money

Monetary Madness, Part II

"Like today, the Fed helped create a bond market bubble in the 1970s … but then began a panicky retreat in 1979 that helped drive T-bond yields to 13%, T-bill rates to 17% and the prime rate to 21%. Like today, the Fed kept the lid on short-term interest rates in the early 1990s … but then was forced to unleash them in 1994, causing the largest calendar-year decline in bond prices in modern history. And like today, in the first half of the 2000s, the Fed papered over every financial disaster it ran into — only to beat a sudden retreat by letting Lehman Brothers fail. They will do the same thing again — not because of any particular plan, but because they will have no other choice." Continue reading →

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How a wire transfer stuck in OFAC almost cost me $140K

"My wire transfer for $600,000 got stuck for more than a week in two banks and I almost lost my $140,000 deposit on a house as a result. If the funds transfer had been done with bitcoin, I would have had the funds there within an hour of sending them, and nobody could have stopped it. The escrow part could also have been done with bitcoin. One this becomes the norm, bitcoin is going to revolutionize the process of closing a house purchase, making it safer, cheaper, and faster for everyone. Here is the OFAC SDN list. If your first and last names match any of the names in this list, don't do any large wire transfers!" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow a wire transfer stuck in OFAC almost cost me $140K

Economist Recommends ‘E-Dollar’ That Loses 5% Of Its Value Per Year

"'If you care at all about the future of this country, one of the things you need to realize is we need to solve the demand side so we can get back to the supply side issues that are really the tricky thing for the long run,' he said. 'The way to solve the demand side issues that is the most consistent with not messing up our supply side is monetary policy and making it so we can have negative interest rates.' At the moment, e-dollars are still only a theoretical concept, but Kimball is hopeful that they could be put into action in the near future. He believes that if a government bought in, it could be using an electronic currency in three years and reap the benefits of it soon after." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEconomist Recommends ‘E-Dollar’ That Loses 5% Of Its Value Per Year

Australian central bank’s talk of intervention sends Aussie dollar down

"The overnight fall in the Australian dollar shows once again that just a few carefully targeted words from Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens have the power to move markets. While Mr Stevens did not say the Reserve Bank was about to intervene to pull the dollar down, his comment that the option was in the monetary policy 'toolkit' proves that words from the central bank governor can be timely bullets. The impact-laden comments show the RBA's frustration in its attempts to lower the dollar, despite 2.25 percentage points of cuts to the official cash rate since late 2011." Continue reading →

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Bitcoin: Hoping for the Best After Bernanke’s Endorsement

"Presumably we could discuss forever the occurrence of bitcoin and its evolution. Was it merely the first evolution of digital currency or was it put in place as a kind psyop to develop a currency that could then be subject to discussion, regulation and enforcement? Inevitably, we know what we are rooting for, which is the emergence of bitcoin as a truly untouchable digital currency that finds its own market path without the heavy hand of central bank supervision. The method that the power elite follows is all too predictable by now. They use false flags to get ahead of a trend and then attempt to steer that economic or sociopolitical trend toward a destination with which they are comfortable." Continue reading →

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Bitcoin Gets a Cautious Nod From China’s Central Bank

"Speaking at an economic forum on Wednesday, Yi Gang, the deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China and director of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, said that it would be impossible for China’s central bank to recognize the Bitcoin as a legitimate financial instrument in the near future. But, Mr. Yi added, people are free to participate in the Bitcoin market and he would personally adopt a long-term perspective on the currency. The statement comes during a week of remarkable turbulence on China’s numerous Bitcoin exchanges." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBitcoin Gets a Cautious Nod From China’s Central Bank

China Central Bank: No Longer in China’s Interest to Increase Reserves

"The People’s Bank of China said the country does not benefit any more from increases in its foreign-currency holdings, adding to signs policy makers will rein in dollar purchases that limit the yuan’s appreciation. 'It’s no longer in China’s favor to accumulate foreign-exchange reserves,' Yi Gang, a deputy governor at the central bank, said in a speech organized by China Economists 50 Forum at Tsinghua University yesterday. The monetary authority will 'basically' end normal intervention in the currency market and broaden the yuan’s daily trading range, Governor Zhou Xiaochuan wrote in an article in a guidebook explaining reforms outlined last week following a Communist Party meeting." Continue reading →

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If Senators Really Like Bitcoin They Should Encourage Banks To Cooperate

"With many of their fears assuaged, the senators seemed ready to ask what they could do to foster Bitcoin and other digital currencies during these early stages of innovation. And the message was clear: give banks the assurances they need to accept Bitcoin companies as clients. In the last year, this has been a huge problem for U.S.-based companies. The senators expressed an admirable concern about falling behind in this arena. And if they really want the country to catch up, they will find a way to help Bitcoin integrate with the U.S. banking system." Continue reading →

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Keiser Report: Bitcoin is Beautiful

"In this episode of the Keiser Report, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert discuss bitcoin barbarians at the gate as U.S. cedes dominance to China and as nations and people around the world reject U.S. made technology due to NSA spying. In the second half, Max interviews Karl Gray and Austin Craig about the documentary film, Life On Bitcoin, and about the latest in crypto-currencies, including Litecoin." Continue reading →

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$1bn payout expected as Russian regulator pulls plug on ‘dubious’ bank

"Russia’s Central Bank (CBR) has revoked the license of Master Bank over $61 million in alleged illegal banking transactions. Over 1000 ATMs are frozen, and the head office is being raided by police. Massive money laundering operations and shady aсcounting prompted the regulator to withdraw the license, part of a larger overhaul to close down corrupt banks in Russia. The withdrawal of Master Bank's license means that its estimated $1.5 billion (47.4 billion rubles) in private funds are now frozen, with Russia’s Deposit Insurance Agency promising to pay out $917 million (30 billion rubles) to bank customers by December 4." Continue reading →

Continue Reading$1bn payout expected as Russian regulator pulls plug on ‘dubious’ bank