money

The Most Dangerous Conspiracy of All Time

"They justified their 'revolution' by saying they’d end the conspiracy and bring order to society. But in reality, they only made things a lot worse. The country I’m talking about is Brazil — and the social blight I described was especially apparent in the central and northern regions where I lived and traveled in the 1950s and ’60s. The conspiracy: The deliberate policy of massive money printing by the central bank, the Bank of Brazil. The immediate consequence: Hyperinflation. The long-term impact: Destruction of wealth, erosion of social institutions, mass corruption in government, enrichment of the few, impoverishment of the many, and chaos." Continue reading →

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Bill Bonner: Will Japan’s radical gamble work?

"The BOJ says it just wants to get inflation to 2%. It says it will buy assets with money that didn't exist previously...and keep buying...until inflation reaches 2%. Then what? Well, we guess it will stop. And then what? Then, it will have an economy that has come to expect 70 billion yen in new money every month. And an economy with a monetary base of BOJ assets maybe twice what it is today. People make radical gambles now and then. Businessmen might take a chance now and then. Gamblers might go for long odds. Lovers might hope to get lucky. For a central bank to make a 'radical gamble' bespeaks desperation and lunacy." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill Bonner: Will Japan’s radical gamble work?

Bill Bonner: Will Japan’s radical gamble work?

"The BOJ says it just wants to get inflation to 2%. It says it will buy assets with money that didn't exist previously...and keep buying...until inflation reaches 2%. Then what? Well, we guess it will stop. And then what? Then, it will have an economy that has come to expect 70 billion yen in new money every month. And an economy with a monetary base of BOJ assets maybe twice what it is today. People make radical gambles now and then. Businessmen might take a chance now and then. Gamblers might go for long odds. Lovers might hope to get lucky. For a central bank to make a 'radical gamble' bespeaks desperation and lunacy." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill Bonner: Will Japan’s radical gamble work?

Trust in Gold Not Bernanke as U.S. States Promote Bullion

"Lawmakers in Arizona are poised to follow Utah, which authorized bullion for currency in 2011. Similar bills are advancing in Kansas, South Carolina and other states. The Utah Precious Metals Association, established after passage of the 2011 law to advocate for the use of gold and silver coins, has about two dozen members enrolled in a two month-old bill-pay service in which their accounts are held in gold, said Lawrence Hilton, the group’s chairman. Hilton envisions a future with an alternative monetary system based on precious metals in which merchants accept silver coin while gold mostly backs electronic transfers." Continue reading →

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Cypriot Chaos Assists EU Centralization

"Today, major bank runs happen for the most part not on the street, but electronically and often within minutes. They attract minimal public attention, are easily kept quiet, and the aggregate amounts transferred are known only to finance ministries and central banks. The true magnitude of any run on Cypriot or eurozone banks is hard for outsiders to clearly ascertain. This can be used as a major weapon in cajoling EU leaders into accepting greater banking 'unity' in both the eurozone and the greater EU. Should the Cypriot crisis prove an inadequate threat to further centralize the EU banking system, then there are a number of brewing crises that might do the trick." Continue reading →

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AFP: Bitcoin price bubble soars to record as investors grow nervous

"A cottage industry of stores buying and reselling goods online for Bitcoins has emerged, and some high-profile transactions have helped push the currency into mainstream consciousness. One Canadian man reportedly hoped to sell his house for Bitcoins, and a US man claimed to have traded his 2007 Porsche for 300 Bitcoins. The Cyprus banking crisis – which saw the tiny nation agree a bailout deal with the International Monetary Fund, European Commission and European Central Bank that will shrink the banking sector and lead to losses on deposits of more than 100,000 euros – also coincided with a run-up in Bitcoin valuation." Continue reading →

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Cyprus – A wake-up call: Rethinking money

"In this documentary we have tried to capture the thoughts and feelings of ordinary Cypriots after their bank accounts got frozen in March of 2013. We've also asked them to think about alternative ways to see and use money. We'd like to thank them for their participation. We believe everyone should have the right to choose their own currency." Continue reading →

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Doug Casey: All Banks Are Bankrupt

"The whole banking business is corrupt from top to bottom today. Part of the problem is that banks are no longer financed by the individuals who start them, putting their personal net worth on the line. Now, they are all publicly traded entities – just like all brokerages – playing with Other People's Money. Management has no incentive to do anything but pad their wallets, so they pay themselves gigantic salaries and bonuses, and give themselves options. These people aren't shepherding their money and that of clients they know personally. They've got zero skin in the game. This is true all over the world, not just in the US and Europe." Continue reading →

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Bill Bonner: Is It Time To Sell Your Gold?

"There is no reason to think that the basic relationship between the Dow stocks and gold has been altered in any fundamental or everlasting way. For practically the entire 19th century... many years of the 20th century... and as recently as the 1980s, the ratio of the Dow to gold was 1 to 5 or less. Investors paid 5 ounces of gold to buy the Dow and its earnings. Will the Dow once again trade for 5 ounces of gold or less? Almost certainly. And it will probably happen before this historic drop in the Dow/gold ratio has reached its final bottom." Continue reading →

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Could a Government Cash Grab Happen Here?

"With $6.8 trillion on deposit in U.S. banks, do you think that our current federal government, the one so adept at manufacturing repeated crises, would hesitate for one moment before dipping into the private accounts of depositors if a U.S. bankruptcy were imminent? Well, with massive amounts of federal spending on tap that cannot be supported by current tax rates, it’s not exactly a stretch to think that a solvency crisis is headed our way … with the grabbing hands of the U.S. government reaching for the assets of hard-working Americans to bail it out." Continue reading →

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