Author: Larry LaBorde

Negative interest rates will only work if the people cannot remove their funds in the form of cash.  Once cash is removed from the system then “money” is captured within the banking system and they can charge whatever negative interest rates, service charges and fees that they desire.  The only thing that will hold them back at all is competition within the banking community and that is disappearing fast with all the mergers and mega-banks. Negative interest rates discourages saving and encourages spending and immediate consumption.  The very basis of capitalism is to acquire capital through savings.  The ditch digger … Continue reading →

Dear Fred, I am writing in response to your question, “Should I buy a bigger house now so that my adult children will have a place to stay when they come home to visit because interest rates are so attractive?” As you well know there has always been trouble in the world.  I have studied cycles in history and as they state in the book, “The Fourth Turning” history is not linear but more like a vertically extended slinky.  While history advances, it does so in cycles that run approximately 80 to 100 years per cycle (4 generations).  The Russian … Continue reading →