hoover

The End of Gold, Part Two

Dave, good thought provoking article. It is quite obvious that deflationary forces are at work in various commodities, houses,and other items. But, if you visit the supermarket every couple of days like I do, you know there are also inflationary forces at work. I have always assumed that deflation can never occur because government prints enough fiat money, and financial institutions lend enough money, to prevent deflation. But, of course loans are imploding and at the same time businesses are laying off people (reducing their buying power) and cutting costs to the bone. Deflation could happen over a number of years -- but I will have to see it to believe it.

Monetary Madness: Global Margin Call Underway

Depression II is trying to happen; many of the elements are in place. In the 1930's Depression I, home prices were dropping, there was too much debt, commoditiy prices were dropping, profits disappeared because people didn't have the money to buy products, the stock market was imploding, farmers couldn't sell their products at a profit because market prices were too low, unemployment was soaring, banks were failing, and the government didn't know what to do. This time around (as Toni suggests toxic levels are even worse) the situation is potentially worse. Can massive amounts of increased borrowed government money thrown at massive amounts of already shaky borrowed money fix the problem, which was caused by too much borrowed money and leverage in the first place? We are entering a new dimension.