money

Why Bitcoins Are Just Like Gold

"Bitcoin is gold on steroids, designed for a society that lives through the internet. Bitcoin is designed with the ideals of the contemporary cyber movement in mind: decentralization, peer to peer, cryptography. Easily transferable in ones and zeros, it’s a storage of value for a virtual society. As a payment system, it's a temporal store of money that can be easily sent across the globe securely and speedily without counterparty risk. No matter the price of bitcoin, these benefits will always give it purpose. Given its self-contained nature, it eliminates the need for inherent human interference. There’s no need for a central bank because bitcoin self-regulates." Continue reading →

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Don’t Hold Bitcoins; Krugman Won’t Like It

"Paul Krugman has written about Bitcoins, and he has come to the conclusion that they represent a grim development. Fortunately, no one is asking for Krugman’s permission to mine, hold, or use Bitcoin. He is not in charge of designing this emerging alternative money. As for making society rich, a main reason why Bitcoin is taking off is because people want to flee government paper money or at least have some hedge against government money and all that it brings with it. Bitcoin might someday save the economy from being destroyed by government and its economic advisers." Continue reading →

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Pictures From A Cyprus ATM Line

"For a few days, the people of Cyprus were calm, quietly and orderly accepting the unreality of the levy being imposed upon them - incredulous that it was even possible. As we reach the 4th day of bank closures, amid rolling rumors and ECB threats, it appears the people have reached a tipping point as this series of images from Cyprus ATM lines indicates - the bank-jog has arrived. When will it become a full blown sprint? It appears the catalyst for this latest move is the ECB threat and EU concerns over the future of the two biggest insolvent banks: As AFP reports: EU calls on Cyprus to set capital controls and merge 2 biggest banks Laiki and Bank of Cyprus." Continue reading →

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Bernanke Saying He’s Dispensable Suggests Tenure Ending

"Rates have been low for so long that they have continued to facilitate rash borrowing. Now rates literally cannot be lifted without causing extreme pressure on US disbursements. Second, to keep rates down, Bernanke has virtually doomed the Fed to perpetual monetary debasement. No matter what happens, boom or bust, the Fed will need to promote huge inflationary programs. Perhaps it is unfair to Ben Bernanke, but anyone examining the totality of his actions and their likely result would be tempted to come to the conclusion that he wants to leave before the proverbial house of cards comes tumbling down." Continue reading →

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Jim Rickards: Forget Cyprus, Nobody Is Stealing from Depositors More than Bernanke

"'At this stage of a recovery normalized interest rates should be around 2-3%,' says Rickards. 'Apply that 2-3%…to the entire multi-trillion-dollar deposit base of the United States of America and that’s a $400-billion per year wealth transfer from savers to bankers so they can pay themselves bigger bonuses or make crazy bets.' Over time, Rickards says, that wealth transfer could reach $1 trillion. Rickards says zero interest rates are just one way the Fed is fleecing depositors. Others include increasing inflation, which Bernanke is trying to do, and taxing deposits like Cyprus is pushing for." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingJim Rickards: Forget Cyprus, Nobody Is Stealing from Depositors More than Bernanke

Bank of Japan vows ‘all means available’ to smash deflation

"The new team is much closer to the Fed and the Bank of England, but critics say the bank risks becoming a mere branch of the finance mininstry -- where Mr Kuroda spent much of his careers. The great fear is that Japan will lurch from stable deflation to an unstable price spiral that suddenly causes investors to question the integrity of the country's 23 trillion public debt, the world's largest. The IMF says Japan's gross debt will reach 245pc of GDP this year. It has been possible so far because banks have gobbled up government bonds worth 100pc of GDP but this makes the banking system ever more vulnerable to a sudden rise in rates." Continue reading →

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New Zealand Plans Cyprus-Style Bank Confiscations

"Is it coincidence or something more? Globalists that are trying to create an international monetary solution often implement programs in various countries at once. The question arises as to whether Money Power itself – the banking entities and those behind them that control a good deal of the world's wealth – have decided to 'send a message' about the relationship between citizens and their banks. Cyprus and New Zealand are well down this road. Is a message being sent to savers? Is this going to become the new normal in the West?" Continue reading →

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Is Spain Preparing For Its Own Deposit “Levy”?

"While Spain's economy minister Luis De Guindos proclaimed in the Senate today that bank deposits under EUR100,000 are 'sacred' and that 'Spanish savers should stay calm,' Spain, it would appear, has changed constitutional rules to enable a so-called 'moderate' levy on deposits- as under previous Spanish law this was prohibited. For now, they claim the 'levy' will be 'not much higher than 0%' and is mainly aimed at regions in Spain that have 'made no effort to collect taxes' based on new revenue expectations." Continue reading →

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Peter Schiff Global Investor Newsletter – March 2013

"The Keynesians have overlooked a much more dangerous and demonstrable pitfall of their own creation: something that I call 'The Stimulus Trap.' This condition occurs when an economy becomes addicted to the monetary stimulus provided by a central bank, and as a result fails to restructure itself in a manner that will allow for robust, and sustainable, growth. The trap redirects capital into non-productive sectors and starves those areas of the economy that could lead an economic rebirth. The condition is characterized by anemic growth (masked by the delivery of perpetual stimulus) and deteriorating underlying economic fundamentals." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPeter Schiff Global Investor Newsletter – March 2013

Bernanke: ‘Bank Confiscation Unlikely In America’; ‘No Idea How Much Money We’re Giving The Banks’

"Ben Bernanke does not say bank or wealth confiscation, like we’re seeing in Cyprus, would be impossible here in the U.S. But rather he says it would be extremely unlikely. My question is; Would it have been extremely unlikely for such a thing to happen in Cyprus a few years ago?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBernanke: ‘Bank Confiscation Unlikely In America’; ‘No Idea How Much Money We’re Giving The Banks’