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The Dow sinking.Gold sinking.Oil sinking.Copper sinking.Yields sinking.  We struggled with this, Dear Reader. We meditated. We prayed. We drank heavily.And finally…we overcame the rank desire to say: “We told you so!”As you know, Martin Wolf, of The Financial Times, is the voice of The Economics Establishment. All that is great and good in the field — which isn’t very much — is given voice by Wolf. Then, it is acceptable for policymakers, Treasury ministers, and central bankers, not to mention the people you talk to at cocktail parties.And lo! Here cometh the neo-Keynesian economist. What saith he?He says the world...

Inflation Is Part Of The Plan Economics / Inflation Jan 31, 2012 By: Money Morning Martin Hutchinson writes: Forget about lost decades. Forecasts that we'll be turning Japanese couldn't be further from the truth. Here's why. It's simple, really. Deflation is not in the interest of anybody in power, so it's very unlikely to happen. The U.S. Federal Reserve's policy move to target inflation last week just re-emphasizes this point. That's not to say deflation is a bad thing for everybody. For savers and those living on fixed incomes, deflation would be a very good thing indeed. Their income would...

Keeping interest rates low may have the APPEARANCE of stimulation, but that effect is NOT being passed on by the banks. Interest Rates on loans, even credit cards, have not declined in proportion to the drop in interest rates at the Fed. Therefore, the deflation aspect is shifting profits to banks further bailing them out to make up for their losses in the speculation of mortgages. NOTHING is being done to help the people or the economy whatsoever! They are NOT lowering borrowing costs of consumers or business so the Fed can pretend it is helping the economy, but it...

Mike "Mish" Shedlock finally made it on to FSN's distinguished guest list. While Mish is often controversial and frequently derided by other members of the prognostication class, he has a unique perspective, which is entitled to some respect. As he explains it, the massive destruction of assets, such as real estate and debt backed securities has actually led to a shrinking of the money in circulation. Even though the Monetary Base M0 has greatly expanded in recent years, none of these newly created dollars have found their way in to the money supply. The reason is simple, banks aren't lending...

OUR ultimate risk is that we will lose all our freedoms before there would be hyperinflation. The borders are closing silently. Tax havens are being attacked and every wire coming into the US is being traced to check who owns that account. Government is desperate to cling to power. It is naive to presume that our economic troubles will cause government to see the light and accept gold as the new money supply. The bankers, who really control government like the financial crack dealers, would never allow it. The attempt to manipulate gold during the Panic of 1869 and force...

New York 28/12/2011 - Gold on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange moved sharply lower Wednesday after the euro plummeted on concerns that Europe is creeping closer to a deflationary recession. Gold futures for February delivery were last down $30.50, or about two percent, at $1,565.00 an ounce. Trade has ranged from $1,563.90 to $1,595.00. The markets have been under pressure ever since the euro smashed through the $1.30 level, Sterling Smith, an analyst with Country Hedging, said. “The bulls are really nervous. They aren't comfortable getting long - especially considering this is a funny time of...

China Economy May Drag World Down Economics / China Economy Dec 17, 2011 - 07:39 AM By: Barry Elias My column of June 24, 2011 ("China Yield Inversion May Portend Economic Slowdown") opened with the following sentence: “The yield on Chinese bonds are inverting at an accelerating rate. This does not portend well for the Chinese economy, and this may have negative implications globally.” China’s contribution to global economic growth this year is nearly 40%.The reason: property construction in China boomed significantly during the previous decade. The Chinese government controls all the allocation of land. Beginning in 1998, Chinese authorities...

(Kitco News) - Comex February gold futures prices careened lower and hit a fresh nearly three-month low on follow-through selling pressure from the strong losses posted in afternoon trading Tuesday. It was a “risk-off” trading day in the market place Wednesday, and that was very bearish for the precious metals. A stronger U.S. dollar and sharply lower crude oil prices were also major bearish factors for gold Wednesday. Fresh, serious near-term technical damage has been inflicted in gold this week. February gold last traded down $76.80 at $1,586.60 an ounce. Spot gold last traded down $47.00 an ounce at $1,584.50....

What you are about to read should absolutely astound you. During the last financial crisis, the Federal Reserve secretly conducted the biggest bailout in the history of the world, and the Fed fought in court for several years to keep it a secret. Do you remember the TARP bailout? The American people were absolutely outraged that the federal government spent 700 billion dollars bailing out the "too big to fail" banks. Well, that bailout was pocket change compared to what the Federal Reserve did. As you will see documented below, the Federal Reserve actually handed more than 16 trillion dollars...

This is the worst-case scenario from Europe, and it just might come true: Italy defaults on its debts. Every major Italian bank collapses. Recession grips the eurozone. Sovereign defaults and bank failures ripple across the Continent. Saddled with bad loans to nations and lenders in Europe, American banks hemorrhage cash. Credit freezes in the United States. Multinational companies, unable to raise money, curb U.S. investment and hiring. Wall Street demands, but fails to get, new bailouts. The entire developed world plummets into recession and, quite possibly, depression. This, in contrast, is the placid warning that President Obama gave Americans about...

George Soros: The Global Financial System Is In A 'SELF-REINFORCING PROCESS OF DISINTEGRATION' Simone Foxman Dec. 1, 2011, 4:58 PM Investor George Soros foretold doom in a recent speech in front of the International Senior Lawyers Project, according to the WSJ. The financial system is collapsing, and the developed world is fast falling into a "deflationary debt trap.""The consequences could be quite disastrous," he said. "You have to do what you can to stop it developing in that direction." Soros has been an outspoken advocate of taking more radical action to stem the European debt crisis, endorsing intervention by the...

Raise or lower interest rates just like the feds and see the results on inflation and employment. A little teaching game. Interesting results

ROBERT REICH: The Republican Economic Plan Is An Austerity Death-Trap Robert Reich Oct. 19, 2011, 6:25 PM Ron Paul’s newly-unveiled economic plan – promising to cut $1 trillion from the federal budget in year one (presumably that means 2013) – is only slightly more ambitious than what we’re hearing from other Republican candidates. They’re all calling for major spending cuts starting fifteen months from now. What are they smoking? Can we just put ideology aside for a moment and be clear about the facts? Consumer spending (70 percent of the economy) is flat or dropping because consumers are losing their...

Warning U.S. HyperInflation Ahead Economics / HyperInflation Oct 09, 2011 - 06:20 AM By: Seth Barani Money Supply M2 has expanded at Warp-9 within the past few months, based on Federal Reserve Data released on Sep.30th. In fact, the ratio of M2 to M1 has set a World Record, exponentially growing to over 5:1 (M2 is near $9.6 Trillion, over 12% growth this year so far, projected to show 15% growth in one year, while M1 has remained constant near $2 Trillion.) Chart below shows the growth of M2 in 2011: The daily price chart of Gold is shown next....

Why The Inflationists PROBABLY Have It Wrong, For Now Economics / Deflation Oct 03, 2011 - 01:27 PM By: David Haas Many people are trying – with increasing desperation – to discern the future and plan correctly for the economic environment we’re most likely to find ourselves experiencing. My continued bets have been that deflation will prevail, at least in the early years of the great collapse, and nothing has yet occurred that changes my view. To further advance your personal understanding of the powerful forces (people) at work in the hidden halls of high finance, here is an excellent...

Hang Seng Index leads Asia fall, diving more than 4%. Hong Kong stocks tank as financials plunge on reports that Greek budget misses austerity targets. • Japan stocks dive, with exporters tumbling • Australian stocks fall sharply on Europe jitters

The Stock Market Smells Deflation Stock-Markets / Stock Markets 2011 Oct 02, 2011 - 11:06 AM By: Clif Droke In previous commentaries we've talked about how the 6-year cycle is scheduled to peak around Oct. 1. That now appears to be all but certain following the last few trading sessions. Although the cycle has a 1-2 week standard deviation (plus or minus), it appears that it peaked on schedule last week and that the stock market has lost the last remaining cyclical support it had throughout most of September. Interestingly, it was the commodity stocks that performed the strongest in...

Gary Shilling: The Economy Is Slowing, Yields Will Plunge, Deflation Is Coming And Stocks Are Headed Lower Joe Weisenthal Sep. 28, 2011, 3:21 PM Stiff drink alert. Here are highlights of Gary Shilling appearing on Bloomberg TV. (Click here to watch the full video.) -------------- Schilling on how much further the 30-year Treasury bond yield could fall: "I think [the 3-year Treasury bond yield] might go back to 2.5%. That's where it was at the end of 2008 in the aftermath of the Lehman Brothers meltdown. That's my target for now. I think we are looking at deflation. As I...

Deflation Is Here Graham Summers September 12, 2011 I’ve been warning that the markets were on the verge of another round of Deflation. By the looks of things, it’s here with the US Dollar breaking out of its massive wedge pattern. The ultimate target for this pattern is the mid-80s. So consider this latest breakout the first leg up of a much larger move that will affect all other asset classes in a big way. In order for a move of that caliber to occur in the US Dollar, we’ll need to see a full-scale crisis hit the markets (the...

Dear Freepers, please help me out! A firend of mine sent me an e-mail which featured a link to someone who is apparently an economist names Harry S. Dent, with a video ink (I'm including). I have never heard of this man, and I began to watch the video, in which he defines what he think is going on with the economy. Thus far (I have only watched about half), all I can gather is that he believes that we are headed towards DEFLATION and that all commodoties are in a bubble and that whenever their is a crisis, people...