Hommel isn't bright enough to be either a shill or an economist.
Posted on 02/24/2008 7:23:42 AM PST by Christopher Lincoln
On this Valentine's day, let us remember and pay a tribute to all people who love the Government, and while we are at it, let's pay tribute to the Government itself by buying a T-Bill !
Thank goodness most of America and the rest of the world still loves the Federal Government of the United States and the Federal Reserve enough to continue to hold about $30 trillion worth of bonds that are paying, on average, about 5% while inflation is about 17%.
Such Fed-loving bond holders clearly approve of all the spending habits of the United States government, by their actions of holding bonds, and willingness to lose 12% of their capital per year, and must fully approve of the institution known as the Federal Reserve.
(Excerpt) Read more at gold-eagle.com ...
I wonder what world the author lives in that he believes that the inflation rate is seventeen percent in the United States. Maybe he’s having a flashback to the Jimmy Carter years?
His criticism of the war is just the tip of his iceberg of stupidity. Inflation is 17%? LOL. I'd say his only real point in writing this article was to say buy gold! -- preferably his gold.
Hommel isn't bright enough to be either a shill or an economist.
He’s not selling. He’s buying.
BTW be ready for the onslaught - every time I make the same statement the "economy is great" crowd comes out. You could not be more correct about the Government cooking the books on inflation. Go to the Commerce website and look at the categories they use. Where can you find coffee for $3.50 per pound. No where I know of.
Childcare, too, is going up. The insurance the centers pay, plus their utilities and property taxes, mean child care rates are going up 4-6% a year. Much higher than official inflation.
Real inflation is not 9-12% unless food and gas are like 50% of your budget. There are plenty of things cheaper now than 2 years ago like clothing, housing, electronics, computers, etc. The government headline # does NOT exclude food, fuel etc btw. The “core” number does due to the volatility of those 2. That’s why the “headline” number is 4.3% and the core is in the low 2s.
Housing and clothes prices are dropping—and yes I’m talking about real clothes not Walmart cr$p since I never. I just bought 2 nice pairs of dockers, a nice work shirt and a sweater last week for $60 total. 2 years ago that would have cost me at least $90. Clothing merchants are hurting badly (same store sales are way down) and are heavily discounting. Housing prices have been dropping for 2 years straight nationally and probably won’t stop for at least another year. Electronics and computer prices continue to drop as well (drastically). I bought my wife a laptop 2 years ago for $1000. I could get a faster one today at best buy for $400 now (which would save $600 which is enough to buy my wife and groceries for 4 months).
Official inflation is 4.3%. If you say rates are going up 4-6%, I don’t see how you can say much higher than official inflation since that is in your range. Did you include housing, clothing, electronics, and computer prices dropping though in that calculation?
The author of this travesty of an essay would never be a shill for FedGov because he didn’t get the good grades in the right classes in high school or college.
Considering home prices and interest rates are coming down, if anything housing and rents are in a period of deflation.
I don’t know what the inflation rate is but:
4 years ago the cheapest pair of hiking boots at Walmart cost $16.00.
2 years ago the cheapest pair of hiking boots at Walmart cost $20.00.
Last summer the cheapest pair of hiking boots at Walmart cost $24.00.
1 year ago I could buy 5 Jacks frozen pizzas for $10.00.
Six months ago I could buy 4 Jacks frozen pizzas for $10.00.
Yesterday, I could buy 3 Jacks frozen pizzas for $10.00.
What component of M3 are you unable to find to add to M2 and get the number for yourself? Why not just use M2 like everyone else who understands the basics of money and banking?
Does it really even matter? Anyone who thinks the real rate of inflation is 17%, and the entire bond market is oblivious, is an idiot....and a gold bug.
Where does the author get the figures of $30 trillion in bonds and 17% inflation rate? $30T at 5% interest would be $1.5 trillion in interest. The amount paid is no where close to that.”
Where does he get the idea that Feb 24 is Valentine’s Day??????
Official inflation is 4.3%. If you say rates are going up 4-6%, I don’t see how you can say much higher than official inflation since that is in your range. Did you include housing, clothing, electronics, and computer prices dropping though in that calculation?”
If “official inflation” is 4.3%, then why was my Soc Sec increase only 2.3%. Gas has more than doubled since I retired. Food is another entire story. Thanks to the spotted owl mess, a box of computer paper has gone from 2800 sheets (tractor feed) for $9.95 to 2500 sheets for $28.95.
I used to drive about 15,000 miles a year between my 79 Buick and my 76 one Ton Dually. This last year the total mileage for both was 3111 miles. That still cost me more than $1000 in gas.
For starters, the government has set up a private corporation, and given it a monopoly on counterfeiting private wealth. The very act of “borrowing money into circulation”, according to none other than Alan Greenspan in his 1966 essay, Gold and Economic Freedom, is the key aspect of a long term, slow motion, conversion of private wealth to the benefit of government. In fact Greenspan said it was “confiscation through inflation.”
Next, I would be happy to support a government that did not exempt itself from its own rules. When massive pollution is discovered at a government agency, nobody goes to jail, nobody gets fired. If the environmental damage rises to the level where it cannot be swept under the carpet, the GAO will issue a report with a title like “Cleanup Progressing, but Challenges Remain”.
I would be happy to support a government that meticulously respected my right to protect my own privacy, including my financial privacy, as much is it protects its own records, a government that put put its own agents in jail for telling lies to citizens, just as quickly as it put Martha Stewart in jail for telling lies about her stock trades.
I would be happy to support a government that was just as happy to grant me a deduction for my capital losses as it is to tax me on capital gains. There are some people who cannot live long enough to work off their short term capital loss carry-forward at the generous $3,000 per year limit.
Speaking of taxing gains, I would be happy to support a government that stops taxing me on numerical gains in dollars of long-term assets that have risen in price because of how much the government has inflated its currency. Alan Greenspan was right to be worried about confiscation via inflation coupled with the graduated tax on incomes.
In short, sorry government, you’ll have to improve our relationship substantially before I’ll give you a single penny more than I am legally obligated to.
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