Monthly Archives: October 2013

Bill Bonner: Watch the Parking Meters

"'What does Cristina [Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, Argentina’s president] get paid for? Lying to us. Stealing our money. Generally making a mess of the economy. But at least she puts on a good show. You turn on the TV, and there she is – with more lies. The amazing thing is that everybody knows they are lies. We all know the cost of living is going up three times faster than she admits. We all know the country is headed for bankruptcy. We all know the central bank is printing up funny money to pay her bills. But nobody cares about that. She’s just doing her job. Just like you and me. My job is to drive a taxi. Her job is to lie to me.'" Continue reading →

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Thanks, Bloomberg, for More Nonsense About Gold

"Central bankers from all over the world meet regularly in Switzerland, at the Bank for International Settlements, to 'coordinate' monetary policy. They sit in a big room in front of a fancy table and discuss what they are going to do. Four men control roughly 75% of the entire world money supply: Zhou Xiaochuan, People’s Bank of China, Mario Draghi, European Central Bank, Haruhiko Kuroda, Bank of Japan and Ben Bernanke, US Federal Reserve. Does anyone seriously believe that these four individuals do not operate a common monetary policy? Does anyone believe that any of these individuals have the latitude to go their own way in defiance of the others?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThanks, Bloomberg, for More Nonsense About Gold

Will Migrant Workers Drive Bitcoin’s Mundane Future?

"Several companies have determined that the biggest opportunity to prove their worth is in the decidedly boring race to help emigres handle remittances, a global market expected to total $550 billion this year, according to the World Bank. The average fee on remittances is 9 percent of the transaction cost, and some banks charge additional 'lifting' fees of up to 5 percent when someone wants to turn the remittance into cash. Sitting in the middle of money transmissions is a lucrative business. Western Union(WU) brought in $4.6 billion in transaction fees charged to consumers last year and almost $1 billion further in foreign-exchange revenue from its consumer business." Continue reading →

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New $100 bill costs 60% more to produce

"The C-note just got a colorful makeover — and a heftier price tag. The revamped $100 bill costs 12.5 cents to produce — a 60% increase over the 7.8 cents it cost to print the older version of the bill. The government has printed 3.5 billion of the new $100 bills, which it began delivering to financial institutions Tuesday. How soon customers will see the new bills depends on their distance from a regional Fed office, demand, and a few other factors. Among the reasons it’s more expensive than the older currency: Its new security features, which help prevent counterfeiting." Continue reading →

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MasterCard joining push for fingerprint ID standard

"MasterCard is joining the FIDO Alliance, signaling that the payment network is getting interested in using fingerprints and other biometric data to identify people for online payments. MasterCard will be the first major payment network to join FIDO. The Alliance is developing an open industry standard for biometric data such as fingerprints to be used for identification online. The goal is to replace clunky passwords and take friction out of logging on and purchasing using mobile devices. Google is part of the Alliance, and devices running Google's Android operating system will have fingerprint sensors by next year." Continue reading →

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‘Dollar valueless, about to crash’ – World Bank whistleblower

"The US government shutdown - a temporary ailment or a symptom of a grave disease? Are the Republicans right in their move to block Obamacare spending? Who gains from the shutdown turmoil? Do the politicians care about their citizens? Our guest comes from the very heart of the banking system: Karen Hudes was World Bank lawyer when she blew the whistle on major corruption cases in the system and was fired as a result." Continue reading →

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Families hoard cash 5 yrs after crisis

"An Associated Press analysis of households in the 10 biggest economies shows that families continue to spend cautiously and have pulled hundreds of billions of dollars out of stocks, cut borrowing for the first time in decades and poured money into savings and bonds that offer puny interest payments, often too low to keep up with inflation. A flight to safety on such a global scale is unprecedented since the end of World War II. The growth of cash is remarkable because millions more were unemployed, wages grew slowly and people diverted billions to pay down their debts. They also poured money into bank accounts knowing they would earn little interest on their deposits." Continue reading →

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How Bitcoin solved my startup’s international banking problem

"I spent literally months and hundreds of dollars trying to open a bank account in Europe. I called every bank I could find. Most of them were not willing to open an account for a US citizen due to recently tightened money laundering laws and the few banks that would allow me to open an account required that I travel to their country to submit my application in person. Some of the banks that wanted me to travel to the UK to open an account actually had a branch in the city I live in within the US. I decided to add the ability for users to buy & sell items using Bitcoins on my site in order to attract a niche audience. However, I had also solved my banking problem without even realizing it." Continue reading →

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The Invisible Plumbing Of Our Economy

"It turns out the money collected on Kickstarter is handled by Amazon. Great, we figure: This is the company that will sell you anything on the planet and get it you you the next day. And what we need in this case isn't even a thing, really. We just need Amazon's bank to send money electronically to a checking account at Chase bank. It's just information traveling over wires. How long could it take: A minute? An hour? It took five days. On today's show: Why the invisible pipes that move money around America are so slow. (And why the ones in England are so much faster.)" Continue reading →

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