The new age gold rush had investors and hedge funds sprinting to the euro area investing in the carbon market where prices doubled last year, but hedge funds are betting California is the big break. If the U.S. is serious about its climate aspirations then the price of carbon will have to increase and California is already a leading collector in the tax of carbon. There has already been an 85% increase in the price of carbon per ton this year stateside and those tax dollars are funding municipality-related climate initiatives such as wildfire prevention. However, the carbon taxes come at a cost. The higher built-in tax drives up consumer goods prices when inflation is already on the minds of every American. Overall investors like Blackstone see gains coming.

FINSUM: In the long-term, this could be another major global financial market that is centered in the US.

Since May, President Biden has been pushing a social spending bill that would significantly increase the US’ social safety net and do so by raising taxes on the wealthy. The two primary tax changes Biden is planning for individuals focus on inheritance taxes and capital gains taxes. These plans have spooked US advisors and their clients because collectively they could create some very significant increases in taxation. However, Biden’s plans for the whole bill seem to have taken a major hit in the last few days, as the very hot inflation reading on the economy has many politicians considering whether a huge spending bill would only worsen the issue.

FINSUM: We have been following this saga very closely and we believe the inflation numbers are the death knell for this bill. Biden was already facing major opposition on spending and taxes in their own right, and now some of the benefit of the economic firepower is being called into question.

Another post pandemic super bill is flowing through the economy this time with a Biden name tag, and the president claims the $1.2 trillion dollar stimulus will lower inflation. The idea is the new bill will lubricate the American supply chains and have goods flowing easier and thus lowering costs. It's difficult to say if this bill will un-kink the supply chains or just boost demand and prices even more. Americans are already worried about $4.50 gass and surging food prices. Inflation hit a 31 year record this month, and inflation expectations aren’t slowing according to the Michigan survey of consumer expectations. The median projection is 4.6% over the next year, up nearly 2% from a year ago. Additionally the Biden administration is planning on pushing the $1.75 trillion dollar Build Back Better in the upcoming weeks.

FINSUM: A stimulus bill would have to be hyper targeted at supply chains to have the effect Biden is aiming at, and in combination with the BBB these bills will only further the U.S.’s inflation problem.

Throughout 2021 one of the biggest worries for investors, business owners, and policy makers has been the return of inflation…see the full story on our partner’s site

Annuities have been on a hot streak as of late and that continues into the 2021. Data collected from a combination of Morningstar and Beacon Annuity Solutions shows that sales for all annuities are up 17.3% through the first half of 2021 dwarfing previous years growth. And over the previous year up a staggering 27.9%. But the makeup tells the interesting story, total fixed annuities were up 12.1% while fixed annuities were almost level with 0.2% growth. And within variable annuities it was registered index linked annuities that dominated the sector with 11.2% growth and up 107.8% over the previous year’s same period. The book value of fixed annuities grew from 32% from Q1 to Q2 in 2021 totaling $12.7 billion.

FINSUM: This is a huge growth in annuities, and it probably stems from the inflation risk in the bond market, annuities are just the safer alternative for an income stream vs yield-less bonds.