Dirtnap

Obama will rise and fall with the dollar: The electorate is only as happy as the value of the greenbacks in their pockets.

Too much blame is being placed on Obama in the comments here. Not that he isn't in the mix of people to be disappointed with, but don't kid yourself by thinking that electing a Republican candidate to be our executive or that re-instituting a GOP Congress will change the situation.

Both parties and their elected representatives, along with corporate executives, the Fed, Treasury, FOMC, etc. are to blame. It is a big mess, and cannot be fixed in one simple election cycle.

The Fed: Backed into a Corner?

Exactly.


On Nov 10 10:16 PM Nelsanity wrote:

> The Fed isn't backed into a corner. They are purposefully doing
> this so the banks can recapitalize 'risk free'.

The Unsustainable Lie of Inflation

Well, you did clarify the point a bit, but I wouldn't say that he has it "backwards". The thing about inflation is that it is in essence a regressive tax, since it requires a greater fraction of one's income to afford the necessities of life when one earns less.

You state that inflation robs from people with money and helps debtors. This is true, except I would clarify that inflation doesn't hurt people with money, it hurts people with cash specifically. In times of high inflation, richer citizens who have more financial savvy will leverage their cash holdings into inflation-linked assets in order to not only maintain the purchasing power of their original holdings, but make gains from leverage. People without abundant access to credit can do no such thing.


On Nov 09 04:23 PM ThirtyNineWinks wrote:

> You've got it backwards. Inflation robs from people with money,
> and helps people with debt. As the government is the biggest debtor
> around, they'll be glad to borrow a dollar today, and repay you with
> a 10 cent dollar next week.

Who OWNS Foreclosed U.S. Properties?, Part I: Scam in the making

Good work, as always.

Clinton White House chief of staff John Podesta says the budget situation today is like that in 1993, making a consumption tax "more plausible" than ever. "There’s going to have to be revenue in this budget."

1) Every politician seems to lie about their tax policy (amongst other things...)

2) The institution of a regressive tax is a terrible idea.

3) The debasement of our dollar is also essentially a regressive tax, affecting wage earners much more than capital gains earners.

4) We DO need revenues. Achieve this by cutting spending, perhaps? The problem in the U.S. is we have only the choice between two parties who only know how to overspend.

Rogers: 'More Banks Should Have Failed'

Obama gets no say in the matter. Nobody asked him for permission to give trillions in essentially interest-free money to the banks, because he isn't a real power broker, just a figure head.

When it's "time" for a market sell-off, it will have very little to do with any individual politician, and more to do our with systemic monetary/fiscal problems.


On Sep 14 05:13 PM Dave Wrixon wrote:

> Patience.
>
> Obama will learn that you cannot buck the market forever!

Rogers: 'More Banks Should Have Failed'

I wasn't sure if I was supposed to laugh or cry.


On Sep 14 04:44 PM User 353732 wrote:

> The economic strategy of the US Govt now is
> ----feed failure;starve success
> ----glorify bureaucrats; vilify entrepreneurs
> ----reward job destroying status quo; punish job creating innovation
>
> -----magnify corruption; compress honesty
> ------honor debtors; persecute savers
> ------stimulate energy imports; suppress domestic energy production
>
>
> The net effect of this strategy is to ;
> -forcibly transfer resources from higher valued to lower valued,
> no value or negatively valued uses.
> -divert National income from positive multiplier to negative multiplier
> spending
>
> By the three metrics of accelerating deficits, debt and dollar debasement
> the economic strategy of the US Govt is a tremendous success.
>

Lehman Tales: One Year After, What About the Impact on Average People?

"For many people, it seems the politicians and media are mainly concerned with the fate of the bankers, the powerful and the well-connected."

Of course, we are all aware that it seems this way because it is true. Unfortunately, "many" isn't all that many. I have many politically-active well-educated friends and family who don't understand macroeconomics and don't care too. They still see the world through a "supply and demand" view of economics.

Pinning the Blame on the House Republicans

When it comes to macroeconomics, there isn't too much difference between Dems and Reps. I don't think it makes too much sense to blame Republicans for the crash last year, or to blame the Dems for the ongoing employment crisis.

This is a much bigger problem that we should blame on the entire corporate-political superstructure that has been enacting these ruinous fiscal/monetary policies for decades. Regardless of the date which TARP was or wasn't passed, eventually we have to take what's coming to us.

U.S. Stocks at 11 Month High

Conceptwiz, I am right there with you, EXCEPT on the notion that the management of the BIS believing that the U.S. was doing the "wrong thing." We have to keep in mind that these wealthy individuals are international citizens who care little for the health of any individual nation. To an international investor, the reduction of the standard of living in the U.S. is of no consequence, and is in fact perhaps a long term boon for the investor, as American wages can decline to a more nominal international level.

Bubbles are great opportunities for this type of investor, as you can make large amounts of money during the bubble, pull your capital out during the burst, receive taxpayer bailouts if you misstime your withdrawal, and then repurchase assets at bargain prices.

These people didn't make mistakes. They knew exactly what they were doing.


On Sep 10 03:49 PM conceptwizard wrote:

> Fifty-five central banks own the BIS and every two months they journey
> to the Basel headquarters near the German border to discuss direction,
> drink the world’s best wines and to eat the best cuisine. Then there
> is the BIS’s privately owned country club and tennis accommodations.
> This is why the BIS is called the “Vatican of Finance.” All meetings
> are in secret and nothing is ever divulged. It is a stock cooperation
> and once was publicly traded until they forced sale of the shares
> owned by the public. Needless to say, they tried to screw the shareholders
> on the buyback.
>
> The BIS pays no taxes and it’s members and employees enjoy extensive
> immunity. The BIS is totally a secret cabal of bankers. It manages
> 4% of the world’s currency reserves and 120 tons of gold. They set
> interest rates as well. What a sweet racket.
>
> It should have been obvious to many economists that what Greenspan
> did during the 1990s creating the dot.com boom and then their real
> estate bubble that he was leading America toward financial trouble.
> The management of the BIS and those 55 central bankers had to know
> these were the wrong things to do, as the BIS professional staff
> was saying you are doing the wrong thing.
>
> The Fed is blowing another equity bubble.

US Bancorp Backs Calif. IOUs

Not sure if I agree with the strategy or not, but yes, definitely a cunning move by the FR/banks. Still hurts the average citizen, in the end.


On Sep 09 02:39 PM conceptwizard wrote:

> Probably deposits 100% backed by the FDIC, smooth move by the Fed.
> How to back a state without actually backing the state.

Looks Like We're All Communists Now

I think what Michael Moore is getting at is that capitalism, as implemented in the Western world, is essentially oligarchical corruption. Adam Smith is rolling in his grave right now with us calling this a capitalist system. Chinese communism also has very little communism left it it.

All the economic systems are homogenizing in this global world, and they all are starting to look a little too close to feudalism for my liking.


On Sep 07 07:22 PM Hot Richard wrote:

> Yes, but Michael Moore says capitalism is evil. His new movie must
> be free to anyone who wants to see it.
>
> I don't care about jail time for anyone in Congress. I just want
> to short this pile they created until God gets a Hot Richard complex.

China becoming a “middle-class” nation

"...with it's people ruled without much say in how to be ruled."

Sounds like another country of recent global interest. Don't you be too quick to put the U.S. on a pedestal either. The country that afforded your parents and you such opportunity is no longer here. That country has been eroded by a financial oligarchy for the past several decades, and our economy is now under the control of a select elite few, much like China's.

I understand you disagree with Jeff, but try to keep it more constructive. We come to 'Seeking Alpha' trying to find insight.

Is the U.S. Dollar Finished?

We had "slow and steady" inflation back then because when it was getting out of control, Volcker slammed on the brakes by setting double-digit interest rate targets. Our current scenario is entirely different, because that kind of interest rate hike will destroy our economy, much like the lack of an interest rate hike.


On Sep 09 12:21 AM Paul H. M. wrote:

> Doom and gloom. Doom and gloom!
>
> I bet everybody was saying the same thing in the late 70s. But instead,
> we had slow and steady inflation throughout the 80s and 90s.
>
> Sure, we've printed currency. But if the banks are hoarding it, it's
> never making it's way into the hands of the masses, and therefore,
> prices can not rise (inflation) if nobody has any money!

Is the U.S. Dollar Finished?

That was my thesis; I just didn't spell it out plainly. Thus, my comment of a fiat currency being "oversold" becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. Read between the lines a little.


On Sep 08 05:53 PM Dave Wrixon wrote:

> How can you oversell something that is becoming increasing worthless
> because people are beginning to understand that it was a Ponzi game
> all along?