North Korea revalues currency, destroying personal savings

SUMORADA

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jmski52

What a despotic regime and what a dire situation for the people.

roadrunner

This flew right be me initially because I was confusing it with North Vietnam's 5% devaluation of the dong last week. If I read this right this is a 100-1 devaluation of circulating currency held in one's hand. That would mean a bank account would have been unaffected?

roadrunner

OnlyGoldIsMoney

North Korea is perhaps the most evil regime on earth. In a land of state sanctioned starvation I am not surprised by mere theft.

Fountainhead

I think of N.K. as The Land of Dr. No. The parallels with the James Bond villain are eerie....

gecko109

<< <i>This flew right be me initially because I was confusing it with North Vietnam's 5% devaluation of the dong last week. If I read this right this is a 100-1 devaluation of circulating currency held in one's hand. That would mean a bank account would have been unaffected?

roadrunner >>




"Amid widespread protests, the limit was raised to 150,000 won in cash and 300,000 won in bank savings, according to DailyNK, an online news organization that has informants in the North."


Looks like this is not the case RR! What North Korea did is very similar to what FDR did here in 1935 (except FDR did it with gold, and was much less honest than North Korea). Also, you need to realize that the same thing is happening to US right now.....just on a slower pace. The FED is currently destroying the value of YOUR savings and cash holdings as we speak!

roadrunner

In reading another article on this it does appear that all accounts are affected. If they don't already have some sort of ban on precious metals, gemstones, etc. one would expect something to follow. One report stated that the price of rice has already increased 15 fold.

FDR "only" instituted a revaluation where the dollar lost 40%, not quite as severe as NK's 99% reduction. Now that's impetus to consume and save nothing.

roadrunner

gecko109

<< <i>In reading another article on this it does appear that all accounts are affected. If they don't already have some sort of ban on precious metals, gemstones, etc. one would expect something to follow. One report stated that the price of rice has already increased 15 fold.

FDR "only" instituted a revaluation where the dollar lost 40%, not quite as severe as NK's 99% reduction. Now that's impetus to consume and save nothing.

roadrunner >>





Yeah, but when FDR demanded that citizens turn in their gold at the current rate of $20.67/oz, did he make them aware of his intention to revalue the gold at $35 less than a year later? How is that not outright THEFT?

yellowkid

<< <i>

<< <i>In reading another article on this it does appear that all accounts are affected. If they don't already have some sort of ban on precious metals, gemstones, etc. one would expect something to follow. One report stated that the price of rice has already increased 15 fold.

FDR "only" instituted a revaluation where the dollar lost 40%, not quite as severe as NK's 99% reduction. Now that's impetus to consume and save nothing.

roadrunner >>





Yeah, but when FDR demanded that citizens turn in their gold at the current rate of $20.67/oz, did he make them aware of his intention to revalue the gold at $35 less than a year later? How is that not outright THEFT? >>



FDR gave them what their gold was worth at the time.

PerryHall

<< <i>FDR gave them what their gold was worth at the time. >>



Are you serious?

fastrudy

North Korea has got to be the most repressive regime in the world. Nobody walks away from the devaluation with more than $40. !! They are making a "special" gulag for all those individuals labelled economic criminals. I once read a report about a 20 year old man who escaped the camp...the only reason he was there was because his grandfather or father was convicted of some crime against the state. He reports that the starvation is so bad, that he once found five kernels of undigested corn in a pile of cow dung. He washed them off and ate them. He admits that if he were caught doing this, they would have killed him. NK also has the world's largest army, as a percentage of their population (probably because they actually feed the army).

yellowkid

<< <i>

<< <i>FDR gave them what their gold was worth at the time. >>



Are you serious? >>



Absolutely, and it had been at that price for years, I'm not saying I agree with the confiscation, but the government paid what the going rate was.

cinman14

How much could one possibly have saved when you earn 1 dollar a day?

Wolf359

<< <i>What a despotic regime and what a dire situation for the people. >>



We're heading in the same direction, as is the entire world.

Wolf359

<< <i>How much could one possibly have saved when you earn 1 dollar a day? >>



Black Market

cinman14

<< <i>

<< <i>How much could one possibly have saved when you earn 1 dollar a day? >>



Black Market >>

DoubleEagle59

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>FDR gave them what their gold was worth at the time. >>



Are you serious? >>



Absolutely, and it had been at that price for years, I'm not saying I agree with the confiscation, but the government paid what the going rate was. >>



I'll second that 'are you serious' comment!!

FDR knew exactly what he was going to do with the price of gold.

How naive can you be?

yellowkid

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>FDR gave them what their gold was worth at the time. >>



Are you serious? >>



Absolutely, and it had been at that price for years, I'm not saying I agree with the confiscation, but the government paid what the going rate was. >>



I'll second that 'are you serious' comment!!

FDR knew exactly what he was going to do with the price of gold.

How naive can you be? >>




I'm not naive, and I am serious. I didn't say that I agreed with the move, I'll repeat this slowly, the government paid the going rate at the time for gold, a price that had held steady for a long time. What they planned or didn't plan to do is not under discussion, I never made any remark about that, he paid them what the going rate for gold was. I made a statement that is a historical fact and you asked me if I was serious? Maybe you need to learn how to think critically.

Barndog

the US isn't immune from this happening here, but I'm not going to get into politics

TomB

Yellowkid is not defending the actions of the Federal government under FDR with respect to recall of gold coinage, he is merely stating the historical fact without judgement. While many folks complied with the gold withdrawal, there were also others who kept the $100 face value in gold that each citizen was entitled to keep under Executive Order No. 6102 and still others kept numismatic gold as also allowed under the order.

What I found most amazing in this NK devaluation is that a closed circuit sound system pumps information, orders and propaganda into the homes of NK residents.

gecko109

"FDR gave them what their gold was worth at the time. "



To demonstrate just how stupid this comment actually is, we can use this faulty logic and apply it to the subject of this thread.

Kim Jong gave them what their paper currency was worth at the time.....10-1.


Now do you see how stupid you sound Yellow Kid?

yellowkid

<< <i>"FDR gave them what their gold was worth at the time. "



To demonstrate just how stupid this comment actually is, we can use this faulty logic and apply it to the subject of this thread.

Kim Jong gave them what their paper currency was worth at the time.....10-1.

I give up trying to explain to you people, I stated a fact, for some reason you want to read something into it. The NK move is just not analagous and my advice to you is the same as to the other poster, you really need to learn how to think critically.

yellowkid

<< <i>Yellowkid is not defending the actions of the Federal government under FDR with respect to recall of gold coinage, he is merely stating the historical fact without judgement. While many folks complied with the gold withdrawal, there were also others who kept the $100 face value in gold that each citizen was entitled to keep under Executive Order No. 6102 and still others kept numismatic gold as also allowed under the order.

What I found most amazing in this NK devaluation is that a closed circuit sound system pumps information, orders and propaganda into the homes of NK residents. >>




Right out of "1984."

TomB

1984 was also the first thing that I thought of when I read about the closed circuit system.

percyb

We have the Fed doing that same thing to the US $$. What do you think our money is worth overseas?

MrBear

IIRC, while the government required everyone to turn in their gold, the law had enough loopholes that anyone could probably hold onto whatever they wanted and still be able to justify it. But $100 was a lot of money back then (a 2-3 bedroom house was around $3000-4000) and since the Depression had just started, most people wouldn't have had a lot of money/gold to hold onto anyway. And did they do house-to-house searches? What was the penalty for non-compliance, and was it ever meted out?

coynclecter

C'mon, it's a socialist country run by a guy who thinks he can do whatever he wants to and doesnt care what the people think. The government is loaded with corruption and they are spending huge amounts of money they don't have. The big enterprises are run by the govenment and thier friends and of course they will devalue the currency and confiscate whatever they can from the people.

Just be glad you don't live in a country like that!!

Bear

We do indeed, live in interesting times.

roadrunner

The govt did not perform house to house searches looking for gold in the 1930's. I don't believe there is a single documented case of a search or jail time for hoarding gold unless another crime was committed. There was one documented case of tax evasion where a search was conducted and gold confiscated....after all it was money at the time. But in the other 99.99% of the cases people either turned in gold voluntarily or ignored the order. The real leverage that FDR wanted was to effectively take the country off the gold standard in order to print currency to fund the New Deal without having to anchor it with gold. In that he succeeded.

roadrunner

SUMORADA

. The real leverage that FDR wanted was to effectively take the country off the gold standard in order to print currency to fund the New Deal without having to anchor it with gold. In that he succeeded.

yup

TomB

It is likely the only methodical search performed for gold ownership and compliance with the Executive Order would be with respect to those folks who were secretly put on the Hoover administration list of individuals who hoarded gold.

yellowkid

<< <i>It is likely the only methodical search performed for gold ownership and compliance with the Executive Order would be with respect to those folks who were secretly put on the Hoover administration list of individuals who hoarded gold. >>



touche!

GoldenEyeNumismatics

<< <i>"FDR gave them what their gold was worth at the time. "



To demonstrate just how stupid this comment actually is, we can use this faulty logic and apply it to the subject of this thread.

Kim Jong gave them what their paper currency was worth at the time.....10-1.


Now do you see how stupid you sound Yellow Kid? >>



Blatantly incorrect. If you're going to talk to people like they're idiots at least make sure your arguments make sense.

The United States had been paying $20.67 for an ounce of gold for nearly a century preceding the recall, and that is what they paid out when gold was recalled. Revaluation to $35 was a separate event.

The NK government was honoring their currency at face value preceding the revaluation. Kim Jong Il began paying out the 100-1 (not 10-1) exchange rate when the revaluation was announced. This would be the equivelant of the United States paying $2,067.00 for an ounce of gold prior to the recall, but only $20.67 once the recall was announced.

RWB

TomB is largely correct.

In late 1933 the Hoover treasury department, lead by Secretary Ogden Mills, began compiling names and addresses of everyone who withdrew gold coin or bullion from any bank or mint facility. They tracked whether the gold was redeposited or if an equivalent dollar amount was deposited. (This followed repeated failed attempts to keep gold in circulation.) [The term "gold" also includes gold certificates which were much more popular than coin.]

During the first months of the Roosevelt administration, nearly all of the treasury’s top people were holdovers. They used the bank lists in a publicity campaign by the Attorney General to get hoarders to turn in their gold and gold certificates. (The names were never published.) There were very few prosecutions under the series of gold nationalization orders, and nearly all were of hoarders who were also the target of President Hoover’s activities.

As far as anyone planning on a specific devaluation of the dollar in relation to gold, the Congress (bipartisan) added devaluation to the Thomas Amendment along with other standby authorities such as devaluation of the silver dollar. FDR took office with no long-term plan and his past record indicated limited economic understanding. Again, Hoover’s treasury dept. staff were the primary advisors to Congress and the administration.

One last comment which might prove thought provoking. Suspension of the full gold standard in April 1933 decoupled the US economy from foreign manipulation and speculation. By reinstating a limited gold bullion (export) standard, then gradually raising the price of metal above the world $29.00 market price, the US effectively gained control of far more gold than anyone ever imagined.

[Supporting documentation will be found in NARA: RG, 50, 56, 87, 104; FDR Library and papers; Henry Morgenthau papers; Herbert Hoover papers; Riggs National Bank archive (PNC BankCorp.); Library of Congress; Key Pittman papers; Nellie Ross papers; Ednis Wilkins papers, and others.]

MrOrganic

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<< <i>

<< <i>How much could one possibly have saved when you earn 1 dollar a day? >>



Black Market >>



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LOL

adamlaneus

In this North Korea currency revaluation...if you want to keep your savings, you would hold US Dollars. Or Euros. Or Chinese Yuan.
That is one of the reasons that foreign 'hard' currency is so valued there.
I suspect that the black marketeers who are the target of this revaluation knew this and planned accordingly.

For someone who is already working and living hand-to-mouth, the confiscation of savings might not even apply.
But the resultant market turmoil must be awful.


We already know what the new North American currency is going to be. Ameros!!!
The only question is when!

yellowkid

We already know what the new North American currency is going to be. Ameros!!!
The only question is when! >>

cohodk

<< <i>We already know what the new North American currency is going to be. Ameros!!!
The only question is when! >>

>>



Dont worry Yellowkid. We'll all be dead beofre that happens. The USA $$ would be the last fiat currency to fail, I aint worried.

yellowkid

<< <i>

<< <i>We already know what the new North American currency is going to be. Ameros!!!
The only question is when! >>

>>



Dont worry Yellowkid. We'll all be dead beofre that happens. The USA $$ would be the last fiat currency to fail, I aint worried. >>




I sure hope so, and not for another 25 years