Doom 'n Gloom

[ishi]

This is ishi's Doom 'n Gloom thread.

Oil prices just hit $94 and they're climbing higher every day. US refinery capacities are at their limit, no new refineries are being built, and any drop in production means huge spikes in Gas prices.

The Canadian dollar is worth $1.07 US and our purchasing power is dropping every day, at a pace that's alarming to anybody paying attention. It was $1.02 TWO WEEKS ago. We are now Canada's Mexico.

The national debt is over 9 trillion dollars. The fresh new dollar bills minted by the Treasury are backed by... what? The Fed's ability to borrow more money from foreign banks.

So, what happens when the bottom falls out? Your money in your bank account is backed by the FDIC. But what is the FDIC backed by? The Fed's ability to borrow more money from foreign banks.

Which brings us, finally to the global credit crunch brought on by the popping of the housing market bubble. When the Fed tries to borrow more money, and the banks say "we can only give you X amount", the US dollar will be revealed as the monopoly funny money it is.

Buy a high-quality home safe, take your money out of the banks, and buy gold or some other compact items of real and undiminishable value.

I'm not talking about the end of the world here, just another 1929-style depression.

Or maybe I'm just worried for no reason. Nothing to see here, everything's fine.

 

[mot mayhem]

I agree. Only wish I had the money & gold to put in the safe. You can't miss the signs. For now, all the wife, expected one, and I have is Faith. But, on the bright side, you know what is written about faith ....

 

[Apollo]

If everybody did what your said, 1929 would be here sooner rather than later. Can you imagine if everybody withdraw all their money from the banks and stock market at the same time?

 

[ishi]

If everybody did what your said, 1929 would be here sooner rather than later. Can you imagine if everybody withdraw all their money from the banks and stock market at the same time?

Yes, of course that's true. I need enough people to stay on board so I can get my money out first.

 

[kwo51]

Pakistan and marshel law hold on to your hat its going to get rough. Stupid robber in florida using old colt woodsman to rob stores. Gun worth more than his combined takes.

 

[PascalFleischman]

I have to disagree with you about the "buy gold" comment. The common misconception is that "gold will always have value", but let me lay out my argument about why it won't. In the event that the economy tanks because of a dollar crash, very few people will be interested in gold. People will want goods and services they can use, versus shiny things. Gold might be good in the short term, but there will come a point where only the manufacturers have gold. The blackmarket will thrive, but in the end, it's food, water, & gasoline that will have the highest value.

 

[Magistrate PO]

Simple precautions

If you are concerned about a pending depression, and you sould really have some concerns in this area, there are some simple things that you can do to prepare your family. Take a real good look at your expenses. Are you putting money in savings, or spending nearly every penny? Put together a budget that you can get by on and put money away for unforseen problems. Most familys would be bankrupt in 6 weeks if they lost thier jobs. Preperation is simple, but not as much funs as the new car, or the extra vacations, or the high dollar 1911 that your have been admiring. Cut your expenses down to what you actually need to get by, and save the excess. Keep it in the bank, under your mattress, or in your gun safe, just make sure your have something to deal with any financial problems that may arise. We prepare for other emergencies, why do we ignore financial emergencies?

 

[ishi]

I have to disagree with you about the "buy gold" comment. The common misconception is that "gold will always have value", but let me lay out my argument about why it won't. In the event that the economy tanks because of a dollar crash, very few people will be interested in gold. People will want goods and services they can use, versus shiny things. Gold might be good in the short term, but there will come a point where only the manufacturers have gold. The blackmarket will thrive, but in the end, it's food, water, & gasoline that will have the highest value.

I think people will be interested in gold if the dollar tanks, because they'll be interested in any currency that keeps its value. I don't have an easy way to buy swiss francs, so gold is an easy way to store money in a way that resists inflation. Precious metals have always been a de facto currency, and with metals becoming more scarce, I don't see why this would change.

Food water and gasoline are good things to store for shot-term, extreme disasters, but for an economic depression that might last 10 years, I don't see how it's that useful. Storing $30k in gasoline is logistically infeasible anyway. And storing $30k in food seems kind of silly.

 

[Ektarr]

Interesting. Ishi, you're an intelligent guy...Hal Lindsey was writing about this very thing 30 years ago, and Irwin Schiff was right behind. Fact is, we are on a crash course with Destiny and the future looks bleak, economy-wise <tm: Jack Lemmon>. As for Gold not being a viable currency in the face of such a prognosis, whoever mentioned that, I'd bet you're wrong. One of the "Ektarr for President" planks (I've posted here before) is a return to the Gold Standard. Here's why...

In 1850 you could walk into any store that sold one and buy a Winchester Rifle off the shelf for a $20 gold piece. Interestingly, you still can. The value of the gold, relative to the value of the rifle, has not changed! It's the value of the Dollar...the medium of exchange...that's changed, and changed dramatically. Anyone who thinks it can't happen here is being foolish. The stories of 1930's Germans, at the top of the food chain until that time, economically, taking wheelbarrels-full of Reichmarks to the store just to get a loaf of bread, are legendary. In America during the Deppression wives used to go with their husbands to work in the morning so they could collect the day's pay in advance...because by the time the day ended the dollars were going to have far less value and they wanted the pay up-front to get the most benefit from it.

Politicians invented the floating currency to prevent such a scenario from happening in the future (as well as to be able to pay off their ever-mounting debts with Spontaneous Currency), but the result is that the dollar has NO real value...just what they tell you it has. Want proof? Look in any magazine that has a current ad for these "new" gold coins: a $5.00 gold piece will cost you a coupl'a hundred bucks! Why? They're telling you that the coin, with a face-value of $5.00, is a lie.

Returning to the Gold Standard, coupled with a revaluation of the Dollar, is the only way to bring things back to sanity. Anyone who leans on the greenback Dollar for support is building his economic house on shifting sand.

By the way...someone threw out the number "$9 Trillion". Hard to imagine. Try this: without whipping out the calculator...just quick-in-your-head...tell me how long a Trillion seconds is, in minutes, hours, days or years. QUICK!!




Give up...?




A Trillion seconds is 32,000 Years. Now...think dollars again.

 

[Torch]

Ishi,

I find it very ironic that you, a Greener, would be complaining about the cost of oil and the fact that no new refineries have been built since, I believe, 1979. We haven't built new refineries because of resistance from groups such as the green party. Same goes for the cost of oil, but less so. The current high cost of oil is due to supply and demand. The economic emergence of China, India, and Indonesia is the primary reason for the spike in oil demand (and many other commodities as well). In this country we don't drill off the coasts of most states or in the ANWR due to concerns from environmentalists.

Drilling for oil can be done with very little impact to the environment. We need to open up more opportunities for drilling.

The weak dollar is not all bad. It makes American products much cheaper oversees.

I certainly share your concerns but you can count on me to keep my investments where they are. You're welcome.

 

[kwo51]

Well I like to invest in things that go bang.By low sell high.

 

[ishi]

Oh, please don't misunderstand me. I'm not complaining about the cost of oil and gas, I'm referencing it since it has a huge impact on the economy. It's too bad our economy isn't strong enough to withstand the impact of high gas prices, because high gas prices will provide the necessary economic incentive for green technologies.

It's true as you say, that the cheap dollar makes American products more attractive to the global market. Too bad our manufacturing sector has fled as a result of crippling trade agreements, so few will be able to take advantage of that. I can't see any good reason to be happy about a weak dollar.

And I just noticed that I posted this thread in the wrong section - it's 'off-topic'. If anybody has the power to move the thread over there, I'd appreciate it. Sorry.

 

[HK4U]

The real problem is that every sense the Federal Reserve Act was passed way back in the early part of th 20th century we have been living on borrowed time. Once we took the money from congress as stipulated by the constution and turned it over to international bankers things have been going down hill. Is it not ironic, the name Federal Reserve? It is neither Federal nor do we have any reserves.

 

[ishi]

Is it not ironic, the name Federal Reserve? It is neither Federal nor do we have any reserves.

That's very good, I'll remember that.

 

[Big Bubba]

Doom and Gloom

Strange but interesting days are upon us.

 

[DrLewall]

Somebody just shoot me, ok?

 

[Bucho]

It's really interesting what we hear on the news. Everyone talks about the economy falling, and falling fast. "Worst recession ever!" "We've never been worse off!" etc. As I've mentioned before, I am finishing up my college degree. In my investments class we did an in-depth analysis of all the major economic indicators. According to the research we found, we cannot figure out why the media would be claiming a recession. All the economic indicators look upward, with the exception of housing and construction. GDP is still rising (although a bit slower), employment is good, inflation is under control, production is up, etc. I'm not an economist but, according to publicly available data, things aren't near as bad as we're told.

I think a lot of the stuff we are fed about the economy is political. I can just picture people that are pushing the media to say things, especially with an upcoming election. As soon as someone else takes the office, then they will start telling the media that everything is great and then it will be, "Look at me! Look at what I've done as President that others haven't! I saved our economy!" I guess we'll see.

 

[HK4U]

Economy

It's really interesting what we hear on the news. Everyone talks about the economy falling, and falling fast. "Worst recession ever!" "We've never been worse off!" etc. As I've mentioned before, I am finishing up my college degree. In my investments class we did an in-depth analysis of all the major economic indicators. According to the research we found, we cannot figure out why the media would be claiming a recession. All the economic indicators look upward, with the exception of housing and construction. GDP is still rising (although a bit slower), employment is good, inflation is under control, production is up, etc. I'm not an economist but, according to publicly available data, things aren't near as bad as we're told.

I think a lot of the stuff we are fed about the economy is political. I can just picture people that are pushing the media to say things, especially with an upcoming election. As soon as someone else takes the office, then they will start telling the media that everything is great and then it will be, "Look at me! Look at what I've done as President that others haven't! I saved our economy!" I guess we'll see.

Not sure about the rest of you but with the National Debt reaching mamoth proportions and none of or buracrats on either side of the isles willing to reign in the spending I don't fell like the future of our country in regards to the economy is all that rosie. I think it is rather a house of cards. Don't look for any changes from the Democrats or Republicans. We keep changing administrations every four to eight years but nothing every really changes.

 

[boris]

well,

all i can say is you can't eat gold dollars nor can you shoot them as bullets.

 

[kwo51]

I save pennys they melt down . Silver and gold too but I'm not worr ied about vampires.