughly infused with a string of unfortunate misconceptions and a number of blatant deceptions. As a result, the entire process has been mostly hot air. While a recitation of all the errors would be better...

For the better part of a century, the foundations for a semi-comfortable retirement for many Americans have rested on the financial pillars of rising real estate and equity prices, positive real interest rates on savings, the continued solvency of public and private pension plans and the reliability of national entitlement...

Yesterday's release of the ADP and ISM data has most economists staring at the numbers in disbelief like they were deer in headlights. Their mantra had been that the U.S. was in a genuine recovery. But that notion is now being squelched by a thunderous cacophony of falling economic numbers....