Highly recommended reading that will take 10 minutes. Look at item #4 and the graph.
A superb article by Turk that sums up the role of central banks over the past few hundred years. I did not know that Sir Isaac Newton created the idea for the first gold backed currency ever in England, hundreds of years ago. It came about following the currency collapse from printing too much paper currency via their first go at a central bank. The solution? A gold backed system that Newton came up with. Pretty much stayed the same until the 2nd decade of the 20th century. At that point the bankers (and govt's) wanted the reigns lifted so they could inflate the money supply, tax everyone indirectly w/o approval or votes....basically steal from the citizens. It's done just that. Gold backed currency is a relic, and maybe Central Banks are too....but gold continues to prove its worth as a true currency and safeguard against paper "currency" debasement.
This is a quick view on oil vs. the economy. Interesting that 50-60% of the Saudi supply of oil is based on one giant well. All of the Saudi's 6 major wells are all over 20 years old.
The stock market is toast. Inflation will continue to out pace any indexed stock market gains. Inflation already is at over 5% per year. Interesting that their are economist buffoons out there who think that the rebuilding of NO is a positive for the economy. Yeah, we print $200 billion more and keep going. Maybe a few more hurricanes, another war, and few quakes are what we need to jump start things. The stock market seems to respond positively to destruction. The sheeple are lined up and have spoken. baaaaa.
I read the first article, Roadrunner. It's excellent. When will the bubble burst, I've been asking myself for nearly 15 years.
.....GOD
"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." -Luke 11:9
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." -Deut. 6:4-5
"For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; He will save us." -Isaiah 33:22
Jester, there's no way to escape what's coming. It's been predetermined for decades. But the inevitable has been held off for years due to massive credit manipulation. What we've seen over the past 25 years is a major abberation of the business cycle by debasing our currency. There eventually is going to be heck to pay for a "teeny amount" of inflation (3%/yr) over the past 3 decades that has resulted directly from quadrupling our money supply at the expense of the world. All chickens come home to roost. The derivatives market alone holds substantial risk and no one pays it any mind. The unregulated portion of this market on interest rate risk alone is staggering.....something well above $50 TRILLION.
<< <i>It's not often I link an article for viewing here. But here are 2 or 3 that I found very good. No technical stuff either. The first one is the best.
Highly recommended reading that will take 10 minutes. Look at item #4 and the graph.
A superb article by Turk that sums up the role of central banks over the past few hundred years. >>
There are several very important omissions and errors in the artical. His very premise that;
1. Money is a product of the free market.
is in error since free markets are much more the result money.
It's not central banking or the lack of a gold standard which has been a problem for four centuries. It is much more greed and government. It's a government willing to rob the treasury to buy votes, or peace, or public quiet which erodes the value of money.
Money which was gold could not really prevent these same practices and the world had to put up with the ups and downs in the economy as gold production waxed and waned.
Much of the great wealth now enjoyed in the world (not only total wealth but also per capita wealth) were made possible by the flexibility provided by fiat.
Those who want to rail against inflation would be better advised to complain about government and its continued and exponential growth rather than money.
I cannot agree Cladking. Turk has his opinion and you have yours. To say he wrong because you disagree holds no merit.
His statement that the debasement of currency, whether by central banking or a govt, is still the same. In fact he mentioned that why did we give the car keys to the FED in 1913? The US Govt could have just as easily printed the extra money and loaned it out to banks. Whatever the end result was it still links back to issuing excess currency. This results in the massive swings known as ordinary "business cycles" today.
Yes the great wealth of the world today was made by the "flexibility of fiat." And that great wealth of the world is enjoyed by less than 5-10% of the world's inhabitants.
Another way of saying the above is that the great wealth of the world today was made by the devaluation of currency at the expense of the lower classes. In essence a hidden tax. Today's average American thinks that a little inflation is good, that is a prescription drug for a healthy economy. This is folly. Only one country in the 20th century ever had the chance to issue pure fiat money as the world's reserve currency. The experiment is now 31 years along and the results are certainly debatable.
What "free" market decided that the FRN was going to be the essence of "money?" None that I know of. Congress voted in the FED Reserve Act, not the free market. You could say that the "unfree" market and old wealth made that decision for congress. Gold was still the choice as money from 1913-1934. FDR first relaxed the standard and then Nixon removed it entirely by 1974. The market did not decide these things. The market did not decide to confiscate gold in 1934 and debase the FRN by 40% overnight. The market was told in 1974 that an FRN was now the "only" real money, believe it. Well the path of gold from 1974-1980 decided how true that statement was. From 1980-2001 the market was happy with FRN's. And why not? With the FRN supply quadrupling, easy loans, gold sales to keep that source of money in the toilet, all contributed to what money was prior to 2001. Today, what is money is being altered once again. An FRN ain't what it used to be.
Here's a relatively topical article on the issue of Real Bills, real money, gold, and FRN's. The author is stating the our abuse of printing currency unchecked is not what real money is about. And there are no safeguards against the abuse....ie no market competition per se. This is exactly what lead to the John Law abuses, the18th century French Assignat and the 20th century Weimer Republic. This is what real money and free trade is all about, not our relatively unchecked current system. Hultberg and others recommend a gold backed system with real bills circulating to promote trade and growth, and competition among local and regional banks (no central banks). You do not need a 100% backed gold system to keep the system honest. But you do need some sort of backing for a workable system that does not eventually implode by printing excess money. In Hultberg's system, the banks that devalue their real bills/currency go out of business as customers will go to other banks for better returns. There is no such option today other than to buy foreign currency. And many G-8 countries are printing money faster than we are! A great race to devaluation if you will.
Hultberg has stated that it was not gold nor the banks issuing money in the 19th century that caused problems. It was the govt allowing special considerations to banks to suspend specie payment and other such machinations that caused the many cycles.
The Gold market is way up again this morning, $464 up $5 wow somebody better stop this before we run away to $500. When are the central bankers going to hammer this Gold back to $425?
<< <i>The Gold market is way up again this morning, $464 up $5 wow somebody better stop this before we run away to $500. When are the central bankers going to hammer this Gold back to $425? >>
They've oversold their quotas and won't be able to bring it down until after Sept. 27th.
I think I'll start my comparison to Gold from 1999 to stocks and show how much of a dog the stock market is. Of course we could go to peak gold like some do 25 years ago and claim it's a dog too. It's called sector rotation folks and all investments must be managed.
I was off ~$100/toz from where I thought gold would be at this time.
Congrats Gold bugs.
~g
I listen to your voice like it was music, [ y o u ' r e ] the song I want to know.
I'd give you the world, just because...
Speak to me of loved ones, favorite places and things, loves lost and gained, tears shed for joy and sorrow, of when I see the sparkle in your eye ... and the blackness when the dream dies, of lovers, fools, adventurers and kings while I sip my wine and contemplate the Chi.
AgMe, thanks for coming forward with your honesty. Most of the gold bashers here only speak up when they see gold get pummelled.
Don't worry, they'll be back in a few weeks (or days) stating we're heading back to $250-$360 again. Funny thing though, somewhere between now and the top of this market, we just may see gold under $400 again one last time! And at that point they'll be right.
As Gold moves to $475 today several writers here have pointed out that you can’t eat Gold, so why buy it in the face of natural disasters. My opinion is that Gold is not being bought for natural disasters; it is being bought because a big light is now being shown on the U.S. debt problem. If you take the $700 billion trade deficit short fall in the U.S., add to that the estimated $330 billion in Federal deficit, add to that a possible additional $500 billion for Iraq and at least two major storms, our finding deficits for just this year comes to 1,530 BILLION.
I have been asking this question here for over a year. Just who will fund our deficits when foreign investors are no longer interested?
"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." -Luke 11:9
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." -Deut. 6:4-5
"For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; He will save us." -Isaiah 33:22
History books show that in AD 408-9, Brittania (Britain) had seen the Roman soldiers beginning to abandon the Hadrian wall and leaving the province to fight the Gauliic Wars. Brittania had thrived for so many centuries since Roman soldiers would "take shifts" and come back from Rome with a big bagful of new coins every two years to spend on the local economy. Since "credit" did not exist as it does today, the economy depended on a sufficient amount of coinage to keep the economy moving.
When new Roman soldiers stopped coming to Brittania to take the place of the existing soldiers and with them, the big bags of coins to spend, the economy of Brittania went into a big nosedive. It was not long before coins were no longer accepted as payment for goods and services. Why? There was not enough of it to go around! Barter quickly took its place.
It has been recorded that while there was some silver in the Roman coins there was so little left in them that they were worth more being melted down and purified as pure silver. Many of the residents of Brittania then had to fend off the invasions by the northerners and the Islanders that they had no choice but to bury much of their money and recover them when times improved. That never happened as Rome finally abandoned Brittania officially in AD 410 for good.
Fact: when there was that much chaos as there was in AD 411, even silver and gold was worth very little. Only barter reigned supreme. One of the very few times in recorded history in which even silver and gold suffered badly in perceived valuation.
Commentary: Economies suffer in cycles of too little currency in nearly the same way as having too much currency. Both erode the value of the currency itself.
In a hurry to beat Texans to the honey pot in Washington, the State of Louisiana submitted their bill to the U.S. Congress this morning for $250,000,000,000 that’s $250 BILLION. This of course does not include the disasters in Mississippi or Alabama. Perhaps they should have waited until this afternoon as they are being flooded once again.
Whitehouse officials said President Bush took a big swig of Jack Daniels before he called our Asian Bankers,( just kidding).
I wonder how many of our group think this is beyond greed, to say nothing of the absurd timing as millions flee from Rita.
I am under the impression that the United States Constiution does not allow the feds to bail out private persons and property. It makes it clear that the feds may replace and build roads and the like, but prohibits personal bailout. Just my thoughts as I am studying all the nooks and cranies of the constitution in school. But hey, when has the government ever followed it. Read "Constitutional Chaos, by Judge Andrew Napolitano"
Here's a rather interesting article I ran across today that offered a view slightly different than the simplistic reasons currently accepted for the cause of the great depression. The author puts the blame on the Fed's policy change around 1928 from one of "price stabilization" to one of "real bills." You could say what the FED has been doing all throughout the 1990's was a similar price stabilization, and they oversaw the sale of gold to accomplish that.
The author also goes on to say that the gold standard was for all intensive purposes not truly in effect during the 1914-1933 period. While it was stated, it was not followed. The banks accumulated almost twice the gold they needed per law up until 1928. When the member banks started getting squeezed for liquidity from 1929-1933 (the great contraction) the FED banks did not offer up gold for needed payments (real bills). The FED governors felt strongly that the free market would dictate the short term payments and there was no need for them to ever be involved. The gold sat in the FED banks where it did no good. Even by 1933 the FED has as much gold in the banks as they did at the start of the contraction in 1929. Had they moved some of it to member banks (discounting) they could have alleviated many of the problems. FDR's actions in 1933 and on only worsened and extended the problem. Though at the time any action it seemed was better than none and the bottom was already in.
Fascinating reading though you're looking at about 30 minutes.
Looks like Mr. Greenspan wants to leave with a clear understanding of how things really are. Just a little late to be totally honest?
Anyway don’t tell them the truth now Alan, we still have trillions of S.C. and Medicare to finance.
American fury over Greenspan leak By Philip Thornton, Economics Correspondent in Washington Published: 26 September 2005
Bitter disagreements over global economic policy broke out into the open yesterday as the French Finance Minister claimed that Alan Greenspan had admitted America had "lost control" of its budget while China warned the US to drop demands for radical economic policy changes.
In an extraordinary revelation after a meeting between Thierry Breton and Mr. Greenspan, M. Breton told reporters: "'We have lost control,' that was his Mr. Greenspan's expression.
"The US has lost control of their budget at a time when racking up deficits has been authorized without any control from Congress," M. Breton said.
"We were both disappointed that the management of debt is not a political priority today. The situation that is creating tension today on the currency market ... is clearly the American deficit
Under the topic of economic predictions portion of this thread...in the subcategory of being prepared.
We had Rita in Houston over the weekend and the scene was probably one to note.
Supplies: First thing to go was gasoline, "D" batteries, and canned food...wiped clean in a matter of hours, 3+ days before the storm. Cash went shortly after. You can't store gasoline effectively (fill up at the very first sign of trouble...do this first) but you sure can keep your battery supply and canned food storage supply up. Also keep a few hundred dollars in cash tucked away in your house...do this. Oh yes...there will not be any water or ice, it goes about the same time as gasoline (see below) and batteries. Don't buy too much junk food thinking you are well supplied because family eats these things first out of nervousness or anxiety...beef jerkey, chips, beer...first to get consumed and no real food value.
People: The news media whipped people up into a frothing frenzy, hyped the crowd into craziness and irrational behavior. Herd mentality ruled. Do not be part of the herd, do not be hyped, either be infront of the heard or go a different direction because the herd is very dangerous and it consumes all in it's path...pay attention to this. The most dangerous animal on the planet is man.
Timing: At the very first sign of trouble, even possible trouble, put your big coins in the bank. After supplies are gone, the electricity will probably go out. That may seem simple but it does complicate things and it is a cascade effect...first one thing goes then the next and then pretty soon, it's shut down. Imagine...a city of 3.5 million people SHUT DOWN. Electricity runs the atm's, the gas pumps, the internet, the charge card verifications (so you can't charge anything...duh) and the A/C. Do not put anything off...just go for it, you will have plenty of time to rest later. Plan for 3-5 days, after that you will need plan B and you will be happy to have gas, batteries, cash, and food.
Protection: Stay away from driving around to look at stuff, stay away from urban centers, be armed and have ammo. Neighborhood supply outlets are the last to run out...the major access couridors and large retail outlets quickly become mob scenes. Keep your family close and well supplied. It's not everyman for himself and neighbors do work well together under stress but if you go out in a disaster, you're looking for trouble. It is called "hunkered down" for a reason, it is not called "roaming around".
Tricks: Visit with your neighbors and make a little list of phone numbers and organize yourself. If one guy has damage or emergency, call your neighbor, work together in small groups. Freeze water in baggies (1 gal.), the darned things last forever and after they are melted, the bags are full of water...hee hee, no need to buy this stuff. Keep your bbq grill stocked and ready, you'll need it to cook (got fire?). Buy watermellon and pineapple, pare them to the fruit and store in 1 gal. bags. They ice easily and last a few days and take good care of that snacking urge. Use flashlights and not candles, keep your bathtubs fulled for the toilet and for utility water.
Words: Be a victor, not a victim. You must do three things: Be Prepared, Pay Attention, Have a Plan...all the time.
Enjoy, and for a little thrill, you can translate these tips to the economic market, the coin market, the stock market, and any market...it's all about commodities and who has them.
Use flashlights and not candles, keep your bathtubs fulled for the toilet and for utility water.
Words: Be a victor, not a victim. You must do three things: Be Prepared, Pay Attention, Have a Plan...all the time.
Enjoy, and for a little thrill, you can translate these tips to the economic market, the coin market, the stock market, and any market...it's all about commodities and who has them.
Enjoy >>
Living in Earthquake country, one needs to make similar perparations, and without the days of warning that a hurricane brings. So to add a few things- whether for a hurricane or an earthquake-have a wrench in place (duct tape it or the like) for emergency shutoff of natural gas.
Have a first aid kit-what to put in it varies with ones comfort level, but ibuprofen, bandaids, butterfly closures, and antibiotic ointment will make most lists. Any vital medications-might want to set aside a few days worth and rotate the supply. Along with this ensure your families vaccinations are up to date-in particular tetanus. Might want to think about hepatitis A vaccine- something I never would have considered prior to seeing the fetid water in New Orleans after Katrina.
Mhammerman and SFDukie , both great posts. Perhaps these hurricane drills will help the folks in other situations. The World seems to be getting weirder all the time.
These rules are also excellent in times of economic panics. The statements about the press are certainly true. It seems like all of the National Press guys must have training at the National Enquirer first.
I swear Lou Dobbs, and many of the others, seem to promote every doom and gloom story they can these days with no practical solutions. I thought the Rita story was very interesting, after telling folks that the whole coast of Texas would be gone, the reporters had to roam all over trying to find knocked down light posts and a few downed trees in many location. Sure there was a few million dollars worth of real damage but watch and see if the cost is not going to be TEN BILLION.
What a great investment opportunity!! I can hardly wait to buy the bonds from this deal!! I guess Wall Street will be out peddling these to the sheep in the coming weeks?
Delphi Seeks $6 Bln to Avoid Bankruptcy,
Sept. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Delphi Corp., the biggest U.S. supplier of auto parts, has asked General Motors Corp. for an aid package worth $6 billion to help avoid a bankruptcy filing.
GM, the largest customer and former parent of Delphi, is considering a request for assistance, said spokesman Jerry Dubrowski, who wouldn't confirm the amount or other details. GM's decision will hinge in part on concessions it wrests from the United Auto Workers union, the people said. GM is asking unions to help trim $5.6 billion in ANNUAL health-care expenses.GM lost $1.39 billion during the first half of 2005.
Last month, Delphi had $2.5 billion of cash and $5.4 billion in debt, said Shelly Lombard, an analyst at the New York bond research firm Gimme Credit. Chief Executive Steve Miller, 64, who joined Delphi July 1, has said he may seek bankruptcy for its U.S. operations before Oct. 17.
This problem is attributed to the increase in gas prices. Who would have thought that a $1 increase in gas prices would start something like this...it is an indication of how financially fragile things are.
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) – There was a record number of delinquent credit-card accounts reported in the second quarter, according to data released Wednesday from the American Bankers Association.
The ABA found that the 4.81 percent of credit-card accounts had payments that were past due by 30 days or more between April and June, up from 4.76 percent in the first quarter. The ABA first started tracking delinquencies in 1973.
The ABA also noted an increase in delinquent payments on personal loans, auto loans, home equity loans and lines of credit.
A key reason for the increase in delinquencies, the ABA said, was the strain of higher gas prices, noting that since December 2004, the average cost of filling up the gas tank of a mid-size car has risen just over $17, from $30.63 at the end of last year to $47.78. In June, the cost averaged $38.33.
Your point is very well taken on how fragile everything has become, and the new bankruptcy law to come into effect in just a few weeks will make all this worse. Lets look at the “trickle down “ effect of all this debt, in both large corporations and personal budgets.
All of these folks at Delphi, GM, the airlines etc. that most likely will not get most of their retirements will effect millions more folks as the billions and billions they would spend in later years will just not be there.
The majority of Americans have run their credit cards so high that adding double and triple gas prices to cards and paying 21% interest on those charges will make their effective gas purchases $4.00 or more per gallon.
The other day while at a large grocery store here, waiting for the manager to go to lunch, I parked myself behind the checkouts for a few minutes. Over half of the folks checking out were putting their groceries on their credit cards.
<< <i>The other day while at a large grocery store here, waiting for the manager to go to lunch, I parked myself behind the checkouts for a few minutes. Over half of the folks checking out were putting their groceries on their credit cards. >>
Many folks use debit cards today in lieu of cash. I highly doubt that most of the people you observed were putting groceries on credit cards. Those that were , however, are playing with fire.
“When the people find that they can vote themselves money, that will herald the end of the republic.” — Benjamin Franklin
My icon IS my coin. It is a gem 1949 FBL Franklin.
There is NO inflation, well maybe just a little in CA, but in the rest of the country there is NO inflation, just watch the business news and read the Gov. reports. Perhaps after we pay for Katrina and Rita we can print up some money to help those poor folks in CA making only $71,000 per year?
latimes.com : Business
September 28, 2005 CALIFORNIA AND THE WEST Families Strain to Make Do
A lot of people are struggling to get by," said Jean Ross, the organization's executive director of a Sacramento-based nonprofit group.
For example, a family with two working parents and two children needs an annual income of $71,377 to cover basic costs of housing, utilities, child care, transportation, food, health coverage, taxes and miscellaneous expenses, without any public assistance and extras such as vacations and retirement, or other, savings, the report said.
Ross argued that income thresholds to qualify for various government programs — such as the earned income tax credit, food stamps and state-sponsored health insurance — are too low for Californians.
Ross said. Since 2003, the statewide average cost for a two-workingparent family to rent a three-bedroom unit increased 46%, she said. Healthcare costs rose 29%, transportation jumped 18% and child care added 12%. Food, on the other hand, rose only 6%,
Accordingly, the income needed to maintain a modest living rose 22.5% for a family with two working parents.
Those people never considered moving to a cheaper place?
Big Brother meddling with everything--it's un-American.
.....GOD
"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." -Luke 11:9
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." -Deut. 6:4-5
"For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; He will save us." -Isaiah 33:22
“Those people never considered moving to a cheaper place?”
O.K. so where does everyone think that people should move to? Where are the retiring baby boomers going to move to?
It looks like Florida and the Gulf Coast are going to get hit with several hurricanes a year for the next two decades:
California is taxed to death with rampant inflation in everything but food, which is only going up 3% per year, so you can have lunch but you can’t stay:
LA may be a mess for years:
So if Americans are going to continue their migration patterns, in particular in retirement, where will they go?
An extra $50 or $100 per month in gasoline does not incite delinquent credit accounts. A tougher new bankruptcy law does. These are just people who are going bankrupt ahead of the new regulation.
GS, for decades one of the top retirement locations has been Tulsa-Ft Smith-Springfield MO area. for me, it is already ruined so I don't mind spilling the beans....
For decades there's been a massive flood of Yankees to Texas.
Some folks that I know (retirees) from California are coming to central Texas...San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, right now. I guess they are worried about the "Big One". They seem to shy away from Houston...pretty wild place still, it is the last frontier.
<< <i>Some folks that I know (retirees) from California are coming to central Texas...San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, right now. I guess they are worried about the "Big One". They seem to shy away from Houston...pretty wild place still, it is the last frontier. >>
They are getting stupid money for houses in California. I think they are selling and buy the same house for a fraction of the cost in the Mid-West and have tons of money left over for retirement.
Sold my house in California a few years back. Bought it for $130,950 had it 5 years, sold it for $367,500, moved to Oregon, bought bigger tri-level on 10 acres for $94,500 :-)) Better land better built. Laughed all the way to the bank Ron
As you can see a buy signal was generated about 2 weeks ago and as has been true to form the mining stocks have performed much better than the metal. NEM is up 17%, ABX is up 12%, and PDG is up 21% since the beginning of the month.
Your point is very well taken on how fragile everything has become, and the new bankruptcy law to come into effect in just a few weeks will make all this worse. Lets look at the “trickle down “ effect of all this debt, in both large corporations and personal budgets.
All of these folks at Delphi, GM, the airlines etc. that most likely will not get most of their retirements will effect millions more folks as the billions and billions they would spend in later years will just not be there.
The majority of Americans have run their credit cards so high that adding double and triple gas prices to cards and paying 21% interest on those charges will make their effective gas purchases $4.00 or more per gallon.
The other day while at a large grocery store here, waiting for the manager to go to lunch, I parked myself behind the checkouts for a few minutes. Over half of the folks checking out were putting their groceries on their credit cards. >>
I ALWAYS put my groceries on credit cards. The credit cards pay me 3% cash back to do so. The trick is actually paying off the credit cards each time they come due. I never use cash. Doesn't pay me a dime to use cash.
Jonathan
I have been a collector for over mumbly-five years. I learn something new every day.
George Bush, the Man by David Warren.The Ottawa Citizen
Sunday, September 11, 2005
There's plenty wrong with America, since you asked.I'm tempted to say that the only difference from Canada is that they have a few things right. That would be unfair, of course -- I am often pleased to discover things we still get right.
But one of them would not be disaster preparation. If something happened up here, on the scale of Katrina, we wouldn't even have the resources to arrive late. We would be waiting for the Americans to come save us, the same way the government in Louisiana just waved and pointed at Washington, D.C. The theory being that, when you're in real trouble, that's where the adults live.
And that isn't an exaggeration. Almost everything that has worked in the recovery operation along the U.S. Gulf Coast has been military and National Guard. Within a few days, under several commands, finally consolidated under the remarkable Lt.-Gen. Russell Honore, it was once again the U.S. military efficiently cobbling together a recovery operation on a scale beyond the capacity of any other earthly institution.
We hardly have a military up here. We have elected one feckless government after another that has cut corners until there is nothing substantial left. We don't have the ability even to transport and equip our few soldiers. Should disaster strike at home, on a big scale, we become a Third World country. At which point, our national smugness is of no avail.
From Democrats and the American Left -- the U.S. equivalent to the people who run Canada -- we are still hearing that the disaster in New Orleans showed that a heartless, white Republican America had abandoned its underclass.
This is garbage. The great majority of those not evacuated lived in assisted housing and receive food stamps, prescription medicine and government support many other programs. Many have, all their lives, expected someone to lift them to safety, without input from themselves. And the demagogic mayor they elected left, quite literally, hundreds of transit and school buses that could have driven them out of town parked in rows, to be lost in the flood.
Yes, that was insensitive. But it is also the truth; and sooner or later we must acknowledge that welfare dependency creates exactly the sort of haplessness and social degeneration we saw on display, as the floodwaters rose. Many suffered terribly, and many died, and one's heart goes out. But already the survivors are being put up in new accommodations, and their various entitlements have been directed to new locations.
The scale of private charity has also been unprecedented. There are yet no statistics, but I'll wager the most generous state in the union will prove to have been arch-Republican Texas and that, nationally, contributions in cash and kind are coming disproportionately from people who vote Republican. For the world divides into "the mouths" and "the wallets."
The Bush-bashing, both down there and up here, has so far lost touch with reality, as to raise questions about the bashers' state of mind.
Consult any authoritative source on how government works in the United States and you will learn that the U.S. federal government's legal, constitutional, and institutional responsibility for first response to Katrina, as to any natural disaster, was zero.
Notwithstanding, President Bush took the prescient step of declaring a disaster, in order to begin deploying FEMA and other federal assets, two full days in advance of the storm fall. In the little time since, he has managed to co-ordinate an immense recovery operation -- the largest in human history -- without invoking martial powers. He has been sufficiently presidential to respond, not even once, to the extraordinarily mendacious and childish blame-throwing.
One thinks of Kipling's poem If, which I learned to recite as a lad, and mention now in the full knowledge that it drives postmodern leftoids and gliberals to apoplexy -- as anything that is good, beautiful, or true:
If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise .
Unlike his critics, Bush is a man, in the full sense presented by these verses. A fallible man, like all the rest, but a man.
Bush is the single WORST thing that has EVER happened to America. Way worse than Katrina, Andrew, or anything else Mother Nature can throw as us.
What he has done to the once GREAT America is very tragic. But, like with the hurricanes , America's will rise to be GREAT once again. Hang in there folks.
I don't agree with the comment that Bush is the single worse thing to have every happened to America; the slide downhill has been long but consistent. And we'll only become a great country again if (and only if) we are able to bring back the US Constitution and principles that made us great. Otherwise we're just as good as relegated to the trashbin of history. Sorry but that's how I see it.
.....GOD
"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." -Luke 11:9
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." -Deut. 6:4-5
"For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; He will save us." -Isaiah 33:22
<< <i> Bush is the single WORST thing that has EVER happened to America. Way worse than Katrina, Andrew, or anything else Mother Nature can throw as us. >>
Was this a joke because of Goldsaints thread or is that what you really believe? Please explain why and how? Excess spending? Has this proven costly? Not yet the economy is still growing. So is he worse then the great depression? I don't think so, I'm still employed and my portfolio has grown nicely during his adminstration.
<< <i>I don't agree with the comment that Bush is the single worse thing to have every happened to America; the slide downhill has been long but consistent. And we'll only become a great country again if (and only if) we are able to bring back the US Constitution and principles that made us great. Otherwise we're just as good as relegated to the trashbin of history. Sorry but that's how I see it.
>>
Teflon Bill was worse in terms of complacency, but unfortunately was just a reflection of the morals of the majority of Americans..
Not yet the economy is still growing. So is he worse then the great depression? I don't think so, I'm still employed and my portfolio has grown nicely during his adminstration.
The economy is growing if you believe the stats the govt churns out each month.
We haven't yet seen the full effect of the "credit and refi society." Bush will have "pitched" a solid 8 years worth and will get the bulk of the credit for the outcome. Many portfolio's have grown on "credit steroids" so far. The hard part from here will be to keep what you've made on paper before much of it gets taken away in continuing stagflation. Shifting paper assets into something tangible and inflation/recession proof will be the key.
Here's an interesting transcript from www.financialsense.com concerning the over-reliance of our economy on oil...and the end to the "3000 mile Caesar salad."
I just came back from a 3 week cross country trip. In my opinion the economy is quite strong.
Examples.
1. I have never seen so many houses being built. Not just in exclusive areas, but in very rural settings as well. From Calgary to Des Moines and Chicago to Bozeman. 2. Never have I seen so many railcars. Some of these trains were over 2 miles long. 3. The number of trucks on the highways is astonishing. Obviously there is a lot of merchandise being moved around.
Now of course things ALWAYS look the best at the top. Whether we are at a top is open for debate, but there is no way one can say the economy is presently in the $hitter. There is no evidence to support that.
The housing sector stocks have been losing momentum and are tipping over. Median home sales and prices have already declined on average across the US. The UK and Australia are already 1-2 years into their housing busts. Granted, our govt will continue to inflate as needed to keep this game alive, probably through most of 2006. I see stagflation continuing with assets like gold, silver, and rare coins prospering further. The US consumer is still continuing to consume at prodigious....... but declining rates.
Here's the 10 year gold chart. Gold is a great bellweather of unstable times and an unstable economy. It just doesn't go up for any old reason....esp since the FED, central banks, and all of Wall Street want to see it way down.
I'd have to agree that Bush is one of the worst things to ever happen to this country. But he's certainly behind the creation of the Federal Reserve, or coming off the gold standard. Time will prove those 2 things as leading to the end of our long lasting 20th century economic strength. But he sure has been great for gold and coins! Go Bush!
<< <i>Shifting paper assets into something tangible and inflation/recession proof will be the key. >>
Diversity of those paper assets is the key and knowing when to make slight moves in your portfolio composition can make a huge difference. Gold was up big this quarter, so I made money off it. I also made alot of money in energy of course, but I also saw huge gains in the tech sector.
Bush is the WORST thing to have ever happened to this country?!!!!
Got to be joking.
I'm not necessarily a big fan of GW.... but I do have to give him credit for recognizing the danger our country is in from the radical Islamists.... that was ignored for way too many years prior to GW.
I feel our country has suffered much more so from the radical Left/liberal movement than anything that GW has done!
I know this has been somewhat OT.... but I felt that statement could not go without challenge.
I feel our country has suffered much more so from the radical Left/liberal movement than anything that GW has done!
>>
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire
Comments
Which is the Barbarous Relic? Gold or Central Banks?
Highly recommended reading that will take 10 minutes.
Look at item #4 and the graph.
A superb article by Turk that sums up the role of central banks over the past few hundred years. I did not know that Sir Isaac Newton created the idea for the first gold backed currency ever in England, hundreds of years ago. It came about following the currency collapse from printing too much paper currency via their first go at a central bank. The solution? A gold backed system that Newton came up with. Pretty much stayed the same until the 2nd decade of the 20th century. At that point the bankers (and govt's) wanted the reigns lifted so they could inflate the money supply, tax everyone indirectly w/o approval or votes....basically steal from the citizens. It's done just that. Gold backed currency is a relic, and maybe Central Banks are too....but gold continues to prove its worth as a true currency and safeguard against paper "currency" debasement.
Gold or Govt. Who to believe?
A quick 3 minute read about what gold continues to tell us in the face of hunky dory govt stats. Which do you believe?
Oil Reality
This is a quick view on oil vs. the economy. Interesting that 50-60% of the Saudi supply of oil is based on one giant well. All of the Saudi's 6 major wells are all over 20 years old.
The stock market is toast. Inflation will continue to out pace any indexed stock market gains. Inflation already is at over 5% per year.
Interesting that their are economist buffoons out there who think that the rebuilding of NO is a positive for the economy. Yeah, we print $200 billion more and keep going. Maybe a few more hurricanes, another war, and few quakes are what we need to jump start things. The stock market seems to respond positively to destruction. The sheeple are lined up and have spoken. baaaaa.
roadrunner
"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." -Luke 11:9
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." -Deut. 6:4-5
"For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; He will save us." -Isaiah 33:22
The derivatives market alone holds substantial risk and no one pays it any mind. The unregulated portion of this market on interest rate risk alone is staggering.....something well above $50 TRILLION.
roadrunner
<< <i>It's not often I link an article for viewing here. But here are 2 or 3 that I found very good. No technical stuff either. The first one is the best.
Which is the Barbarous Relic? Gold or Central Banks?
Highly recommended reading that will take 10 minutes.
Look at item #4 and the graph.
A superb article by Turk that sums up the role of central banks over the past few hundred years. >>
There are several very important omissions and errors in the artical. His very premise
that;
1. Money is a product of the free market.
is in error since free markets are much more the result money.
It's not central banking or the lack of a gold standard which has been a problem for
four centuries. It is much more greed and government. It's a government willing to
rob the treasury to buy votes, or peace, or public quiet which erodes the value of money.
Money which was gold could not really prevent these same practices and the world had
to put up with the ups and downs in the economy as gold production waxed and waned.
Much of the great wealth now enjoyed in the world (not only total wealth but also per capita
wealth) were made possible by the flexibility provided by fiat.
Those who want to rail against inflation would be better advised to complain about government
and its continued and exponential growth rather than money.
His statement that the debasement of currency, whether by central banking or a govt, is still the same. In fact he mentioned that why did we give the car keys to the FED in 1913? The US Govt could have just as easily printed the extra money and loaned it out to banks. Whatever the end result was it still links back to issuing excess currency. This results in the massive swings known as ordinary "business cycles" today.
Yes the great wealth of the world today was made by the "flexibility of fiat." And that great wealth of the world is enjoyed by less than 5-10% of the world's inhabitants.
Another way of saying the above is that the great wealth of the world today was made by the devaluation of currency at the expense of the lower classes. In essence a hidden tax. Today's average American thinks that a little inflation is good, that is a prescription drug for a healthy economy. This is folly. Only one country in the 20th century ever had the chance to issue pure fiat money as the world's reserve currency. The experiment is now
31 years along and the results are certainly debatable.
What "free" market decided that the FRN was going to be the essence of "money?" None that I know of. Congress voted in the FED Reserve Act, not the free market. You could say that the "unfree" market and old wealth made that decision for congress. Gold was still the choice as money from 1913-1934. FDR first relaxed the standard and then Nixon removed it entirely by 1974. The market did not decide these things. The market did not decide to confiscate gold in 1934 and debase the FRN by 40% overnight. The market was told in 1974 that an FRN was now the "only" real money, believe it. Well the path of gold from 1974-1980 decided how true that statement was. From 1980-2001 the market was happy with FRN's. And why not? With the FRN supply quadrupling, easy loans, gold sales to keep that source of money in the toilet, all contributed to what money was prior to 2001. Today, what is money is being altered once again. An FRN ain't what it used to be.
Here's a relatively topical article on the issue of Real Bills, real money, gold, and FRN's. The author is stating the our abuse of printing currency unchecked is not what real money is about. And there are no safeguards against the abuse....ie no market competition per se. This is exactly what lead to the John Law abuses, the18th century French Assignat and the 20th century Weimer Republic. This is what real money and free trade is all about, not our relatively unchecked current system. Hultberg and others recommend a gold backed system with real bills circulating to promote trade and growth, and competition among local and regional banks (no central banks). You do not need a 100% backed gold system to keep the system honest. But you do need some sort of backing for a workable system that does not eventually implode by printing excess money. In Hultberg's system, the banks that devalue their real bills/currency go out of business as customers will go to other banks for better returns. There is no such option today other than to buy foreign currency. And many G-8 countries are printing money faster than we are! A great race to devaluation if you will.
Hultberg has stated that it was not gold nor the banks issuing money in the 19th century that caused problems. It was the govt allowing special considerations to banks to suspend specie payment and other such machinations that caused the many cycles.
Nelson Hultberg - Real Money
roadrunner
<< <i>The Gold market is way up again this morning, $464 up $5 wow somebody better stop this before we run away to $500. When are the central bankers going to hammer this Gold back to $425? >>
They've oversold their quotas and won't be able to bring it down until after Sept. 27th.
I think I'll start my comparison to Gold from 1999 to stocks and show how much of a dog the stock market is. Of course we could go to peak gold like some do 25 years ago and claim it's a dog too. It's called sector rotation folks and all investments must be managed.
Gold and Mining stocks, will the prices hold?
I was off ~$100/toz from where I thought gold would be at this time.
Congrats Gold bugs.
~g
I'd give you the world, just because...
Speak to me of loved ones, favorite places and things, loves lost and gained, tears shed for joy and sorrow, of when I see the sparkle in your eye ...
and the blackness when the dream dies, of lovers, fools, adventurers and kings while I sip my wine and contemplate the Chi.
Don't worry, they'll be back in a few weeks (or days) stating we're heading back to $250-$360 again. Funny thing though, somewhere between now and the top of this market, we just may see gold under $400 again one last time! And at that point they'll be right.
roadrunner
I have been asking this question here for over a year. Just who will fund our deficits when foreign investors are no longer interested?
"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." -Luke 11:9
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." -Deut. 6:4-5
"For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; He will save us." -Isaiah 33:22
When new Roman soldiers stopped coming to Brittania to take the place of the existing soldiers and with them, the big bags of coins to spend, the economy of Brittania went into a big nosedive. It was not long before coins were no longer accepted as payment for goods and services. Why? There was not enough of it to go around! Barter quickly took its place.
It has been recorded that while there was some silver in the Roman coins there was so little left in them that they were worth more being melted down and purified as pure silver. Many of the residents of Brittania then had to fend off the invasions by the northerners and the Islanders that they had no choice but to bury much of their money and recover them when times improved. That never happened as Rome finally abandoned Brittania officially in AD 410 for good.
Fact: when there was that much chaos as there was in AD 411, even silver and gold was worth very little. Only barter reigned supreme. One of the very few times in recorded history in which even silver and gold suffered badly in perceived valuation.
Commentary: Economies suffer in cycles of too little currency in nearly the same way as having too much currency. Both erode the value of the currency itself.
Whitehouse officials said President Bush took a big swig of Jack Daniels before he called our Asian Bankers,( just kidding).
I wonder how many of our group think this is beyond greed, to say nothing of the absurd timing as millions flee from Rita.
There kinda heavy though. In case of flooding, I dont
think that they are gonna float so good.I know, I will
just strap them on my body and swim out.
Camelot
But hey, when has the government ever followed it.
<< <i>
Whitehouse officials said President Bush took a big swig of Jack Daniels before he called our Asian Bankers,( just kidding).
>>
I just had to highlight this. This thread needs a bit of humor on occasion-thanks GS!
Don
Here's a rather interesting article I ran across today that offered a view slightly different than the simplistic reasons currently accepted for the cause of the great depression. The author puts the blame on the Fed's policy change around 1928 from one of "price stabilization" to one of "real bills." You could say what the FED has been doing all throughout the 1990's was a similar price stabilization, and they oversaw the sale of gold to accomplish that.
The author also goes on to say that the gold standard was for all intensive purposes not truly in effect during the 1914-1933 period. While it was stated, it was not followed. The banks accumulated almost twice the gold they needed per law up until 1928. When the member banks started getting squeezed for liquidity from 1929-1933 (the great contraction) the FED banks did not offer up gold for needed payments (real bills). The FED governors felt strongly that the free market would dictate the short term payments and there was no need for them to ever be involved. The gold sat in the FED banks where it did no good. Even by 1933 the FED has as much gold in the banks as they did at the start of the contraction in 1929.
Had they moved some of it to member banks (discounting) they could have alleviated many of the problems. FDR's actions in 1933 and on only worsened and extended the problem. Though at the time any action it seemed was better than none and the bottom was already in.
Fascinating reading though you're looking at about 30 minutes.
roadrunner
Anyway don’t tell them the truth now Alan, we still have trillions of S.C. and Medicare to finance.
American fury over Greenspan leak
By Philip Thornton, Economics Correspondent in Washington
Published: 26 September 2005
Bitter disagreements over global economic policy broke out into the open yesterday as the French Finance Minister claimed that Alan Greenspan had admitted America had "lost control" of its budget while China warned the US to drop demands for radical economic policy changes.
In an extraordinary revelation after a meeting between Thierry Breton and Mr. Greenspan, M. Breton told reporters: "'We have lost control,' that was his Mr. Greenspan's expression.
"The US has lost control of their budget at a time when racking up deficits has been authorized without any control from Congress," M. Breton said.
"We were both disappointed that the management of debt is not a political priority today. The situation that is creating tension today on the currency market ... is clearly the American deficit
We had Rita in Houston over the weekend and the scene was probably one to note.
Supplies:
First thing to go was gasoline, "D" batteries, and canned food...wiped clean in a matter of hours, 3+ days before the storm. Cash went shortly after. You can't store gasoline effectively (fill up at the very first sign of trouble...do this first) but you sure can keep your battery supply and canned food storage supply up. Also keep a few hundred dollars in cash tucked away in your house...do this. Oh yes...there will not be any water or ice, it goes about the same time as gasoline (see below) and batteries. Don't buy too much junk food thinking you are well supplied because family eats these things first out of nervousness or anxiety...beef jerkey, chips, beer...first to get consumed and no real food value.
People:
The news media whipped people up into a frothing frenzy, hyped the crowd into craziness and irrational behavior. Herd mentality ruled. Do not be part of the herd, do not be hyped, either be infront of the heard or go a different direction because the herd is very dangerous and it consumes all in it's path...pay attention to this. The most dangerous animal on the planet is man.
Timing:
At the very first sign of trouble, even possible trouble, put your big coins in the bank. After supplies are gone, the electricity will probably go out. That may seem simple but it does complicate things and it is a cascade effect...first one thing goes then the next and then pretty soon, it's shut down. Imagine...a city of 3.5 million people SHUT DOWN. Electricity runs the atm's, the gas pumps, the internet, the charge card verifications (so you can't charge anything...duh) and the A/C. Do not put anything off...just go for it, you will have plenty of time to rest later. Plan for 3-5 days, after that you will need plan B and you will be happy to have gas, batteries, cash, and food.
Protection:
Stay away from driving around to look at stuff, stay away from urban centers, be armed and have ammo. Neighborhood supply outlets are the last to run out...the major access couridors and large retail outlets quickly become mob scenes. Keep your family close and well supplied. It's not everyman for himself and neighbors do work well together under stress but if you go out in a disaster, you're looking for trouble. It is called "hunkered down" for a reason, it is not called "roaming around".
Tricks:
Visit with your neighbors and make a little list of phone numbers and organize yourself. If one guy has damage or emergency, call your neighbor, work together in small groups. Freeze water in baggies (1 gal.), the darned things last forever and after they are melted, the bags are full of water...hee hee, no need to buy this stuff. Keep your bbq grill stocked and ready, you'll need it to cook (got fire?). Buy watermellon and pineapple, pare them to the fruit and store in 1 gal. bags. They ice easily and last a few days and take good care of that snacking urge. Use flashlights and not candles, keep your bathtubs fulled for the toilet and for utility water.
Words:
Be a victor, not a victim. You must do three things: Be Prepared, Pay Attention, Have a Plan...all the time.
Enjoy, and for a little thrill, you can translate these tips to the economic market, the coin market, the stock market, and any market...it's all about commodities and who has them.
Enjoy
Words:
Be a victor, not a victim. You must do three things: Be Prepared, Pay Attention, Have a Plan...all the time.
Enjoy, and for a little thrill, you can translate these tips to the economic market, the coin market, the stock market, and any market...it's all about commodities and who has them.
Enjoy >>
Living in Earthquake country, one needs to make similar perparations, and without the days of warning that a hurricane brings. So to add a few things- whether for a hurricane or an earthquake-have a wrench in place (duct tape it or the like) for emergency shutoff of natural gas.
Have a first aid kit-what to put in it varies with ones comfort level, but ibuprofen, bandaids, butterfly closures, and antibiotic ointment will make most lists. Any vital medications-might want to set aside a few days worth and rotate the supply. Along with this ensure your families vaccinations are up to date-in particular tetanus. Might want to think about hepatitis A vaccine- something I never would have considered prior to seeing the fetid water in New Orleans after Katrina.
iodine tablets or a backpack type water filter
Freeze dried food
blanket or sleeping bag in your car
Backpack or camping lantern and stove, with fuel.
Don
These rules are also excellent in times of economic panics. The statements about the press are certainly true. It seems like all of the National Press guys must have training at the National Enquirer first.
I swear Lou Dobbs, and many of the others, seem to promote every doom and gloom story they can these days with no practical solutions. I thought the Rita story was very interesting, after telling folks that the whole coast of Texas would be gone, the reporters had to roam all over trying to find knocked down light posts and a few downed trees in many location. Sure there was a few million dollars worth of real damage but watch and see if the cost is not going to be TEN BILLION.
What a great investment opportunity!!
I can hardly wait to buy the bonds from this deal!!
I guess Wall Street will be out peddling these to the sheep in the coming weeks?
Delphi Seeks $6 Bln to Avoid Bankruptcy,
Sept. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Delphi Corp., the biggest U.S. supplier of auto parts, has asked General Motors Corp. for an aid package worth $6 billion to help avoid a bankruptcy filing.
GM, the largest customer and former parent of Delphi, is considering a request for assistance, said spokesman Jerry Dubrowski, who wouldn't confirm the amount or other details. GM's decision will hinge in part on concessions it wrests from the United Auto Workers union, the people said. GM is asking unions to help trim $5.6 billion in ANNUAL health-care expenses.GM lost $1.39 billion during the first half of 2005.
Last month, Delphi had $2.5 billion of cash and $5.4 billion in debt, said Shelly Lombard, an analyst at the New York bond research firm Gimme Credit.
Chief Executive Steve Miller, 64, who joined Delphi July 1, has said he may seek bankruptcy for its U.S. operations before Oct. 17.
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) – There was a record number of delinquent credit-card accounts reported in the second quarter, according to data released Wednesday from the American Bankers Association.
The ABA found that the 4.81 percent of credit-card accounts had payments that were past due by 30 days or more between April and June, up from 4.76 percent in the first quarter. The ABA first started tracking delinquencies in 1973.
The ABA also noted an increase in delinquent payments on personal loans, auto loans, home equity loans and lines of credit.
A key reason for the increase in delinquencies, the ABA said, was the strain of higher gas prices, noting that since December 2004, the average cost of filling up the gas tank of a mid-size car has risen just over $17, from $30.63 at the end of last year to $47.78. In June, the cost averaged $38.33.
Your point is very well taken on how fragile everything has become, and the new bankruptcy law to come into effect in just a few weeks will make all this worse. Lets look at the “trickle down “ effect of all this debt, in both large corporations and personal budgets.
All of these folks at Delphi, GM, the airlines etc. that most likely will not get most of their retirements will effect millions more folks as the billions and billions they would spend in later years will just not be there.
The majority of Americans have run their credit cards so high that adding double and triple gas prices to cards and paying 21% interest on those charges will make their effective gas purchases $4.00 or more per gallon.
The other day while at a large grocery store here, waiting for the manager to go to lunch, I parked myself behind the checkouts for a few minutes. Over half of the folks checking out were putting their groceries on their credit cards.
<< <i>The other day while at a large grocery store here, waiting for the manager to go to lunch, I parked myself behind the checkouts for a few minutes. Over half of the folks checking out were putting their groceries on their credit cards. >>
Many folks use debit cards today in lieu of cash. I highly doubt that most of the people you observed were putting groceries on credit cards. Those that were , however, are playing with fire.
My icon IS my coin. It is a gem 1949 FBL Franklin.
Good point!
Perhaps after we pay for Katrina and Rita we can print up some money to help those poor folks in CA making only $71,000 per year?
latimes.com : Business
September 28, 2005
CALIFORNIA AND THE WEST
Families Strain to Make Do
A lot of people are struggling to get by," said Jean Ross, the organization's executive director of a Sacramento-based nonprofit group.
For example, a family with two working parents and two children needs an annual income of $71,377 to cover basic costs of housing, utilities, child care, transportation, food, health coverage, taxes and miscellaneous expenses, without any public assistance and extras such as vacations and retirement, or other, savings, the report said.
Ross argued that income thresholds to qualify for various government programs — such as the earned income tax credit, food stamps and state-sponsored health insurance — are too low for Californians.
Ross said. Since 2003, the statewide average cost for a two-workingparent family to rent a three-bedroom unit increased 46%, she said. Healthcare costs rose 29%, transportation jumped 18% and child care added 12%. Food, on the other hand, rose only 6%,
Accordingly, the income needed to maintain a modest living rose 22.5% for a family with two working parents.
Big Brother meddling with everything--it's un-American.
"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." -Luke 11:9
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." -Deut. 6:4-5
"For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; He will save us." -Isaiah 33:22
O.K. so where does everyone think that people should move to? Where are the retiring baby boomers going to move to?
It looks like Florida and the Gulf Coast are going to get hit with several hurricanes a year for the next two decades:
California is taxed to death with rampant inflation in everything but food, which is only going up 3% per year, so you can have lunch but you can’t stay:
LA may be a mess for years:
So if Americans are going to continue their migration patterns, in particular in retirement, where will they go?
An extra $50 or $100 per month in gasoline does not incite delinquent credit accounts. A tougher new bankruptcy law does. These are just people who are going bankrupt ahead of the new regulation.
GS, for decades one of the top retirement locations has been Tulsa-Ft Smith-Springfield MO area. for me, it is already ruined so I don't mind spilling the beans....
For decades there's been a massive flood of Yankees to Texas.
Those poor rich Californians will find a way!
then the National average.
Camelot
<< <i>Some folks that I know (retirees) from California are coming to central Texas...San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, right now. I guess they are worried about the "Big One". They seem to shy away from Houston...pretty wild place still, it is the last frontier. >>
They are getting stupid money for houses in California. I think they are selling and buy the same house for a fraction of the cost in the Mid-West and have tons of money left over for retirement.
Ron
Knowledge is the enemy of fear
<< <i>Mhammerman,
Your point is very well taken on how fragile everything has become, and the new bankruptcy law to come into effect in just a few weeks will make all this worse. Lets look at the “trickle down “ effect of all this debt, in both large corporations and personal budgets.
All of these folks at Delphi, GM, the airlines etc. that most likely will not get most of their retirements will effect millions more folks as the billions and billions they would spend in later years will just not be there.
The majority of Americans have run their credit cards so high that adding double and triple gas prices to cards and paying 21% interest on those charges will make their effective gas purchases $4.00 or more per gallon.
The other day while at a large grocery store here, waiting for the manager to go to lunch, I parked myself behind the checkouts for a few minutes. Over half of the folks checking out were putting their groceries on their credit cards. >>
I ALWAYS put my groceries on credit cards. The credit cards pay me 3% cash back to do so. The trick is actually paying off the credit cards each time they come due. I never use cash. Doesn't pay me a dime to use cash.
Jonathan
George Bush, the Man by David Warren.The Ottawa Citizen
Sunday, September 11, 2005
There's plenty wrong with America, since you asked.I'm tempted to say that
the only difference from Canada is that they have a few things right. That
would be unfair, of course -- I am often pleased to discover things we still
get right.
But one of them would not be disaster preparation. If something happened up
here, on the scale of Katrina, we wouldn't even have the resources to arrive
late. We would be waiting for the Americans to come save us, the same way
the government in Louisiana just waved and pointed at Washington, D.C. The
theory being that, when you're in real trouble, that's where the adults
live.
And that isn't an exaggeration. Almost everything that has worked in the
recovery operation along the U.S. Gulf Coast has been military and National
Guard. Within a few days, under several commands, finally consolidated under
the remarkable Lt.-Gen. Russell Honore, it was once again the U.S. military
efficiently cobbling together a recovery operation on a scale beyond the
capacity of any other earthly institution.
We hardly have a military up here. We have elected one feckless government
after another that has cut corners until there is nothing substantial left.
We don't have the ability even to transport and equip our few soldiers.
Should disaster strike at home, on a big scale, we become a Third World
country. At which point, our national smugness is of no avail.
From Democrats and the American Left -- the U.S. equivalent to the people
who run Canada -- we are still hearing that the disaster in New Orleans
showed that a heartless, white Republican America had abandoned its
underclass.
This is garbage. The great majority of those not evacuated lived in assisted
housing and receive food stamps, prescription medicine and government
support many other programs. Many have, all their lives, expected someone to
lift them to safety, without input from themselves. And the demagogic mayor
they elected left, quite literally, hundreds of transit and school buses
that could have driven them out of town parked in rows, to be lost in the
flood.
Yes, that was insensitive. But it is also the truth; and sooner or later we
must acknowledge that welfare dependency creates exactly the sort of
haplessness and social degeneration we saw on display, as the floodwaters
rose. Many suffered terribly, and many died, and one's heart goes out. But
already the survivors are being put up in new accommodations, and their
various entitlements have been directed to new locations.
The scale of private charity has also been unprecedented. There are yet no
statistics, but I'll wager the most generous state in the union will prove
to have been arch-Republican Texas and that, nationally, contributions in
cash and kind are coming disproportionately from people who vote Republican.
For the world divides into "the mouths" and "the wallets."
The Bush-bashing, both down there and up here, has so far lost touch with
reality, as to raise questions about the bashers' state of mind.
Consult any authoritative source on how government works in the United
States and you will learn that the U.S. federal government's legal,
constitutional, and institutional responsibility for first response to
Katrina, as to any natural disaster, was zero.
Notwithstanding, President Bush took the prescient step of declaring a
disaster, in order to begin deploying FEMA and other federal assets, two
full days in advance of the storm fall. In the little time since, he has
managed to co-ordinate an immense recovery operation -- the largest in human
history -- without invoking martial powers. He has been sufficiently
presidential to respond, not even once, to the extraordinarily mendacious
and childish blame-throwing.
One thinks of Kipling's poem If, which I learned to recite as a lad, and
mention now in the full knowledge that it drives postmodern leftoids and
gliberals to apoplexy -- as anything that is good, beautiful, or true:
If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming
it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for
their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don't deal
in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor
talk too wise .
Unlike his critics, Bush is a man, in the full sense presented by these
verses. A fallible man, like all the rest, but a man.
What he has done to the once GREAT America is very tragic. But, like with the hurricanes , America's will rise to be GREAT once again. Hang in there folks.
"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." -Luke 11:9
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." -Deut. 6:4-5
"For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; He will save us." -Isaiah 33:22
<< <i>Bush is the single WORST thing that has EVER happened to America. >>
You're right!
<< <i> Bush is the single WORST thing that has EVER happened to America. Way worse than Katrina, Andrew, or anything else Mother Nature can throw as us. >>
Was this a joke because of Goldsaints thread or is that what you really believe?
Please explain why and how? Excess spending? Has this proven costly? Not yet the economy is still growing. So is he worse then the great depression? I don't think so, I'm still employed and my portfolio has grown nicely during his adminstration.
<< <i>I don't agree with the comment that Bush is the single worse thing to have every happened to America; the slide downhill has been long but consistent. And we'll only become a great country again if (and only if) we are able to bring back the US Constitution and principles that made us great. Otherwise we're just as good as relegated to the trashbin of history. Sorry but that's how I see it.
Teflon Bill was worse in terms of complacency, but unfortunately was just a reflection of the morals of the majority of Americans..
Just my opinion
The economy is growing if you believe the stats the govt churns out each month.
We haven't yet seen the full effect of the "credit and refi society."
Bush will have "pitched" a solid 8 years worth and will get the bulk of the credit for the outcome. Many portfolio's have grown on "credit steroids" so far. The hard part from here will be to keep what you've made on paper before much of it gets taken away in continuing stagflation. Shifting paper assets into something tangible and inflation/recession proof will be the key.
Here's an interesting transcript from www.financialsense.com
concerning the over-reliance of our economy on oil...and the end to the "3000 mile Caesar salad."
The Long Emergency
roadrunner
Examples.
1. I have never seen so many houses being built. Not just in exclusive areas, but in very rural settings as well. From Calgary to Des Moines and Chicago to Bozeman.
2. Never have I seen so many railcars. Some of these trains were over 2 miles long.
3. The number of trucks on the highways is astonishing. Obviously there is a lot of merchandise being moved around.
Now of course things ALWAYS look the best at the top. Whether we are at a top is open for debate, but there is no way one can say the economy is presently in the $hitter. There is no evidence to support that.
Knowledge is the enemy of fear
Here's the 10 year gold chart. Gold is a great bellweather of unstable times and an unstable economy. It just doesn't go up for any old reason....esp since the FED, central banks, and all of Wall Street want to see it way down.
10 year gold chart - classic cup formation
I'd have to agree that Bush is one of the worst things to ever happen to this country. But he's certainly behind the creation of the Federal Reserve, or coming off the gold standard. Time will prove those 2 things as leading to the end of our long lasting 20th century economic strength. But he sure has been great for gold and coins!
Go Bush!
roadrunner
<< <i>Shifting paper assets into something tangible and inflation/recession proof will be the key. >>
Diversity of those paper assets is the key and knowing when to make slight moves in your portfolio composition can make a huge difference. Gold was up big this quarter, so I made money off it. I also made alot of money in energy of course, but I also saw huge gains in the tech sector.
Got to be joking.
I'm not necessarily a big fan of GW.... but I do have to give him credit for recognizing the danger our country is in from the radical Islamists.... that was ignored for way too many years prior to GW.
I feel our country has suffered much more so from the radical Left/liberal movement than anything that GW has done!
I know this has been somewhat OT.... but I felt that statement could not go without challenge.
<< <i>
I feel our country has suffered much more so from the radical Left/liberal movement than anything that GW has done!
>>
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
"Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
"Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire