Economists say that inflation is too much money "chasing" too few goods and services.
And yet the FED's trillions in stimulus money has resulted in pushing on a string, with far less effect that one would normally expect.
Maybe I'm projecting my own feelings, but there has been a certain fear and uncertainty hovering over the economy for several years, resulting in the hoarding of cash.
Recent reports seem to verify my hypothesis.
However I see a powder keg waiting to explode.
IF the gloom should dissipate, or inflation begins to appear in places besides hamburger meat, or both, I think we could see the floodgates open.
Billionaires are hoarding piles of cash.
Monday, 22 Sep 2014
According to the new Billionaire Census from Wealth-X and UBS, the world's billionaires are holding an average of $600 million in cash each—greater than the gross domestic product of Dominica. That marks a jump of $60 million from a year ago and translates into billionaires' holding an average of 19 percent of their net worth in cash.
"This increased liquidity signals that many billionaires are keeping their money on the sidelines and waiting for the optimal moment to make further investments," the study said.
Indeed, billionaires' cash holdings far exceed their investments in real estate. Their real-estate holdings average $160 million per billionaire, or about one-fifth of their cash holdings.
Simon Smiles, chief investment officer for Ultra High Net Worth at UBS Wealth Management, said that the billionaire families and family offices he talks to are focused largely on the same question: What to do with all their cash.
Smiles said that the large cash holdings aren't specific to billionaires—millionaires and multimillionaires are also holding cash hordes, on the order of 20 percent to 30 percent of their net worth.
Rich hoard cash as their wealth hits record
Wednesday, 19 Nov 2014
The amount of individuals that hold more than $30 million in assets has climbed to a new record in 2014, according to a global survey.
12,040 of these new ultra high net worth (UHNW) individuals were minted in the year ending June 2014, said the Wealth-X and UBS World Ultra Wealth Report released on Wednesday. This meant a 6 percent increase from last year which pushed the global population of these millionaires to a record 211,275.
With the annual gross domestic product of the U.S. closing in on the $17 trillion mark, according to the World Bank, this means that the ultra-rich now have almost twice the wealth of the world's largest economy.
"This report finds that UHNW individuals hold nearly 25 percent -- an extremely high proportion – of their net worth in cash," he said in Wednesday's accompanying press release.
Edited by Rogerdodger, 23 November 2014 - 05:12 PM.
