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MELTUP - "The Beginning Of US Currency Crisis And Hyperinflation", The Viral Video
Must watch hour long video from Inflation.us that is now making the viral rounds, explaining what everyone on this website understand, in simple language. Please forward to your friends and neighbors. Inflationist or deflationist, the facts behind this video are undeniable. It is time for the truth about our economy to break through the propaganda machine.
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OT (maybe not given the topic of the post).
I recommend all gold-bugs to go to LBMA web page and check LIBOR, GOFO and LIBOR-GOFO spread. It indicates future movements in gold. It is a fantastic set of indicators if you are buying on every dip. Just remember; LIBOR was, historically always higher than GOFO, so the positive LIBOR-GOFO spread indicates prevailing long interest, and negative LIBOR-GOFO indicates short interest. Hope this helps in predicting buying dips. Also, study more about gold forwards and how futures are utilized as a hedge [think GLD SPDR ETF] for cash settlements, further increasing supply when there is in fact no gold mined. The market is being incredibly manipulated by trades structured in this way.
Keep in mind that LIBOR-GOFO, or the gold lease rate, does not really go negative and just reflects the fact that those stats on LBMA are means. Those lease rates are not reflective of actual costs to borrow gold or revenue earned when lending gold.
I'm not sure what you mean by long interest and short interest.
Lease rates on gold bullion are here:
http://www.kitco.com/market/LFrate.html
They are negative for the short term. Longer term bullion leases have positive interest rates.
Real lease rates do not go negative, no one is paying anyone to borrow gold. The rates you quote are just indicators.
LIBOR-GOFO is and indicator; LIBOR and GOFO [separately] are lending rates. Spread can, and does, go into negative.
You have misunderstood what GOFO is and hence your further posts are incorrect, particularly where you give an example of borrowing gold at GOFO and lending cash at LIBOR and state that “you pocket the difference” between LIBOR and GOFO.
In fact one borrows gold at the lease rate, sells it and lends the resulting cash at LIBOR. In other words, LIBOR-Lease Rate = the difference you pocket, ie GOFO.
Don't take my word for it. As per the LBMA guide to the London Precious Metals Market http://www.lbma.org.uk/docs/OTCguide20081117.pdf page 19: “Forward rate = Dollar interest rate – metal lease rate”. GOFO is a Gold Forward Offered Rate, not an interest rate for gold. The LBMA defines GOFO as "rates at which the Market Making Members will lend gold on swap against US dollars." (page 21).
This is the same as the LBMA FAQ, but what you missed was the key phrase "on swap against". This makes GOFO different to gold "placed on deposit to earn interest ... and generically the interest rates applied to such lending of bullion are often referred to as lease rates." (page 15).
See also Blanchard http://blanchardonline.com/pdfs/Gold_Market_Lending.pdf which says on page 5: "A central bank loans a bullion bank some amount of gold with a lease rate" and goes on to say (with my comments in []): "The carry return [ie GOFO] is the return on the bonds [ie LIBOR] minus the gold lease rate."
Actually, they are. That is clearly said in the GOFO FAQ. LMBA Gold Fixing Banks offer GOFO rates, same as they offer LIBOR rates, and it clearly and without any doubt states that those rates denote the will of the member banks to lend gold. Also, it clearly says that GOFO is a bilateral currency-commodity swap [currency being dollar and dollar only] and has maturity dates and rates which are priced against the value of the USD on the day the swap agreement is conducted. Basically GOFO is a fixed income security [like most of other derivatives].
Well since I, obviously, have not articulated well what i mean by long interest and short interest i will re-formulate; basically its the indicator whether the market is net short or net long [supply-demand]. LIBOR, GOFO and LIBOR-GOFO data for the entire year 2010 is listed and with charts available all over the place it is not hard to draw correlation between the three and the price of gold. Negative LIBOR-GOFO [for whatever maturity period of the swap] mimics movements in the gold prices [fall in the price], and for positive LIBOR-GOFO the opposite is true. Now, im not saying that GOFO represents all who wish to lend gold [it probably does not; forwards can be bought and sold on the OTC market where maturity periods and rates do not need to follow LMBA maturity periods and rates], but the same can be said about LIBOR. Truth is; both are benchmark rates when it comes to the markets in which they price will/risk. True one does not have to follow them and borrow or lend based on them; but most market participant do and will continue to do so since prevailing belief is that both LIBOR and GOFO correctly represent risk in the market. And since the member banks are the following :
i posit very large percentage of market participants price their costs of borrowing upon those rates. I personally am not stating that the rates are objective or even representative in the high degree of the risk in the market, what I am, however, stating is that they are benchmark rates and set market movements.
Hope that clarifies what i meant to say with my original comment.
Thats why I come here , To get my daily education that I didnt get in the classroom..
Silver, here here, as do I
Cheeky
Could you please elaborate with an example, haven't been aware of this before.
Thanx
Basically; you borrow lets say, 50 million ounces, GOFO 1 year [if LIBOR-GOFO positive] and offer to lend in currency the value of those 50 million ounces at LIBOR 1 year and lock in the profit when swaps are conducted [Lets say LIBOR 1y (on the day you entered the swap)=1.5% and GOFO 1y (on the day you entered the swap agreement (possibly on the same day you enter LIBOR-based swap))=1.25% and the spot price for gold on the same day is 1000 dollars. You pocket the difference. Next; if you want to use the gold you borrowed [and which really isn't there] to short the market you dump it, and to hedge yourself against the price of rising gold you buy European call options [basically going long the market for the whole period until maturity]. European options are better if you are a) certain to a high degree that at the end of maturity the strike price will be exercisable [that is if your trading strategy is only based on options and those options are not hedges, it doesnt matter if the opposite is true] and b) you get a discount against the price of American option due to the nature of of how the European option is structured. It would be good if both LIBOR swap, GOFO swap and hedge are all done on the same day [due to price and rate fluctuations]. Then basically you wait for the whatever maturity period of all three is and finally unwind the trade. If gold rises the worst loss you can suffer is profit from LIBOR-GOFO trade you did+price of the option. For shits and giggles you can trade the market with American options according to the view you see the market moving for a period shorter than duration of your main trade. IMHO this is how gold price is being manipulated. Maybe there are some other ways to do it, but i have not put much thought into them.
*if this is in any way to technical or not clear enough that is due to me having a really really bad day pain-wise. seems as if the only thing which makes it bearable is burying my head into this and taking away the dominant role of the pain center in my brain and giving it to other parts of it. I will write a detailed post about this, as soon as im able, and i will make it less technical; thats for sure.
Thanz Cheeky, I hope tha pain abates. I've been on the LBMA site trying to self-educate, knowing that I'll make incorrect suppositions and make a frail construct. Yeah yeah, learn by yer mistakes an allthat...how about this from you to me "Ya dumb fuck, on the LBMA site go here, look at this then go there".
Anyway, the blonde calls out to the blonde on the other side of the river "How do you get to the other side?!?"...
Figure me to be both blondes.
Of course what i wrote was only from a theoretical position [regarding values I used]. You can not dump 50 million ounces since that would cause a nuclear holocaust; also it not advisable to enter 50 billion dollars one LIBOR swap [high exposure]. The rest stands as i have written it before. If you want a more, down to earth trade, just use lower values.
Thank you for the good wishes-
PS
You are not "both blonds" [i know the joke :D]. Its really simple just masked in an overcomplicated language and omission of critical data. The markets are really easy to figure out from the technical side; the problem is how to minimize risk and maximize returns [something i really dont care about in any other way than from the persepctive of gaining knowledge about something new].
Im also not a trader and when i was trading [if me fucking around the markets because i was bored can be called trading] i never [nor could have I] employed strategy as the one i written in the response to your comment. so, take it with a grain of salt.
As a way of thanking thanks for your time Cheeky...
http://www.wikiwak.com/image/Shitennoj+honbo+garden06s3200.jpg
You can zoom in on it.
Cheeky, i hurt too and found weed, pot helps me get past that as it takes me out of the body conciousness. years ago when i fished with commercial fishermen i got sea sick and they said to smoke pot. I did, was still sick, but smiling all the while. Best wishes to you .
Pot will get you through times of no money, better than money will get you through times of no pot- old stoner saying.
Cheeky much thanks
not sure I follow the bother to buy on dips when most people on that side of the tracks feel gold should go to >$5,000. That logic goes against all the attacks on the gold traders.. unless one is doing both??
I have a small stash of Gold and Silver myself, but I would just buy whenever I am putting away savings since saving in dollars is pointless. Money on hand is different of course - you gotta stay liquid to some extent.
You really are a cheeky basterd arn't you........!!
i dont know if you are taking a piss at me or not, but yeah ... cheekiness is my main trait.
Only a side of bastard? :)
Being called a nice guy these days, is actually a insult.
The only way we can start producing stuff in America again is if American wages become lower -- more in line with the 3rd world developing nations
Since no American wants a lower wage --- what are we to do?
We devalue the dollar
The problem comes when, through devaluation, the amount of currency increases and the Government ---- either our facist wing ---wants to defend the world ---- or our communist wing wants to buy votes and give free benefits to all especially certain votiong blocks ---- unions and illegal aliens
So instead of the American taxpaying public benefiting from this devaluation / inflation they are even more burdened and the effort to bring our wage rates lower results a larger Facist or Communist planned economy.
Freedom oh freedom
Before I'll be a slave I'll be buried in my grave
and go home to my lord and be free
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfXdTWFwPLk&feature=fvw
how exactly are illegal aliens a voting bloc? maybe those other aliens are hacking the black boxes on their behalf?
to speak of the democratic party as a communist wing is absurd. obama is walking the path trod by gwb and cheney. he is a tool of the corporations, the zionists and the rich. and he is adding to the police state he inherited (not incompatible with communism as practiced in the ussr and china but the blind obedience to the previously existing moneyed elite sure is).
for me the eye opener (at the tender age of 61) of obama's election is the confirmation of the now undeniable truth of ralph nader's (for whom i never voted) claim that both parties are essentially the same. oh they listen to slightly different music, maybe differ on abortion (and more for public consumption -- bet most national republicans wouldn't think twice if their daughter needed one), play up (emphasis on "play up") to different voters, if gay a little more or less in the closet. but when it comes to war or peace, who gives and gets the money, what countries we bribe or bomb, whether you can jail or kill a citizen and for what. not so much.
I agree with you and Ralph
They are both socialist
National socialist
And Communist Socialist
All Central Planners
I would argue with you most vehemently if I did not agree so wholeheartedly.
Bloomberg for President, Ron Paul for Vice President, Peter Schiff for CoB for Fed Reserve (an oxymoron) and Glenn Beck for Speaker of the House. Will that fix it? Or at least a good start?
Beck? I'm surprised you didn't throw Palin in your mix.
Ah, good idea. Energy Tzar provided that the only drilling she allows is behind closed doors and becomes a solar, wind and ng bug.
Thank you KTV = )
Liquid
Apparently you prefer the Genovese over the Gambino's...
is not the sort of thing governments fix. Governments are slow, lagging behind change. Laws only get written well after the important changes have already ocured within the pop.
You're 50% right.
Bloomberg and Paul.
Judas and Jesus.
Tom and Jerry.
You lost me at Glenn Beck. Have him wear a hat with a bell on it, and I'd vote for him as Jester Czar. He's not qualified for anything else - except Chief Spinnster at Faux News.
Gambino/Genovese
Democrat/Republican
When your choice is which family you want to get shaken down from, its not much of a choice.
shame you got junked. maybe you can't say the 'z' word. Where is the village idiot on this point? VI is it ok?
VI did me a good turn. By harrassing me i learned alot , even about myself.
I learned to always stand my ground, to not back up. Funny @ 59 i thought i was all grown up. I find resolve growing to make a stand and can only hope that all of america awakens and takes a stand also.
So far we seem to be a country of watchers , hoping the other guy will fix it.
Morally lazy or just overburdened by the filling and chasing of desires to occupy the mind. This is more than a fight about money, its also a fight for our evolution.
Those who decry and putdown the meltup video have something against a general awakening and may be the same as MasterBates and the rest of the anti gold crew.
Who has the gold has the power, so lets all of us get some, no matter the price.
because a large number vote in the cities, winked at by the democratic machines, and most vote democratic
it wouldn't surprise me in the least. that said though, a recent thought by Joe Bageant:
"And most of all, "The Gram" is required to keep its captives deluded and sated enough to remain productive and consuming -- not to mention hating the right people -- right up to the last moment before total collapse, and they are no longer needed."
http://www.joebageant.com/joe/2010/05/lost-on.html
People are so manipulated. Goebels would be proud.
I was thinking, Gee if only those poor upcountry Thai protesters would learn not to sell their vote and then I realized ... Americans sell their vote in the sense that if they hold their nose and look away, they'll get to keep buying more stuff.
Being a citizen in a functioning democracy doesn't work like that.
I'd be interested in your statistics on this data, with some reference links.
Thank you.
I thought Joan Baez was a commie?
Yes, but she didn't write that song.
I have read this type of comment so very often:
Us wages must fall to compete with 3rd world workers..
The BIG LIE told over and over to a public who
has given up critical thinking.
prior to WWI the total Federal gov was funded by Tariffs.
The One world - NWO - CFR- elites of which all our presidents and most in congress are members - pushed this lie of "free Trade"
The USA is the LARGEST MARKET in the world
if we had the same tariff structure as 95% of the world ie 20%+
those busineses across the world that depend on our markets would have to relocate back HERE
America by that structure would have much higher wages and living standards with much less taxation.
Remember: the elites are not Americans and have been working to destroy the living standards here..
WAKE UP.
The answer to all our problems is so very simple and staring you all in the face..so no one in Gov or Media will address it.
That implies that you want to build the economy on production of low-value commodity goods. The US and other western countries are able to compete quite well in the production and sale of advanced goods, like some machinery, etc., although in a lot of cases the actual building is done in cheaper locations.
One of the main reasons US production is too expensive is the level of the USD which is driven by the fact that it is a reserve currency and not just a domestic one.
Combine that with the fact that part of the cost structure of cheap imported goods is the relatively low transportation cost. If oil really gets into short supply, watch those costs escalate in a hurry. We saw how quickly the coastal regions of China dumped tens of millions of workers a couple of years back as oil peaked and the economy tanked.
So in other words, you could probably fix much of the problem by dropping the value of the dollar and letting the price of oil go through the roof. American wages could stay where they are, although prices domestically would go up and more expensive Americans start building all the previously-imported goodies that so many people can't resist buying.
You are getting close to what I see as an answer to some of our problems:
the recreation of America would be an apt description:
1. massive tariff increase: (the CFR and their "running dogs" to copt a Maoism. have discredited tariffs as one cause of the Great Depression) totally false . The policy of Gov drove capital into the wrong sectors ie gov.
2. Capital must be allocated away from wall st banks and the money handlers..into infrastructure..electric grid, power,transportation.,as examples
3. America Gov must get out of the way of our own production of energy..Nuclear, coal, and most importantly oil and NG..
4. Reduction of taxes across the board
5. Leadership who are exclusively CFR types must go..their plans for massive gov spending and out sourcing of our wealth : the EU bailout as most recent example. must end
6. Our debt will be paid off with the resulting growth in real wealth that we KEEP HERE.
A lot of that sounds good to me. I would question a couple of points. First, "Our debt will be paid off..." This is likely not possible when you combine the current official debt, plus the present value of deficits in future obligations. It would take all the value produced by the US economy for a generation to pay those debts. The alternatives are to default or "print" money, thereby devaluing the currency.
The second point is your first: "massive tariff increases". I have lived in economies that do this for many years and can say, based on my experience, nothing good comes from tariffs. They are protectionist but what they protect is poor performance and waste. They also cause investment to leave, meaning there is little or no funding available to develop any opportunities that come along. The U.S. today lives off enormous sums of foreign capital. We even know that much of the GDP number includes offshore production for most of what is consumed, revalued at American rates. That means the country likely would not have enough capital on its own to do much if foreign investment was reallocated elsewhere. The bailouts that the U.S. and other nations are providing to Greece and other places are not accumulated capital - they are just more debt because there is no money sitting around to give them.
Say no to the CFR.
its easier and more complicated at the same time. Its taxes on your/our labor/work which is the inhibitor to wealth creation and building. And thats before getting into the question of legality of the IRS, taxes on labor, 16th amendment, etc...
Either way, if you have adult children, they are coming back home . . . and they are bringing more with them.
Note to Self: Order more chickens. Day old @ $1.85 per
http://www.mcmurrayhatchery.com/black_star.html
Getting ready to buy my first batch of chickens here. Built the coop myself along with my father and the impressive woodworking shop he's put up in his barn, took what would have been a month-long project in my suburban garage and pared it down to three days. That along with the garden, a stash of gold and silver coins, and my Rem 870 is quite empowering considering the economic outlook. It's my little "suburban survival" experiment, that a tiny patch of land in the suburbs can be sustainable (except for the absence of a water source, which admittedly would be a huge problem in a SHTF scenario).
Chickens are amazing creatures. Bugs go in one end and a beautiful, edible egg comes out the other. They put themselves to bed at night, are happy to see you when you get home, and keep the weeds trimmed. Dare I say . . . the ideal pets? We will eat the dogs before we eat the chickens.
Same here rebel.Just picked up another 10 plymouth barred rocks. The little suckers are only 10 days old and flying all over the place. In your neck of the woods, we have a couple thousand, mixed, which are selling at the farmers market as fast as we can bring em.
I have 25 but strictly non-commercial. We eat 4 or 5 eggs a day, then give 20 to neighbors. Neighbors grow big cows, so hopefully one day they will remember all those eggs we gave them. Mrs. Rebel named the chickens so we can not eat them now.
LOL, first I ever heard of named chickens!
You have to give them a name like "McNugget" and "Shake n' Bake" so that even kids understand their fate from the beginning. Plus it's hilarious.
Hah, are we still fooling ourselves into believing that China makes iPads because it's cheaper to import them? Right, those Chinese couldn't possibility have more advanced manufacturing than us American folk.
We not only got passed, we're too stupid to even see that we got passed.
What's the term these dayz... brain drain.
I hate to tell you, but you're not going to attract new businesses by starting a trade war.
The US has the highest effective tax rate in the world. No one wants to come here. Period.
Capital goes where it is treated best. The only way it is going to come back here is if we cut taxes and reduce regulation.
Bingo.
Plus, if you build a factory here, you have to hire surly Americans. You want to know why GM died. USA Today was telling you back in 2005.
And I quote: (http://www.usatoday.com/money/autos/2005-06-22-gm-healthcare-usat_x.htm)
"Taking a cigarette break outside a General Motors (GM) assembly plant in Lansing, Mich., last week, Mike O'Driscoll admits he has problems: diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol.
But his arteries are cleaned out, thanks to a $160,000 heart-bypass surgery a few years back.
"I ate too many steaks and not enough veggies," says O'Driscoll with a laugh.
There is no surviving this level of generalized stupidity and self destruction. None. Bank on it.
rusty knows rotten cores
Sometimes, Rusty, you make me want to laugh, then cry, then drink....................then drink some more.
The diabetes problem is only going to get worse. Much worse. Its the sustained high insulin levels in the bloodstream that does the damage, eyes, heart, blood vessels...
medical expenses are skyrocketing due to diabetes, which is due to a completely incorrect food pyramid we have been taught in our public schools for 50 years now (and lack of exercise too, but I want to focus on food) I was lucky enough to see what folks really used to eat, due to my subsistence farming grandparents. It was really close to what is called the caveman diet. Carb intake was matched well to physical exertion and total calorie count was low. food was cooked in lard, and not hydrogenated crisco. Nuts and berries, wild, were a big part of the diet. Grazing on berries creekside was a lot of fun and a family event...
Well said.
What got me though is not only does he have multiple medical issues that are directly related to a sedentary lifestyle and poor diet (aka-his own behavior), and have directly led to his coronary artery disease and need for a $160,000 procedure thanks to Uncle Sugar GM,... but to top it off, HE'S INTERVIEWED DURING HIS SMOKE BREAK!!! HE'S STILL FXXKING SMOKING!!! And he's bragging about how the care was "free".
My head nearly exploded when I read that article back in 2005.
Where is GM now? Where is this UAW member now? I would venture to guess the total amount of $$$ spent on his care has likely doubled since then.
But it's free, remember.
Its amazing rusty. The good news is that all this damage done to the body can be reversed in most cases (obviously not once heart attacks and bypasses are done)
Diet and exercise. But folks choose to remain sick and take pills. A friend of mine, who is fat, told me that all fat people are sick, meaning high blood pressure or diabetes and may not even know it.She said she was miserable with diabetes. she finally lost the weight and now feels good. But the human suffering is great and the price tag is now beyond what we can pay.
hulk, you got any stevia growing? 10 times sweeter than sugar, zero calories and safe for diabetics. only legalized 1 1/2 year ago here right before Pepsico filed a patent on how to synthesize it.
No, first I heard of it. Wikied it. Interesting, I'll have to grow some. Not much sugar in the diet anymore, but I do remember loads of sugar put in the tomato cannings as a kid.
Thanks
di nada, it doesn't like the heat too much but in your neck of the woods it might actually grow 4 seasons. even if not, it will reseed itself nicely.
over....
Thank you...
That's true Lincoln used tarriff as his basis for taxation --- taxes to run the government
Until he printed greenbacks for the war effort
The pre WW1 government did not need the volume of taxes we need today. Taxes to pay for health care social security medicare food stamps ----These came later stating with FDR--- you need more than tarrifs to pay for all those "benefits".
These benifits brought on not by democrats not republicans but by Progressives --- who want to change the basis of our freedom from the constitution to ---- ????
Why are we debating minor details--- the film says that if all income was taxed at 100% we would still fall short --- and that does not include military -- we fall short without the military budget
Spending by the government must go down
Look back to Richard "Tricky Dicky" Nixon
The man who gave us earth day so the protesters would get off his back on ending the Vietnam war
He devalued the dollar by 25% ---- This was needed because we fought the Vietnam war without raising taxes ---"Guns and Butter"
That means with one fell swoop he inflated the currency by 25% -- this led to "Pain at the Pump" and "gas lines" when gas prices (imported commodities) climbed. this led to recession. Which led to a change in parties.
So Tricky Dicky lost the election to James Carter who quickly expanded government (the Energy department created to end foreign import of oil!) and government spending returned us to the Vietnam war spending--- to get the economy moving again. Oh and "Trickey Dickey's" price controls were ended.
Only this time the spending resulted in price inflation --- to the tune 18% and 800 $/oz gold. Why did spending result in inflation? probably because there was no war consuming lives and goods and the soldiers were home and consuming.
Only Volckers raising of interest rates and Reagans policy of less government spending halted the runaway inflation train -- for a while at least.
I don't think it's all that bad, now...
As soon as the world moves away from the USD as its reserve currency (which will likely be during a crisis of sorts) then the dollar will finally be able to find its appropriate level as a domestic currency. That will be a crisis for foreign holders of USD but less so for Americans (except for those who have a taste for imports).
If the dollar really dives, imported everything may become prohibitively expensive and start driving local industries to restart (as long as the government isn't sucking up all available funds through borrowing and taxing away what's left).
The dollar would dive through a combination of loss of confidence, money printing or outright default on obligations. That would hugely impact savings and accumulated wealth all over the world, especially for retirement plans in the U.S. However it doesn't necessarily follow that the economy has to go into the tank. In fact the economy could begin to grow more strongly once the "shackles" are removed, though whatever means.
That could mean that you wouldn't be able to retire at 55 from your unionized job and instead have to work for much of the rest of your life (like what Greeks are facing). However likely there would likely be more jobs available to work at. And with everyone working much later in life, they would become healthier, more engaged, and happier!
Now isn't that a better outlook?
(We are all entitled to our share of dilusions and this is one of mine!)
snowdude. the economy is already in the tank. Look out your window.
At the moment, yes, due to a recession that came right on cue for the normal business cycle. The economy is now due to start picking up and some of the signs are there already.
wow...where do you live? The view out my window is nothing like yours.
Give it up for Deeeeetrooiiiittah!
"The economy is just fine. I see restaurants and packed movie theaters everywhere. I don't know what the gloomers are talking about."
Well, with 6,000,000 not paying their mortgages and realizing that making the min payment on their CCs won't save their credit score there is plenty of disposable income flowing out there for the employed. 40,000,000 on food stamps. That's pretty shitty. Lipstick on a hog.
good job sharedude
Our economy historically handles inflation---or devaluation --- with workers demanding higher wages to compensate for the loss in purchasing power--- that then results in higher prices and the currency inflation feeds on itself.
I think JFK actually came close to the solution when he was able to get the steel indusrtry (yes Pittsburg) to not raise prices
Then Reagan did it when he fired the Air traffic controllers
The only way we can start producing stuff in America again is if American wages become lower -- more in line with the 3rd world developing nations
Since no American wants a lower wage --- what are we to do?
We reverse GATT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The West was warned in 1994 by Sir James Goldsmith....Also the Author of "The Trap".
The first 15 minutes of the interview below says it all....Look at Charlie Rose trying to wrap his mind around Goldsmith's argument. It's as if common sense and pure truth puts Rose into "does not compute" mode.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5064665078176641728#
Goldsmith says, "The economy is there to serve the fundamental needs of society....prosperity, stability, and contentment!" Absolutely damn right!!!!!!!!!!!! However what we have now is common sense in reverse....Instead of prosperity we are headed toward poverty, instead of stability we are headed toward uncertainty and insecurity, and instead of contentment we are headed toward unhappiness. This is messed up but unfortunately what government policies have created to date.
G-R-U-N-T has spoken!
The only way we can start producing stuff in America again is if American wages become lower -- more in line with the 3rd world developing nations
Since no American wants a lower wage --- what are we to do?
We reverse GATT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The West was warned in 1994 by Sir James Goldsmith....Also the Author of "The Trap".
The first 15 minutes of the interview below says it all....Look at Charlie Rose trying to wrap his mind around Goldsmith's argument. It's as if common sense and pure truth puts Rose into "does not compute" mode.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5064665078176641728#
Goldsmith says, "The economy is there to serve the fundamental needs of society....prosperity, stability, and contentment!" Absolutely damn right!!!!!!!!!!!! However what we have now is common sense in reverse....Instead of prosperity we are headed toward poverty, instead of stability we are headed toward uncertainty and insecurity, and instead of contentment we are headed toward unhappiness. This is messed up but unfortunately what government policies have created to date.
G-R-U-N-T has spoken!
Grunt
So we have a choice 4 billion starving Asians (AK47's are cheap) (Ike said never get involved in an Asian land war)
Or 4 billion workers
When Goldsmith says the economy works for society --- he ignors the invisible hand --Is not society in his European parliment world society is government.
Greece is a great example of the economy working for society --- until they run out of pther peoples money.
Government spending and printing money--- to pay their bills --- except in the case of California and Greece who can't -- but would if they could --- That is what causes inflation
Inflation is the result of the money supply inflating
Inflation to increase socialism is bad
Inflation or devaluation to readjust wage disparity is good
Actually China and India wages would increase if it was allowed to.
GRUNT - here is another perspective on that.
When you say "the economy is there to serve...society..." it implies that the economy is a deliberate creation of society.
Economies have existed since the dawn of civilization, when we were all in caves and everyone was GRUNTing [flash to image of Raquel Welsh in fur cave woman dress]. That could mean that economies are a natural phenomenon of human interaction. It would be hard to say that economies were created by, controled by and subservient to humans. Have you ever met an economist who has figured one out yet? The Russians planned theirs for years. Didn't that work well...
It seems we get into the most trouble with economies when we manipulate them for our own desires. Sure there is a natural boom-bust cycle that clears out the waste and deadwood periodically, just like there are natural forest fires. When we try to prevent booms and busts, we seem to just allow a bigger bust to come along with very little warning. Just like when we put out every natural forest fire we wind up with immense fires that we can no longer deal with because so much fuel has built up in the forests.
Trade lets people specialize so we can create more value. Otherwise you may as well hide in the hills with your chickens and beef jerky, doing your own haircuts and being your own doctor. How is trading internationally different from trading between states, or between towns. We are all part of the same society. So while walling yourself in is a very typical and natural reaction to the fears in the economy today, it doesn't really help much.
I firmly believe the problems of the U.S. are fixable. The difficult part is getting the political will to change. I worked in the U.S. for a few years but mostly have lived next door, in its shadow. Trust me, the U.S. is an overwhelmingly powerful economy and society and can dominate anyone in any field if it needs to. Your neighours have struggled for decades and longer to try to keep up and keep from getting swallowed up, both economically and culturally. You have no need to fear competition in the rest of the world. You only need to fear the politics of fear in your leaders.
Great video, Faber 'Gold at a million dollars' to balance the dollar. Options expiry on Friday expecting a bullion bank panic driven attempt at a smack down.
re. Naked Shorts - Has anyone else seen this?
www.businessjive.com
Is this another reason why there can be no orderly unwind of bad debts and corruption?
Bringin IT, thank you. I will watch the rest later,made it a favorite.
I've seen that an know first hand it happens.
It's much cleaner to sell something you don't own. Than to steal something you don't own.
It's like writing a fake deed
Like a claim jumper
I don't know how the share inflation gets cured -- or un wound.
Thanks MH. I understand this guy was put down as a crank and a sore loser when he (Patrick ...?) came out with this and now the word is vindicated.
I posted it here because I see it as relevant. In other words, the JPM silver shorts that will never get covered and only grow larger is an other case of financial toxic waste that can not be acknowledged or disposed of without unravelling the financial and political system.
I still haven't gotten an explanation from the inflationistas about how we go from a broke-ass, indebted populace who needs a credit card to buy an egg sandwich and coffee in the morning, to the Weimar wheel barrow full of cash scenario.
When it comes to the subjects of inflation and deflation, the definitions have become so muddled that unless we're sure we're defining them the same way the conversation becomes an exercise in futility.
How do you define inflation?
Hummm...how about eBay fees jumping from 20.00 to 50.00 to sell the exact same thing for the exact same price.
Maybe the pound of chips that is now 13.5 ounces, or coffee at 11.5. The chain burger that now has one slice of cheese not two. The doctor visit from 45.00 to 110.00. Copper ingot from 1.65 to 3.25.
Or maybe the best one is the stock market, up on inflated dollars when the under lying value is zip.
Inflation is the friend of government and rich, enemy of the poor and middle class. Deflation is enemy of the rich and government, friend to the poor and middle class.
Deflation is when there is no more wind to blow up the butts of human beings. Price adjustment (like housing), is not deflation (not as long as there are more and more people being born) even if it lasts for a decade. Deflation is the persistant decrease in the cost to buy something or when your currency buys more and more for the same buck BECAUSE there is less and less currency and credit available. We ain't there.
So, your definition of inflation is rising prices?
Couldn't rising prices also be the result of supply and demand forces?
Edit: Somehow I missed reading your last line...
That line implies that deflation is less money chasing the same amount of goods and services...money becomes more valuable and purchases more...prices tend to go down.
Agreed?
If you want to read a good book on inflation and devaluation and how they are related ---
It's an oldie but goodie
How to Profit from the Coming Devaluation by Harry Browne
it was written in 1969 --- a few years before Nixon devalued the dollar in 1972
It became an instant best seller --- 3 years after it was released
That is when I bought it
+1...My argument exactly, when you throw in the government dictated numbers and information, we live in an age of low/no/moderate inflation. But, when state taxes are doubling, insurance, utilities & food prices are increasing, how can this not be inflation?
The reason intelligent people cannot agree if we are in deflation, inflation, or stagflation is because the governments have elected prestidigiflation. With slight-of-hand manipulation of the markets, statistical reporting, and journalistic reporting the magicians have control of the pricing and money supply indicators and can make them appear to report anything, even contradictory information.
Stop arguing about whether we are in an inflationary or deflationary environment. We see only what the magician wants us to see. Enjoy the show. These guys are masters.
+100, I love a good show. Last year it was only a $1 to get in, now its $2.50
Exactly, it is because of inflation that we hear so much noise about gold being in a bubble. Adjusted for inflation, prices are still significantly beneath historical highs.: http://solari.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/1longtermsscpiau1700lo...
The inflationists and deflationists are both right and wrong at the same time. The only way that we will have Weimar style hyperinflation is if the Treasury starts printing its own money (w/o out a full or partial gold backing) and hands it out to people. The Federal Reserve will not let that happen becuase the money flow would bypass its counterfeiting scheme where its members earn a markup on Federal Reserve notes.
As it stands, we are seeing strong inflationary pressure on energy and food prices, as well as medical and tuition costs. The energy price increases have been easily observed thru oil being near $90 recently; however food price increases have often manifested itself in smaller package sizes for the same price or only a slight increase. It is noted that we have seen increases in "raw" food goods like milk and meat however, and this is troubling. With respect to energy, I find it interesting that heating costs using natural gas have remained the same even though natural gas has plummeted in price. Medical costs will continue to outpace the bogus CPI, and in the future it will be worse as the best care will be given to those who can bid the most. Everyone else will be left with Obama care, which will result in a lower standard of care and also higher taxes due to added burden on govt to semi socialize medicine. Tuition is in a bubble that will pop in my view, as tuition is largely the cost of entry to receive "X" salary or the potential for a big salary. As we have seen, wages continue to be under pressure and this will eventually bleed into tuitions.
Anything that requires consumer leverage, like houses and cars, will continue to decrease in price. This will of course put downward pressure on ancillary industries like appliance manufacturers, contractors, real estate agents, etc. This is extremely deflationary.
That all said, I think there is a tremendous amount of confusion between "liquidity" and "money in circulation". The dynamic between the two allows for a two tiered scenario where there is inflationary price pressure on some items like energy and food while deflationary pressure on other items that require leverage, like houses and cars (for the average person). In my view, the federal reserve and US have made things infinitely worse by increasing liquidity and also increasing US treasury debt. Why? 1) Because each added dollar of debt is now a drag on real GDP and 2) "Liquidity" does nothing but cause upward price pressure on raw material input costs that can not be fully passed on to consumers, while giving an illusion of wealth thru marginally higher (depends on time frame) common equity prices.
In sum, gold can do well in either case, whatever way people define the scenario. In a Weimar situation, gold speaks for itself, it will skyrocket. In a non Weimar depressionary stagflation environment, or whatever one wants to call what we are currently experiencing, gold can either hold its value or continue to increase in price as people have lost faith in the fiat premise alltogether.
When the time comes where the people lose confidence in the currency, the money will come out. There is a lot of money still in retirement accounts that will be cashed out. There is also a lot of money abroad that will first trickle, then flood back on shore. People who are poor may have no choice but to sell anything that can be exported to get a share of that money.
Do not make the mistake of thinking that just because there isn't a lot of physical paper in circulation that we can't have hyperinflation. Digitization of currency will make hyperinflation come faster and harder than it ever has in the past, though we won't necessarily have the visual cues of people running around with wheelbarrows of cash.
money coming out is not money created. just because people are cashing in retirement to pay for everyday expenses does not equate to hyperinflation. This has already been going on for years.
Either way, the end result is the same . . . it will be hard to get the things you need, either because your currency is worthless, or because items are forced to be affordable, and then are not available (empty store shelves like in Soviet Union in 60's-80's)
Bingo. A=A.
not that you said it but as far as portfolio management it doesn't matter as much as it seems like it should. take a period of undeniable deflation that resembles today: 1930 to 1033. gold appreciated substantially, miners even more, most stocks and all bonds down in price. and the appreciation of gold miners continued into the early stock bull market of 1933 to 1935 and never gave it back.
should be 1930 to 1933.
I think there is a fine line between Runaway Inflation and Great Depression
Over spending by governments gets us to both --- It's just that when their schemes backfire you get either one or the other
Think of it like getting a live small pox "vaccine" as portrayed in the movie John Adams
You can just as easily die from the disease as die from the cure
it's a virtual wheelbarrow with virtual money ... aka a credit card.
An economy is a vast and complex beast, so many processes and so many unpredictable outcomes and emergences. Even so first principles will always apply. Excess liquidity drives inflation. This is a first principle. I have seen others make the same point as you do and I would observe that excess liquidity does not have to be in the hands of end consumers to drive inflation. It will leak out into the broader economy eventually but it will have its effect first on the equities market and also on commodities and raw materials, the end result is the same. Even if consumer spending drops drastically, price inflation will still occur because it is a direct result of monetary dilution every time, one of the few simple equations in economics. IMHO :~)
I would just add, again, that what makes inflation so deadly dangerous is that while it is so very easy to add liquidity to an economy it is painfully difficult to draw it down. I can't think of an historical example of "sterilization" so called now, ever having been succesfully achieved. Guess that makes me an inflationista. On the other hand anyone who has the temerity to study economics must be ever prepared to be proven wrong. still, if forced to play my hand I'd bet inflation.
Brett:
Weimar didn't happen overnight and it was happening before reparations. It did not happen because of great economic success and growth. It happened because Germany paid too much for WW1 with borrowed money (think central banks and the fed invented just prior to WW1). Broke, defeated, and then pummeled by reparations, what is a Countryto do? Print money. Voila, Weimar. Retired war hero generals begging for money because their pensions don't buy jack. Are we Weimar? Spending money we don't have and can never repay? check. Reparations? no. Weimar-lite. I am looking forward to egregious public pensions not buying jack, though. Union thugs got it comin'. Whether the payment for the egg sandwich is a wheel barrel full of money or a credit card full of worthless credit is really indifferent. We won't have flapper girls either.
Weimar was also about loss of empire and the corresponding collapse in economic activity. Hyperinflation happened even worse to Austria and Hungary. Suddenly their government beaurocracy that was sized to support and empire didn't have the economic base to support it. Add in massive war-debts and the buildup of stresses due to years of printing money, and viola, we have Wiemar.
So lets compare with Germany, Austria and Hungary in 1923 with America in 2010
1) Massive war debts. Check.
2) Bloated beaurocracy. Check.
3) Debased currency. Check.
4) Lost empire. Coming as soon as the Saudi's drop the dollar peg and no longer accept dollars for oil.
#4 was tried by Saddam... The Saudi's would be the last ones to break from that pact
Right. That is part of the Saudi's defense pact with the US and the reason for all of the military "democracy spreading" (yeah, right) activities in the Middle East. The dollar remains linked to oil, something everyone needs and, as a result, everyone needs dollars.
another stab at the unions.. as if all upper management are angels just trying, if not for the bloodthirsty unions, to provide a decent salary for the family man.
And these are the same people who slam democrats for being weak willed and not fit to fight for their country yet their blood boils from the fight from the unions.. typical bully mindset
Weimar inflation was in papiermarks. Reparations and foreign exchange was in goldmarks which were not effected by inflation.
Inflation is difficult in markets with many assets available to hedge, such as gold or real estate. Real estate prices are the inflation bellweather as it is a nationwide asset class available to just about everyone.
Gold prices have their own dynamic and confusion exists between currency issues and the (false) idea that gold is or will become a form of currency. Real physical gold is not easy to come by and does not circulate. Investment in gold is more like that in stocks than in currency which is not generally held in the same way ('long' or 'short' cash money in my pocket.)
The video confuses credit for currency; the divide between the two is taking place right now ... which is why the flight from the euro and other markers toward dollar currency. The dollar is exchangable for crude oil which is the essential ingredient for all forms of modernity.
Dollar exchangability for an intrinsically valuable physical good on demand at a stable exchange level is a characteristic of any hard currency.
The decline in dollar price for crude oil amplifies dollar hardness. The general view of dollar preference is backward; the only trade that matters on planet earth is the dollar/crude trade.
All other trades in other markets are churning and noise to conceal dollar preference. As the world turns, the only way to obtain fuel will be with dollars (or gold. Would you burn your gold to drive the corner and buy a bag of Cheeto's?)
Inflation has crude price climbing to exceed 2008 highs. This would crash the world's economies. The crash mechanism is the crude trade upper bound (Chris Cook) and fixes oil to the dollar. The recent price spike demonstrates the effect; $87 is the new $147. Since 2008, the world has become - from a credit standpoint - that much poorer.
Dollar preference is now manifest in currency exchange. Next, it will manifest in credit markets and dollar- denominated bonds are sold worldwide for cash dollars (and fuel). To all effects and purposes, the Fed cannot print as the resulting oil price rise would crash the economy. Oil price is the gun to the heads of central bankers.
Dollar preference is likely to cause bond rates to rise as all will be sellers looking for cash (fuel).
The conventional answer would be to increase the efficiency of commerce to pay for inputs but the high real cost of inputs (and Jevon's Paradox) makes commerce too expensive to be profitable; this represents an 'invisible tariff' that effects all goods to some degree. Rising real fuel prices since 1998 (real Peak Oil) have been the cause of the ongoing crisis; our economy runs on cheap oil, not just oil.
Dollar preference is the cause of Geithner racking up frequent flier miles to Beijing hoping to wheedle US dollar reserves from China.
Dollar preference is likely to cause oil prices to decline further representing sharply reduced demand for crude which will result in domestic fuel consumption declines in producer countries such as Iran. There are dollar black markets in all oil producing countries (including this one). The FX mechanism will consequently strip out illiquid minor currencies in favor of harder to find, but not too hard to find hard dollars.
Got that?
Oil prices will be low and decreasing but nobody will have dollars with which to buy fuel. Because of the value of dollars, no producer will accept anything else. We inhabit the ironic universe.
The hard currency tether between crude and dollars cannot be broken except for the US to 'go off oil' the way nations went off gold in the early 1930's. Good luck onya for that one, mate!
Agree with everything...except sale of treasuries.
If that occurs, the USG cannot self-fund. At some point the oil/dollar peg must break, and it does so under the weight of the exponential growth of US debt versus the decline of oil supply.
The US CLEARLY cannot pay back the dollars borrowed plus future interest claims in oil barrels. That by itself makes the dollar a dead man walking.
The Petrodollar is what we subrogated for the Bretton Woods accord. So long as oil supply rose, the system could self-sustain. Once effective EROI peaked, the dollar is in a state of self-collapse.
Core yields are in a state of collapse...I submit that this reflects that the aggregate economicalness of the world is in decline and in some places, completely nonprofitable. Like an oil well where you have to put more energy IN than you get out or a tree where you have to expend more energy climbing up E=gh than the apple will yield at that height.
In this case, there is NO demand for credit at even 0%. Interest rates *follow* economicalness, not the other way around. In a growing, less mature nation like brazil, you have demand for credit at much higher rates. In a mature economy, what is left to do that will yield even 1%?
This is the peak curve in real-time.
trav7777 - Thank you for the many insights on peak oil that you continue to provide.
Steve from VA - Thank you for the great insights into $ and oil.
Political action breaking up the big banks. Cash shooting out of derivatives. Traders etc. taking their money and running. It's asymmetric, quiet, but easy to spot if you're a native and have proper connections.
I'm already seeing meltup behavior in the NYC real estate market. Wall Street retirees buying up entire neighborhoods. City complying by eliminating welfare shops, buying out the projects, shuffling the minorities out-of-city.
Look, I'm all for privatization, but this blitzgrieg approach is just how Russia manufactured the endless wars with Chechnya.
The part where the government will collapse if they do not devalue to satisfy their obligations.
Apparently, you are incapable of looking at any of a NUMBER of collapsed nations which had GIGANTIC lower classes and still experienced currency crises.
Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, USSR...the list is endless.
There is NOT ONE nation that EVER went into hyperinflation as a result of a wage/price spiral...ever. It ALWAYS revolved around unserviceable debts and the inability of private credit growth to chase the exponential compounding interest curve.
DEFLATION as you are talking about is what CAUSES the hyperinflation. You cannot cheat the math. At such time as the credit growth demand stops, the interest begins to consume the money supply.
Easy example...one banker, one borrower. Banker lends money to borrower, $100 at 5%. At end of year, borrower must come up with $105. Either someone ELSE borrows the extra $5 from banker or else the system self destructs because credit will not grow. The borrower is in default because there is only $100 in the system. He must roll his loan and go deeper into debt as a function of mathematics. At such time as the aggregate borrowing stops, assuming the loan is made into an installment with interest ONLY due at successive years, the money supply eventually becomes consumed ENTIRELY by interest service with all principal still outstanding.
You either create money by printing, or the entire money supply collapses in a credit based system once aggregate credit demand peaks.
"There is NOT ONE nation that EVER went into hyperinflation as a result of a wage/price spiral...ever. It ALWAYS revolved around unserviceable debts and the inability of private credit growth to chase the exponential compounding interest curve."
Thank you, Trav: a salient point. Hyperinflation is often an overnight phenomenon (not literally, but bear with me from a relative standpoint) when compared with the impacts of wage-price spirals. The wage price spiral takes TIME to move through the real economy, an is often mitigated by countervailing factors that have TIME to offset and respond to the manifestations therein. Hyperinflation largely removes many of the economy's actors from the bargaining table, permitting near-instantaneous distortions in all levels of economic activity. Executive fiat is a jackhammer when a scalpel is needed.
I'm still working through some practical examples of your peak-EROI hypothesis. It's quite interesting, to say the least, however dire. I have to wonder where ambient energy sources that we take for granted (i.e. solar via photosynthesis) come into play in the entire formula. Any insights on your behalf would be greatly appreciated. Keep up the excellent commentary,
-GB
Wow Trav7777 - You are batting the balls out of the park...home run after home run!
By the way, I remember reading a 2002? 2004? Bernanke paper in which he outlined the various steps that a central banker would adopt to fight a Depression. When all other steps fail, his last step was to devalue the currency.
And yes, GoodBanker, that devaluation could be declared by Ben "overnight" or over some weekend in the future when the contagion focus turns to the U.S.
Excellent job facilitator tom. I'm sure your posting goes a long way toward achieving consensus.
Consumer => Corporate => Sovereign => "Fiat" Currency Structure Fail
We are here: http://home.comcast.net/~lcmgroupe/2010/Tipping_Points-2010-Home_Page/03...
interesting chart Sespian, i wonder how fast, seems the speed is picking up and i cant help but think it can all end suddenly.
Sex life of the dollar on viagra, ha ha we are at the end of the orgasm and its still up. Lol .
fear not, Bernanke's got it all in hand ;)
Brett in Manhattan,
I'm a deflationist (over the 1800s to 1912, i.e. pre Federal Reserve, the US overall had slight CPI deflation -
http://www.economics-charts.com/cpi/cpi-1800-2005.html), so who's to say a) it can't or shouldn't happen and b) why would it necessarily be a bad thing, notwithstanding the initial pain?
However, regarding your point, if it does go seriously inflationary it's going to be a lot less noticeable paying by Credit Card than by actual cash and therefore, potentially something Governments could (continue to?) do without it being immediately noticed by an already indebted population.
DavidC
wrong. More of us are paying with cash. Jug of oil is now 5.50 @ the market yesterday. was 3.50 a year ago. Lots of prices have gone up.
My bullish USD warnings since 2009 on weekly and monthly charts have not changed and further USD strength and thus EURO weakness is still expected, so USD rally and EURO downtrend will continue.
http://stockmarket618.wordpress.com
http://www.zerohedge.com/forum/latest-market-outlook-1
Really? Show me that "USD strength" in gold; in the S&P; in the DOW...
Show me anything with "strength" when measured/deflated in gold.
Supercycle has to put his comment on every story on every blog, so he has way too much to do to give any feedback to to any intelligent criticism. Fortunately, he only spams one comment per article, so it is tolerable. Just consider his free wisdom to be the gift that it is and enjoy the flashy pic.
Another thing, you have it bassawkards. It is EURO weakness THUS it is USD strength.
+1 Indeed !!
Nothing the US is doing right---US$ just the tallest of dwarves
but it is backed by oil.... and that pact is backed by missiles and bombs - I am not saying that can last forever, but it won't end without a hell of a bang
two boats in a pond
the euro leaks a little faster
the buck with smaller hole
they both are sinking ,,,,
neither going up.
Also look to Gary Shilling for a good argument for a return to dollar strength
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi5xXuBp0Io
During the Great Depression my daddy would say you would do ANYTHING for a buck
But their were no bucks to be had
There was credit but no one wanted to take a risk
While this remarkably well done video conveys a hugely important message, I will not forward it on, since of all the people I know personally, I am certain that only one (his German immigrant parents lived through the Weimar wheelbarrow-of-cash-for-a-loaf-of-bread period) possesses the combo of the brains to understand and take the message to heart and the concern to be bothered to watch more than a few minutes (and that one guy is almost entirely off the grid and too frugal to pay for an internet connection). You know, it is the old 'accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative...' mentality, i.e. stick your head in the sand and wait to get kicked in the arse routine.
I am afraid the coming years will be inescapably hard, and we'll learn our lessons the hard way, thanks in large part to sloth at the personal level and stupidity and fecklessness at the gubmint level.
Speaking of which, was listening to morning conservative talk radio on WMAL here in DC last week. Guy calls in, says he's a cop. He says that in recent months he and his cop friends have been getting called in for a lot of extra training for civil unrest type situations (can't remember the exact term he used for it). He thinks 'something is up' and is worried because he does not want that type of duty.....
I got my wife to watch it. I sent her the link via email. She watched the whole movie in one sitting without any further prodding on my part. The fact that I've been trying to educate her on these things over the last month or so and she thinks I'm certifiable right now helped pique her curiosity, but the video is well done and worth forwarding. You might be surprised at how many people will watch it and be rousted from the their slumber.
all it took was a guy in an ascot to reach across the aisle
My wife watched it as well. She then made a Sam's Club run . . . came back with 50 lbs pinto beans, 50 lbs rice, 12 liters of olive oil, 12 bags coffee beans, and 12 cases TP. Maybe the video can impact the masses.
Rebel i love your wife. Action oriented, take charge, we should all have some of that. Good for you.
Swaying to the symphony...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyWJCd1GYhw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t97ex_h2nNQ
"You know your worth when your enemies praise your architecture of aggression."
A bit heavy on the ideology (hatred of government) ... which unfortunately hurts its credibility.
1. China is a "currency manipulator". The world trading system (and its imbalances) can not be fixed until the Yuan floats.
2. Slash defense - a 50% cut would help cut government spending quite nicely as a start.
3. Making TVs and clothing? Forget the old glory days, they are not coming back, ever. Where is the direction forward?
4. Increase taxes on the wealthy. Doctors, bankers and firefighters are all overpaid. Tax it back (like it used to be before Reagan screwed up the place). Unfortunately the makers of the video forget this part.
5. Social security will not default (although there is no guarantee what a check will buy in the future)
6. It is the growing income and skills disparities that are making the US less competitive. 3 million people in prison (highest incarceration rate) costs money and wastes resources, for nothing in return.
Ultimately the US is being given a much longer rope by virtue of having the world's reserve currency. This just means it can go a lot longer before it falls, but when it falls the drop will be a doozy (similar to Greece which was able to get into a lot worse postion by virue of being in the Euro, than if it had stayed with the drachma).
billwilson
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=8289
Who is investing? At least 37 states have legalized the contracting of prison labor by private corporations that mount their operations inside state prisons. The list of such companies contains the cream of U.S. corporate society: IBM, Boeing, Motorola, Microsoft, AT&T, Wireless, Texas Instrument, Dell, Compaq, Honeywell, Hewlett-Packard, Nortel, Lucent Technologies, 3Com, Intel, Northern Telecom, TWA, Nordstrom's, Revlon, Macy's, Pierre Cardin, Target Stores, and many more. All of these businesses are excited about the economic boom generation by prison labor. Just between 1980 and 1994, profits went up from $392 million to $1.31 billion. Inmates in state penitentiaries generally receive the minimum wage for their work, but not all; in Colorado, they get about $2 per hour, well under the minimum. And in privately-run prisons, they receive as little as 17 cents per hour for a maximum of six hours a day, the equivalent of $20 per month. The highest-paying private prison is CCA in Tennessee, where prisoners receive 50 cents per hour for what they call "highly skilled positions." At those rates, it is no surprise that inmates find the pay in federal prisons to be very generous. There, they can earn $1.25 an hour and work eight hours a day, and sometimes overtime. They can send home $200-$300 per month.
Thanks to prison labor, the United States is once again an attractive location for investment in work that was designed for Third World labor markets. A company that operated a maquiladora (assembly plant in Mexico near the border) closed down its operations there and relocated to San Quentin State Prison in California. In Texas, a factory fired its 150 workers and contracted the services of prisoner-workers from the private Lockhart Texas prison, where circuit boards are assembled for companies like IBM and Compaq.
[Former] Oregon State Representative Kevin Mannix recently urged Nike to cut its production in Indonesia and bring it to his state, telling the shoe manufacturer that "there won't be any transportation costs; we're offering you competitive prison labor (here)."
Sweet. I lay this on Bill "cumshot" Clinton, prince of utterly immoral smooth operators. /mini-rant
Good scheme if you can get in on it. Do they bill the Corporations for the cost of 'room and board' for their new workers or is it a free subsidy from the U.S. taxpayer?
the prisons pay the inmates pennies per hour that they can use in the commissary. The Oregon prisons already have wood shops, "shoe shops" that make boots, blue jeans, some of them even manufacture the very plastic covered mattresses the inmates sleep on. Reminds me of work houses in Dickens time.
Yet, it is US federal law that one cannot import products made by slave or prison labor ! US prisons don't want any competition, apparently.
"A bit heavy on the ideology (hatred of government) ... which unfortunately hurts its credibility."
>>>>>.....
your credibility just took a bigger hit.
Do you think it's hate at Government or perhaps hate of kleptocracy elites running Gov and wall st??
Got It???
+++
It seems to be too big a step for a certain group of American citizens who are looking forward to, or are currently receiving their (long promised) government handouts, to admit to simple facts.
Social security will not default (although there is no guarantee what a check will buy in the future)
Thats exactly why most people are so asleep at the switch and Govts can get away with debasing the currency. Without headline `default-bankruptcy`language, most people dont notice the slow insidious erosion of purchasing power....oh, and those annual 10% COLA sure help as well !!
@ billwilson
Please explain how "Doctors" are overpaid?
By what objective standard?
Are Doctors using fraud or force on anyone to obtain their money?
Are they providing a vital service that men and women pay for without violent coercion (recently passed insurance mandate not withstanding - although I'd bet you are in favor of that, right?)
Should they be paid more than someone who can perhaps bounce a ball and throw it into a hoop accurately, or perhaps hit it with a stick, or kick it with their feet into a net?
Are you aware that most physicians when they actually finally start working at the age of 30 at the earliest and at age 36-39 at the latest are well over $200K and some even over $350K in debt. You're talking about going through 8 straight years with ZERO INCOME and then the final 3-8 years of training making less than the minimum wage and working 80-100 hour weeks.
Are you aware that most physicians will not achieve a net worth of 0$ until they are in their early 50's.
But, I guess you've just decided that anyone who makes more money than you is overpaid, right?
You are a titan of deductive logic.
(P.S. - Everyone who makes less than you thinks the same thing about your particular profession and would like to see you making a bit less. Please explain to them why you deserve your current salary while they make less than you.)
. <- the worlds smallest violin playing for the overworked/underpaid physicians.
More medical schools would mean lower tuition.
More seats would mean more physicians and less demand.
More sleep for Medical Students would mean fewer patients harmed and killed.
Paying the Medical Students for their internship would help them pay their bills.
All of this to reduce the number of physicians so they can keep the wages high.
Thank you!!!!! Physicians salaries have been decreasing over the last 20 years consistently. Less and less of our brightest young people are choosing to go to medical school. Would you rather be cared for by a third rate doctor when you get sick. The above average compensation is a price that is consistent with the amount of schooling (i.e debt) and time/effort that are prerequisite for becoming a physician. I know this because I AM a physician. BTW, I am 33 years old, live in a rented apartment, drive a 2006 volvo, and splurge on one nice vacation/year.