I am impressed with this analysis of the 35 year Boom/Bust cycles with the underlying political history, ‘You Are Here’, by Dagny D’Anconia. Excerpt:
The Dow (DJIA) to Gold (Au) ratio: You can think of the ratio as the balance between enthusiasm and fear. When we are enthusiastic for our financial prospects, the Dow is higher. When we have financial fear of losing our assets, we value gold more. While gold is not a productive asset, it is a relatively safe one. In contrast, investing in business and the Dow is a productive asset, but a relatively unsafe one. You can also consider the ratio to be the changes in the Dow corrected for inflation by basing it on gold or Dow per unit of gold.
The Great Depression, the Carter Stagflation, and the Bush-Obama Downturn all follow a pattern that is striking: The economic peaks are separated by almost exactly 35 years. There are also suggestive patterns in politics, military affairs, and technology, all of which are tied into the repeating pattern. Perhaps we can use this to see where we are and where we will go financially, politically, and technologically. This economic downturn has us all wondering when it will end, how bad will it get, and what will it do to our personal wealth. http://dagnyd.net/YouAreHere.htm