[Paul Ross]

A British Gold Bug piece, but nontheless very interesting listing of facts...which fly in the face of Cato and the Usual Supspect apologizing for the mountainous twin debts. Never heard of an "Economic Geologist" before.

He coins the phrase "digital money" and castigates the same phoniness with our inflation reporting and economic measures that classical and traditional supply-siders have been condemning as confabulatory...and wishing to make it so.

[BeHoldAPaleHorse]

FIAT and CREDIT

Never buy a Fiat on credit. Come to think of it, never buy a Fiat at all, buy a Lamborghini instead.

[finnman69]

what the hell is FIAT?

[Petronski]

Have you hugged your BAHOG today?

[Paul Ross]

FYI

[kingu]

Ahh, yes, the secret corporate domination of every living creature on planet Earth, who controls all, sees all, except those who somehow, through all of this vast control of just about everything, somehow manages to get their information out there for us to act upon.

I'm sorry, but the price of tin didn't go up with the price of gold, nor did lead - so I'll neither wear a tin foil hat, nor lead lined boxers, thank you very much.

[AdamSelene235]

which fly in the face of Cato

That's my one sticking point with CATO. I'm thinking of yanking my contributions because of their fauning over the Fed.

[finnman69]

I smell something

7. Finally, but by no means least, we have "the forever war" on terrorism. Congress has approved the largest ever increase of some 40% in the Defense Budget to a mind boggling US$450 billion. This means that the US spends more than all the other countries in the world combined on its military. One may wonder what such expenditure might achieve if even a fraction of it were directed to such things as: US infrastructure including roads, railways, power stations, hospitals, and construction of better schools; or, medical research; development of new sources of energy; reducing the effects of pollution in the US; or if some was directed to alleviate world poverty and assist developing countries? The current Iraq war is little other than a debacle that has brought untold misery. Even worse, the ugly inheritance of Winston Churchill's policies has come back to haunt the citizens of Iraq with a fracticidal civil war now underway which is engulfing Sunni Muslims, Shi'ite Muslims and Kurds. In a nightmarish scenario, this war could well drag in Kuwait, Iran, Turkey, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Neither the US nor the UK has a clear exit strategy for Iraq. In fact, they are linked together in a mess that neither can extricate themselves from. The full consequences of this immense policy failure will become apparent over the coming months and years. Long will the Allies live to rue the day the got involved in Iraq. History will not judge Messrs Bush and Blair kindly. Eventually, the truth will out.

[Pondman88]

FIAT, Gold, Conspiracy...this article has it all!!!

[opinionator]

Does Free Republic allow the posting of advertisements disguised as articles?

[IamConservative]

The "head and shoulders", "double top formation", etc. methods of predicting markets seems to be based on wishful thinking and not real information.

[KarlInOhio]

1. The US Government deficit now exceeds US$8 trillion. The ceiling for the deficit has recently been raised again by Congress;

If you don't know the difference between deficit (annual amount) and debt (total accumulated), I have no reason to take any of the rest of your economic theories seriously.

The CPI figure has so little basis in factual reality that it serves only to underscore the age old adage "there are lies, damn lies and statistics". Indeed, this figure is little more than a piece of "voodoo economics" designed to fool the unwitting populace that inflation is only a third or quarter of what it really is.

Serious economists might argue that inflation is really 5% instead of 4%, but to claim that it is 3-4 times higher, or 12-16%, is just not backed up by the evidence.

[redgolum]

6. The Feds policy of total accommodation, with interest rates falling to 1% in 2001 to 2002, to avert the inevitable major bond and stock market crash and all it implied for the world economy, was the signal for the surge in commodity prices many of which have more than doubled in price. Amongst the most prominent is the rise in the oil price from US$22 to US$65, but others, to name but a few, include: platinum, gold, silver, nickel, copper, lead, zinc, soy, sugar, coffee and cocoa. Most of these commodities are currently trading at increases of from 120% to 300% above 2002 prices. However, have all been reliably told that headline inflation rates are below 2.5%. Perhaps one needs to look at the salary and benefit increases of executives in the World's leading companies to see what they have been awarding themselves to determine what they know to be the real inflation rate. This, you will find, is running at between 12% to 15% per annum, and a lot more if other perks such as generous stock options and severance packages are factored into the equation. So much for the CPI;

In 2002, I was part of a team that was expanding a plant. We had a lot of steel bought and staged on site when the expansion was put on hold. 6 months later, that steel pipe and such had almost doubled in value. This has been played out in most commodity markets, yet we keep hearing that inflation is "low".

There is a lot of hype and slant in the article though. Gold is good, but in the end is no more a measure of wealth than fiat currency. Gold has been manipulated in the past in much the same way as fiat money. The biggest difference is that gold is easier to convert between countries.

[opinionator]

So I should trade in all of my green pieces of paper for a piece of metal that humans only value for its beauty?

[PAR35]

Copyright © 2003-2006

So he's been flogging this story for 3 years, and this time he is right?

[Brilliant]

"The US finally cut all ties between the dollar and gold under the Nixon administration in 1972. This ushered in an explosion of FIAT, inflation and a surge in the gold price to its highest ever price of US$ 850 per troy ounce."



That was 34 years ago. And the price of gold has gone down and up during that time quite a lot. Inflation has more to do with the price of oil than the price of gold.


And actually, the main statement that we cut ties with gold in 1972 is incorrect. That actually happened during the Depression. In 1972, we abandoned the fixed exchange rate regime of the Bretton Woods Agreement. That did not really have much to do with gold.

[Pox]

From the foregoing, those fortunate enough to own their own homes and other core assets, and possess a mix of quality gold mine stocks and physical gold will be amongst the few who survive this financial equivalent of a holocaust

ROFLMAO. This sounds like a chump who has way too much gold in his portfolio and is squealing like a stuck pig that everyone should BUY gold now, which would of course save his tremendous impending losses.

[RipSawyer]

The CPI figure has so little basis in factual reality that it serves only to underscore the age old adage "there are lies, damn lies and statistics". Indeed, this figure is little more than a piece of "voodoo economics" designed to fool the unwitting populace that inflation is only a third or quarter of what it really is. The objectives are merely to put intense downward pressure on labor market wage settlements.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I came to essentially the same conclusion years ago. I am amazed at how little understanding of the truth of inflation is displayed by the younger people I meet. I have asked some of them what their impression of inflation over the last forty years is. Most of them seem to think that a dollar today buys about one third of what it would buy forty years ago, I certainly wish that were true, I would be living high on the hog indeed.

[Calpernia]

ping

[Calpernia]

>>>>However, as the reader will see, this gold boom cycle will be like none before it, and, as is often the case in human affairs, events of the past, whilst similar in outline, may differ significantly from presently unfolding events.

As per this documentary hosted by Michael York

THIS gold was found in Venezuelan waters.

http://www.pcha.gov/goldtrainfinaltoconvert.html

I don't know what has become of it; but as of 2004, the victims have received a settlement.

December 21, 2004 The federal government settled a lawsuit with 32 retired Miami Jews, regarding a legend about a trainload of gold, jewelry and other property, supposedly stolen by US Generals.

[little jeremiah]

Gotta read this. I can only understand some of it, being a foolish high school dropout. But I think you both would like it. I'll try to think of some others.