Category: Economics & Investing

From frequent content contributor KAF: Federal Deficit Soars to May Record of $189.7 Billion D.S. mentioned an interesting piece on the decline of collective net worth, over at Michael Panzner’s blog: The Big Wipeout Items from The Economatrix with an Emphasis on the Ponte Chiasso Bond Smuggling Case: 2 Japanese Carrying $134 Billion In U.S. Bonds Detained In Italy. “In a suitcase were 249 bonds of the ‘Federal Reserve‘ American in the nominal value of 500 million each, and 10 ‘ bond Kennedy ‘ of the nominal value of $ 1 billion each, in addition to what is described as …

Jack B. sent a link to a brilliant little essay by “Innocent Bystander”, posted over at The Silver Bear Café, titled Economics. From Greg J.: US government seeks to rein in executive pay. Greg asks: “When will this stop? If the Benevolent State can declare both a minimum wage and a maximum salary, then what is to stop them from controlling all wages? This is madness! “Punishing” the rich will just push funds and eventually people and entire corporations offshore. As you’ve mentioned in SurvivalBlog, wage and price controls have an ugly history. They’re indiscriminate. They’re ineffective. They’re anti-freedom. And …

Ray T. sent this: US long-term interest rates hit high. We haven’t seen anything yet! To attract bond buyers in the future, I predict that Banana Republic level rates may be coming. I found this linked over at TSLRF: Bernanke Freaks Out About Obama’s Spending and Debt Plans. Don’t miss the accompanying Tech Ticker video commentary on the risk of debt monetization leading to hyperinflation. Items from The Economatrix: GOP Rep. Kirk Warns: China Is Investing Away From Dollar…Buying Gold And Oil Fed Lost $5.3 Billion on AIG, Bear Stearns in 1Q No More Federal Money Planned for GM, Chrysler …

JWR, That was an excellent post by Gentleman Jim! His view of insurance is right on and should be reinforced. I’ve come to realize that the best way to conceptualize prepping is in terms of insurance. As Jim stated, just like every family needs home insurance, auto insurance, medical insurance, etc., you must also have survival insurance. In fact, this should be the most important insurance you carry. If you have a family, you owe it to your spouse and your children to ensure that they will be safe no matter what life throws at you. There are several good …

U.S. dollar ‘seriously overvalued’ From SurvivalBlog reader GG: The next great crisis: America’s debt. At this rate, your share of the load will be $155,000 in a decade. How chronic deficits are putting the country on a path to fiscal collapse. Another from GG (also sent by KAF): Get Ready for Inflation and Higher Interest Rates. The unprecedented expansion of the money supply could make the ’70s look benign Fam sent us this: Treasury Secretary’s Secret Talking Points Reveal That Banks Were Forced to Surrender Ownership Stakes to Government From DD: Foreclosures hit the upscale market Items from The Economatrix: …

Mr. Rawles, Just a quick comment on Gentleman Jim’s excellent letter. He wrote:” [U.S. Silver Eagles] are obviously more valuable than the pre-1965 junk silver coins, and thus you can get a great store of value into fewer coins. … Plus, they get very heavy very fast.” Silver is silver is silver. You shouldn’t be too concerned with what particular impression or markings are on the coin, or where it was minted, or what year, etc etc. All those things have their place, but when it comes to investing in silver and gold for the type of wealth storage and …

From “Kevin Lendel”: China airs fears on US debt, dollar: lawmaker 10 big banks get OK to repay $68B in bailout money (Thanks to H.D.K. for the link) “Experts say allowing 10 banks to return $68 billion in bailout money illustrates some stability has returned to the system but caution that the crisis isn’t over. Some worry the repayments could widen the gap between healthy and weak banks.” Cheryl N. notes. “Just remember, these banks suddenly were able to pay their bills after the FASB changed some accounting rules. It’s just more “green shoots” based on falsified accounting records. HPD …

The new class divide: Debt; In hard times, how much money you make matters less than how much you owe. Many of today’s have-nots are yesterday’s gotta-have-it-alls Matt B. and Cheryl both sent a link to an animated map that shows job growth and losses for the past few years. Cheryl’s comment: “As the timeline progresses to August , 2009, it looks like a nuclear blast map.” Correlate that map with my Recommended Retreat Areas. Where will crime be higher in the next few years? Items from The Economatrix: Obama, Facing High Unemployment, Defends Stimulus Betting The Fed Bankruptcy Filings …

traded for crack, Syracuse police say The Hardest Jobs to Fill in America: If you’re looking for work in any of these fields, you’re in luck. Items from The Economatrix: Weiss: Feds Giving “Lip Service” to Fiscal Responsibility “Weiss recommends everyone ‘make severe sacrifices in order to save money and to build up cash reserves for future bad times.’” Appeals Court Upholds Sale of Chrysler to Fiat Federal Jobs Lost in May: 345,000 Is “a little better” now the measure of success? Securitization: The Biggest Rip-Off Ever; Financial Dereg Has Opened Pandora’s Box “The former head of the FDIC, William …

Reader Ken M. mentioned that the full text of the book When Money Dies: The Nightmare of the Weimar Collapse is available at the Ludwig Von Mises Institute web site. Frequent content contributor KAF suggested a piece at the Fuelishness blog: Oil Prices Continue to Spike Despite Massive Surplus – Outpacing Economic Recovery Items from The Economatrix: Illinois Bank of Lincolnwood Fails, 37th For Year, 6th in State Dr. Gary North: Stock Market Investors Mindset of Guaranteed Economic Destruction “And when things turn out much worse than even most newsletter writers are forecasting, you will be hated. Are you prepared …

The editor of the Mountain Steps Blog recently presented an interesting timeline of the Weimar Republic Hyperinflation. “The Frontman” sent us a link to an interesting article about the coinage shortage in Argentina. Americans take note: This could happen here, too! Currie sent us this from The Times: Swedish banks fear writedowns; Financial turmoil in the Baltics is rocking Sweden’s banks, after Latvia’s failure to raise money in a bond auction. Currie’s comment: “Another domino tumbles…” Items from The Economatrix:s Temporary Work Masks Joblesseness Unemployment hits “9.4%” GM to Sell Saturn Brand to Roger Penske Chain Stocks Waver After Better-Than-Expected …

The welfare state, firmly entrenched: Benefit spending soars to new high (1 in 6 dollars of income come from governments checks. Let’s not forget: Every dollar that is “given”, must first be “taken” from someone.) Thanks to G.H. for the link. Currie sent us this: Latvian debt crisis shakes Eastern Europe. When sovereign debt markets disintegrate, you can expect governments to topple. And it won’t just be pipsqueak nation states like Iceland and Latvia that are at risk. From reader C.S.: Medical bills underlie 60 percent of U.S. bankruptcies: study Julian Robertson’s Steepener Swap Play (Shorting US Treasuries) When Julian …

Frequent content contributor GG sent this: Toxic assets ‘bridge too far’ Also from GG: come this from mainstream (Wall Street Journal) commentator Brett Arends: Is Your Portfolio Ready for Hyperinflation? Germany Blasts ‘Powers of the Fed’ Reader A.C. flagged this: Experts Fear U.S. Will Suffer Zimbabwe-Level Inflation From Trapper Mike: Dollar Declines as Nations Mull Reserve Currency Alternative Items from The Economatrix: Bernanke: Start Work Now to Curb Deficits “Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the panel’s highest-ranking Republican, raised concerns about the budget deficits and the Fed’s own actions to stimulate the economy, including buying government debt. “This can be …