Aprenda a fazer um make up com tons terrosos /Manu Carvalho / JP

The Beige Book is a report prepared by the Federal Reserve on the performance of the US economy based on inputs received from businesses, market experts, forex professionals and banks outside the Fed system. It does not represent the views of the US Fed.

Is the Euro headed for a breakup or can the Euro zone salvage the single currency from cracking up by making necessary political and financial compromises? The process is not going to be painless, but could lead to economic sacrifices in the short run and hardship for some nations in the least.

In the earliest of times trading and bartering were used in the exchange of goods and services. The trading of such items as herd animals, sea shells, salt, tobacco, gold, gemstones and other similar items were commonly used by man before actual currency was invented.

When the US had the 2008 Economic Crisis many in Europe said that we deserved it, and it was our own fault, others laughed, and said that we didn’t understand economic hardships or what to do when things went astray – in fact, they chastised our Federal Reserve, Treasury Department, and Executive Branch. They claimed capitalism was dead and they had things completely under control. Well, they spoke far too soon, far too loud, and now who’s laughing?

The other day, I was talking to an acquaintance about economic theory, namely Adam Smith’s “invisible hand” concept, which he felt was elegant and revolutionary thinking. Indeed, when you hear it for the first time, it really is, isn’t it? Okay so let’s talk about this shall we?