Day: August 9, 2009


Delay and Pray: Why the FDIC is Broke, by Dr. Gary North

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” — Burt Lance “If it is broke, don’t admit it before you absolutely must, and then blame it on events that no one could have foreseen.” — [Gary North’s] universal law of bureaucracy Burt Lance was briefly the head of the Office of Management and Budget under Jimmy Carter. He was a Good Old Boy from the banking world of Georgia. A William Safire piece, “Broken Lance,” created enough bad publicity to persuade Lance to retire in September 1977. The article won Safire a Pulitzer Price. Lance’s aphorism, taken from the South, has …


Economics and Investing:

From GG:The FDIC is in Trouble. (Only 2/10ths of one cent in reserves left available for each dollar of deposits.) Karen H. sent this: Recovery “not in sight” says BMW Also from GG: U.K. Royal Mint Doubles Gold Output as Demand Swells Greg C. found this one: Regulators close 3 banks in Florida, Oregon; total 72 “Bank failures have cascaded as the economy soured and loan losses soared, sapping billions of dollars out of the deposit insurance fund. It now stands at its lowest level since 1993, $13 billion as of the first quarter.” Also from Karen H.: Crude Oil …


Odds ‘n Sods:

Eric S. recommends the following story from PhysOrg.com: UK conservation agency launches plastic beehive    o o o From Karen H.: Wind Promises Blackouts as Obama Strains Grid with Renewables    o o o Federal Judges Order California to Release 43,000 Inmates. The streets of California may soon get a bit more mean.    o o o Mr. Cleans for Hire Tasked with Tidying Foreclosed Homes. (Thanks to Jeremy L. for the link.) OBTW ,SurvivalBlog readers should take note, and consider this a “growth” industry for the next decade. It fits with my recommendations of setting up a recession-proof small …



Two Letters Re: Advice on Storing Precious Metals

Sir, Our prayers for you and your family continue daily. My grandfather has six 12″x12″ square wooden posts on his farm house’s front porch. Each one has held various caches for over 55 years and no one has ever been aware. It was not until 20 years ago that I was painting the posts and felt the need to replace a split board that he let me in on the secret. By the way, if a cache needed changing, it was usually done every few year as the posts were scraped, primed and painted along with the porch. For almost …