AMERICAblog: Peter Schiff, guy who predicted housing bubble, says we're really f'd
foxy
· 1 year ago
Yeap and that's just the beginning of it all...
porchcow
· 1 year ago
I only hope and pray that at the end of this financial nightmare, the country gets one lesson from this...Shaving your head doesn't make you smart, hot or cool. It just makes you a pompous ass.
Oh, and yeah, we're screwed. I mean, what we've seen so far is just heavy petting. But on the upside, Bush will be able to spend a lot more time cutting brush on his ranch. So everyone who needs a place to squat will have a place to set up camp. I'm sure he won't mind. He loves us almost as much as him mom.
bluestockton
· 1 year ago
And Chimpy still thinks history is going to vindicate him.
Dave of the Jungle
· 1 year ago
Hitler spent his last days trying to visualize what the Third Reich would be like in a thousand years.
Steve_in_CNJ
· 1 year ago
who's going to vindicate the idiots who voted for him?
tbhull
· 1 year ago
When the system you believed no matter how obviously corrupt it was and swallowed so much for crumbles before your very eyes, the years of brown nosing tends to turn one into an anus, as after all we are what we eat.
7.4 trillion. That is a number that is really beyond any comprehension. I've tried to put that number is perspective, but still..
$7.4 trillion dollars will buy 46.2 billion bottles of Balvenie Portword 21 Year Old Scotch at $160 a bottle.
7.4 trillion feet is roughly 1.4 billion miles, or 15 times the average distance from the earth to the sun.
If you drove an automobile at 90 miles an hour, 24x7 - no breaks, it would take you 15,572,390 hours to drive 7.4 trillion miles (that's a little over 1,777 years - better get started)
7.4 trillion seconds is equal to 234,652 years
If you were a high priced attorney and could bill at an hourly rate of $700 per hour,you'd need to 10.5 billion hours of billable time to send an invoice for 7.4 trillion dollars.
If you assume the average weight of a human being is 170 pounds and the world population is 6.72 billion, then the combined weight of all humans on the planet is only around a 1.1 trillion pounds (16% of 7.4 trillion)
Bubbles
· 1 year ago
I live in Korea. Korea produces more steel and automobiles than any nation in Europe, except for Germany. They are number one or two in Shipbuilding, Cell phones, Semiconductors and flat panel displays and a host of other electronics. Korea's GNP is (just) UNDER $1 trillion dollars (in most reporting lists.
Korea has 50 million people, most of whom are able to live a middle class life style. They even have their own Uber-wealthy. All of that for UNDER a Trillion dollars.
Trying to understand what $7 trillion dollars looks like - wrap your head around all of that.
Steve_in_CNJ
· 1 year ago
i just called my broker and said buy me some ingots.
stick a fork in my ass and turn me over, I'm done.
therepguy
· 1 year ago
Well, if the nation is fucked... here hoping the majority of the folks out there will remember just who fucked them... when next they vote for anything above dog catcher... Georgia that really means you guys... get out there and vote for the Obama team!
He's going to need all the help he can get and that means a 60 vote majority in the Senate!
MaudGonne
· 1 year ago
When Congress approved the TARP on Oct. 3, Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson acknowledged the need for transparency and oversight. Now, as regulators commit far more money while refusing to disclose loan recipients or reveal the collateral they are taking in return, some Congress members are calling for the Fed to be reined in. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109...
We should have elected Neil Bush. He did less harm.
MaudGonne
· 1 year ago
The magnitude of U.S. stock market swings will soon surpass the record set in 1929 as the 80-year-old Standard & Poor’s 500 Index heads for it steepest annual loss, Krag “Buzz” Gregory, a derivatives strategist at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., wrote in a Nov. 21 report. Realized volatility, a gauge of stock-price moves, for the S&P 500 has risen to 66 percent for the last three months, the highest since reaching 68 percent following the crash of 1929, he added. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109...
tbhull
· 1 year ago
I have the solution, let's raid today's and tomorrow's Treasury to hand out hundreds of billions to the likes of Citigroup and AIG.
As stated in a thread below, Taxpayers must now admit that they and their children are the slaves for the likes of AIG, Citigroup and in turn a wealthy Saudui prince. My tax dollars, your tax dollars, the tax dollars of our children will be paying for these entities and the lavish salaries and benefits they have paid and continue to pay executives.
I propose DC be destroyed by a nationawide tax revolt. If Congress expects the taxpayers to toil away so that our dollars can be spent on this bullshit then the political careers of these bought and paid for assholes should be seen swinging from the trees of the Mall as DC crumbles. DC needs to be figuratively destroyed to its hopelessly corrupt core before any real, meaning and helpful change can occur.
For all of those not wishing to participate then remain on your knees and keep swallowing for your corporate and Saudi Prince masters, which masters are probably not even your employer.
tlsintx
· 1 year ago
guess we have to hit rock bottom before we can rise again... hang on everyone...we can do it. can you imagine going through this with mcCain/Palin in charge...
MaudGonne
· 1 year ago
The builders' lobby is ramping up its sales pitch for a $250 billion stimulus package called "Fix Housing First," arguing that financial markets won't recover until home prices stop falling. They are calling for a generous tax credit for home purchases and a federal subsidy that would lower a homeowner's mortgage rate. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122748520112251...
Sacanagem
· 1 year ago
He might have accurately predicted the credit crisis, but he's also a textbook Libertarian. (And don't get me started on the Austrian "school" of economics...)
His solution of standing back and allowing the entire system to collapse doesn't seem terribly helpful at this point. And really, what good is telling everybody "YOU'RE F*CKED!!" over and over and over if you don't have any solutions to offer?
brb915
· 1 year ago
I'm with you sacanagem-----I have 68 employees who depend on me for their livelihood-------I need some talk on how the small business does have a chance to ride this s##t storm out. The Big Dogs be damned-----what about us little folks????
jcgraham77
· 1 year ago
Obama needs to give a speech about buying locally for the holidays and supporting businesses that support local employees. If you buy at Walmart for Xmas I wonder what percentage of your money ends up in the local economy. I bet next to none. I will buy from only local stores who hire local people and pay them decent.
brb915
· 1 year ago
jc, that is a great start-----okay people, we need to spread the word-----teach it don't preach it
MaudGonne
· 1 year ago
That's a great idea... Except for all the crap accumulating at the port on Long Beach, who knows what local sources there are, if there are any left......
Eric
· 1 year ago
Yes, and the Keynesian school of economics is working so well right now. Up until this crisis happened, the Keynesians were bragging about how ours was the strongest economy ever. According to their doctrine, they were right.
Peter Schiff has been predicting this crisis since 2002 based on Austrian Economic theory. The Keynesians spent the entire time laughing at him and mocking him.
And finally, the whole system doesn't need to collapse. We just need to let interest rates go to where they should be. I don't know about you, but if there were 20% interest rates (which is what saved our economy in the early 80's) right now, I'd finally know where to put my savings. During that time, though, the least profitable businesses would go under. After the initial turmoil, though, we'd be able to grow again.
This bailout nonsense and throwing money at the problem is a Keynesian solution. Wait and see how well it does.
tbhull
· 1 year ago
The Keynesian school never envisioned the aberrations and economiic abortions of 30:1 leverage ratios and unregualted credit default swaps. The magnitude of the problem is several multiples beyond the $7,400,000,000,000 (trillion)already dooled out. How does any model work this out, and it must be worked out?
My solution, let the structures that find their foundations built on this billshit fail and rebuild anew.
Eric
· 1 year ago
Good point, but believers in the Keynesian school never seemed to complain about the state of affairs pre-bust.
The model to work this out is the following:
1) Don't let the Fed set interest rates. 2) Remove capital gains taxes from 1 or 2 commodities, such as gold and silver. 3) Reduce the expenditure of the government as much as possible, starting with ending the bailouts and ending this moronic foreign policy of ours.
Those things would give a foundation to fix the economy.
Bubbles
· 1 year ago
Krugman has been screaming for years. Almost a decade.
Bubbles
· 1 year ago
The source of the collapse is concentrated wealth: ie. supply side economics.
Keynesians were advocating demand side policies - for 20 years.
Median wages have been flat for 30 years. That's the source of the problem. Stimulus is short term Rx, what's needed is structural elements that allow wages to go up with increases in GNP.
That never happened. After 2001, we had GNP go up without increases in demand. Collapse was inevitable. But it wasn't supposed to happen until January 21, 2009. Oops.
TomJoad
· 1 year ago
For one thing, if there is a huge change coming (and I believe there is) and you are not ABLE even to stem the tide, or possible outcomes would be actually to PROLONG a "fake economy" it isn't going to do anybody any good.
Look, what we had was insane. I'm no economist, but reading way back in the early 2000 years, about how many dollars (in the form of bonds, etc.) China had to pump into the economy just to stay afloat, and then we start two wars (OFF the books I might add. Not in the budget..outside of it) and even back in the 90's, everything you look closely at...made in china, I knew it wasn't going to last. It is untenable. Stores ALWAYS had to make more profit, sell more goods to more people each year, people in the US proudly "shop-o-holic" and all of it on credit. I read some years back that the average of the US, is no savings, and about 5000 dollars in credit card debt.
Nobody saved up for any goods, they bought it now. Now reading that some stores (I think kmart was one) are offering "layaway" that they let the people buy and take home goods, and don't have to pay a nickel for them for TWO YEARS....how in the hell is that any different than the sub-prime except on scale? Two years from now, how many of those people will say "oh..we can't pay now" and they are going to have to keep billing records all this time, and...it's nuts.
Schiff makes sense, and it is common sense, and it does work. We don't want to race to the bottom of the pay scale, demonize unions, try to compete with countries where the people MAKING THE GOODS are virtual slaves....that only benefits our overlords. You know what, the people making the goods are the buyers as well. You can't have an economy with everyone asking everyone else "you want fries with that?".
This shake up is going to happen, and it is going to cause a lot of pain (one can console oneself that our "help" to the lions share of Iraqis hurt a lot more....killed in fact) but I really believe there is no way to avoid it.
We are a society that values mindless "models" (so you want to be a...), athletes, that idolizes "reality" shows, and people acting like morons are "fun folk", and that hates "intillectualism", hates smart, doesn't think learning has any benefit.
We've been eating our tails for too long. We've become moral cannibals, and it is all breaking down because of it.
cindiloohoo
· 1 year ago
"Now reading that some stores (I think kmart was one) are offering "layaway" that they let the people buy and take home goods, and don't have to pay a nickel for them for TWO YEARS."
Actually, the "layaway" plan, or at least the one I'm familiar with, is where the store holds the merchandise for you for a specified period of time until you have paid in full. My mother used layaway quite a lot when we were growing up.
TomJoad
· 1 year ago
I know...bu they called it "layaway" and in the story it was clear that the folks could take the merchandise home with them, and would not pay anything for two years when it then became due.
TomJoad
· 1 year ago
Or the shorter answer...
If you're fucked, it is sometimes a lot more humane to tell you it, than pretend otherwise.
If I had a life threatening disease, I'd rather have the doctor tell me "you got 3 weeks max." than "well, one never knows, we have lots of techniques to help you through this" if the truth is...I got three weeks.
ObamaLover
· 1 year ago
He says America needs to start producing again, but then proceeds to say that we need to let all of these companies collapse... I wonder how he squares those two ideas?
ObamaLover
· 1 year ago
If we let the car companies etc. collapse America will never improve the import/export imbalance as he wants us to do. His analysis is good but his solutions are awful.
Eric
· 1 year ago
Ha ha ha.
GM, Ford, and Chrysler are not the only ways that America can produce. His point is that we don't throw money at companies that can't turn a profit; that's what fucks up our economy.
We import 2 billion dollars a more per day than we export. The only way we can correct that is if we make stuff. Right now, we are living on credit. That is why the Chinese are holding onto trillions of US dollars right now.
I like how that even though he predicted this disaster people are still resistant to listening to what he has to say.
pdxprobert
· 1 year ago
imo, what he's saying is that our economy needs to reset.. basically start over again with more reasonable and competitive wage levels.. our economic system is built on a premise that each quarters performance must exceed the previous.. likewise, wages are based on annual or semi-annual increases.. how long can that economic model go on before wages and potential profits reach a bubble? I think we are seeing that now.. China and India are where the USA was in the early 1900's... what he's saying imo, is that America must see a collapse of the current economic model and expectations so that we can compete once again in the manufacturing arena's... what's a new factor is the peak oil situation.. when the USA made its leap in the industrial era and brought us the middle class unlike any other on Earth, energy was cheap and allowed for the economic growth we saw... the end of cheap energy is here and nothing has been invented to match the cheap energy advantage that gave America the past growth of the last century.. we are entering a world where resource wars will become more apparent and regional conflicts mostly related to potable water will become more apparent... the overall problem now is over-population... there's only so many raw material resources available and the recycling processes havent advanced enough to make them as desirable... its a new world were entering.. your new toys may have been someone elses before they became yours...
tbhull
· 1 year ago
From Bloomberg:
"The money that’s been pledged is equivalent to $24,000 for every man, woman and child in the country. It’s nine times what the U.S. has spent so far on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to Congressional Budget Office figures. It could pay off more than half the country’s mortgages."
More will unbdoubtebly follow and for what? So that we can save the system and the folks that got us here all so that we may repeat this again? DC needs to fall.
tlsintx
· 1 year ago
i wish they'd give us each the 24 thou-
annatopia
· 1 year ago
no shit, right? give me $24K, it'll be better spent than anything being dumped into citigroup.
hmm... with 24K i could pay for the rest of my schooling without taking loans (which are really fucking hard to get these days)....
tbhull
· 1 year ago
I wish they would just disappear and leave me alone. Instead, they will take $24,000 from each of us with interest.
MaudGonne
· 1 year ago
Christmas, even in difficult times, is when children tell Father Christmas what they want – and then adults pay for it. By contrast, budget deficits are when adults tell the Government what they want – and then their children pay for it. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/jeff...
SCLiberal
· 1 year ago
Now here's a "straight talk express". He makes more sense than anyone else I've heard, especially when he says we need to produce actual goods. Right now the only thing we seem to produce is wealthy CEOs. This guy realizes what the dollar is: it's a promise. The rest of the world has finally figured out that our promises are meaningless. We are marching toward a second Great Depression. How about if we stop allowing "American" companies to set up offshore to avoid paying taxes. How about if we stop allowing "American" companies to employ people in poorer countries so they can pay them next to nothing. People in my rural area are bartering more for goods and services than I've ever seen before.
Bubbles
· 1 year ago
Worse than the original depression.
Bush gave as much as 10 trillion to the top 30,000 families in this country.
He did that after 20 years of no growth in the median wage, despite the fact that the GNP had more than doubled in that time.
Concentrated wealth, for a society, is like standing up in a canoe, its prone to sudden, epic collapse.
The only way out of this mess is to transfer some 10 trillion dollars from the supply side to the demand side of the economy.
$700 billion stimulus is not enough. It's just a starter. Anything under $1 trillion isn't serious. As far as taxes, all that money given to the uber-wealthy has to come back.
therepguy
· 1 year ago
Is it not about time for G. W. Bush to offer up an apology to the American People for the mess he's leaving behind...
I know its not in him to do such things but he really needs to do it... after all he hasn't been impeached yet!
Just a through...
Dave of the Jungle
· 1 year ago
He doesn't have to apologize. Daddy is rich.
annatopia
· 1 year ago
right on, dave. bush has never apologised for any of the messes he's left behind. he never apologised to the city of arlington for getting us sued when his ballpark buddies eminent domain'ed a bunch of land for his stupid ballpark. he never apologised to the state of texas for leaving us a budget hole, millions of uninsured, and lower graduation rates. and oh yea, let's not forget arbusto oil. he never apologised to those guys either.
fuck bush. he's going to come back to a nice mcmansion in highland park, he'll drink himself to death, and die thinking he did the righteous thing.
tbhull
· 1 year ago
Unless someone beats the bottle to it, like his drunk wife driving him home.
annatopia
· 1 year ago
ouch.
nah, i'm sure laura and george will have car service for life. god, i can't imagine running into one of them on the roads in north dallas.
brian
· 1 year ago
It might seem amazing, but the right wing still think that Bush will go down as a good president. They throw out statements about not one policy caused this mess and they blame Clinton and the Democrats for the mess. I wonder if the right wingers were saying the same things after Hoover?
therepguy
· 1 year ago
It chaps my ass when some republican stands up these days and tells the press that we can't afford something, as if their party wasn't the root cause of this mess! The republican party is becoming the party of obstructionism...
They also hadn't seen the end of their decline... I know I will not vote for another republican in my life time nor will my son in his life time!
And he's only 21!
Bubbles
· 1 year ago
If memory serves, for as long as he lived, the Republicans trotted out Hoover at every Republican convention for as long as he lived. Hoover was a big McCarthy backer in the 1950s.
For Roosevelt's four terms - Hoover was the gift that kept on giving.
These guys are even dumber than the Depression era Republicans. They make no apologies. Their policies were insane from day one. Yet Americans voted for them.
EmGD
· 1 year ago
So should we start hoarding beans, learning the hobo trade, and burning our possessions for warmth or not? This is the important info I need to know.
Would it not make sense to give us (the american people) the money and let us spend it. isn't that economic stimulus? I have been cooking a lot of beans lately. Practice makes perfect. I will try cooking them in a dutch oven over a fire pit next. West Elm catalogs and stock certificates will make a nice fire.
RobertSeattle
· 1 year ago
I'd rather the government spend it than consumers spend it on flat screen TVs from China. Rebuild our roads, bridges, ports, etc. To me this is the best form of "trickle down:.
Bush_Bites
· 1 year ago
Agree.
RobertSeattle
· 1 year ago
John Aravosis will want his contibutions in GOLD effective immeidately. :-)
therepguy
· 1 year ago
Flash
There is a silver linning to bush's mess... in the near future, there's going to be a lot fewer righ wing, republican facstist out there...
Why you ask...
Have you ever know a republican, who was able to do anything with out someone help... and then there the jumpers!
Just a through...
jcgraham77
· 1 year ago
i want tickets to the jumping.
therepguy
· 1 year ago
WOW I hadn't through about that but it would be a way to raise cash... I want the tickets to the bush family event!
woodroad34
· 1 year ago
There's a professional on-line newspaper called "Watchline". It's for first responders (Fire &Police). Here's what they're saying about the financial crisis:
"Fears Grow that Financial Crisis will Trigger Violence - Across the nation, authorities worry that the financial crisis could turn violent. With rising mortgage defaults and falling home values, more than four million Americans were at least one month behind on their mortgages at the end of June, and a record 500,000 had entered the foreclosure process, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Recommendation: Be aware that first responders may be affected by any upward violence trends, including an increase in arson fires. In one recent incident, a laid-off worker returned to his former office in northern California and killed three co-workers."
So much for making us safe and financially secure. Jeez! I've run out of adjectives to describe what loons and idiots Republicans have proven themselves to be. I'd say they should be ashamed of themselves, but they don't know the meaning of the word -- except to use it against the people they're supposed to serve. They've proven to be the antithesis of all that is good.
Older_Wiser
· 1 year ago
Hey, didn't I say that a couple of threads down (as did others lately) on this blog...
MaudGonne
· 1 year ago
gasoline consumption has fallen compared with a year earlier in every month from March through September of this year, according to data from the Energy Information Administration. Vehicle miles traveled -- the wonky term for how much we drive -- have dropped for 11 straight months, and fell 4.4% in September, according to the Department of Transportation. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122728664289448...
Indigo
· 1 year ago
The trouble with LIbertarian theories is that they don't take the existing problems into account or study how to either repair them or at least ease the pain during transitions. No, they want to let it all collapse and start over in a dog-eat-dog world. The world is not ever a clean slate, it's always messy. Looking past the bright eyes and high energy presention, I see an absence of concern for today's suffering individuals that makes ideological "compassionate conservatism" look compassionate.
Bush_Bites
· 1 year ago
I wish he would have taken out a baseball bat and finished off those CNBC corporate cheerleaders who helped get us into this mess.
nogo postal
· 1 year ago
Living on the edge..next June my wife and I will celebrate 35 years of marriage... The first home we bought in 1978 we sold at a profit. The home we bought with that we lost to foreclosure in 1985. Sine then..renters. The last credit card we used..we cut in half in 1996. We raised two children who understand living on the edge. We understand the paying our bills lottery. We understand buying from Craigslist for birthdays and holidays. We understand buying from the "old meat" section at our store...We understand setting the thermostat low and wearing sweaters in our home in winter. As the weird times descend upon us... we are ready. It is those who believed "it will always be great." that will have to adjust. For those with family who experienced "The Depression" Take more seriously their memories of a Christmas where a simple orange was considered special. We are headed for hard times. Some of us are more prepared than others... an oldie but a goodie.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcBWlblRDjg
ted
· 1 year ago
I liked it when Winnie the Pooh walked past the window at 1:00. That's a bear economy where we can barter for honey and smackerels.
Andrew
· 1 year ago
After listening to Obama's presser this morning I was hoping that he would have placed people like Schiff and Robini from NYU in positions to guide him on economic policy but he didn't. Schiff and roubini are right when they say you can't spend youself to wealth. We have to make things again that the rest of the world will buy. Considering the ever increasing amount of worthless dollars we're throwing at the problem is it any wonder that the dollar has lost 2.5 cents today and gold had risen nearly $100 since last week? Oil is also on the rise again. A 300 billion dollar bailout for Citibank is only adding gasolene to an already raging fire. The problem un the US is that politicians feeling the heat will do anything to placte voters while not admitting to the fact that they know little about economics other than if we have a problem, then throw more useless dollars at the problem. I've said it many times before, we have turned into a country of spendaholoics requiring a larger financial fix each time. That is why Schiff said we are nowhere near the bottom as far as the markets are concerned. The US government has to stop creating money we don't have other than trying to fund projects that will put people back to waork to as to increase the tax base. Spening hundreds of billion if not trillions on bailouts are nice, but I don't see anyone coming to the aid of middle America which accounts for 2/3rd's of our GDP. If people aren't spening because their in debt up to their eyeballs, nothing is going to change and the only way to get people spending again is to increas employment.
bilsemon
· 1 year ago
how do you buy gold? seriously. if you buy through a 401(k), aren't you still buying gold funds in us dollars? how do you buy real gold? can you do it through a retirement fund?
Eric
· 1 year ago
Check the Perth Mint. You buy certificates and they hold onto it in Australia. The cost to buy includes storage fees. It's the best option, given that FDR made gold illegal in the 30's. There is a far lower chance that Australia will start confiscating gold because their overall balance sheet isn't nearly as ugly as ours is. The main drawback is that you can't cradle the sweet gold in your arms.
Bubbles
· 1 year ago
This is essentially how paper money was created. You deposited gold in a bank, and were given a certificate. A little while later, you needed to buy something but were short of coins, you then exchanged your certificate for the goods you needed. Bingo - your certificates are now money in circulation.
Gold is always a good investment. There's nothing like holding REAL money in you hand. Not that crappy fiat money the government issues - but real, timeless money. You can store it in banks. Or you can do what my Uncle did: drilled a hole into the foundation of his house in a closet in his bedroom, then sunk a safe into it.
KerrynowCampau
· 1 year ago
Go to your local coin dealer and buy Krugerrands.
Andrew
· 1 year ago
It's easy buying gold as anything else. If you have a 401k you can buy real physical gold and silver and have it placed in your account. If you want to buy the physical metals there are many places to purchase from. One of the best can be found at www.apmex.com For those looking to convert their 401k's to a precious metals backed 401K with all of its benefits try these two sites: www.goldstartrust.com www.sterlingtrust.com If the links don't work, just google them.
TomJoad
· 1 year ago
Teh bald moron is doing what the rest did the whole way, when they scoffed at schiff...they are cheerleading for christs sake, and politicizing the market.
That is the only pluss here, those idiots will lose.
bilesemon, I should have listened to my heart back in late 2006, early 2007, I wanted to buy gold, and even mentioned it to a broker, who disuaded me by it. I am not knowledgeable enough to answer concretely, but when I looked into it...as you say, you buy shares in gold stocks. If you actually bought gold, you'd need to store it, secure it, etc. etc.
Try checking the net. I did, but it didn't make enough sense, or I didn't feel I had a handle on what I was actually buying if I went in on it.
paulbot5
· 1 year ago
Im glad you guys finally posted this video, although a few days late hehe
Eric
· 1 year ago
It's funny, because Peter Schiff says that the disaster isn't the subprime mess or the credit reduction. He says that the disaster is what the government is doing in response to these problems.
The endgame is hyperinflation. The USA experienced it during the Revolutionary War (the continental dollar) and Zimbabwe is experiencing it now.
We currently owe 10 trillion dollars at least. There is no way we can raise interest rates (to protect the dollar) because then our payments become too huge. The only way out is to create so many new dollars that the value of the debt is made worthless. Inflation helps those who are in debt. Who's in more debt than the US government?
His solution is to get all of your money out of the dollar until the government gets its act together (that might be a while).
KerrynowCampau
· 1 year ago
So then my mortgage becomes worthless?
Yipee!!
Eric
· 1 year ago
Actually, yes. But all of your transactions will be through barter. I don't know what the currency will be. Maybe packs of cigarettes, or just barter?
On many levels...except I don't think Georgie would look good with a mustache.
lies
· 1 year ago
why can't we give American's a "US made goods" credit?
seems like every consumer based bailout only gives more money to China, etc.
just a thought
paulbe
· 1 year ago
The worst part isn't that he's absolutely right, its the way those loudmouthes idiots interviewing home try to belittle his message. CNN is no better than FOX. One would think the same people owned all the station...Oh wait a minute, they do.
All Comments
Oh, and yeah, we're screwed. I mean, what we've seen so far is just heavy petting. But on the upside, Bush will be able to spend a lot more time cutting brush on his ranch. So everyone who needs a place to squat will have a place to set up camp. I'm sure he won't mind. He loves us almost as much as him mom.
$7.4 trillion dollars will buy 46.2 billion bottles of Balvenie Portword 21 Year Old Scotch at $160 a bottle.
7.4 trillion feet is roughly 1.4 billion miles, or 15 times the average distance from the earth to the sun.
If you drove an automobile at 90 miles an hour, 24x7 - no breaks, it would take you 15,572,390 hours to drive 7.4 trillion miles (that's a little over 1,777 years - better get started)
7.4 trillion seconds is equal to 234,652 years
If you were a high priced attorney and could bill at an hourly rate of $700 per hour,you'd need to 10.5 billion
hours of billable time to send an invoice for 7.4 trillion dollars.
If you assume the average weight of a human being is 170 pounds and the world population is 6.72 billion, then the combined weight of all humans on the planet is only around a 1.1 trillion pounds (16% of 7.4 trillion)
Korea has 50 million people, most of whom are able to live a middle class life style. They even have their own Uber-wealthy. All of that for UNDER a Trillion dollars.
Trying to understand what $7 trillion dollars looks like - wrap your head around all of that.
http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsvie...
He's going to need all the help he can get and that means a 60 vote majority in the Senate!
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109...
We should have elected Neil Bush. He did less harm.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109...
As stated in a thread below, Taxpayers must now admit that they and their children are the slaves for the likes of AIG, Citigroup and in turn a wealthy Saudui prince. My tax dollars, your tax dollars, the tax dollars of our children will be paying for these entities and the lavish salaries and benefits they have paid and continue to pay executives.
I propose DC be destroyed by a nationawide tax revolt. If Congress expects the taxpayers to toil away so that our dollars can be spent on this bullshit then the political careers of these bought and paid for assholes should be seen swinging from the trees of the Mall as DC crumbles. DC needs to be figuratively destroyed to its hopelessly corrupt core before any real, meaning and helpful change can occur.
For all of those not wishing to participate then remain on your knees and keep swallowing for your corporate and Saudi Prince masters, which masters are probably not even your employer.
hang on everyone...we can do it.
can you imagine going through this with mcCain/Palin in charge...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122748520112251...
His solution of standing back and allowing the entire system to collapse doesn't seem terribly helpful at this point. And really, what good is telling everybody "YOU'RE F*CKED!!" over and over and over if you don't have any solutions to offer?
Peter Schiff has been predicting this crisis since 2002 based on Austrian Economic theory. The Keynesians spent the entire time laughing at him and mocking him.
And finally, the whole system doesn't need to collapse. We just need to let interest rates go to where they should be. I don't know about you, but if there were 20% interest rates (which is what saved our economy in the early 80's) right now, I'd finally know where to put my savings. During that time, though, the least profitable businesses would go under. After the initial turmoil, though, we'd be able to grow again.
This bailout nonsense and throwing money at the problem is a Keynesian solution. Wait and see how well it does.
My solution, let the structures that find their foundations built on this billshit fail and rebuild anew.
The model to work this out is the following:
1) Don't let the Fed set interest rates.
2) Remove capital gains taxes from 1 or 2 commodities, such as gold and silver.
3) Reduce the expenditure of the government as much as possible, starting with ending the bailouts and ending this moronic foreign policy of ours.
Those things would give a foundation to fix the economy.
Keynesians were advocating demand side policies - for 20 years.
Median wages have been flat for 30 years. That's the source of the problem. Stimulus is short term Rx, what's needed is structural elements that allow wages to go up with increases in GNP.
That never happened. After 2001, we had GNP go up without increases in demand. Collapse was inevitable. But it wasn't supposed to happen until January 21, 2009. Oops.
Look, what we had was insane. I'm no economist, but reading way back in the early 2000 years, about how many dollars (in the form of bonds, etc.) China had to pump into the economy just to stay afloat, and then we start two wars (OFF the books I might add. Not in the budget..outside of it) and even back in the 90's, everything you look closely at...made in china, I knew it wasn't going to last. It is untenable. Stores ALWAYS had to make more profit, sell more goods to more people each year, people in the US proudly "shop-o-holic" and all of it on credit. I read some years back that the average of the US, is no savings, and about 5000 dollars in credit card debt.
Nobody saved up for any goods, they bought it now. Now reading that some stores (I think kmart was one) are offering "layaway" that they let the people buy and take home goods, and don't have to pay a nickel for them for TWO YEARS....how in the hell is that any different than the sub-prime except on scale? Two years from now, how many of those people will say "oh..we can't pay now" and they are going to have to keep billing records all this time, and...it's nuts.
Schiff makes sense, and it is common sense, and it does work. We don't want to race to the bottom of the pay scale, demonize unions, try to compete with countries where the people MAKING THE GOODS are virtual slaves....that only benefits our overlords. You know what, the people making the goods are the buyers as well. You can't have an economy with everyone asking everyone else "you want fries with that?".
This shake up is going to happen, and it is going to cause a lot of pain (one can console oneself that our "help" to the lions share of Iraqis hurt a lot more....killed in fact) but I really believe there is no way to avoid it.
We are a society that values mindless "models" (so you want to be a...), athletes, that idolizes "reality" shows, and people acting like morons are "fun folk", and that hates "intillectualism", hates smart, doesn't think learning has any benefit.
We've been eating our tails for too long. We've become moral cannibals, and it is all breaking down because of it.
Actually, the "layaway" plan, or at least the one I'm familiar with, is where the store holds the merchandise for you for a specified period of time until you have paid in full. My mother used layaway quite a lot when we were growing up.
If you're fucked, it is sometimes a lot more humane to tell you it, than pretend otherwise.
If I had a life threatening disease, I'd rather have the doctor tell me "you got 3 weeks max." than "well, one never knows, we have lots of techniques to help you through this" if the truth is...I got three weeks.
GM, Ford, and Chrysler are not the only ways that America can produce. His point is that we don't throw money at companies that can't turn a profit; that's what fucks up our economy.
We import 2 billion dollars a more per day than we export. The only way we can correct that is if we make stuff. Right now, we are living on credit. That is why the Chinese are holding onto trillions of US dollars right now.
I like how that even though he predicted this disaster people are still resistant to listening to what he has to say.
"The money that’s been pledged is equivalent to $24,000 for every man, woman and child in the country. It’s nine times what the U.S. has spent so far on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to Congressional Budget Office figures. It could pay off more than half the country’s mortgages."
More will unbdoubtebly follow and for what? So that we can save the system and the folks that got us here all so that we may repeat this again? DC needs to fall.
hmm... with 24K i could pay for the rest of my schooling without taking loans (which are really fucking hard to get these days)....
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/jeff...
How about if we stop allowing "American" companies to set up offshore to avoid paying taxes. How about if we stop allowing "American" companies to employ people in poorer countries so they can pay them next to nothing.
People in my rural area are bartering more for goods and services than I've ever seen before.
Bush gave as much as 10 trillion to the top 30,000 families in this country.
He did that after 20 years of no growth in the median wage, despite the fact that the GNP had more than doubled in that time.
Concentrated wealth, for a society, is like standing up in a canoe, its prone to sudden, epic collapse.
The only way out of this mess is to transfer some 10 trillion dollars from the supply side to the demand side of the economy.
$700 billion stimulus is not enough. It's just a starter. Anything under $1 trillion isn't serious. As far as taxes, all that money given to the uber-wealthy has to come back.
I know its not in him to do such things but he really needs to do it... after all he hasn't been impeached yet!
Just a through...
fuck bush. he's going to come back to a nice mcmansion in highland park, he'll drink himself to death, and die thinking he did the righteous thing.
nah, i'm sure laura and george will have car service for life. god, i can't imagine running into one of them on the roads in north dallas.
They also hadn't seen the end of their decline... I know I will not vote for another republican in my life time nor will my son in his life time!
And he's only 21!
For Roosevelt's four terms - Hoover was the gift that kept on giving.
These guys are even dumber than the Depression era Republicans. They make no apologies. Their policies were insane from day one. Yet Americans voted for them.
http://thesebastards.blogspot.com/
There is a silver linning to bush's mess... in the near future, there's going to be a lot fewer righ wing, republican facstist out there...
Why you ask...
Have you ever know a republican, who was able to do anything with out someone help... and then there the jumpers!
Just a through...
I want the tickets to the bush family event!
"Fears Grow that Financial Crisis will Trigger Violence - Across the nation, authorities worry that the financial crisis could turn violent. With rising mortgage defaults and falling home values, more than four million Americans were at least one month behind on their mortgages at the end of June, and a record 500,000 had entered the foreclosure process, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Recommendation: Be aware that first responders may be affected by any upward violence trends, including an increase in arson fires. In one recent incident, a laid-off worker returned to his former office in northern California and killed three co-workers."
So much for making us safe and financially secure. Jeez! I've run out of adjectives to describe what loons and idiots Republicans have proven themselves to be. I'd say they should be ashamed of themselves, but they don't know the meaning of the word -- except to use it against the people they're supposed to serve. They've proven to be the antithesis of all that is good.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122728664289448...
The first home we bought in 1978 we sold at a profit. The home we bought with that we lost to foreclosure in 1985.
Sine then..renters. The last credit card we used..we cut in half in 1996. We raised two children who understand living on the edge. We understand the paying our bills lottery. We understand buying from Craigslist for birthdays and holidays.
We understand buying from the "old meat" section at our store...We understand setting the thermostat low and wearing
sweaters in our home in winter. As the weird times descend upon us... we are ready. It is those who believed "it will always be great." that will have to adjust. For those with family who experienced "The Depression" Take more seriously their memories of a Christmas where a simple orange was considered special.
We are headed for hard times. Some of us are more prepared than others...
an oldie but a goodie..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcBWlblRDjg
Considering the ever increasing amount of worthless dollars we're throwing at the problem is it any wonder that the dollar has lost 2.5 cents today and gold had risen nearly $100 since last week? Oil is also on the rise again. A 300 billion dollar bailout for Citibank is only adding gasolene to an already raging fire.
The problem un the US is that politicians feeling the heat will do anything to placte voters while not admitting to the fact that they know little about economics other than if we have a problem, then throw more useless dollars at the problem. I've said it many times before, we have turned into a country of spendaholoics requiring a larger financial fix each time. That is why Schiff said we are nowhere near the bottom as far as the markets are concerned. The US government has to stop creating money we don't have other than trying to fund projects that will put people back to waork to as to increase the tax base. Spening hundreds of billion if not trillions on bailouts are nice, but I don't see anyone coming to the aid of middle America which accounts for 2/3rd's of our GDP. If people aren't spening because their in debt up to their eyeballs, nothing is going to change and the only way to get people spending again is to increas employment.
Gold is always a good investment. There's nothing like holding REAL money in you hand. Not that crappy fiat money the government issues - but real, timeless money. You can store it in banks. Or you can do what my Uncle did: drilled a hole into the foundation of his house in a closet in his bedroom, then sunk a safe into it.
For those looking to convert their 401k's to a precious metals backed 401K with all of its benefits try these two sites:
www.goldstartrust.com
www.sterlingtrust.com
If the links don't work, just google them.
That is the only pluss here, those idiots will lose.
bilesemon, I should have listened to my heart back in late 2006, early 2007, I wanted to buy gold, and even mentioned it to a broker, who disuaded me by it. I am not knowledgeable enough to answer concretely, but when I looked into it...as you say, you buy shares in gold stocks. If you actually bought gold, you'd need to store it, secure it, etc. etc.
Try checking the net. I did, but it didn't make enough sense, or I didn't feel I had a handle on what I was actually buying if I went in on it.
The endgame is hyperinflation. The USA experienced it during the Revolutionary War (the continental dollar) and Zimbabwe is experiencing it now.
We currently owe 10 trillion dollars at least. There is no way we can raise interest rates (to protect the dollar) because then our payments become too huge. The only way out is to create so many new dollars that the value of the debt is made worthless. Inflation helps those who are in debt. Who's in more debt than the US government?
His solution is to get all of your money out of the dollar until the government gets its act together (that might be a while).
Yipee!!
seems like every consumer based bailout only gives more money to China, etc.
just a thought