Video: The World of Planet Finance

Episode Four of the Ascent of Money illustrates the spread of financial practices across the globe including the bad, the American real estate bubble and the consequences of the subprime mortgage fiasco. The series, hosted by Professor Niall Ferguson is not exactly perfect and leaves out some details along the way. However, the presentation is worth your while and contains some nuggets of understanding that you can take to heart. At the end, this episode clearly shows what happens during hyperinflation, using the plight of Argentina as an example. America faces a similar plight, but has been immune so far because the dollar is the prevalent world currency, bolstered by foreign investment. The dollar as the chief currency could change and when it does, so will the fortunes of the nation.  Right now we have a mighty wrestle going on between central bankers and many nations that could benefit mightily from a global currency change. A shift in that balance will mark the end to  the status that the nation enjoys.      video link

Bernanke: Trying to Save Face

For the last week, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has been advertising his personal integrity without trying to take an actual stand. He admits that criminal conduct in high finance and investment must be prosecuted and that having to bail out the likes of Wall Street firms that continue to play high stakes gambling games makes him ill. Bernanke continues to try to straddle the fence as he justifies the decisions made as his refusal to allow America to enter a second Great Depression. He offers little fire or passion to see any change beyond making admonitions toward change in the system to protect the nation from avarice. Bernanke readily admits that if adjustments are not made soon, America faces the acute risk of uncontrolled inflation. His need to express his personal integrity almost seems comical as he performs what must be one of the toughest and most thankless jobs on the planet, at least in the public eye.

Fed Puzzled by Stats: Are We In Danger?

All interest rates are not equal when it comes to any given investment product. The rates on bonds of different maturities behave independently of each other. Short-term rates vs. long-term rates can move in opposite directions simultaneously. The gods of finance say that what is important is the overall pattern of interest-rate movement: a direct reflection of the future of the economy and Wall Street confidence.

The Fed is not certain what is driving the sharp rise in long-dated bond yields and has noticed a widening gap between short and long term yields. What does it all mean? Is someone like the Chinese manipulating the market?

A steepening yield curve could mean that investors are worried about the deterioration in the U.S. economic outlook… or the possibility for a collapse in the U.S. dollar as the Federal Reserve continues to load the world with newly minted currency as part of its recent program.

Economists are involved in open combat over what is driving the signs and even worse, what the cause or the solution really is. Some Fed officials believe that a recent glimmer-of-hope in economic data is encouraging investors to believe there is less need for ’safer government bonds’. Richard Fisher in the Dallas Fed contends that the steepening yield curve is generally a sign of a recovery, but huge debt may dampen that perception.

What is certain is that the U.S. Treasury is being forced to sell more bonds to cover the unprecented U.S. debt and falling tax revenues as a result of the recession. What does appear to be certain is that the relentless dumping of dollars on the market will ultimately result in inflation that could easily get out of hand. Is it recovery from investor confidence, investor manipulation, worried investors or defective monetary policy driven by central bankers? Not even the gods of finance know the answer. The gods of finance do not know right or wrong. They know theory and are now in uncharted territory.

Krugman: Falling Wages and a Recovery

Paul Krugman makes some excellent points:

So what should we conclude from the growing evidence of sagging wages in America? Mainly that stabilizing the economy isn’t enough: we need a real recovery.

But the unemployment rate is almost certainly still rising. And all signs point to a terrible job market for many months if not years to come — which is a recipe for continuing wage cuts, which will in turn keep the economy weak.

To break that vicious circle, we basically need more: more stimulus, more decisive action on the banks, more job creation.

Credit where credit is due: President Obama and his economic advisers seem to have steered the economy away from the abyss. But the risk that America will turn into Japan — that we’ll face years of deflation and stagnation — seems, if anything, to be rising.

The Falling Wage Syndrome by Paul Krugman

Inflation-adjusted American wages have remained ’stagnant’ since 1975 but the cost of living has steadily increased. This contributes to the use of credit, the nation’s current plight regarding credit slavery and the high prices of market goods, notably automobiles. The recovery of the auto industry, for example, depends on moving cars and trucks. The problem remains in high prices versus wages of Americans. Houston: we have a problem.

In a review of the Census Bureau’s Historical Income Tables, the truth is not stagnation in an actual sense.  For example, the median income for white men fell nearly 10% between 1974 and 1982. The income for the same group climbed 15% from 1982 to 2007. Income for women increased only slightly between 1974 and 1982 and actually fell slightly for blacks during the same period. Meanwhile costs and expenses spiraled out of control at an annual average inflation rate hovering around 10%, fostered by runaway spending created by credit.

Some argue that wages have increased by 40% since the 1970’s. A recent study by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis discovered that wages for the average American worker went up by 20 percent between 1975 and 2005. However, one cannot accept the current 3% inflation rate pushed by the Federal Reserve and the federal government as fact. Assuming an average 10% inflation rate which is closer to truth, neither 20% or 40% hold a candle to the real and hidden inflation rate. Given a median inflation rate of 10%, you are looking a loss of buying power at a staggering 100% every ten years instead of a professed 30% reduction in buying power. Now you know where the problem really is. Inflation is not our friend. Living on predatory and usurious credit has come at great cost to the entire globe. The bottom line is that a liberal fractional reserve that has allowed runaway credit is truly responsible for the current plight of global financial malaise. The current mindset continues that monetary credit is the answer to the global meltdown. The actions of central bankers continue to dilute the value of the dollar as global currency.

Inflation and Devaluation Looms on Horizon

Many of you haven’t been willing to believe me. Inflation despite the current troubled economy is still a very real concern. Why? Continually pumping dollars into the failed financial system is spreading the dollar very thin indeed. The bailout is likely to have “unintended consequences”. So says the blue boy of the financial market and Berkshire Hathaway chief Warren Buffett.

Buffett says that officials should be judged leniently since the economy was facing “as close to a total meltdown as you can imagine.” If you read this blog, you know what the meltdown was caused by: unchecked banking innovation and greed.

In the eyes of Buffet, the runaway debt spending must be paid for sooner or later (no force majeure?). Political leaders show little inclination to raise taxes, at least in an upfront way. Buffett indicates that one sure way to pay for excess spending is to “inflate the value” of the currency. The biggest losers in a surge of inflation, he added, would include holders of bonds and other fixed-income assets. “I haven’t had my taxes raised. My guess is the ultimate price will be paid by a shrinkage of the value of the dollar.” Duh. ~ E. Manning

Economic Lies that the System Promotes

Yeah. Yeah. You’ve heard it all and everybody is trying to sell you something. The snake oil salesmen are all around. Washington is no different. The lie continues to spread that investing your money in banks or the latest government bonds are safe and sound investing. Think again.

The problem is that we have a ‘dumbing down’ of the American economic system as foreign investors pile on to invest their otherwise worthless American greenbacks and you are the one that will suffer through devaluation and hyperinflation because you base your life on money and monetary acquisition that central bankers run. Your economic livelihood and future is at stake if you have piles of money or owe piles of money. That applies to most Americans. Your investment is an illusion, the same as the thin air that central bankers and banks have created.

The fact remains that there is little monetary defense or value in trying to tell the average American that they can somehow defend their monetary wealth when the central bankers continue to erode that wealth into nothing in a hopelessly compromised financial system. Central bankers are riding the dark horse as they plow the dollar into non-existence so that they can rebuild a new monetary system from the ashes they have created. Naturally, this is to their advantage. The sad thing is that Washington politicians are hopelessly compliant and cooperative in an effort to create a new system from the ashes of your financial lives and years of servitude to their system. We are the fools and most Americans will undoubtedly foolishly listen the advice of the financial sages. What is Washington D.C. up to? CONTROL.  What are central bankers up to? CONTROL. Never forget that what you are being told by mainstream politicians and financial media is designed to secure the system over your life or means of livelihood at your expense.

Gold? Unless you hold the nuggets of goodness in your meaty little hand, don’t buy the snake oil. Gold investment certificates aren’t worth a thunder mug full of waste. Remember the old proverb that possession is nine-tenths of the law. In this case, physical possession is your safest bet, but far from perfect. Your stuff is only as secure as you are. The little guy can easily be pulled from his stuff during a crisis.

I am linking to this electroblurb because it is the right thing to do overall. I do not advocate the sales of the product or the conclusion reached. I ask you to read the facts and forget about buying anything that involves a significant portion of your money, devalued or otherwise, because the money you earn represents your life.

Geithner Admits Fed Role in Economic Collapse

The Obama administration wants to add a glimmer of hope to the global fiscal crisis that started with corrupted U.S. corporate policy and banking investment greed. Despite efforts of many to put lipstick on the ongoing economic recession and remove blame from corporate bankers and government, in a recent interview with Charlie Rose, Tim Geithner admitted

“a deepening recession. You’re seeing the recession intensify here and really around the world. You know it started here, but the world is sort of catching up. That’s putting more pressure on business and the financial system as we see it. We start with this deepening recession, intensifying housing crisis, a deep fiscal hole in the financial system that’s in some ways very damaged. Parts of it are working well, parts of it are still very damaged. It’s going to take a lot to work through this. Again, we start with a — just a deep mess. It is our obligation to clean it up and to fix it…”

“I want to be clear. Again, we start with a mess, a deep mess, made worse by the deepening recession. And these things are pitting on themselves. And it’s very important for people to understand, it’s going to take some time to work through this. But what I want people to know is that we’re going to do what’s necessary to get through it. And these things will get traction. They will start to help unfreeze things, and they will help lay the foundation for recovery.”

“They (the Fed) projected that optimism in the future and that created the conditions where people took more risks than they should have, and they, frankly, didn’t pay enough attention to the possibility that when this ended, came apart, that the consequences would be as damaging as they did. Now, I spent almost every day from the first time I walked into the New York Fed about five years ago working with my colleagues on ways to try to make the system stronger so we were going to be better able to withstand the kind of pressures when this came apart, and we did some very important, powerful things, but many of the things didn’t have enough traction, and we share with really all parts of the financial oversight bodies here and around the world a deep responsibility for not having done more and a really deep obligation for trying to fix this quickly and put in place the kind of reforms to prevent this from happening again.”

“Our system was not designed to sustain a shock, a crisis of this magnitude. It’s the tragic failure of financial regulation in this country. It was just not designed to tolerate anything of this magnitude. The critical test of any financial system in some senses is how you deal with stress and shock because you want a system that’s going to be strong and resilient enough to handle almost anything it could face. And this system didn’t meet that test because we had a regulatory framework that was designed, largely, 90 years ago and did not adapt to take account of these huge changes in the structure of our financial system.”