Though they have been used for millenia as a means of exchange, from Sumeria where silver was used to conduct transactions over 6000 years ago to the United States of America which, up until the 1970’s, linked the value of the US dollar to an ounce of gold, some economists and leading bankers will argue that neither is a viable means of exchange in modern day economies.
Chief of those who simply dismiss the use of gold and silver as nothing but old world tradition is Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, who recently made the argument under questioning by Representative Ron Paul (R-TX):
Ron Paul: Do you think gold is money?
Ben Bernanke: (…long pause…) No. It’s a precious metal.
Ron Paul: Even if it has been money for 6000 years, somebody reversed that and eliminated that economic law?
Ben Bernanke: Well, it’s an asset. Would you say Treasury bills are money? I don’t think they’re money either, but they’re a financial asset.
Ron Paul: Why do central banks hold it?
Ben Bernanke: It’s a form of reserves.
Ron Paul: Why don’t they hold diamonds?
Ben Bernanke: Well, it’s tradition. Long term tradition.
Ron Paul: Some people still think it’s money.
In What is money when the system collapses? we put forth a definition for money as provided by economic analyst Mike Shedlock:
“Like all commodities, it has an existing stock, it faces demands by people to buy and hold it. Like all commodities, its price in terms of other goods is determined by the interaction of its total supply, or stock, and the total demand by people to buy and hold it. People buy money by selling their goods and services for it, just as they sell money when they buy goods and services.”
Thus, money is essentially any unit of exchange, be it a commodity or otherwise, that people are willing to trade for the procurement of goods. While the US dollar and other paper currencies are used in modern economies as a unit of exchange, Mr. Bernanke’s view that only these ‘currencies’ are money is close-minded.
For a more open minded perspective, we draw on one of the leading alternative market thinkers of our time, Brandon Smith of Alt-Market:
As for what an Alternative Market is; it is essentially any method of trade outside the establishment-controlled economy. It could be based on the barter of goods and skills, or the proliferation of precious metals to break our dependence on the fiat dollar (or Federal Reserve Note), etc. It could be a network of people across a county or state, or, an agreement between two friends.
Source: Alternative Markets Are The Lifeboats That Will Save Us
They key point here, is that money is anything that two parties agree is money. It is and always has been a faith based system.
Whether you are using personally panned gold to buy bread, like many are doing in Zimbabwe, or collecting and exchanging barter points for services you provide or need, if you and the other party agree it’s money, it’s money.
Like any faith based system, the US dollar will be considered money only as long as the world believes in it. And the way things are going now, it won’t be long before Mr. Bernanke’s “money” is no longer worth the paper it’s printed on. We wonder what Mr. Bernanke will consider as money once this happens. Our guess is it will be just another paper currency, perhaps an Amero style reserve note, or a global unit of exchange like a SDR-bill from the International Monetary Fund.
What we can be certain of is once faith in Bernanke Bills has been lost, the population of those countries affected (and there are lots that use the dollar as a primary medium of exchange, including Zimbabwe), will determine on their own what will be used as money. Things like gold, silver, tobacco, alcohol – and depending on the severity of the currency crash – even food, clothing, and skills (medical, carpentry, security, machining, farming, etc.) will become the monetary units of exchange.
Of important note is also Mr. Bernanke’s reasoning for why the price of gold is rising. Notice that he did not mention rising inflation. On this point, we agree with Mr. Bernanke:
I pay attention to the price of gold. But I think it reflects a lot of things. It reflects global uncertainties. I think the reason people hold gold is as a protection against tail risk – really, really bad outcomes. And to the extent that the last few years have made people more worried about the potential for a major crisis then they have gold as a protection.
It is and has been our view for quite some time that inflation is merely a by-product of underlying problems within the system. The decade long rise in gold has resulted from exactly what Mr. Bernanke suggested – uncertainty.
The ironic thing about this is that, among other things, it is uncertainty in the very monetary unit of exchange, the US dollar, that Ben Bernanke purports is the only “real” money!
We suspect that the uncertainty in what happens next to our economy, government finances, politics and global relationships will continue, which suggests that the price of gold will continue to rise.
Money and governments are faith based systems. So long as the people continue to lose confidence in these systems, the price of tangible assets, including gold, will continue to rise.
And no matter what Mr. Bernanke thinks, if you have an ounce of silver or an ounce of gold, there will always be someone willing to trade you for it. In our book, that makes it money.
Take special note, also, about Mr. Bernanke’s tail risk comment. The price of gold has risen from around $300 in the 1990’s, to over $1500 now. This suggests that a lot of people are expecting a “really, really bad outcome.”
For those concerned that Ben Bernanke’s version of money will lose value, or collapse, bringing on some really, really bad outcomes, we suggest putting some other “traditional” monetary units in your personal reserves.
Which moron is going to say you can’t eat gold while bending over to pick it up? Bring it! Or prep some more food and point your six the other way so we don’t have to look at it.
You CAN’T eat it. That is a fact, and possibly why that even in ancient times people got rid of it when they needed food, etc. Gold is much more portable.
I plan to use my posterior to repel the “golden hoarde”. That sight should scare anyone!
With a duck tape butt crack I hope. I agree. The packaging doesn’t go bad. All of the commodities are down except the metals. Go figure. No calculator or brains required. Besides, it has fungibility!
I should be stressed out with all of these stress tests. I think it’s just a test. If this would have been an actual emergency……You would have been instructed that this test has never failed, so far… I trust Mac’s World & his followers more. Time to make the doughnuts.
“Fungibility” What do you think mushroom?
This from people willing to redefine marriage for their pleasure.
6,000 years gold has been a product of trade,
2,000 years marriage was defined as a man and woman.
It only takes a generation to wipe out history as it’s always been!
Here, here! Amen, sing it again and right on brother!
Calling a donkey a swan does not make it so…
Hogan: Sister Sara, you’re gonna slow me up some, but I’m gonna take you to one of those guerilla bands you’re looking for.
Sara: Do you belong to one of them?
Hogan: Till I get paid, yeah.
Sara: Paid? You mean in gold?
Hogan: Well, let’s put it this way: they pay me off in tortillas, I’m gonna shoot ’em right in the eye.
Sara: But the Juaristas are too poor to hire anybody.
Hogan: Well, I made a deal to work out a plan to take the garrison. If it pays off then I get half the French treasury.
Sara: Then you don’t have any sympathy for their cause?
Hogan: Not theirs or anybody else’s. See I spent two years in a war in the States. Right now, all I’m interested in is money.
Sara: If money is all you care about then why did you fight in that war?
Hogan: Everybody’s got a right to be a sucker once.
excellent observation
This place is getting better every day.
But only 100 years since debt has been money. He knows his precious green strips of paper are nothing bug poorly absorbent toilet paper but, never the less, he worships it.
The stuff you have in your pocket is DEBT. It is the antithesis of gold or silver or anything else you could actually hold. Thats why they can produce it out of thin air. They have brainwashed the public into using it as money and now they control the world with it. They change the language and they control things.
Learn what money really is. Learn what law really is. Learn what government really is. Until you know, you won’t be anything more that sheep for the slaughter. (…or cows for the milking.)
well said.
History is never wiped out, as hard as some try.
And it only takes one generation to restore their history once they realize it has been stolen/changed by crooks.
Ben Bernanke for all you do this song is for you asshole!
(Shotgun blues)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4Rj0gBn-no
Fiat money will always have value as toilet paper. Try doing that with an ounce of gold!
FRNs do not appear to be absorbent enough. I think they will burn OK.
Oh I don’t know. As long as you wash the ounce of gold afterwards, I’m sure it wouldnt be totally useless as a scraping tool. Especially if it was a coin. Perhaps not with a reeded edge.
I propose that we adopt Barack Hussein Obama’s image on the future trillion dollar FRN. Hell, I would stockpile them by the thousands for future ass-wiping material!
How about his face on butt wipe made of Saran Wrap?
BHO….O yeah F#*K him too!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frD0CUiw2Wo&playnext=1&list=PL92BEDFC6FE106E18
I smell fear and desperation.
MIT:
No, my back is just sore from putting up fence all day! It’s nothing a few beers and a good woman cant cure.
Try a tall, cold beer and a short, warm blonde.
my warm blonde…just drank the last damn beer! WTF!!!
Well over the past 3 years central banks around the world have stopped selling their gold bullion and have in fact been buying hundreds of tons of gold bullion to offset accelerating weakness in the US dollar. That is a heck of a lot of ‘tradition’ these banksters seem to sitting on.
If the idiots in the District of Criminals think that the Citizens of the United States are happy with what they see going on around them …… then I would really like a big baggie of whatever the hell it is that they are smoking …… it’s better shit than I am able to get my hands on right now.
If they haven’t worked something out on increasing the debt ceiling by July 31, then I would strongly advise everyone to get their gas cans filled (remember the fuel stabilizer) , snag a couple of additional 20 lb. bottles of propane and pick up any last minute alcohol or food purchases that you intend to make. Please don’t forget your pet’s needs either.
The hell of it is, if they don’t raise the debt ceiling we’re hosed big time. If they do raise the debt ceiling, thereby kicking the financial ‘can’ a bit further down the road, then we’re hosed even worse … just at a bit later date. There’s simply no way that that we can come out of this one a winner.
When this all comes to pass, I really can’t wait to see which will more, funny green pieces of paper or gold and silver coins.
Everybody take care now.
MadMarkie,
I wouldn’t count on seeing gold coins circulating in the public domain. The fiat money systems will eventually be forced by popular uprising to back their paper currencies with gold, silver, oil, etc.
In other words, whatever currency system that replaces the dollar, the yen, and the euro will be backed with precious metals. Silver may circulate again as coins, but not gold. It’s too valuable, so to use it in day to day transactions would require such tiny amounts that it wouldn’t be feasible. My guess would be that possession of gold and silver will eventually be outlawed, and as soon as that is accomplished it will be revalued skywards and used to back the “new” currency or currencies. The outlawing of possession of gold and silver will be done in the name of the “public good” or “social justice”. The value of precious metals will be so high and Joe Sixpack will be so poor that our rulers will make bullion holders a target for their redistribute the wealth schemes. For the “public good” they will confiscate it from “greedy speculators” and use it to buy votes from the sheeple who vote for a living, instead of working for one.
Just an educated and well studied guess.
But hey T, not to try and spot you out or any jazz like that but,
if it is outlawed for the people to have gold, then what makes it any sense to have the new currency backed by gold ??
the people are stupid yes, I am with ya there, but why would I want paper money backed by gold when, I can have no gold ??
That would be like the Soup Nazi…
NO Gold For You !.. lmao
I am just saying is all 🙂
1099 rule in action.
If they outlaw gold, only outlaws will have gold.
Hey T,
To be quite honest,I really don’t think society is going to make it that far before a severe crisis occurs.
Just an outsiders point of view.
They are playing a game of chicken, but things like this have a way of spiraling out of control.
But if the system call the dollar crashes , what will gold or silver be worth ??? Think about it….it is sold in dollars and IF the dollar ceases to exist what will these metals be worth ? The value will be an individual decision based upon néed and wants !
it will be worth, exactly the same as it was before the dollar was ever created as the “token” of exchange..
the price of gold or silver has not really changed much throughout all of history, the only price changes you have seen is from the value of the currency itself being used..
You can not escape time by standing directly on the North or South pole, That is where all time zones converge… you will simply spin in circles.. Thus, the history of Gold & Silver remains unchanged..
300 years ago, you could buy a well made entire suit and shoes for 1 ounce of gold.
today, tomorrow, next year or the year after, you will still be able to buy a well made entire suit and shoes for 1 ounce of gold.
BlackSheep: got that one correct!
What people don’t understand (and it is why crooked men such as those running the fed can get away with it) is that the value of gold never changes. The price in dollars go up and down (mostly up) but the real value is the same. If people understood the concept of value and actually thought about it, the fed and all the banksters would have trouble making a living because there would be no “fractional reserve counterfeiting” …er, uh, “…banking”.
OK. I’m going to say it:
YOU CAN’T EAT GOLD! But, after the crash it will still be valuable and you might find someone (like me) that will give you a gallon of wheat for an ounce (or two!) of your gold.
Does anybody here think that gold and silver is valued correctly right now if it is valued in fiat?
NetRanger is correct.
Fractional Reserve Banking is the goose that lays the golden eggs for the banks.. They create paper and receive ownership of hard assets through defaults and the interest’s paid.. very sweet deal for them…
money from nothing and the snickers for free.
Tom, there is actually two prices for Gold and Silver.. One price is to purchase Silver or Gold that you ‘never’ hold in your hand. (a certificate of it’s supposed existence at some storage vault.. another fractional reserve trick IMHO)
Then there is the ACTUAL buy and hold in your hand price.. LOL, (this price is generally almost 50% if not way higher than media quoted prices)
they say silver is rite now 39.27 oz
go and try to buy some Physical Silver rite now for even $45… you wont find ANY..
silver is not 39.27 now it is 29and change
Rich: It is sold in many currencies. It will be worth the oil equivilent of any currency to an oz of gold.
Rich: Sorry I couldn’t finish that thought. US Marshall’s at the door, looking for one “smokinokie” I told them I never head the name. 🙂
The price of gold is “fixed” (bid, asked) at the London Gold Exchange where current market prices are set according to the British Pound Sterling, not the USD.
As currency markets are also global in scope and also fluctuating (bid, asked) the purchase of gold is priced in any particular currency as it relates to the “Britsh Pound”.
Links to the gold exchange and other metals exchanges like silver and pgm’s can be found here:
http://shtfmetals.blogspot.com
Thanks for the info.
I keep learning everyday thanks to fellows like you 🙂
It will be worth exactly what it is today. That is what someone is willing to give for it. Everyone will make their own choices. If everyone is out of usable diesel, and I can grow some wheat grass and make 300 gallons in a distiller I might get a few ounces of gold from someone desperate to drive elsewhere…..it’s called supply and demand.
You are so right. If I’m walking in a desert with no water and plenty of gold, I might give a good bit of it for some water. If I’m sitting next to a clear mountain stream, I won’t give any gold for water, but I might give a good bit of it for a weapon and some ammo.
Bernanke, Obama, Buffet, Dimon, liars and thieves all. Hell waits for you.
That right! The devil want them *BACK*!!! He’s tired of doing all the work himself.
Look at the $USD chart and look at a GOLD chart…
My bet is on the one that’s been going up, not down!
How about you?
I am with ya there Man Up.
Only problem for me is, I get no gold…me poor, all I get is Silver coins, mostly Quarters and Dimes and it takes a lot of searching to find them 🙂
Pre 1965 silver, dimes, quarters, halves, 90% silver dollars and Silver Eagles will most likely be the primary medium of monetary exchange in the aftermath of a true SHTF situation. There won’t be anyone willing to make change for gold. I also see the gold/silver ratio getting closer to 5:1 in this sort of a situation.
Barter will also be a primary means of conducting commercial transactions in the future. Things that you can buy now at a reasonable price will be worth their weight in gold. Always buy two and stash one if you can. I recently picked up a few Coleman pump repair kits for a very reasonable price. I would much rather have my grand-kids look at them some day and think “what a crazy old coot grandpa was” than to not to have things like this put back. .22 caliber ammo? There is no such thing as too much.
Just my thoughts on the subject. Everybody take real good care, God Bless & keep your heads down.
That’s okay BlackSheep, your better off than most.(and smarter)
“Using the broad money component of M2,there is approximately 10 times as much money in the economy. So silver at $48 in 1980 times 10x more dollars in circulation is $487 for silver and $8,500 for gold. With that in mind,we are miles away from hitting any real record in silver or gold”
source:
http://dont-tread-on.me/forget-50-silver-the-real-inflation-adjusted-silver-high-is-500/
those pre 65 coins are worth 20 x face value today
Man Up, haven’t seen you here in awhile! Welcome back men.
Meant man, not men!!!
Thanks AZ-R, after my “excursion” I had a lot of catching up to do along with some additional preps.
I will start contributing again to the articles that interest me – Like it or not 😉
I heard Dave Ramsey say today on his talk show “gold will drop like a rock when all this clears up”. Almost drove off the road I laughed so hard. I wanted to call in and ask when he expects this disaster to “clear up”.
Did he really say that? Oh man I tell you people like that guy Cramer and what is that gal….Suzie something? Anyway, after TSHTF they aree gonna br buying false ID and having some serious plastic surgery. All of the people that bought stocks and real estate on their advice are gonna be a little PO’d when they try to eat that stock certificate.
On the temporary I think he’s right. Silver corrected a good 30% but gold didn’t. Once they have a debt ceiling deal I expect a 5 to 10% gold drop. Then later during qE 3 back up again. 2k next year. SHTF won’t happen on monetary issues till we can’t use dollars for oil, gold and silver…..and we still can
Yes but, if any country holding a decent amount of dollars or US gov’t bonds gets sufficiently upset at our foreign policy to start selling, the dollar will drop like a stone and become worthless overnight. It won’t take much dumping of dollars to create a panic.
I guess Mr. Bernanke only thinks it’s money if it comes out of the butt end of his money printing press.
YEP, that is his favorite… I hear he likes it from his personal butt end too.. he spreads a lot of it around.. lol
One ounce of gold in 1900 would buy you one or maybe two really nice suits. One Ounce of gold today would buy you one or two nice suits.
The only thing Bernanke’s words are good for is to fertilize rose gardens. What else are you supposed to do with bulls**t?
You might need to shop for suits somewhere else.
Ol’ Onionhead.(chuckle) Golds not money……and Anna Nicole married for love……
You don’t seem to understand, they shot my dog.
I’m just a peckerwood who lives out in the sticks and owns alot of guns.
It was a setup.
No wonder we are going down. The country is being run by pathological liers.
Assuming you have gold and silver and for the most part very few other people do and the fiat currency collapses into virtual worthlessness. You will have a store of value that is recognized and therefore you have the ability to buy things. The problem is there are no things to buy. No one is working. People are not working baking bread and delivering goods when their paycheck is pay in name only. A loaf of bread may cost 5 silver dollars ($200 today) because there is so little bread to be had. Expect some serious labor strikes that would be a throwback of the 1930s when people just refuse to work for essentially nothing.
Under the above picture luxuries will become cheap as people trade the plasma TV for necessities like food and fuel. The CVPI can then say “inflation is low” because they don’t include little things like food and fuel in their calculations.
So T Bills are not money, gold is not money, silver is not money and money is not money. I’ll bet ya in the absence of money a gallon of gasoline, fresh milk, a dozen fresh eggs and the like will be considered money.
We have a winner.
Cat food is money! Each piece shall be stamped with 1cent on it. Don’t go out in the rain!
What are you going to bet with.
Yes but, assuming you are prepped and survive the shtf. When people stop dying and/or killing each other, there will be commerce. The division of labor rules. I need my pump fixed, but the mechanic doesn’t need the shoes I make, so he’ll take silver and be on his way. I’ll take silver for the shoes I make because someone else will trade me goods or services for that silver. Don’t forget, even if the stuff really hits the fan and we lose 200 million people, there will still be a hundred million people in this country alone. Not all of them will be farmers. Trade will resume. If you make it, gold and silver will be money.
As if i care what he thinks…Hahhhahaa good one
kevin 2- gas, milk, eggs are already considered better than money……..pretty soon a loaf of bread will be too.
I am really curious as to how high the value of silver will rise. I know it has been kept artificially “low” for a very long time from the likes of Goldman Sachs etc. Historically, it has stayed the same comparative to gold’s pricing, but is really low right now… Antique mirror backing is loaded with silver paste BTW 🙂
I heard an analogy the other day that made a little sense that I hadn’t heard before.
If a hungry man has 3 ounces of gold and you have a chicken, how much at that point is the gold worth? What is “money” now?
HR: Gold is the vehicle to preserve a portion of your wealth through the Changes, It is not for barter. Coffee, sugar, chocolate, smokes, and yes, chickens are for barter; with a long list of anything else.
Speculate in silver. Invest in gold. Hoard your lead.
If a chicken farmer in China had 10,000 chickens and the U.S. Department of Agriculture states that there is an epdimic of bird “flew”, and China blinked, how many Panda gold coins would they be worth in the city of Peking (Beijing)?
4
I think.
Is the chicken canned?
Can the chicken still be choked? Which came first.
I went to set my shotgun choke to chicken and when I coudn’t find it, I became very disoriented.
You need to learn how to fish.
How do you think the slanty-eyed chicken feels?
If the hungry man has 3 gold coins and a gun and all you have is a chicken, he will leave with 3 gold coins and a chicken.
And a gun.
Minus one round. Sorry Jane… Bake a cake for Au.
Honest Money: The Biblical Blueprint for Money and Banking
Gary North
Printer-Friendly Format
The Bible establishes civil laws governing money. These laws rest on a specific theory of money. Theologians do not recognize this. Neither do economists, who would not care even if they did recognize this. Today’s monetary policies violate the Bible’s laws governing money.
The Bible is clear on three legal principles: (1) monetary debasement is wrong (Isaiah 1:22); (2) multiple indebtedness, which is the basis of fractional reserve banking, must not be allowed (Exodus 22:26) ; (3) weights and measures must not be tampered with (Lev. 19:36). All three are violated by modern economic policy.
The Federal Reserve System, like every other central bank, is a government-licensed monopoly. It is privately owned. The U.S. government has only indirect power over it through the President’s right to appoint Board members. No government accounting organization has access to the records of the Federal Reserve System or its privately owned regional banks.
You know the regional banks are privately owned when you receive mail from them. They do not have the “franking privilege” — free mail, which is allowed only for government agencies. The Board of Governors does have this privilege.
My book, Honest Money was published in 1986. It was part of the 10-volume Biblical Blueprint Series. The original version is available on-line here.
I have updated it in the form of a manual. It is available here:
http://www.garynorth.com/HonestMoney.pdf
“You know the regional banks are privately owned when you receive mail from them. They do not have the “franking privilege” — free mail, which is allowed only for government agencies. The Board of Governors does have this privilege.”
Same as the IRS…
Did you ever see movie ‘The book of Eli’ with Denzel Washington?
He used the foil sealed wipes you get at a wing place for barter.
Next time you eat wings you better ask for a few extras!
What do you think a roll of tp would be worth?
Those damn FRN’s arent that absorbent right now!
Especccccially after obummer has pic on the bazillion dollar note as it will have to be made of rubber!
Just picture a floormat in you car and cut it in half.
Of course when they shift to tp rolls to print frn’s on it will make it easier to print and then ‘use’ them!
And just remember it doesnt matter how much gold and silver you have when you come to trade with me.
If food is short I AINT trad’in ya!
But I will have hi volumes of lead to trade,if ya git my mean’in!
The first thing for people short of cash is FOOD.
Long shelf life food,rice sugar,salt…will all be good barter items.
GFS had 50lb bag rice for $20 recently.
So dont say you cant afford to put food away!
It needs to be that long just to get all the zero’s on it.
And please remember if you are here reading this you know it’s coming.
Just use my ole standby,”prepare for the worst and hope for the best” and you will always be covered!
God Bless and I dont think that offended anyone here!
How about the cat oil for lip balm? Great barter!
Can’t save that up.
Hey Ron Paul, take yer gold to Piggly Wiggly and see if you can buy a loaf of bread!! Gold is not money. Listen to Bernake and learn something.
If we listened to bernanke, we’d be broke, borrowing money to pay off borrowed money, investing in worthless assets, cooking our books illegally, and we’d be carted off to jail for counterfeiting…
Just sayin…
And WHEN Mr Salvo, does AIG go to jail? 🙂
You folks that say “gold is not money”, or “you can’t eat gold” and “gold can’t be exchanged because it will be too expensive” You’re all missing the point!
If you bought p/m back in ’05, (pick any year) and if you know anything about charts, you’ll see it was a good investment then as it will be in the future compared to Bernake’s dollar/money chart. (supply and demand come to mind)
You should not be stupid enough to bring gold to any market (or bring it to the fed’s). Gold will be used to buy/invest in shelter/farm land, possibly an island with a farm so you can get away from all this shit.
We’ve only been off the gold standard for about 30 years. Who knows where this will lead to? My guess is back to a gold standard of some sort, (Switzerland first) and if so… take all the dollars that are in circulation (inflation) and compare it to all the gold available – you’ll get the actual price of an oz of gold and a new currency value.
Wake Up and Man Up!
I’m ready to buy that island now 🙂
What about the little derivatives’ thing?
Not to mention ALL (and there’s many) of the other factors… Insolvent Banks, Insolvent Cities, Insolvent States, Insolvent Governments, Artificially Low Interest Rates, etc, etc, etc…
We Do We Go From Here?
Talk about Derivatives too, how about the Comex???
What Is One To Do?
I Say Get REAL! Otherwise It’s “IN DEBT WE TRUST”.
OH yea, I’m waiting on the little Comex thing!
How much you want a bet Mr. B has some gold..yeah..its not money buddy..Hhahahahahaah..this dude needs to be run out of this counrty on a rail.
Just listening to some of the Sunday talk-news shows on the ‘Twonkie’. These assholes representing us in the District of Criminals are our “best & brightest” that we have to staff our government with??? Please give me a freaking break!! These nitwits seem like they are the victims of a public school education. With these ‘butt-breaths’ we are DOOMED big time.
After things come crashing down around us; I pray that CNN and Fox televise the hangings after the sheeple finally figure out just how badly these assholes have screwed us for at least three, if not four, generations into the future of our once proud and wealthy country.
Me too M.M.
Neither side is afraid to send us to the edge of chaos, the fact is… IT’S TOO BIG TO MANAGE!
YES… “we are DOOMED big time”
“Must go faster”!
Be careful…Barry said the economy was in the ditch when he took over.
Cramer doesn’t believe in Ag. I believe in both. Hope I have the ratio starboard, but I’ll watch the GSR & junk face. Our politicians are clowns on my left and clowns on my right and that’s no joke. The pretender will veto a balanced budget. Go figure for the children but not his… And he’s the “professional politician” POTUS & this is over my head? I’m ashamed and I didn’t vote for him. little timmy speaks again today on no back up plan. We as a nation are so dry phucked!
Two things. First, our system encourages, not the best and brightest, but the worst and most craven thieves to rise to the top. So no, they are not the best annd brightest, they are just the scumbags who will do what it takes to get elected.
Second. Don’t underestimate the resiliency of human beings. If you lived in Germany or Japan in 1944 and ’45, you would bet they were down for decades, if not generations. Instead, in just one generation, they each became the biggest economy in their continent. How’s that for bouncing back? We are indeed facing what many will consider Armageddon, but many of us (I sincerely believe) here will live to see a brighter day when it is all over.
“Here is another indication that some of Fed QE2 money is starting to flow into the system…”
http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2011/07/qe2-money-is-starting-to-flow.html
Clark: I checked the link and although Citi may be hiring IBkrs, they are probably hiring the IBkrs that Goldman, and Chase are cutting back on.
Citi’s management has been dysmal in the US for a number of years and they have reduced their position here a number of times since 1987. Its probably a smart move to pick up these empty bank branches dotting the landscape at rock bottom prices. I want one too.
It is no surprise that QE2 funds are due to hit main street before the end of the year, as fund availability a year pryor, is typical for an election cycle.
Inflation will develop sometime next year but double digit probably won’t develop until 2013 after the election of 2012 is over and demand for cheap money has reached a fever pitch again.
Still, no hyper inflation anytime soon, and the PTB are planning to rewrite the definition of the CPI to dampen SSI increases going forward.
Liquidity is starting to move into the market and will be available for lending for two reasons:
1. Begin to stimulate the economy in an attempt to show that Obummer’s economic policies are working by this time next year for his re-election attempt.
2. Eliminate the need for QE3.
Just another example of how ignorant the corp officers are….
Money and currency are just mediums of exchange with a government assignation of valuation. Money and currency has no tangible value of its own, but is assigned a value by a third party to the transaction.
Commodities are articles of having use, advantage or value. In most cases the commodity has utility. The important distinction is that commodities are tangible in their own right. A commodity requires no third-party assignation of value but rather is assigned a value by the participants in the transaction. Completion of the contract doesn’t fix the valuation in the marketplace; the valuation is only between the two parties in the deal.
Ergo, PMs are commodities. Food is a commodity. Fuel is a commodity. Tangible items are commodities.
Currency and money are just chits. In a normal economy, the chit represents some quantity of a commodity. The chit is just far handier to pack around the marketplace than a couple hundred pounds of potatoes.
Unfortunately in our current Keynesian system, the chits represent nothing. The central bank has assigned a debt to the chits. The central bank has decided that collateral has a value equal to the money loaned against the collateral. Consequently the collateral is equal to money. Where this gets silly is that the collateral is a commodity and the assigned market value is fixed at the time of the contract. So here we are by their decision. Commodities are equal to money. Add in fractional banking and inflation is assured.
Where this falls apart is commodities lack a fixed valuation. The ole supply/demand curve thingy. So we have the central bank attempting to subvert the supply/demand valuation set by the market. Helicopter Ben is only attempting to maintain public confidence in the medium of exchange. He has no option. If public confidence is compromised, the monetary system fails. The public will go utterly stupid and destroy what can never be replaced (infrastructure and trust.)
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So Helicopter Ben is technically correct. Gold is NOT money. It is a commodity. Sure we can recognize gold as having almost universal (planet-wide acceptance) value, but so does a sack of wheat berries. PMs have been accepted as currency only so long as the coinage wasn’t debased or withdrawn from circulation. The term was barter. I trade a tangible for a tangible.
So I can’t eat gold. So what? Those who buy gold before groceries will trade gold for wheat, salt, etc when they get hungry. Read your history. In every case, wealth was transfered to the agricultural sector. Productivity of critical commodities will always attract buyers. Surplus commodities and willing buyers is commerce. As I’ve spouted off on repeatedly, commerce is the sole defense against conflicts over scarce resources. Conflicts tend to be costly and are non-productive enterprises.
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Please don’t come in here spouting total garbage about marriage for the last 2000 years. Marriage in its current configuration is only a few hundred years old. Perhaps you hadn’t had enough coffee, but a woman was a commodity until 1920 in the US with the passing of the XIXth Amendment. For most of the world, women were (and still are) sold into marriage (commodity) and/or shacking up was common and the woman was property.
Read a little history and forget the nonsense you think you know. For the last several hundred years, history is pretty well known. Might I suggest for your reading list: “A History of the Family Vol.1”, Burguiere, Klapisch-Zuber, Selagen, Zonabend, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge Mass, 1996
Damn folks its falling apart pretty fast now. If you check out a few more web sites Like http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/
and read the article. 10 Signs That The American People Are Starting To Freak Out About The Condition Of The Economy. Watch a few of these videos and you will see some very disturbing things. If you are new to this site please for the sake of your family Start prepping TODAY!!
For us that have been prepping for awhile now get your ducks in order, I’m not a smart man but damn this are very disturbing signs.
God bless us all
DPS
Ben Bernanke also said this…
In 2005…
“House prices have risen by nearly 25 percent over the past two years. Although speculative activity has increased in some areas, at a national level these price increases largely reflect strong economic fundamentals.”
In 2008…
“The Federal Reserve is not currently forecasting a recession.”
And these gems…
“One myth that’s out there is that what we’re doing is printing money. We’re not printing money.”
“The money supply is not changing in any significant way. What we’re doing is lowering interest rates by buying Treasury securities.”
And my all-time favorite…
“The Federal Reserve will not monetize the debt.”
LOL… he spreads that stuff from his rear end all over the place.
I am wondering what will happen next year when the fed’s 100 year charter ends.. some times I wonder if they themselves will not renew their deal and leave the the states hanging.. the ironic part to me is the charter ends on Dec 21 2012.. omg, like we really need that to be the date for another piece of jazz.. we live in a warped world no doubt 🙂
whats that songs we are in now.. o ya, 99 balloons.. I have to go now to the restroom.. my stomach is hurting..lol
This will be interesting.
Category 4 Typhoon Ma-on headed towards Japan.
http://www.globalsurfnews.com/news.asp?Id_news=52560
Its no typhoon……..Its Godzilla!
Just goes to show you….Ben is an idiot.
When you hear a central banker like Ben Bernanke that gold is not money,but an asset….It’s time to start heading for the hills… . Mean while every bankster in the world knows that the “SHTF” time is now here for all paper currencies. Every time i hear that man spew crap out of he’s mouth it make me sick to see what damage is been done to this once great nation…
You know that something is wrong in the world…..???? use your common sense people……
Like others, I am not interested in gold and silver because of their value, I like them because they are SOOO SHINEY!! Seriously though, Bernie can keep spewing all the propaganda he wants and hope the majority will listen. I just know that there are good people here who know better, and if we are representative of those who are awake, then many more are prepped then even we think. It heartens me 🙂
Gold is a problem. If you have a lot of it , it does you no good unless you can trade it for food or clothing or housing or dr. bills ect. If you have a million pounds of gold but no food you starve.
But at least gold retains its value and does not become worthless like paper money.
We have become conditioned to trust paper money. If we had a chunk of gold and took it to the farmers market to buy tomatoes we would be told that they don’t take gold or that they have no means to measure it.
See, gold is a problem. Not to mention the fact that Hussein will soon confiscate it.
Gold just hit 1600.00 this morning….hold onto your seat!
Looks like they made another slap down. Everything around the world is better now, hope/change.
Gold is not money. Paper is not money. Eggs are not money.
Money is whatever will be accepted as a medium of exchange. The reason that both gold and silver are preferable to paper is that they fulfill all of the requirements of money.
1. Easily recognizable as gold or silver.
2. Durable, does not get all stinky and attract maggots like dead cows would nor would it be smoked/consumed by the holder like marijuana would be.
3. Easily divisable. Imagine the effect on your clothes trying to stuff one quarter of a freshly killed cow into your pocket, all the blood and intestines. Yuck !
4. And this is POA’s favorite – They cannot be counterfeited like all paper script, er money, is.
Besides, when helicopter Ben decides to take a bunch of “money” up in a helicopter and throw it out to the masses he’ll create a problem throwing one ounce gold eagles out from about 4500 feet AGL (above ground level). “Ouch!! Damn !! Someone shoot the creep in the helicopter! No, wait. he’s throwing gold! Shoot the chopper down so we can have it all!”
BB’s stance is the sort you see from an entity trying to steer the little people away from lining their coffers with the very things they know are going to matter. Why? Because, just as with the dollars all these years, they’re going to want the greater share for themselves. That’s not possible if the little man is wise to the facts and prepares himself, lowering the ratio of holdings.
Those eagles don’t fly away.
If gold is not money then those who have please send it to me and in return I will send you a Roll of Charmin I mean Federal Reserve Notes
There’s nothing “charming” about FRNs that have been used for their true purpose…Yuck!
Besides…ain’t shiny.
I just read this on the Daily Crux
Bernanke knew his policies would trigger a crisis
http://www.thedailycrux.com/content/8186/Recession/eml
If he contends that gold is not money, whilst still holding it as an asset and thus a medium of exchange, then logicically the implication is the us dollar isn’t money either. Which suggests to him that money is an abstract concept, that it does not in fact exist.
This parses as “I don’t want to alarm anybody, but there is no safe money, so choose your assets and hope that your luck holds”
Saying something doesn’t make it so!
If Gold is not money my question is…
When did Gold stop being money?
JP Morgan’s famous quote in 1912 “Gold IS Money, everything else is credit” (debt)
Gold is a competing currency against the dollar!
And that’s it … any questions?
What a cool post! Going to come back to see some updates.
A concept…
Randsom note..
We have your child and want your gold to get her back.
You.. I have cases of beans.
Then.. huh?
You never see your kid again.
Any questions?
Folks…in bad times.. kidnapping becomes a growth industry…just look at south america.