News Commentary

Krugman thinks low interest rates are behind the boom in paper currency. Not so fast!

"Yes, as Krugman says, interest rates are probably an important factor. But I’m not so sure they’re the most important factor — for a few reasons. For starters, a lot of the demand for U.S. currency is coming from abroad. If you’re in another country with high inflation or severe instability, one of your main concerns is going to be preserving your purchasing power. About 70 percent of U.S. currency today – in the form of $100 bills – is abroad, compared to about 50 percent two decades ago. And while the total level of $100 bills outstanding in the United States has a little more than doubled over 20 years, the growth in $100 bills abroad has increased by far more." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingKrugman thinks low interest rates are behind the boom in paper currency. Not so fast!

Timing the Bottom

"We think the safest portfolio allocation under present circumstances would be 50% gold, 50% cash. But preserving wealth is not our only goal here at Casey Research. For many of us, readers and colleagues alike, it's not even our top priority: we want to make money—lots of money. And it is our view that the recent market volatility is evidence that our projections of more economic trouble ahead were and are correct. That means our overall strategy is correct and remains intact, which in turn implies that the current selloff is a buying opportunity. Hence, we still recommend our basic allocation model of 33% cash, 33% gold, and 33% equities that should do well in times of crisis." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingTiming the Bottom

Ron Paul: Let Market Forces Solve Organ Transplant Crisis

"Ten-year old cystic fibrosis patient Sarah Murnaghan captured the nation's attention when federal bureaucrats imposed a de facto death sentence on her by refusing to modify the rules governing organ transplants. Even though Sarah's own physician said she was an excellent candidate to receive an adult organ transplant, government officials refused to even consider modifying their rules. Fortunately, a federal judge intervened so Sarah received the lung transplant. But the welcome decision in this case does not change the need to end government control of organ donations and repeal the federal ban on compensating organ donors." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRon Paul: Let Market Forces Solve Organ Transplant Crisis

College Girls, Bottled Water and the Emerging American Police State

"Public outcry has gone viral over an incident in which a college student was targeted and terrorized by Alcohol Beverage Control agents (ABC) after she purchased sparkling water at a grocery store. The girl and her friends were eventually jailed for daring to evade their accosters, who failed to identify themselves or approach the young women in a non-threatening manner. What makes this particular incident significant is the degree to which it embodies all that is wrong with law enforcement today, both as it relates to the citizenry and the ongoing undermining of our rule of law." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCollege Girls, Bottled Water and the Emerging American Police State

What Bothered Me Most About the Zimmerman Trial

"Toward the end of the state’s summation, it was said that if a person wanted to do what George Zimmerman did 'you’d better have one of these' (whereupon a photo of a policeman’s badge was projected onto the screen). What the state was implicitly acknowledging – whether such was its intent or not – was the real-world dual standard that operates on the streets of virtually every city in every state: a police officer will almost never be held to account, criminally, for wrongs committed against innocent victims. Take the identical facts in the Zimmerman case and change just one: have George Zimmerman be a city-appointed police officer." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhat Bothered Me Most About the Zimmerman Trial

Oregon ‘Pay It Forward’ Tuition Plan Punishes Graduates’ Success

"If Oregon makes the program mandatory, its colleges will in effect become the only ones in the U.S. that charge students with higher earnings potential more for their education, because they will contribute more over 25 years than everyone else. Motivated students wishing to major in engineering or finance will, quite rationally, opt for private colleges or out-of-state public colleges where they won’t have to subsidize liberal arts majors. A college financing program that requires students to sign away a chunk of their future income would also be unappealing to wealthy families that have the ability to pay cash. They would probably opt for private colleges, too." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOregon ‘Pay It Forward’ Tuition Plan Punishes Graduates’ Success

Ron Paul Interview with Charles Goyette

"It would be impossible to find someone in Washington who knows more about monetary and fiscal policy, the Federal Reserve, free markets, Austrian economics, and gold and silver than former congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul. From warning about the consequences of Nixon’s abandonment of the dollar’s ties to gold, to alerting the country to the calamity that would be the Iraq war, to his statement in Congress describing with shocking precision in advance just how the housing bubble would inflate and burst, Dr. Paul has demonstrated that his views must be taken very seriously, indeed." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRon Paul Interview with Charles Goyette

Threat from China Is Being Hyped

"China’s sea-denial forces [don't] make up any real threat to the all-in U.S. force of 11 large deck carriers. But of course this threat is to the American Empire, not the United States itself. The U.S. carrier-heavy force is deployed far forward in East Asia to contain China and protect allies, such as Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, and Australia. Those wealthy allies should be doing more to provide their own security but will never do so as long as the United States provides the first line of defense. Japan already has a stronger navy than China and could do much more if it spent more of its large GDP on defense." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThreat from China Is Being Hyped

China remains the place you want to have some of your money invested

"China’s announced plan is to move 400 million rural residents into urban cities over the next decade. That’s 40 million people a year, the equivalent of filling up New York City five times annually. That’s a trend … and a very big trend, at that, when you consider the demands that puts on everything from concrete and steel needed to build the necessary infrastructure (apartments, roads, schools, hospitals, shopping centers), to restaurants, supermarkets, housing – the list is nearly endless. China, as well, is moving toward freer financial markets. That, too, is a trend that will create substantial profits for investors." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChina remains the place you want to have some of your money invested

Bill Bonner: The Making of a Modern Debt Slave…

"Deny a young person work and you deny him a career. Deny him a career and you deny him a way to support a family. Deny him a family life, and who knows what happens? In China, the 'bare branches' – young men who couldn't find wives – started a revolution. The Nien Rebellion, which took place between 1851 and 1868, cost 100,000 dead and almost toppled the Qing Dynasty. Will today's young people accept their lot... and remain in docile debt servitude their whole lives? Or will they rise up, as Mr. Graeber suggests, and burn T-bonds in public spaces... rampage down Wall Street... and perhaps hang Ben Bernanke in front of the New York Federal Reserve?" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill Bonner: The Making of a Modern Debt Slave…