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Marc Faber On The Death Of Fiat Money - "Dollar Will Go To A Value Of Exactly Zero"

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Mon, 10/26/2009 - 11:36 | Link to Comment lizzy36
lizzy36's picture

nice reversal.

any reason for usd strength in last 30 mins?

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 12:08 | Link to Comment Sancho Ponzi
Sancho Ponzi's picture

Chinese currency diversification clarification, probably

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 12:41 | Link to Comment lizzy36
lizzy36's picture

thx.

and brazil buying usd

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 12:30 | Link to Comment Sancho Ponzi
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*

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 12:41 | Link to Comment Anonymous
Mon, 10/26/2009 - 11:42 | Link to Comment Edna R. Rider
Edna R. Rider's picture

Dallas Fed went negative.  Print more, I say.

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 12:01 | Link to Comment Printfaster
Printfaster's picture

You paged me?

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 12:50 | Link to Comment SV
SV's picture

+1

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 13:27 | Link to Comment Hephasteus
Hephasteus's picture

I knew when I watched the computer industry work dilligently for faster an faster printers that it was all leading up to this. LOL

I wonder what happens if the FED hits a paper jam with one of it's primary dealers?

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 14:34 | Link to Comment tip e. canoe
tip e. canoe's picture

speaking of printing, anyone else notice a higher percentage of pre-2000 $20s coming out of ATMs?  the banks had a policy to retire those old bills in exchange for new bills yes?

maybe some of the old bills are coming back into circulation?

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 15:46 | Link to Comment Anonymous
Mon, 10/26/2009 - 16:48 | Link to Comment sgt_doom
sgt_doom's picture

Not to worry, it's simply the lag time from the drug cartels laundering their USD currency.

Remember, first it either journeys up to the principal US banks, Citi, BofA, JPM from their (as in owned by them) Mexican situated banks, then it goes through several iterations before ending up in the ATMs.

Advisory: just be sure to wash your hands after handling the money, it is riddled with trace cocaine, after all.

Tue, 10/27/2009 - 14:13 | Link to Comment tip e. canoe
tip e. canoe's picture

oh i know where it's coming from, sgt -- every time i find one, i lick my fingers ;)

just find it interesting that the banks are no longer retiring those old bills.  maybe Brother Larry just wants his and Ruby Rubin's signature back in the public consciousness.

time for the 12 year olds to sneak onto their parents' photo printer...

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 18:32 | Link to Comment faustian bargain
faustian bargain's picture

Maybe they want to put easier-to-counterfeit bills out there...sortof outsourcing the printing work.

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 23:59 | Link to Comment Sam Clemons
Sam Clemons's picture

My green ink and paper futures have been sky-rocketing.

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 13:27 | Link to Comment Hephasteus
Hephasteus's picture

I knew when I watched the computer industry work dilligently for faster an faster printers that it was all leading up to this. LOL

I wonder what happens if the FED hits a paper jam with one of it's primary dealers?

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 11:45 | Link to Comment Anonymous
Mon, 10/26/2009 - 11:49 | Link to Comment lsbumblebee
lsbumblebee's picture

Pretty neat how lately the USD is just like the sun. It rises in the morning and sets in the evening.

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 11:53 | Link to Comment Internet Tough Guy
Internet Tough Guy's picture

I would follow Marc into hell, despite his limp-wristed Euro spelling of his name. But I already been to hell once, see, and I headbutted the devil. So thats that.

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 17:10 | Link to Comment Anonymous
Mon, 10/26/2009 - 12:00 | Link to Comment Divided States ...
Divided States of America's picture

I dont think Bernanke has enough time to flip the ON switches for his USD Printing Factory when the SP500 plummets from 1100 to 700 in a matter of an hour.

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 12:21 | Link to Comment ZeroPower
ZeroPower's picture

Not gonna happen. The HFTs are gonna save us with all their bids. Thats what theyre there for remember?

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 19:46 | Link to Comment Lux Fiat
Lux Fiat's picture

Ha! Just make sure your not sticking your head into the elevator shaft when the express comes whooshing through.

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 12:22 | Link to Comment Anonymous
Mon, 10/26/2009 - 12:41 | Link to Comment Anonymous
Mon, 10/26/2009 - 13:35 | Link to Comment SWRichmond
SWRichmond's picture

"...is there any scenario which we can have the dollar weaking and deflation?"

IMO yes, it is called a hyperinflationary depression.  The cost in your currency of everything you need goes straight up, while the value of everything you own goes straight down; throw in job loss just for good measure, since your home country's economy is totally devoid of capital, owing to the destruction of your currency by your central bank, abnegation of capital-protecting bankruptcy laws, etc.  Sounds like fun, huh?

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 15:11 | Link to Comment Gordon_Gekko
Gordon_Gekko's picture

Thank you O Benevolent Fed!

Tue, 10/27/2009 - 08:31 | Link to Comment Chumly
Chumly's picture

thank you swr...

I will repeat and repeat and repeat this like a broken record:  the negative marginal productivity of debt is the inflation eating away at the GDP, hence we have deflation too.  They are feeding on each other.  It is so damn simple it is stupid.

This negative feedback loop monster will continue to morph into something more ugly than has ever been seen in world economy.

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 16:27 | Link to Comment Slewburger
Slewburger's picture

"so the next question is can the dollar rise with unending money printing?"

Does the USPTO accept applications of perpetual motion machines?

 

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 19:50 | Link to Comment Lux Fiat
Lux Fiat's picture

No. Note (D) in the link.  But then you already knew the answer, I suspect.

 

http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/pac/mpep/documents/0700_707_07_g.htm

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 12:54 | Link to Comment mdtrader
mdtrader's picture

Mark it zero!

Gee if it goes to zero then God help us all, it's not a world that any of us want to experience. 

Ironically though, here comes the dollar rally! Perhaps a bit like Jim Rogers when he said that sterling was finished and then it went on a massive rally. I know they are both talking in the long term, but it's funny how they can mark short term turnarounds with these extreme calls.

 

 

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 16:50 | Link to Comment Spitzer
Spitzer's picture

That is why Marc said at the start of the show that he is lucky on some of his calls. Jimmy Rogers always says he is the worst market timer on earth too. I think I am though.

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 12:52 | Link to Comment SV
SV's picture

Don't tell people that were selling EURUSD.  Making some good coin on that action today!

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 12:57 | Link to Comment Anonymous
Mon, 10/26/2009 - 12:58 | Link to Comment Printfaster
Printfaster's picture

The only means to save the dollar are the institution of tariffs.

There is absolutely nothing else that can keep any value in the dollar.  Nothing.

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 13:00 | Link to Comment Ben Graham Redux
Ben Graham Redux's picture

On the surface, his dollar deflation thesis makes sense but he fails to answer how a dollar deflation can take place with slack labor demand and no mechanism for increasing wages.  If you think it through, a crash of the dollar versus other currencies would make US labor so cheap that the Chinese would send manufacturing to us.  We know that won't happen.

I have little doubt regarding the printing press as a final option, but the structure of our economy is such that labor price increases have no way of taking hold.  Instead, we'd get  mass layoffs which would be inflationary at the point where the government would have to support 50% of the population.  This would be wildly negative for housing, corporate earnings, commodities, etc.  It would also destroy the global economy because you'd decimate US demand for their exports. 

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 13:38 | Link to Comment SWRichmond
SWRichmond's picture

The answer to your quandary lies in the answer to this simple question: what is the value of an unbacked fiat currency in the event of a sovereign debt default of the fiat's host country?

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 14:20 | Link to Comment Ben Graham Redux
Ben Graham Redux's picture

SWR - that makes sense if we're talking Zimbabwe, but the dollar is a global reserve currency.  In the case of the dollar, debt default is impossible given the ability to print interest and principal.  Yet if that's the road taken, how does that money get into the hands of US citizens so they can drive up prices?  The nature of our employment base is one of value-added product/services which is entirely different than an economy that is closer to subsistence.  The more these layers of value-added are unwound, the more deflation takes place making it harder for the US government to print enough money to stem the tide. 

Presumably, an episode such as this would be accompanied by massive job loss and a collapse of imports.  Under those circumstances, the rest of the world is bankrupt as well.

I realize I'm arguing for deflation because that's the channel most easily argued but in truth, I'm on the fence until I can think through the entire inflationary process.  I'm sorry but the flippant response of "they'll just print" is not good enough, although this is exactly what I expect them to do.

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 15:40 | Link to Comment Anonymous
Mon, 10/26/2009 - 16:26 | Link to Comment SWRichmond
SWRichmond's picture

"...but the dollar is a global reserve currency."

So?  This means we can print it, but it doesn't mean it will buy anything.  To clarify, printing is a type of default.  The U.S. has defaulted twice in the past 100 years; once in 1933, and again in 1971.

"Yet if that's the road taken, how does that money get into the hands of US citizens so they can drive up prices?"

I have never believed there is a need for this mechanism.  You are talking about demand driven inflation, I am talking about a currency collapse in which our trading partners no longer accept our the output of our presses in exchange for anything.

"The more these layers of value-added are unwound, the more deflation takes place making it harder for the US government to print enough money to stem the tide. The more these layers of value-added are unwound, the more deflation takes place making it harder for the US government to print enough money to stem the tide."

Of course, the "printing press" is merely a figure of speech; money is created now with mouse-clicks, and there is no practical limit in the mechanism itself.  Virtually any amount can be clicked into existence and deposited into banks' reserve accounts, by the close of business today.

Presumably, an episode such as this would be accompanied by massive job loss and a collapse of imports. 

Collapse of imports, yes; think fuel, for starters.  This is the fuel that is needed to move anything, anywhere, to run tractors in the fields to harvest food, trucks to bring food to markets, etc etc.  Food prices, even domestically-grown food, would skyrocket in price.

Under those circumstances, the rest of the world is bankrupt as well.

So?  If all fiat collapses in value, then the price of all necessary commodities and monetary metals skyrockets, when denominated in fiat-du-jour.

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 16:49 | Link to Comment ghostfaceinvestah
ghostfaceinvestah's picture

Well said, SW, I agree.

I have predicted stagflation at best, hyperinflationary deflation at worst.

Tue, 10/27/2009 - 08:42 | Link to Comment Chumly
Chumly's picture

!!

-MPD vs. QE

and the winner is?

-MPD

The more debt we produce the less real GDP we produce the more debt we produce the less real GDP we produce the more debt we produce the less real GDP we produce, inflation-deflation inflation-deflation inflation-deflation...

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 21:41 | Link to Comment Rusty_Shackleford
Rusty_Shackleford's picture

Agreed.  When the only difference between $1 billion and $1 trillion is that a clerk at the Fed has to hit the Zero key 3 additional times, there truly is no limit to how much damage we can do.

Tue, 10/27/2009 - 14:36 | Link to Comment faustian bargain
faustian bargain's picture

That's it! The solution is: remove the zero key, and force the clerk to type "+1" 999 billion times.

Genius!

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 13:04 | Link to Comment Ben Graham Redux
Ben Graham Redux's picture

On the surface, his dollar deflation thesis makes sense but he fails to answer how a dollar deflation can take place with slack labor demand and no mechanism for increasing wages.  If you think it through, a crash of the dollar versus other currencies would make US labor so cheap that the Chinese would send manufacturing to us.  We know that won't happen.

I have little doubt regarding the printing press as a final option, but the structure of our economy is such that labor price increases have no way of taking hold.  Instead, we'd get  mass layoffs which would be inflationary at the point where the government would have to support 50% of the population.  This would be wildly negative for housing, corporate earnings, commodities, etc.  It would also destroy the global economy because you'd decimate US demand for their exports. 

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 13:07 | Link to Comment Ben Graham Redux
Ben Graham Redux's picture

Sorry about the dupe - I merely attempted to refresh the page.

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 13:15 | Link to Comment time123
time123's picture

Marc has excellent credentials and he is worth listening to.

Personally, I believe the U.S. dollar will rise against the Euro over the next months, although it will likely fall against BRIC currencies.

The catalyst for the move higher will be the GDP numbers later this week, and the eventual economic recovery while European recovery will be slower.

It all has to do with interest rate differentials and relative economic growth.

time123
P.S. I get my timing signals at http://invetrics.com

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 13:32 | Link to Comment greg merrill
greg merrill's picture

He may be right in the long term, but not today!

http://merrillovermatter.blogspot.com/2009/10/currency-and-stock-market-gyrations.html

Wack! Wack! Wack a Euro today!

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 13:35 | Link to Comment Anonymous
Mon, 10/26/2009 - 15:20 | Link to Comment faustian bargain
faustian bargain's picture

"For him it is all about proving his theories about the Great Depression."

God-damn...I wonder if that's true. If so, he's really a depraved individual...and after his efforts fail, I would fully expect him to be so distraught as to hang himself.

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 19:39 | Link to Comment Rusty Shorts
Rusty Shorts's picture

...and we will go wild in the streets !!!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_6ozjPnuQ4

 

 

Tue, 10/27/2009 - 14:39 | Link to Comment faustian bargain
faustian bargain's picture

WTF is JBJ wearing. I can't watch...

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 23:47 | Link to Comment Anonymous
Mon, 10/26/2009 - 16:53 | Link to Comment ghostfaceinvestah
ghostfaceinvestah's picture

+1000

"Bernanke the Mad Professor, is as addicted to printing as any crack addict to crack. He cannot stop himself and will print until the dollar dies. For him it is all about proving his theories about the Great Depression."

Nailed it.

$1.25T MBS = USD FAIL

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 19:10 | Link to Comment Anonymous
Mon, 10/26/2009 - 15:42 | Link to Comment BorisTheBlade
BorisTheBlade's picture

It's not just about the dollar, the dollar being in the center of the current system by going down will drag all the fiat currencies with it. Euro or yen are just slightly better than the dollar and not going to survive on their own. Remember, gold was money for a long time, while fiat money - just for several decades. Ultimately, the biggest problem with paper money is the easyness with which government can abuse its privilege to create them out of nothing. Once they get their hands on the printing press, they cannot resist temptation to print more and more. First, to get bigger, 'create' wealth (simply bubbles), finance wars, then when the system breaks - to bail-out their friends in the banking industry. That's where the biggest moral hazard these days. You thought it's bad in the banking industry - you ain't seen anything.

Marc is right in the long-term and one of the few people who's got the guts to speak about that publicly.

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 17:24 | Link to Comment walküre
walküre's picture

The USD is still the prettiest of the ugly fiatsco brides out there.

Keep that in mind.

Also, the USD bride has the biggest bazookas under her dress.

Tue, 10/27/2009 - 14:41 | Link to Comment faustian bargain
faustian bargain's picture

I dunno...the problem is, beauty is only skin deep.

Mon, 10/26/2009 - 17:57 | Link to Comment Anonymous
Mon, 10/26/2009 - 23:15 | Link to Comment Anonymous
Mon, 10/26/2009 - 20:17 | Link to Comment Anonymous
Mon, 10/26/2009 - 21:42 | Link to Comment QuantumCat
QuantumCat's picture

11,000+ views of a dollar death article... sounds like a bottom may be in place. 

Tue, 10/27/2009 - 06:05 | Link to Comment hayesy316
hayesy316's picture

^

This.

Tue, 10/27/2009 - 00:02 | Link to Comment Anonymous
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