Inflation

End Of An Epoch

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By Keith Weiner – Re-Blogged From Gold Eagle

“There is no subtler, no surer means of overturning the existing basis of society than to debauch the currency. The process engages all the hidden forces of economic law on the side of destruction, and does it in a manner which not one man in a million is able to diagnose.”

What the heck did John Maynard Keynes mean by saying this? Overturning the existing basis of society?! Let’s begin by stating something that is both obvious and unpopular. We are living in days that could be called the end of an epoch. The signs are everywhere, and becoming more blatant.

Wealth Inequality

The Left focuses on wealth inequality, because they see one of the signs. The falling interest rate seemingly benefits those who own assets (it does not actually benefit anyone), particularly those who finance assets with dirt-cheap credit. And it harms wage-earners, by incentivizing businesses to borrow cheap to buy capital goods to replace labor.

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America’s Trade Policy Will End Up Destroying The Dollar

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By Alasdair Macleod – Re-Blogged From Silver Phoenix

America’s tariffs against China are already showing signs of undermining the global economy and will create a funding crisis for the Federal Government when it leads to foreigners no longer buying US Treasury debt and selling down their existing dollar holdings. A subversive attempt by America to divert global portfolio investment from China by destabilising Hong Kong will force China into a Plan B to fund its infrastructure plans, which could involve actively selling down her dollar reserves and hastening the introduction of a new crypto-based trade settlement currency.

The US budget deficit will then be financed entirely by monetary inflation. Furthermore, the turn of the credit cycle, made more destructive by trade tariffs, is driving the global and US economy into a slump, further accelerating all indebted governments’ dependency on inflationary financing. The end result is America’s trade policies have been instrumental in hastening the end of the dollar as the world’s reserve currency, ultimately leading to its destruction.

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Gold Stocks Now?

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By GE Christenson– Re-Blogged From The Deviant Investor

You know the monetary drill:

  1. Commercial bankers and central bankers create more digital dollars from nothing, inject them into the economy, dollars devalue and prices rise. They issue press releases claiming they are doing a great job.
  2. Commercial and global central bankers are counterfeiting (legally). This benefits the financial and political elite. Don’t expect this nonsense to change.
  3. Prices for stocks, food, consumer goods and gold rise as dollars buy less.
  4. Inflation statistics (official) are “managed” to show minimal inflation. Check out the Chapwood Index.

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Repocalypse: The Little Crisis that Roared

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By David Haggith – Re-Blogged From The Great Recession Blog

That didn’t take long. I just published an article showing how the Fed had responded with a quarter of a trillion dollars to save the economy from what it claimed was a mere blip. Since then, the recession-causing Repocalypse I’ve warned of has roared around the world, forcing the Fed to amplify its response again.

The Fed’s planners just cannot outrun the little monster they created. It is growing as quickly as they increase their running speed. In the article I just alluded to, I also stated,

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2020 Vision

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By USAGOLD – Re-Blogged From Gold Eagle

Five charts to contemplate as we prepare for the New Year

 1. Gold’s annual returns 2000 to present

In the February edition of this newsletter, we ran an article under the headline:  Will 2019 be the year of the big breakout for gold? Though we would not characterize gold’s move to the upside so far this year as ‘the big breakout,’ 2019 has been the best year for gold since 2010 even with the recent correction taken into account.  Back in September when the price gold reached $1550 per ounce – up almost 22% on the year – 2019 was looking more like a breakout year. Now with the move back to the $1460 level, the market mood has become more restrained. As it is, gold is up 15 of the last 19 years and still up 14.45% so far this year.

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Time To Reset Portfolios For Inflation

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By Stefan Gleason – Re-Blogged From Gold Eagle

As investors reset their clocks to accord with the end of Daylight Savings Time, they may also need to reset their expectations for future returns.

A strong body of research suggests that artificially changing the time twice a year – forward, then backward an hour – does more harm than good.  It leads to sleep disruptions, heightened stress, missed appointments, wasted time (ironically), and a diminishment of productivity around these biannual time changes.

As reported in HeadlineHealth, “Circadian biologists believe ill health effects from daylight saving time result from a mismatch among the sun ‘clock,’ our social clock – work and school schedules – and the body’s internal 24-hour body clock.”

That mismatch can have dire consequences: “At least one study found an increase in people seeking help for depression after turning the clocks back to standard time in November.”

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16 Tons And A Briefcase

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By GE Christenson – Re-Blogged From Gold Eagle

Tennessee Ernie Ford sang about the plight of coal miners decades ago. His song remains relevant in today’s increasingly crazy world.

“You load sixteen tons, what do to you get

Another day older and deeper in debt

Saint Peter don’t you call me ‘cause I can’t go

I owe my soul to the company store.”

The owners paid in script which coal miners used as currency. Script had no intrinsic value and was only good at the company store. The owners increased profits by coercing miners to buy goods at higher prices. Script cost next to nothing to produce.

We use dollar bills (paper and digital) that have no intrinsic value as currency in the U.S. The dollars cost next to nothing to produce and are used because of ‘legal tender’ laws.

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