Dan in Kentucky recommended this BBC news video segment: Greek town develops bartering system without euro [1]. [JWR Adds a word of warning: To avoid charges of fraud or counterfeiting, never use the term “Dollar” or use a Dollar Sign ($) when setting up an alternative currency, or make any implication that the currency units in any way reflects or is tied to the Dollar as a currency unit. (The creators of the Liberty Dollar [2] learned this the hard way.) Instead, the barter currency unit should be denominated in hours [3] of labor [3], or 1/10th Troy ounces of silver, with no mention of Dollars, whatsoever.]
Gary Shilling: Recession Is Coming, And It’s All Due To The Consumer [4]
Reader Bram in Holland wrote to comment about Tax Freedom Day falling on April 17th this year in the United States. He noted: “Well, I live in Holland (184 days) and elsewhere in socialist Europe it is much worse! [5] For example France 207 days and Hungary 218 days. In the old times this was called slavery.”
Fed Chatter Sends Gold Prices $20 Higher, Silver Outperforms Everything [6]. (Thanks to R.C. for the link.)
Your Tax Dollars at Work: Shovel Ready in San Fran: $205,075 to ‘Translocate’ One Shrub from Path of Stimulus Project [7]
Wall Street Ends Worst Two Weeks Since November [8]
Items from The Economatrix:
Confiscation of Gold and Silver Coins Will Not Happen [9]
The Shocking Truth About Unemployment in America in One Chart [10]
Fed Says Economy Grew at “Modest to Moderate” Pace [11]
Greece in Receivership–Planned Financial Crash Date From Bank Insider [12]