Freeform Wednesday- "Economic Ramblings"

I saw this on an email list and thought it would be great for the open Wednesday post. I contacted the author and am printing excatly what he wrote below. Now, its very long, but also very interesting. I have not fact checked it, or his sources, and cannot personally verify or vouch for him, not knowing him personally (as is the case for anything I post on here that I have not personally written). But his message certainly jives with what one sees out there and is worth noting and arguing. To those who feel the urge to post a reply, please, use logic and argue with his points. It is very annoying when someone writes a thoughtful piece and is then attacked by critics who do not argue the issues and points, but rather nitpick cosmetic issues and the like.

Caveat: While what follows is the result of my research thus far. there may be unknown(by me) monetary policy tools that I have not mentioned which could act to somewhat mitigate the outcome of our current predicament. However, in all of my research thus far, I have not found them and would appreciate any additional information regarding this.


Also, I am not, nor have I been by nature a paranoid individual, although I am now an anxiously nervous one! Knowing that this may be posted on the internet, and pointing to the fact that there is nothing incite-ful or terroristic in my prose, I present this without identifying myself as I have no desire to attract the attention of the National Security State prior to the civil unrest that is about to befall us. The repudiation of our basic Constitutional rights under the Patriot Act and numerous Executive Orders coupled with activities brought to light by governmental whistle-blowers has served to severely degrade my belief in the benevolent nature of our government A uniquely empowered FEMA has been very busy in preparation. Besides, my wife insisted…



Economic Ramblings

By P.J.A. – A Concerned Patriot

Annapolis, MD


While I have been emboldened over the apparent increase in the numbers of Americans “waking up” and as evidenced in the numbers that have come to follow Ron Paul, we have quite a long way to go. It is so disheartening to acknowledge that a quorum of rubber stamping Republican and Democrat dilettantes still exist, enough so to continue to propel the American bus’s trip over the cliff. Until this quorum is chiseled away through the education of the masses coupled with an acceptance of personal responsibility and the ascendance of an honest leader, we will not see an end to the statist agenda that virtually both parties are following. The statists have a hammer lock on control of the two Party’s, look at what just happened during the 2008 Nevada GOP Convention. The Republicrats are about to bring great ruin on us all.


When you understand what follows, ask yourself two questions…Who would benefit from what is coming? The second question, (Why?) will be answered by the first…but only if you do the research. If not, you will be doomed to continue to be smacked around like an economic ping pong ball while elitists destroy the American middle class and sell us off into world government. This is not something that “might happen” in your future…it is in process right now and will have run its’ course within the next 5 years…probably much sooner given the state of the agri-oil markets and the extra speedy motors added to the printing presses within the Fed’s system. If you endeavor to learn, you may be able to protect yourself and protect me as well. What you really will have to do, once your jaw is raised back into place, is to take a stand against the dog and pony show that is the political system as we know it. Protection will lie in the absence of debt…including mortgages as bank failures will have these loans “called-in” in an environment where loans are non-existant…and the physical transference of cash equivalent assets into precious metals ASAP.


To begin, I have to state my new found respect for “Whistle-Blowers” and “Conspiracy Theorists”. For those that like to ridicule “Conspiracy Theorists” as wacko’s living in trailers, I’d challenge them to truly understand who these “theorists” are and what they are saying while honestly examining the evidence they present. Simply “spewing” ridiculem, backed by MSM (Main Stream Media) meme as the authority, will not serve you well. This is what I have done. Rather than jump on the “Ridicule Express”, I endeavored to understand why such seemingly insane opinions existed.


A couple of years ago, after hearing that 30%+ of the American Pubic were wacko’s that believed that 911 was an inside job, I was completely dumbfounded. I couldn’t understand how they could possibly believe in such things. I voted for Bush twice and certainly never held such beliefs. Even now, after months of investigation and research into 911, the illuminati, aliens, and other “theories” I am hard pressed to point a finger at “the government” per say…but I do have many questions that NEED answering before I give the powers that be a pass…on ALL of those subjects…yes, even the alien thing. Besides, can anybody truly differentiate between a “Conspiracy” and/or a “Strategy” and is it so hard to understand that history has been defined by the conspiracies of powerful men? Is there any amongst us who has not heard of a conspiratorial group called The Sons of Liberty? At some point, prior to the culmination of their plans, their machinations were performed in smokey back rooms and only whispered of in public. I wonder who laughed at the whisperers about the small cadre that was about to topple the greatest power that the world had ever seen.


The vast majority of these “conspiracy theorists” that we so readily throw under the bus, are from my experience, and now from my perspective, good Americans or lovers of liberty who have realized that a grave problem not only exists in our country, but is growing. They, more than any other subset of society, are truly the ones among us who have taken it upon themselves to honor personal responsibility in their own educations and are now therefore informed to a great degree, and are sounding the Klaxon for our benefit. They have turned off their televisions and taken it upon themselves to try and identify and understand who or what is driving their ill fated bus. They are the ones who have taken the proverbial bull by the horns, and they are the ones begging for your assistance in subduing the beast. The most surprising thing for me was to find that an over-abundance of substantive well researched information was available for all to see and it consisted of information that you WILL NEVER SEE in the corporate controlled media.


I don’t live in a trailer and am in fact an educated, professional bean counter (accountant) and a securities trader. Even with an educated background and the ability to do “research”, I found myself like most others, living my life in a media controlled daydream believing in the altruism of my government and the importance of a new quarterback for the Ravens. Well…no more. While we have all been told to beware of what we read on the internet, I have found that this is the place to get truly educated. The thing to be cautious of is the box that sits in your living room as it lulls you into a false sense of security, “spews” bullshit at regular intervals, and allows for little educated discernment.


We have incredibly difficult economic times ahead. I have prepared what follows from my research to awaken my friends and family to what is about to happen to us. It is very pertinent to us all as we are facing imminent financial collapse! There is little doubt of this in my mind, and you can find lots of support for what I am about to illustrate with little research. We have a currency in dire trouble so you have to understand one thing intrinsically, collapse is a very high likelihood and it may be currently imminent! You must act to protect your current purchasing power against the hyper-inflation that is coming.


What follows should engender an understanding of the goofiness of any candidate parading before us telling us how they are going to spend MORE of our money. It doesn’t matter what their “pet” issue is, there is no money for any of it other than what they will print. And those of you who would vote for McHilama and are not only allowing it, but are buying into it with your very livelihoods. I will never do this again. I will write in Ron Paul. Here is why:


Our currency is backed by nothing other than the world’s “faith” in the American government’s ability to make good on their obligations and the long standing Bretton Woods agreement that the US Dollar would act as the world’s reserve currency. This means that any country wanting to buy oil, must have US Dollars to pay for it. This has served to “prop up” the value of the dollar for as long as the phenomenon continues as the dollar’s value was defined in its use. Don’t expect this to last past 2009. Chavez has already begun selling in Euro’s and the Iranian Oil Bourse (a trading market) will open soon and adopt an alternative methodology in the process.


Our currency is a fiat currency that was ripped from any controlling valuation standard (like gold and silver) in a process that began in 1913 with the advent of the Federal Reserve Act and culminated in 1972 with a complete repudiation of any gold standard. America had printed and spent too much during the Vietnam War and was, by all measurements, broke and unable to pay its’ international debts in gold.


It is important to note that that all un-backed fiat currencies collapse. ALL! And they all collapse in relatively the same manner. At the very least, we have an irreversible financial crises ahead. With this said, you must understand that it is incumbent upon you to be aware and be ready for it. I see this happening sooner rather than later...much sooner. And while I am also driven by the desire for a more wholesome, rural environment for my son to grow up in, this "state of affairs" is certainly a factor in our desire to get to the mountains and get settled as soon as possible.


We have 80,000,000 baby-boomers reaching retirement age over the next few, but very important years. They will be required by law to begin to draw down their retirement accounts which will create its’ own downward pressure on the markets…a phenomenon that will begin this year and accelerate for the next ten years. The National Debt is currently at $9.4 Trillion, and most assuredly will be over $10 Trillion by the end of the year. The last estimate that I heard given, regarding the amount of unfunded liabilities and entitlements owed by the government, was $62 Trillion (This number seems to fluctuate each time I hear it referred to but, in any case, it is above $55 Trillion). These “unfunded liabilities and entitlements” consist of the money we will have to pay out for Medi-care, Social Security, and Welfare. Add these deficits and estimates together and you get $71 Trillion. That is $71,000,000,000,000.00 that we owe to the government to pay for these obligations over the next few years! Forget about continuing operations, forays and whims, I simply speak about what we currently owe. Just as a matter of perspective, and since these huge numbers are bandied about in the news like it’s just another dinner out…If we were to stack 71 Trillion crisp, new One Dollar Bills, one on top of the other in banded stacks of 100, the stack of bills would reach 11,205,808 Miles! That is the distance from Earth…to the Moon…and back… 23 times! Or another way to look at it…If you were to sit and count to 71 Trillion, and you did it constantly, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, 52 weeks per year, you would finish in about…oh….6,745,000 years!


Given that we have 300 million people in the U.S.A., $71 Trillion in government debt is the equivalent of $236,000.00 of debt for every man, woman and child in the country…a mortgage for each of us without the house to back it! Usually one would then further extrapolate the $71 Trillion across only the swath that “actually pays federal income tax.” While statisticians would want to “adjust” this figure to reflect the fact that not everybody pays taxes, such jockeying belies an improper assumption about how the monetary system works…as you will see…

Yes, this is the government’s debt for all of the wonderful gifts that we've voted them into office to "give" us and collectively we somehow are able to emotionally and intellectually separate ourselves from this as if someone else will have to pay the tab. Typically we think that this has little to do with the exigencies of our own personal lives and it really has been “nice” to have other “more knowledgeable” people thinking about these things as it has allowed us more free time to pursue our personal desires. This is far from the truth.

First understand that, as an American, and since this is your government, these funds can only come from one place...your pocket. You will have to pay these governmental bills in addition to all other living expenses. Since our Income Tax and other federal taxes brought in $1.8 Trillion in 2007 and we are currently operating on $2.4 Trillion, we increased the amount we owe by around $6.00 per person, per day just in deficit spending and as a numeric measurement of the increase in the debt in 2007 alone. This year’s projected budget deficit, as mentioned by Ron Paul at Goucher College, is somewhere in the vicinity of $750 Billion, a number that is probably negatively suspect given all of the subterfuge and lies that seem to be growing unabated in Washington, DC. Bush has just proposed a budget in excess of $3 Trillion for 2009 and the economy has taken a downturn which will further apply negative pressure to the Government’s revenues for 2008 and the foreseeable future. In this very same environment, deficit spending will now reach over the $1 Trillion mark. But wait!...There is more…so much more...

Elected government officials are typically judged by, and re-elected for, what they can bring back to their constituents from Washington. Other than Ron Paul who has been trying, I have no imagination that would have any of them ever telling us the truth about this…at least not until it is too late (which it already is). Political reality says these things will be paid and since we don’t currently bring in enough money to pay for current operations, the only way for that to happen is by printing the money. What crushes me is that almost every person I talk to about this doesn’t know what this means and some think that I’m a bit crazed in my assumptions. What makes matters worse, is that most people are completely oblivious as to exactly how money is created and exactly how much inflation results from a few billion dollars in government spending…like the stimulus package the government is providing right now.

As it is my newly adopted habit to steer anyone who is in financial literacy limbo to the book "The Creature from Jekyll Island" by G. Edward Griffin, and given that you are a bit further on than most, I will recommend it to you but take the time to at least address the "Mandrake Mechanism" which is how money gets "printed" in this country. It is something very few people know, even though it is not that complicated.

We exist under a system of fractional reserve banking. This means that banks, desirous of your deposits spend money and effort in attracting your business by providing an enticement of interest...let's use 3% for illustrative purposes. They make their money via fees and interest they earn when they "loan" the money that you have deposited to others. But, and this is a big “BUT", per the fractional reserve system, banks are allowed to lend more than what is deposited by their customers…nine times more!

Say I deposit $10,000.00 into M&T Bank. M&T has increased their cash reserves by my $10,000.00 and may now, under the rules of the Federal Reserve System, loan out nine times the amount that they have on deposit. This means that they are able to write loans of $90,000.00 based on my $10,000.00. This is absolutely no different than turning the presses on and letting them rip...exactly the same! They pay me 3% of $10,000.00 or $300.00 and receive say 6% of $90,000.00 or $5,400.00. Hearing this kind of makes you want to own a bank, doesn’t it?

As the creation of money is now mostly a computer transaction, it only takes a little time and a calculator to understand how much money is about to be printed from $750 Billion in deficit spending that ultimately ends up in the banks. Here...I'll help you...it turns into $6.75 Trillion over the course of the next couple of years! Never mind that mortgages may be harder to come by, the loans will instead be provided in other sectors of the economy or to third world countries through interaction with other banks, the Fed and the World Bank/IMF. It is their “right” to print it, and print it they shall for how else are they to earn money? It is what they do!

Now take the estimated deficit spending of next year of $1.25-$1.50 Trillion and you will see that this will result in "new money" being printed in the amount of $11.25-$13.5 Trillion because of next year alone! This means that the actions of the Government in collusion with the Federal Reserve will generate an increase of the money supply over the next few short years of approximately $18 Trillion give or take a Trillion or so. What results from this is illustrative of the law of supply and demand at its most blatant...as more dollars are available to chase the same goods (supply increase) prices rise or in other words...inflation results.

In 1980, and using round numbers, the M3-the money supply, was approximately $2 Trillion. Since Congress has no problem spending what they don’t have, the presses, by 1990, had increased the money supply to $4 Trillion. Between 1990 and 2000 it increased again to $6 Trillion! Between 2000 and 2007 this jumped to $10 Trillion…20 year’s worth of inflation in just 7 years! And now we will see the hyper-inflationary environment kick into high gear as we go from $10 Trillion to $28 Trillion in the next 4-5 years!!! Here is a graph showing the progression thus far:

Graph

Add to this that the government’s numbers are being fudged and market indices are being manipulated to paint rosy pictures that are in effect a complete fallacy. For instance, which index do you think still includes ENRON as part of their “calculation”? None. This means that the true reflection of the debacle no longer shows in the measurement of the markets. This is common for components to be “de-listed” which, in effect presents a false interpretation of economic performance.

It is my understanding that we have measured inflation via an accepted methodology for many decades until just a couple of years ago. What makes up “GDP” has also changed to reflect and include re-selling of imported goods manufactured off-shore by non-American workers. This is improper as GDP is supposed to be the measurement of “our” output. Further, using the new methodologies, we were told that we experienced 2-4% inflation last year. I don't know about you but it felt like a truck load more to me. I paid $3.19 for a half gallon of organic milk last year. Today it was $4.05! I don’t have to say anything about energy costs. If we were to return to the calculation methodology used for years and years, inflation last year was above 12%!

Now let's re-examine my previous statement that a statistical adjustment of the $71 Trillion, to take into account the fact that not everyone pays taxes, is really a canard. Imagine if you are some little old lady (or maybe you are) who is relying on the stipend provided by her questionable Hero...FDR. You may get a whopping $1,600.00 per month to live on. Can you imagine the effect that a hidden inflation tax of 12+% has on her? What will it be like next year when inflation crests 15+%? Can anyone absorb a hit of 25+% of their income in two years? And what about the year after that as inflation picks up speed? What about those on welfare? What about the working poor? What about you?

There are many in our society who exist either on a fixed income or on menial wages and nothing exists to change this. We are not the country that slipped into a morass in 1929. While the means of production sat idle for a few years, the means of production still existed. They no longer do...at least not here. They are in China, Taiwan, Sri Lanka and many other places…just not here. They have been dismantled and shipped off-shore. The "good jobs" that politicians love to crow about and promise you in their campaigns are non-existent and no stimulus package will bring them back prior to our joining the Third World! NAFTA and the WTO saw to that. Can't you hear Perot's "Huge Sucking Sound" now?

The last, though certainly not the least, problem is the high likelihood that the dollar's time as the world's reserve currency will end VERY, VERY soon. The threat of the loss of this position is why we are in Iraq as Saddam stopped taking dollars for oil in 2000. We invaded under pretext 6 months later. Iran's Oil Bourse will come on line very soon and will be traded in Euro's and other currencies which is why we are looking at them hard. Being the reserve currency means that people (countries) must own dollars so they can buy oil. This artificially props up the value of a currency which has allowed the collusive Federal Reserve/American Government “conspiracy”, and somewhat criminal partnership, to foist their scam on the world. The world is now wise and given the talk in OPEC, will soon dump the dollar in favor of a basket of currencies. This will be the end for the dollar.

In the Weimar Republic of Germany, in January of 1919 and towards the end of WWI, one ounce of silver sold for 12 marks. Due to the punitive Treaty of Versailles in June of that year, Germany had been forced into a surrender that included massive fines and recompense to her former adversaries. Within 4 years, by January of 1923, as they did what we are doing now...printing the money to meet their obligations, silver went to 23,277 Marks per ounce and one year later in January of 1924, the price of one ounce of silver rose to 543,750,000,000 Marks per ounce! Yes that is 543 Billion Marks per ounce! As more marks flowed into circulation, the amounts of marks chasing the same goods and services grew and so did the prices. This is known, of course, as “inflation”, or in this case, “hyperinflation leading to collapse of the currency”. With an equivalent collapse in our own economy do to the debasement of the currency, we will be facing the proverbial scenario of needing a “wheelbarrow of cash to buy a loaf of bread”. Given what I have already painted with regards to the amount of paper that such an amount would entail, one can see what a highly inadequate illustration this really is.

I was recently sent the below link by my father whom I had been urging to read the book, “The Creature from Jekyll Island”. The book completely explains the history of the Federal Reserve and its collusive and often nefarious activities over the years. It also explains in very understandable, even simple terms, the mechanisms of its operation.

As the book is almost 600 pages long, it can be daunting to most people. Even though the film I am linking to is sufficient in teaching you what is most pertinently of concern to us all, you should still commit to read the book. It is information that will be important to you in the future. Please don’t be afraid. It is a great book and it reads like a detective novel, not a textbook. It is actually exciting, complete with its intrigues and the conspiracies of powerful men. It really is one of best books I’ve ever read…and I read a lot. Once you have read this, you will never see the world in the same way again. You will also come away from it like a child with a new skill. You will have been completely informed about money and history but now you will possess an eye for the intrigue and subterfuge that most don’t see. It is information that may actually save you great financial pain and allow you the knowledge to maneuver through the troubled waters ahead.

Were everyone to know and understand what is in this book, and so have opened eyes as to what we have allowed politicians to do to us, I believe that neither the Republican, nor the Democratic parties would continue to exist and we would have a return to small constitutional government in short order. It is my hope that in such a utopia, we would regain control of our airwaves again…but that is a subject for another dissertation.

Please watch this video. This is the author of “The Creature From Jekyll Island” G. Edward Griffin, explaining the pertinent facts of the book, and the danger that is now upon us. Keeping the aforementioned example of Germany in mind, listen for and truly understand how the Mandrake Mechanism works. Griffin gives a very simple and understandable explanation of the effect. Once you understand how the government gets its money, and what the banks then do with this money, you will fully understand what is happening with every additional deficit dollar spent and see how bad this will get in the not to distant future. Hopefully you will now have the information and the knowledge to see the pitches being thrown, and act to safeguard yourself and your assets, as the pitches are now being hurled at your head.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6507136891691870450

David Walker, the Comptroller General of the United States for the GAO has been traveling the country over the past two years trying to warn the public about what the government is doing to us. Sadly, he just quit his job for a position in a CFR think tank, so they have now shut him up by their preferred method...draw your own conclusions...

Of course the numbers Walker cites have changed. They have gotten worse. The only problem with his scenario, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he didn’t understand it, is that there is no discussion about the effect that all of the Trillions in new money placed into circulation is going to have on the ultimate money supply and value of the dollar. He only speaks of the debt burden.

Remember, when the government calculates inflation now, they are now using a different methodology than they used just a few years ago. Their new method says that we saw inflation of 2-4% last year when, had they used the proper method, or at least the method they have used for years; the rate would be more like 12-14%...you know…the rate we all felt. Also, in March 2006, the Federal Reserve stopped reporting the M3 which is basically the money supply report! The Fed stated:

“M3 does not appear to convey any additional information about economic activity that is not already embodied in M2 and has not played a role in the monetary policy process for many years. Consequently, the Board judged that the costs of collecting the underlying data and publishing M3 outweigh the benefits.”

In a heated Congressional meeting this summer, Ron Paul took Chairman Bernanke to the woodshed over this and he just did it again recently…accompanied by cheers from the trading floor in Chicago. The traders on the floors of the exchanges were chanting his name as he did so. Those with monetary policy intelligence apparently know exactly what is happening to us. Below are both a video David Walker produced in 2006 and a 60 Minutes interview from early 2007.

Google Video

Google Video

I am also including a link to a Youtube poster’s account. The owner of the account has posted numerous clips from a seminar given by economic experts David and Donald McAlvany. These will hammer home the very drastic and dangerous future that is upon us. I am providing this information to warn you so that you can make plans to protect yourself and your families. Good luck in all that you do. I hope this information comes in time for you to make the necessary adjustments for survival.

Google Video

Here is Kiyosaki talking about this problem.

http://www.richdad.com/RichDad/RichContent.aspx?cpid=63