Category: Articles: Insights
Sorry, We The People Are No Machines
Are we right to conclude that consumers (at least in the US, and very likely in Europe as well) do not have the ability AND willingness to take on more debt in order to spend more? Maybe there is some spending fatigue. As the French use to say: c’est trop.
European Banking – It Is Getting Scary
All the evidence is there. Cyprus was indeed a “pilot” to determine the resistance against a bail-in from savers. Apparently the reaction of the Cypriot people and savers in the rest of the world, was too weak. The path of less resistance was the most likely one. This is truly frightening. Up until this point the suspicion was too high to ignore but still we all somehow hoped this was not true. This brings up the question what exactly is going wrong with the banking system.
Interest Rates From An Austrian Viewpoint
In this piece we will look at what interest actually is from the viewpoint of the Austrian School of Economics and how the setting (manipulation) of the interest rate by central banks negatively impacts the economy in the long run. In essence, interest is the ratio between the value assigned to specific goods today, to be exact, the goods themselves are irrelevant but rather the underlying want satisfaction, in comparison to the identical goods at a future point in time.
Gold: Who’S Selling, Who’s Buying, Who’s Lying
The international monetary system based on credit and debt is, in truth, a confidence game in which gold was once a critical component. But when ties between paper money and gold were severed in 1971, confidence in the bankers’ paper money began to falter; and, today we are witness to what happens when confidence in a global confidence game begins to evaporate.
What If Gold & Silver Investors Are Wrong?
Any rational person should question whether long term silver investors are 100% wrong, especially in light of the recent notable decline in the price of silver. Nevertheless, if they ultimately conclude that silver investors are probably not wrong, then prudence would dictatethat at least some allocation of their investment portfolio to properly held precious metals would be appropriate.
Paper Money Has A Long History But Short Existence
As history has shown, the government can control the monetary system for a certain time but not endless. As time progresses, the market can take over control. With the global monetary system at risk levels never seen before, Holders of paper money should ask themselves what exactly they are owning … and what would happen if history is about to repeat itself.
The Unofficial Inflation Rate
Inflation – a few percent seems unimportant, but over a decade, it becomes very important. Look at the calculation in this article. According to several surveys, real people think their personal inflation rate is around 8% per year with a significant percent of the responders claiming 9 – 11% or more per year. Are you going to believe what the government is telling you?
Jim Rickards Describes Four Future Monetary Scenarios
What will the monetary system look like once a collapse occurs, which Rickards expects in the coming 3 to 5 year time frame. In his view, which he describes in great detail in his book Currency Wars, there are four possibilities: multiple reserve currencies, SDR’s, a gold standard, chaos.
Why & How To Internationalize Your Cash
Currency controls, confiscation, taxation, … all of these types of measures are about to hit ordinary and hard working people. Yes there is a way out. Smart people can not only diversify their assets and wealth in different types of hard assets, but also internationally. Doug Casey from Casey Research shares some insights in how to do it.
Central Banks Gain Enormously When They Print The Money First
If you have the printing press you can let it run for yourself, the governments and the banks. Central banks gain enormously when they print the money first before anyone else get inflationary losses which is exactly a hidden tax on everybody’s bank account in dollar denominated value. It is like raising taxes without raising taxes.
The Misguided Case for Capital Controls
There should be no doubt that when the US government decides to implement capital controls or other restrictive measures, it will likely have the near-total support of the media and by extension the majority of the people. The time to internationally diversify your assets is running out.
The Economic Case For Savers To Allocate Wealth To Physical Gold
This piece seeks to make the economic case for savers to allocate wealth to physical gold (in proper form) and for investors to allocate capital to precious metal miners. Our argument orients readers with our economic and market predispositions, seeks to explain current macroeconomic events within that context and outlines gold’s fundamental valuation framework.
Gold & Silver – Three Critical Questions
The recent price crash leaves us with three critical questions which we try to answer in an objective way in this article. How are bullion owners protected, or what are the benefits of owning physical over paper? What does the disconnect between physical and paper mean? Is the “end of the bull market” for real, or when to sell your gold?
Silver – A Bipolar Roller Coaster
For your emotional and financial sanity and physical health, get off the bipolar silver roller coaster, buy physical silver, relax, and watch the spectacle as the central banks of the world drive the value of paper currency toward zero.
