Category: Economics & Investing

Toby Connor: The Dollar and the Real Inflation Story Stanford University Kills Popular Course on Free Market. (Thanks to F.G. for the link.) Dr. Gary North: Housing: Addicted to Fiat Money Banks criticized for moving into payday loans Items from The Economatrix: Quick Update on Cyprus Cyprus Shows Your Savings Will Be Stolen!  UK Theft Will Be By Means of High Inflation Sinclair:  Cyprus, Gold, Russia and a New Monetary System Spain Brings Pain to the Investors Words Oof Warning:  Get Your Money Out f European Banks

Reader B.B. suggested: Paul Craig Roberts: Triple Bubble Implosion Coming I Moved my Money Out of the Stock Market-Laurence Kotlikoff F.G. suggested: NPR’s ‘This American Life’ spotlights Hale County, where 1 in 4 are on disability. Steve Saville: The Fed Continues To Pump Aggressively Items from The Economatrix: Americans Still Doubtful About Stock Market, Economy Bernanke Fails To Answer Concerns About A Cyprus-Style Seizure Of American Bank Deposits The Fed Has Already Imposed A “Cyprus Tax” On US Savers Fitch Puts UK On Review For Downgrade

Cyprus Salvaged After EU Deal Shuts Bank to Get $13 Billion. (A 40% higher haircut for large depositors! The Russians are fuming.) Rick Rule: Gold Fear Trade, Silver Greed Trade, Platinum Math Trade NY Times: Younger Generations Lag Parents in Wealth-Building Silver Prices Before the Monetary Collapse Michael Pollaro: Cyprus, Anything But Unique and Why to Worry Items from The Economatrix: Federal Reserve Sees Slow Recovery For Years To Come Veteran Unemployment Dropped To 9.9% In 2012, Though Still Higher Than Non-Vets FedEx Raises Red Flags About Global Economy

Swiss To Vote On Gold Repatriation UK faces Fitch downgrade over debt levels H.M. suggested: The Lessons of Cyprus: NRD’s Asset Seizure Risk Cube Charley S. sent: As Cyprus Implodes, Bitcoin Interest Explodes Senate Passes $3.7 Trillion Budget, Its First in Four Years Cyprus tax mess: If 6.7 billion euros is needed to secure the bailout, as it is the latest, that means a taxation of 19.1%. Items from The Economatrix: Sinclair:  Lagarde’s IMF Disaster Forces Bernanke Out Of Fed Cyprus To Keep Banks Shut Into Next Week As It Seeks Deal To Avert Disaster Forget Cyprus, Nobody is Stealing …

A new “Let’s Rip Off The Russians” plan? Cyprus weighs big bank levy; bailout goes down to wire. Tarrant lawmaker seeks to create Texas Bullion Depository Cyprus Says It’s Close to Bailout Deal as Bank-Deposit Tax Back ‘on the Table’ Is Cyprus deposit levy the first sign of widespread wealth tax? What You Think Is True Might Be False and Costly! Items from The Economatrix: Pictures From a Cyprus ATM Line [Cheryl’s Comment: Imagine if this were Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, or New York, where there are quite a few more people…] The Cyprus Crisis Isn’t What It Seems …

If the US markets are considered the “safe haven” amidst all the recent EU turmoil, then why isn’t the US Dollar Index skyrocketing? (Mr. Market has some foresight.) And if the global economy is in “recovery”, then why is the Baltic Dry Index for shipping rates back in the dumpster? (JWR’s Comment: Sounds like more like a “Lohan” recovery to me, to wit: she’s checked into rehab, but there is no willingness to actually change.) US Begins Regulating BitCoin, Will Apply “Money Laundering” Rules To Virtual Transactions I found this linked over at Gold-Eagle: The Dark Truth About The Safety …

Cyprus banks shut until Tuesday [March 26th] amid scramble for Plan B EU gives Cyprus bailout ultimatum, risks euro exit British Politician’s Warning to Europeans With Cash in the Bank: ‘Get Your Money Out While You Can’ Diana V. sent: For Jittery Spaniards, Bitcoin Is Looking Better and Better The Revenue Deficit From Progressive Tax Rates Items from The Economatrix: Inflation Picks Up, But Still Hovers In The Fed’s Comfort Zone Jobless Claims Fall Again As Labor Market Improves Americans Spent More On Gas, Less At The Mall ADP:  Private Sector Job Growth Remains “Sturdy” Ick!  America’s Economic Signals Are …

A new record: 13 Million Silver American Eagles Sold in First Three Months of 2013. (Thanks to Doug C. for the link.) Reader Mark in Rochester wrote this reminder to Americans: “With all this talk of Cyprus and the sovereign debt levels in Europe’s southern tier, we shouldn’t got forget that our debt-versus-GNP rate is higher. (See this article from last November.) And remember that Bernanke is still creating $85,000,000,000 per month ($272 per person, per month) via Quantitative Easing monetization to bail out his buddies in the banking industry.” G.G. flagged this from Bill Freeza in Forbes: How To …

The Cyprus Depositor Legalized Ripoff saga unfolds: Only for the “Rich Ones” with €20,000 in Savings National planning Cyprus-style solution for New Zealand After Cyprus Vote, ECB Says Ready to Offer Liquidity Within Rules Items from The Economatrix: The Young Are Going To Get Screwed-Part 1 Cyprus “Bail-In” Is Rattling Markets Everywhere; Coffee Bean Jitters Why The Cyprus Bail-In Is A Bigger Deal Than You Think

U.S. Game Changing Renewable – Geothermal Power. Note that the preponderance of the nation’s geothermal potential is in the Rocky Mountain States and the Intermountain West. The American Redoubt just keeps looking better…. Signs of the Times: Food stamps put Rhode Island town on monthly boom-and-bust cycle Could The “Cyprus Fiasco” Occur In The U.S.? Brian S. like this piece by Charles Hugh Smith: The Deeper Meanings of Cyprus A 15% Haircut for Italian depositors? Tyler Durden of Zero Hedge mentioned this quote in a Handelsblatt newspaper article from Commerzbank chief economist Jörg Krämer: “‘So it would make sense, in …

Denouement of the “austerity” measures in Euope’s southern tier: The planned seizure of of up to 9.9% of bank account holdings in Cyprus (and the revelation that Germany and IMF’s initially demanded 40%) revealed a paradigm shift: banksters and bureaucrats are no longer bound by a core tenet of the Social Contract. While for years most of us meekly went along with gradually increasing taxes, we had the solace that one thing was sacrosanct: We only pay taxes on our earnings ONCE. Apparently, this is no longer true. (Yes, Mojo Nixon was right, albeit crude and premature.) My oft-repeated advice: …

Ryan warns of financial collapse over debt, urges Congress to avert ‘moral failure’ Cypriot bank customers get fleeced: Europe Announces Stunning Bailout For Cyprus — Bank Depositors To Get Instant 10% Tax Before Banks Reopen This Week. (Beware, this could happen in other countries–even our own! Thanks to Andre D. and the other readers that sent this link.) And, inevitably, we read: Cash machines emptied across Cyprus after savers learn 10 billion euro bailout agreement includes levy on all bank accounts. (Thanks to Tim R. for the link.) Items from The Economatrix: Housing Foreclosures Start To “Flare Up” Again Private …

H.L. sent this Reuters article: More US States Weigh Gasoline Taxes. Unfortunately this superficial article failed to detail the aggregate gas taxes–it only talks about the recent and planned increases, such as Wyoming’s 10 cent cent rate “leap.” But this map from 2012 gives a more complete picture. In fact, Wyoming merely normalized its gas tax rate with its seven contiguous neighboring states. It is noteworthy that the Northern Rocky Mountain states have taxes that range from 40 to 46 cents per gallon, which is well below the national average of 48.8 cent and far below the west coast states …