RBS sent us this from The New York Times: G.M. and Chrysler Pensions Underfunded by $17 Billion [1]. (As Senator Everett Dirksen once famously said: “A billion here, and a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talkin’ about real money!”)
Reader M.Q. suggested this article: Should the U.S. Sell Its Gold? [2] [JWR’s comment: Our gold reserve (the ostensible “backing” for the US Dollar–although US dollars are no longer redeemable for specie), if currently liquidated would fetch only $288 billion. There are an estimated $829 billion paper (printed) dollars in circulation [3], with more than half of those dollars held outside the US. But there are also TENS OF TRILLIONS of electronic dollars out there, as ledger entries. This illustrates why I prefer the genuine article. (Tangible [4] wealth, not empty promises.) The US Dollar has become a pitiful joke [5]. It is only tradition, familiarity, and good will that keep it from sinking to the level of its real value per square inch, which I estimate is somewhere between that of wall paper and toilet paper.]
Government stimuli like ‘narcotics’ for economy, Marta says [6]
The latest installment of the Friday Follies: Myrtle Beach bank seized by FDIC [7]
Items from The Economatrix:
William Endahl: US Economy Will Not Recover for at Least 15 Years [9]