The Federal Reserve’s monopoly on money and credit has caused so many problems for average Americans and the nation that addressing this issue is a prerequisite for returning the nation to economic sanity. Congressman Ron Paul has introduced a bill called the “Free Competition in Currency Act” (H.R. 4248), which would end the government-enforced monopoly by repealing “legal tender” laws, allowing private mints, and eliminating taxes on gold and silver coins.
Another day for Cramer, another loss for his viewers. After telling his fans to Buy BP on May 21, Cramer, "mesmerized" by its fall, pulls the plug. The cost to those who followed his advice: -33%.
This out from the Mad Money master earlier.
Mesmerized by the Fall of BP By Jim Cramer RealMoney Columnist 6/9/2010 6:56 PM EDT
You can't have one of the largest companies in the world disappear overnight and believe it won't affect ot
Every time I see this clown on TV he is giving the wrong advice and saying the literal opposite of the truth. Chances are you could build up a nice war chest if you just took his advice and did the opposite.
Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke is warning the music industry is on the brink of collapse, insisting young musicians should resist signing record deals because the major labels will "completely fold" within months.
The British rockers broke away from their longtime label, EMI, in 2007 and went on to embrace the new digital era with the release their seventh album, In Rainbows, which they offered up over the internet and allowed fans to choose the price.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke says he’s a bit puzzled by surging gold prices. The 30% rally from a year ago, on top of gains in previous years, might be interpreted as a loud signal from markets that big inflation pressures are building in the U.S. Gold is seen by many investors as a hedge against inflation risk.
In this case, it might instead be a hedge against risk broadly. Mr. Bernanke notes that the inflation signal isn’t confirmed by movements in other asset classes. ... (more)
“I don’t fully understand movements in the gold price,” Mr. Bernanke admitted. But he suggested it might be another example of investors fleeing risky assets and flocking to assets that are perceived as less risky, not only Treasury bonds, but also ones like gold.
It is said that government workers now make, on average, 30% more than private sector workers. Put that fantasy aside. It far underestimates the real figures. By my calculations, government workers make more than twice as much. Government workers are America's fastest-growing millionaires.
Doubt it? Then ask yourself: What is the net present value of an $80,000 annual pension payout with additional full health benefits? Working backward, the total NPV would depend on expected ret... (more)
Self-identified liberals and Democrats do badly on questions of basic economics.
Who is better informed about the policy choices facing the country—liberals, conservatives or libertarians? According to a Zogby International survey that I write about in the May issue of Econ Journal Watch, the answer is unequivocal: The left flunks Econ 101.
Zogby researcher Zeljka Buturovic and I considered the 4,835 respondents' (all American adults) answers to eight survey ... (more)
Bond markets could get very nasty over the coming months, while stock investors could take a few months off and stop attempting to trade volatile swings in the markets, Anthony Fry, senior managing director at Evercore Partners, told CNBC Monday.
“The current problems will be with us for 5 years or more and uncertainty is very high," Fry said.
"Sentiment is extremely volatile as shown by the collapse of the Prudential’s attempt to buy AIA. When the deal was thought ... (more)
CARACAS (Dow Jones)--Venezuelan authorities discovered nearly 1,200 shipping containers full of rotten food at a state-run warehouse and have arrested a former top official in the government's Socialist food distribution network.
The discovery of the 30,000 tons of out-of-date milk, rice and wheat flour at the warehouse in the port city of Puerto Cabello is seen as a blow to President Hugo Chavez, who has been blaming opposition forces and private industry for a recent rise ... (more)
This past week several emerging and ongoing crises took attention away from the ongoing sovereign debt problems in Greece. The bailouts are merely kicking the can down the road and making things worse for taxpaying citizens, here and abroad. Greece is unfortunately not unique in its irresponsible spending habits. Greek-style debt explosions are quickly spreading to other nations one by one, and yes, the United States is one of the dominoes on down the line.
Can anyone recommend the best place to buy gold with the lowest mark-up?
We bought in at $388/oz five or so years ago (veiled brag) and the markup on golddealer.com was $12/oz, these days it's $50 or $60/oz.
Regardless our parents want to buy in over the next month or so, they of course thought we were crazy five years ago, as did our bank manager who came out and said "Are you really sure you want to do this? You know you should only buy gold if you think the economy is about to crash..."
I told him point blank, "I do think the economy is going to crash." He was noticeably taken aback, hehe. We were cashing out our entire bank account at the time, I wonder what he thinks today!
Unfortunately not everyone close to us listened, such is life, still they finally want to take the plunge and so we're going to help them buy in on the dips. If you know a good place to get physical gold w/ a low premium please post it. - Chris
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures rose to a record Tuesday, spurred by continued fears of a worldwide slide into recession and as investors sought out an alternative to currencies.
Gold for August delivery, the most active contract, added $7.60, or 0.6%, to $1,248.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold settled at a record $1,243.10 on May 12.
"We see people buying gold for safety. Gold is in effect trading as a currenc... (more)
In recent months, GDP numbers have rebounded – primarily as a result of record low interest rates reliquifying the credit market and government stimulus jolting consumer spending. Although the "positive growth" has delighted Obama's economic brain trust, it has done little to boost the fortunes of Main Street. As I have said many times, GDP largely measures spending, and spending is not growth.
Last Friday we received the latest indication that the real economy ... (more)
June 4 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama is poised to increase the U.S. debt to a level that exceeds the value of the nation’s annual economic output, a step toward what Bill Gross called a “debt super cycle.”
The CHART OF THE DAY tracks U.S. gross domestic product and the government’s total debt, which rose past $13 trillion for the first time this month. The amount owed will surpass GDP in 2012, based on forecasts by the International Monetary Fund. The lower panel shows U.... (more)
People can change the volume, the location and the composition of their income, and they can do so in response to changes in government policies.
It shouldn’t surprise anyone that the nine states without an income tax are growing far faster and attracting more people than are the nine states with the highest income tax rates. People and businesses change the location of income based on incentives.
Likewise, who is gobsmacked when they are told that the two wealthies... (more)
Spirituous liquors take quite a journey through the state's government-monopoly alcohol operation to get to the consumer's drink or a bar's shot glass.
To understand that journey, one could follow a bottle of Aristocrat Supreme 80-proof vodka – the state's top-selling brand of liquor – from its distillery in Bardstown, Ky., to when it's purchased at a government-run N.C. Alcoholic Beverage Control store.
It's a process that has only slightly changed since the N.C. G... (more)
Market anarchism — as the very term implies — advocates the sum total dissolution of political governments in favor of unrestricted free markets. Disadvocates, recant. Perhaps nowhere can the inevitable victory of market forces be so roundly demonstrated at the moment than in communist Cuba.
In a recent CNN piece by David Ariosto titled "Cuba's Quiet Revolution," we see that an entirely different kind of revolution is now taking place:
Over the past two years, the one strategy that has elicited the greatest amount of anger in the general population has been the traditional resolution to the "lowest common denominator" strategy of fearmongering or racketeering by the financial elite, any time it was faced with a status quo extinction event. The primary example is the Fed and Clearinghouse Association's threat that should the Fed be forced to disclose the details of its bailout of various banks (as two courts have already or... (more)
A new currency is intended to challenge the U.S. dollar as the world's foremost reserve currency. The WOCU, short for world currency unit, was actually launched by London-based WDX Organization in September 2009, but only seems to be gaining recognition now. Its value is determined as a derivative of the exchange rates of the world's top 20 currencies, as measured by GDP, in order to reduce the risk associated with exchange rate fluctuations. The new currency is similar to the International Mone... (more)
"We'll print more fiat money than you can shake a stick at!"
Joining host Dennis McCuistion, Thomas E. Woods, Jr. (Ludwig von Mises ... (more)
If you give an institution the monopoly power to tax and a monopoly over courts, how can you expect it not to become an out of control tyranny?
All monopolies lead to worse service and increased costs, the idea you would set your government up as a total monopoly is absolutely absurd.
There are a few solutions, one of them is to break up the US into 20,000 separate republics like Lew Rockwell talked about, this would force people to engage in free trade and the incentive structure would be changed because people could vote with their feet and move out of any jurisdiction which was taxing them too much or was out of control in any way.
A much better solution, I believe, is what Hans-Hermann Hoppe talks about which is creating a private sector for all the government industry.
Everyone would buy insurance to protect themselves and everyone would be armed and be able to hire police to defend their property.
The judicial system would be done by the insurance courts and there would be simple laws and actual incentive to give good judgments.
People would be free to live as they please on their own private property and there would be no forced integration and no system of coercion.
People would interact only out of their own volition and could vote with their dollars.
No one would be ruling over anyone yet the society would be completely civilized and have a powerful judiciary and a strong guerrilla army.
There could be no wars of aggression because there would be no state, and if anyone tried to invade us, to quote one Japanese General, "there would be a rifle behind every blade of grass."
We would quickly become the most prosperous nation on earth because that's the product of freedom. We would set the perfect example for the world and it would be like the US in the glory days right after the revolution.
Now THAT'S change I can believe in! - Chris, InfoLib
We're constantly urged to "go green" -- use less energy, shrink our carbon footprint, save the Earth. How? We should drive less, use ethanol, recycle plastic and buy things with the government's Energy Star label.
But what if much of going green is just bunk? Al Gore's group, Repower America, claims we can replace all our dirty energy with clean, carbon-free renewables. Gore says we can do it within 10 years.
What do environmentalists think about "green energy?"
"Complex technology of any sort is an assault on human dignity. It would be little short of disastrous for us to discover a source of clean, cheap, abundant energy, because of what we might do with it." - Amory Lovins, Rocky Mountain Institute
"The prospect of cheap fusion energy is the worst thing that could happen to the planet." - Jeremy Rifkin, Greenhouse Crisis Foundation
"Giving society cheap, abundant energy would be the equivalent of giving an idiot child a machine gun." - Prof Paul Ehrlich, Stanford University
