Category: Economics & Investing

Analysts fear euro-zone capital flight might snowball. (Thanks to Jon M. for the link.) Why a Gold Crisis Looms? G.O. recommended this: Fed Up With the Euro? Start Your Own K.W. sent a link to some dubious predictions: Food prices continue upward. Given the recent jump in corn and other grain prices, I have serious doubts that we will see just a “2.3% to 3.5%” increase. Several good articles from ETF Daily: Our Economy Has Been Collapsing, It Continues To Collapse, and The Collapse Is Going To Accelerate Dramatically   Eric Sprott Cautions Investors To Fear The Financial System   …

Jim, Just a pondering I hoped you might be able to give me some insight on, I’m either to young or didn’t know it because we were too poor to notice, but I’ve never experienced a significant economic decline in my life.  My wife and I are both doctors and have borrowed heavily to set ourselves in a great place.  Right now we have no difficulty making the bill payments but should the banking/finance system collapse, will we still have to pay the bills; how do we pay the bills; and/or is there any hedge to anticipate how we’ll make …

Reader Rex S. suggested: Why You Always Want Physical Everything Sue C. sent: Republicans tease with gold standard, but idea seen full of bugs. [JWR’s Comment: The biggest “bug”–and the statists’ real objection to gold–is that a gold standard wouldn’t allow the government to spend beyond its means and create money out of thin air. G.G. flagged this: When a 401(k) Is Locked in the Freezer One way of looking at the current monetary paradigm: The Rot Runs Deep 1: The Federal Reserve Is a Parasitic Wealth Transfer Machine Items from The Economatrix: Nearly 1 In 5 Americans Have No …

Reader Lee M. sent this: Europe readies the printing press: Europe’s central bank appears to have created a path to implementing Fed-like easy-money policies. If so, it is a huge game-changer for Europe, and the world, as inflation fears come to the fore. Rex in Tennessee mentioned a piece by John Barnett over at The American Thinker: ‘Mountain Pride’ versus the Welfare State How does a Gawker spell hypocrite? Gawker and Bain and the Caymans. Report: Middle class will take years to reverse losses of last decade Items from The Economatrix: Top Investor Warns of “Financial Armageddon” as Soros Dumps …

Tim J. sent a link to an excellent essay by Wayne Allyn Root with some sobering comparisons to 1929: Why we are on the brink of the greatest Depression of all time. From G.G.: Nearly half of Fannie Mae REO unable to reach market GOP boosts gold ahead of convention B.B. sent: Big Income Losses for Those Near Retirement Items from The Economatrix: S&P 500:  The War For 1,400 Has Begun 8 Economic Threats That We Were Not Even Talking About At The Beginning Of Summer Eric Sprott:  The Financial System’s Death Knell? Gerald Celente:  The Fate Of The World, …

Be sure to watch this lecture: Marc Faber On Keynesian Folly, The ‘Missing’ Inflation, And Bubble-Blowing. (Thanks to B.B. for the link.) Obama’s Budget to Add $4.4 Trillion to Debt in Next Four Years–On track to $20 trillion in debt in 2016. [JWR’s Comment: Keep in mind that those figures are predicated upon interest rates staying artificially low. Someday, our foreign creditors will demand a higher rate of return on U.S .Treasury paper. And when that happens, we’ll see a repeat of the current Greek Tragedy, here in the U.S. of A. That will be the death knell of the …

More monetization ahead! Federal Reserve leaning toward more stimulus Greece ready to start selling islands to pay down debts. (Thanks to B.B. for the link.)   Items from The Economatrix: Startling Evidence That Central Banks and Wall Street Insiders are Rapidly Preparing for Something Big Jim Rogers:  It’s Going To Get Really “Bad After The Elections”

The Commodities Survival Kit Guide: Gold, Silver, Timber, Farmland, Stamps, & Antique Guns Why Investors Are Hoarding Silver U.S. 2012 budget deficit $1.1 trillion: CBO (Thanks to B.B. for the link.) K.P. sent this: Heard the rumour China is buying 6,000 tonnes of gold? It may not be as crazy as it sounds Items from The Economatrix: Shhh…It’s Even Worse Than The Great Depression Germany May Be The Country That Brings The Euro Crashing Down

Jim Willie: Capital is Dying! Game Over! Do not be lulled by the siren call of inflation – The slow decline in living standards. Gas is up 100 percent over last 8 years while income has fallen. ‘Zero Inflation’ In The United States = Hyperinflation Warning? “Yea, though I walk in the shadow of the foreclosure inventory…” ‘Shadow REO’: As Many as 90% of Foreclosed Properties Held Off the Market, Estimates Suggest Items from The Economatrix: 41 Years After the Death of the Gold Standard, a Look at “How We Ended Up In This Economic Purgatory” Index of Leading US …

Italy’s tax hunters target super-rich and their yachts off the Sardinian This was mentioned in SurvivalBlog about a year ago, but bears repeating: USA National Gas Price Heat Map. (Thanks to Ben N. for the reminder.) You will note that portions of the American West perennially have some of the lowest gas prices in the country. Also note the map’s red shading for California. The high prices are in part attributable to a recent refinery fire in Richmond, California, but they are mostly indicative of one of the many ways that California is attempting to balance its budget: on the …