Via KFI Los Angeles From the ad on Craigslist: There is luxury in a Bentley, speed in a Ferrari, comfort in Bugatti. For everything else, there’s this 1996 Nissan Maxima; aged 17 years. Appropriately named, never before in history has a car had the words “time-tested” engraved into its lone spirit. Being offered up for […]
"Denmark’s Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) today issued an official statement on the use of virtual currency in the country – and surprisingly, it’s not all bad news. The statement highlights that virtual currency isn’t covered by Denmark’s existing regulatory framework. Thus, cryptocurrencies cannot be subjected to the country’s standard financial regulation. According to the FSA, doing business with bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies does not qualify as issuance of electronic money, currency exchanges, brokerages or deposit services. As a result, bitcoin entrepreneurs who want to build businesses and establish exchanges in the country will not need government approval." Continue reading →
"Some commentators are betting that the Fed will begin to taper now, though the big money says tapering will start in March. Tapering, whenever it happens, is not tightening. Tightening is pulling money out of the system. Tapering is simply slowing an out-of-control train to 135 miles per hour from 150. There’s a pileup in the offing either way. No matter what comes of tapering talk this week, one fact will remain unchanged: The Fed will maintain interest rates at or near 0%. And even if tapering does happen this week, the Fed will accompany the move with commentary promising to extend the period in which rates remain excessively low." Continue reading →
"What kind of economy is it that reduces a man’s wages over a 43-year period? We don’t know. But it’s not likely to win any prizes. But why, with so many strikes against it, does the US economy still have the bat in its hands? It’s partly because the Fed has pumped up stock, bond and house prices – not to mention net corporate profit margins and consumer spending . So, the averages look pretty good… and they mask the ugliness beneath them. The bottom 90% of the population – people in 9 houses out of 10 – have 10% less income than they had 10 years ago. This is not a success story. It’s a disaster. And not one that tempts us into an overvalued US stock market." Continue reading →
"The aggrandizement of 'leaders' who preside over massive price-fixing facilities such as central banks and legislatures ought to be identified as the hype that it is. There is no possible way that even the most sophisticated analysis of previous indicators can yield up legitimate and accurate projections. Those internationalists who have constructed the current system know that. Hence, the almost obsessive concentration on academic degrees and 'expert' appellations. The idea is to fool people into believing the 'best-of-the-best' have 'expert' powers that allow them to peer into the future using the indicators at hand. But they can't any more than you can." Continue reading →
"In April 2011, two years shy of its 100th birthday, the Fed held its first press conference in history in response to mounting criticism of its lack of transparency. In other words, the Fed felt that it had to walk out into the sunshine and defend itself. And, as no doubt part of the same public relations effort, recent Fed publications reveal a concerted effort to perpetuate the myth that the Federal Reserve System is not a central bank at all, but a system of banks that serve 'our local communities.' What’s different this time is that, with the help of the web, Ron Paul’s 2012 campaign, and of course, the Mises Institute, the Austrian School of economics is no longer an obscure and ignored minority." Continue reading →
Sen. Paul Applauds the Protection of Fourth Amendment Rights Dec 16, 2013 WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sen. Rand Paul today issued the following statement applauding the U.S. District Court ruling that deemed the National Security Agency’s (NSA) phone surveillance program unconstitutional: “I commend U.S. District Court Judge Richard Leon for upholding and protecting our Fourth Amendment […]
"The People's Bank of China has issued a new ban on third-party payment processors from doing business with Bitcoin exchanges. Bitcoin prices on the yuan-traded BTC China exchange are down 34% on the news, and prices on the USD-traded Mt. Gox exchange were flirting with $700 all night. Mt. Gox prices were off 19% on the day. The latest ban is a a separate regulation from the People's Bank of China's Dec. 5 ruling barring formal financial institutions from processing Bitcoin. Rui Ma, a China-based angel investor, commented that if the crackdown continues, Chinese may only be able to purchase Bitcoins via miners or other traders." Continue reading →
"Governments do hold some force over the decentralized cryptocurrency, insofar as they wield control over the banks, which in turn can either stand in the way of Bitcoins beginning to circulate through the market or help open the floodgates. But the way some financial regulators see it, the risk of mass adoption is still too high; no one’s sure the bubble isn’t about to burst. Here’s a glance at the nations who have piped up about Bitcoin so far, and where they come down on the futurist money." Continue reading →
"Sources close to China’s Central Bank today reported that the institution has banned third-party payment companies from doing business with bitcoin exchanges. A reputable source told CoinDesk that the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) met with most of the top third-party payment companies this morning. The source said the meeting topic was unrelated to bitcoin, but digital currency became an important part of the discussion. 'PBOC, in no uncertain terms, directed third-party payment companies not to do business with bitcoin exchanges in China,' they explained." Continue reading →