Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 2010)

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Austin
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Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

Post by Austin »

Eurozone unemployment rate remains at record 12.1%
(RT)
The number of unemployed in the eurozone was down in July by 15,000 to 19.23 million, marking the second consecutive fall since April 2011, Europe’s statistics office said Friday. The jobless rate remained at a record of high of 12.1 percent. In Germany and Austria, the monthly unemployment rate was 5.3 percent and 4.8 percent respectively, while more than one in four people remained unemployed in crisis-hit Spain and Greece.

US GDP accelerates to 2.5% in 2Q

US gross domestic product grew at a 2.5 percent annual rate in the April-June period, Reuters reported, citing the Commerce Department’s revised estimates. The figure more than doubles the pace clocked in the prior three months, although the government had initially estimated that GDP expanded at a 1.7 percent rate in the Q2. Recent data showed that exports climbed at their fastest rate in more than two years. The number of Americans filing new claims for jobless benefits fell last week. The reports could boost confidence the world's largest economy is recovering.
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Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

Post by panduranghari »

SwamyG wrote:
Can you elaborate on the currency crisis and capital controls you are talking about?
Sorry for the delay in replying.

Look at what happened in Argentina in 2001. This is what is likely to happen in emerging economies everywhere and then the contagion will spread to the developed economies.

The argentine govt basically froze all accounts. No one was allowed to withdraw anything over 500$. Then for all money in the accounts, the govt issued a 10 year bond. Once bond was issued, they devalued it immediately by 30%. The problem was compounded when govt also made cash transactions illegal.

The people who did very well were those who foresaw this and moved their pesos overseas into Euros and dollars. These guys brought back their dollars and euros and purchased swathes of real estate at rock bottom price. Remember the property crashed in price as banks got very nervous and recalled many loans.

The situation is similar to India.the problem is dollar and euro are not as strong now. The avenue of using dollars as a interim currency is very risky. Moving into real estate is problematic as its very illiquid. The only safe avenue is physical gold. It's discrete, very liquid, easy to hide from prying taxman and can be conveniently lost in a boating accident.;)

Looking at this

Image

Should make you wonder what is being monetized?

Here is a very pertinent discussion on Kitco forum from 2001.

1}Ongoing MODERATE debasement of US Dollar. {Brisker} Business as {than} usual.

----Near term, yes.-----

2}Gold and/or Oil breaks away from the dollar.

---- Oil is already doing so for a year now. The gold market is in the process of self inflating it's paper side of the function. The first minor lease rate signals are already behind us. The ECB and BIS are coming more in control as the dollar faction must either sell it's gold also or begin to fold. If they want the game to continue a little longer the US must not put it's gold on the market or the BIS and ECB would bid it with their dollar reserves. Ending it all then and there.------

3}Dual and competing reserve currencies. "Co-Currencies" in Reserves. The currency war that is in clear sight {thanks to ANOTHER and FOA}.

----- I would add that the vision of co-currencies is just a passing function as we get from here, dollar reserve, to there, Euro reserve.-----

4}Status quo.

----- We have not been here in our life times (smile).--

5}All out war that distracts/rescues the dollar and extends its life. Wag the dollar.

------ As we enter the down side of our economic function (like we are doing now) the massive money printing by the fed will risk the dollar's slow slide to becoming a super slide if a war breaks out. People run to the best managed world money in a war, not just the one with the current best exchange rate value. In the past the dollar was the one, today the Euro would receive the flow. The US would be risking killing it's last bit of dollar timeline with any war today.---------

6}Dollar merged with euro/backed by euro.

------ I know a few people that make a lot of sudden money wealth and give almost all of it to the church (or charity). Others are much more smarter and support the church (or charity) for the rest of their life. Retaining some control over how the charity is used. This is how the EuroZone would handle us. Actually, it's the same way we handled them after the war. We didn't just merge our checkbook into theirs, did we? Net / Net, they will have the wealth to be offered, not us.------

7}Brazillian or Weimar style hyperinflation of the USD, the Big Banana, or the 'little banana'.

------- Full on, wide open, in your seat, flat out! It's in the pipeline!------

You write and I comment:

Debt is designed for default as fiats are for debasement.

--- My friend, debt is the very essence of fiat. As debt defaults, fiat is destroyed. This is where all these deflationist get their direction. Not seeing that hyperinflation is the process of saving debt at all costs, even buying it outright for cash. Deflation is impossible in today's dollar terms because policy will allow the printing of cash, if necessary, to cover every last bit of debt and dumping it on your front lawn! (smile) Worthless dollars, of course, but no deflation in dollar terms! (bigger smile)


At $30,000 POG the US as we know it will be no more, agreed?

-----Agreed, but still in use. Just like all those Pesos around the world! But remember, at the very least, the first $10,000 of that figure would represent the current purchasing power of the dollar today. We will most likely get there long before price inflation jumps way up. Once the current dollar gold market fails and gives way to a free physical price, we will see that figure even as our
economic function drives all other hard money metals into the toilet. I talking about .50 cent silver. while gold races past it's first grand. When we see it we will understand it.-----------

What advantage would it be to the Power Elite to destroy the dollar.

-------- Wrong context. What advantage does the Power Elite gain by expending assets to save an already failed currency. Better to do what major players have done for centuries and are doing now, buy gold and evolve your power base to use the next reserve.-----------

The end of a currency's lifetime always ends in gold debasement?

---- In almost every case. Sometimes in the open, sometimes hidden.------

Ok, this is going overtime (smile). I will try to cover more (and others) in a day or so. Also, the question of Another at his keyboard? I reword things from him quite a bit for bare readability. But, his delivery is pure. I don't always pretend to understand it. Then, that's a whole other story (smile)
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member_27444
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Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

Post by member_27444 »

Refer back to the post by erstwhile member about the cycle that will follow
due to Khans policy of injecting money
Precisely what Pandurangahari ji is predicting

Ramana ji has record of that if I am not mistaken
Austin
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Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

Post by Austin »

OECD: Europe set to join US rebound, emerging markets weak ( RT )
The outlook for advanced economies is gradually getting better, with Europe recently sending a louder message it’s on a recovery track, the OECD said on Tuesday. "The bottom line is that advanced economies are growing more and emerging economies are growing less," OECD chief economist Pier Carlo Padoan told Reuters. The US economy is expected to lead the global growth in 2013, adding 1.7 percent this year. Spurred by massive money injections from the central bank, Japan GDP is seen going up by 1.6 percent. The latest manufacturing data showed Central Europe accelerated in August, with Germany retaining its status of an economic powerhouse.
Central European factory output jumps in August, Germany leads
Factories across central Europe said their output and new business grew last month, as a recovery in the region is strengthening. Monthly manufacturing figures beat forecasts in Poland and the Czech Republic and also rose in Hungary, the Purchasing Manager Index (PMI) showed on Monday. Germany, the regions’ conventional powerhouse, lead the growth, with its PMI up to its highest in almost two years -51.8. PMI is calculated for HSBC by the financial information service Markit, and serves as a barometer of business conditions in a sector. On a 100 – point scale, a reading above 50 indicates expansion.

Russia’s financial mega-regulator begins operations

After about seven years of negotiations a unified financial regulator under the roof of the Central Bank of Russia (CBR) started on September 1. The new watchdog will supervise both the country’s banking and financial non – banking institutions like pension funds, insurance and asset management companies. The former Federal Financial Markets Service (FFMS) is now redundant, and will be gradually closed by the end of the year.The Russian State Duma gave the initiative the final go ahead on July 5.
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Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

Post by svinayak »

Brazil – the economic scenario
After hitting record numbers in foreign direct investment in 2011, Brazil has seen a sharp decline in its currency and asset markets. The government has recently announced reduction of expenditures by $4.5 billion and lowered this year’s economic growth forecast to 3% from 3.5% projected earlier.
Austin
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Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

Post by Austin »

US trade deficit widens in July on motor imports
The US trade deficit widened in July as exports fell and the nation bought more cars and car parts from overseas.

The trade gap rose 13% to $39.1bn (£25bn) compared with June's $34.5bn, said the US Commerce Department.

Imports of cars, trucks, motoring parts and engines rose to a record $26.5bn. Much of that was supplied by US firms that have plants in Canada and Mexico.

July saw exports fall 0.6% from June's record level as sales of capital goods, such as aircraft and engines slowed.

However the trend shows that the trade gap is closing.

Including the July figures, the three month average fell to $39.1bn from $39.3bn.
Austin
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Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

Post by Austin »

BRICS agree to capitalize development bank at $100bn
The BRICS nations have decided to fund their development bank with $100 billion. The reserves are aimed at financing joint development ventures, and are set to rival the dominance of the World Bank and the IMF.

“At the final stage of realization - the initiative to create a BRICS forex reserve pool – the size of its capital has been agreed at $100 billion,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said while opening the G20 Summit in St. Petersburg.

Russia, Brazil and India will contribute $18 billion to the BRICS currency reserve pool, while China $41 billion and South Africa $5 billion, according to a press release issued by the BRICS on Thursday.

Earlier this week Russia’s Finance Minister Sergei Storchak said that there were still a lot of “difficult details” to sort out.

“These are systematic themes, complicated [and] negotiationsare difficult. We must assume the bank will not start functioning as fast as one could imagine. It will take months, maybe a year,” said Storchak.

In June Storchak said the project would be up and running by 2015. The scheme was approved in Durban South Africa at the BRICS summit in 2013.

The bank is designed to help finance infrastructure and development projects in the BRICS countries and will pool foreign currencies to fend off any future financial crisis.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the bank will “help avoid the negative impacts that fluctuations in currency markets may have on our economies.”

The creation of the reserves pool may help the BRICS nations in their drive to reform votes and quotas in the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

An IMF quota represents a countries contribution to the fund’s capital as well as its clout in the IMF’s decision making. It can also decide the size of any loan that country receives from the IMF. Currently the US has the highest quota of any country at 17.08%, allowing it to veto any decision as any initiative is only passed if it receives 85% of the vote.

The BRICS countries represent a considerable force in terms of the world’s finances. Trade within the group amounted to 16.8% of global commerce at $6.1 billion.

“The strength of the BRICS is amplified by the fact that BRICS countries account for 43% of the world’s population, around 18% of its GDP and 40% of its currency reserves, estimated at around a trillion US dollars,” said Jacob Zuma, the South African President, at the Durban summit.

Increased economic muscle among the BRICS has been matched by a louder voice across all areas of global affairs.

The Russian Foreign Ministry Ambassador Vadim Lukov said Thursday that the BRICS countries will have an informal meeting at the G20, “at which they will discuss interaction and coordination of the G20 positions.”

The BRICS are determined to create a full-scale mechanism of coordination on an increasingly broader range of political and economic issues, Lukov added
vishvak
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Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

Post by vishvak »

Hopefully there would also be other components such as charity, tech and core industries support mechanisms at strategic level.
svinayak
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Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

Post by svinayak »

http://money.cnn.com/2013/09/04/news/ci ... picks=true

The number of Americans choosing to give up their citizenship has spiked dramatically this year as the government works to implement a new disclosure law aimed at stamping out tax evasion.
Some of the rush may be caused by Americans hoping to avoid the new disclosure requirements. Others living abroad say they are giving up their U.S. passport because they are tired of dealing with overly complicated tax filings.

Unlike most countries, the U.S. continues to tax citizens on all income, regardless of where it is earned or where they reside. For expats, filing taxes in two countries often means wrestling with a huge mountain of paperwork.

The increase comes as the U.S. prepares to implement the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, a new law that requires foreign institutions to report all assets owned by Americans.
The measure, approved by Congress in 2010, is aimed at recouping some of the hundreds of billions the government says it loses each year in unpaid taxes. The law also requires individuals with overseas assets to file additional forms.
Austin
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Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

Post by Austin »

Using the debt-limit vote as a political football is more than a stupid game; it can cost real money and destroy the fragile economic growth the U.S. is now having.

Five ways to think about the U.S. debt limit
TSJones
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Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

Post by TSJones »

BRIC markets pool reserves - US analyst views.....

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/bric-mark ... 00091.html
Jim O'Neill, a former Goldman Sachs economist who coined the "BRIC" acronym, called the $100 billion fund "an encouraging, interesting development" that could help emerging markets "take more responsibility" for themselves on the international economic stage.

"To reduce the vulnerability of these countries and others, they've got to develop their own funding sources and their own currencies in a spectacular way," O'Neill told CNN.

The effort comes as certain emerging markets, including India, Indonesia, Turkey and Brazil, have come under economic stress as money that had been pulsing through their economies begins to dry up.

Developing nations that rely heavily on foreign capital -- those with large current account deficits -- have suffered the worst.
Austin
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Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

Post by Austin »

Russia’s Sergei Storchak warns on corporate foreign currency debt
Russia’s deputy finance minister has expressed concern about companies’ rising foreign-currency debt levels amid recent emerging market turmoil.

The issue of foreign-currency corporate debt is a sensitive one for Russia, given its companies needed a $200bn government bailout during the 2008-2009 financial crisis after the rouble and stock markets plummeted.

“The level of indebtedness in the corporate sector has become quite large – it is already bigger than the international reserves of the central bank,” Sergei Storchak told the Financial Times in an interview at the G20 in St Petersburg. The situation, he said, “required monitoring”.

Russian companies’ foreign debt reached $628.4bn at the end of the first half, an amount equal to 30 per cent of Russia’s economic output, according to Interfax’s Centre for Economic Analysis. That is not much lower than the 35.4 per cent level at the peak of the global financial crisis in 2009.

However, Mr Storchak said that the situation for Russian corporate borrowers was significantly better now than in 2009, given that deposits of companies and households dwarfed the debt levels of both. He added that Russian companies also appeared to be in a good position to renegotiate the terms of their debt with creditors.

“We are not saying that the indebtedness has reached a critical level yet,” he said. “We need to follow and monitor the situation. But it is too early to sound the bell that the situation is totally dangerous.”

Mr Storchak said Russian markets were unlikely to be significantly affected by any reduction in monthly asset purchases by the US Federal Reserve that had rattled emerging market peers such as India and Indonesia, and had not experienced any worrying volatility recently.

“The financial market of Russia is too small to be largely affected . . . That is my evaluation. It of course is integrated in the global financial system but only to a certain extent. It’s like a tsunami. The further you are from the centre the smaller the waves are.”

While currencies such as India’s rupee and Indonesia’s rupiah have tumbled more than 10 per cent since the US Fed first indicated that it might start tapering its monthly asset purchases in late May, the rouble has dropped just 6.5 per cent because Russia runs a large trade surplus.

But Mr Storchak admitted that market volatility had forced Russia to hold back a long-awaited $7bn Eurobond placement. “We only want to go to the markets when we know we’ll get a result that is not worse than [our current borrowing conditions],” he said.

In a sign that Russia is not immune to market woes, the economy ministry recently more than doubled its forecast for net capital outflows this year from $30bn to $75bn. However, Mr Storchak said he was not concerned about the situation, saying that capital outflows did not necessarily signify capital flight.

“Maybe it is movements from one financial instrument to another, maybe it’s moving money from one bank account to another,” he said. “I don’t see any particular connection here with the political situation.”

He added: “That’s what it seems to me. Although maybe in the future the problem will appear deeper.”Russia’s deputy finance minister has expressed concern about companies’ rising foreign-currency debt levels amid recent emerging market turmoil.
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Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

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Ministry of Finance: The ruble did not need help BRICS ( via RIAN )
BRICS created a pool of foreign exchange reserves is intended to support the national currencies of the association, however, the Russian ruble, such support is not needed. This was stated by Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, reports RIA Novosti .

"Our ruble is not affected and does not need any help, so the pool of reserve currencies, aimed not to support the ruble, but rather to support the exchange of our fellow BRICS countries," - he said.

"The ruble has weakened since the beginning of the year to 8.7%, in other BRICS countries, in the same South Africa, in India, for example, from the beginning of their currency has weakened by 20%. Brazilian real depreciated by 16%," - said the Minister.
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Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

Post by Austin »

Yuan Rises to Ninth-Most-Actively-Traded Currency Globally

Milestone for Yuan Marks Rise of China

Trading in the Chinese currency, also known as the renminbi, has more than tripled over the past three years, to $120 billion a day in 2013, the BIS said, referencing survey data from April. Daily U.S. dollar trading in 2013 has averaged $4.65 trillion.

Yuan gains highlight China's ambitions to play a larger role in a market long dominated by the dollar and, to a lesser extent, the euro. Daily global currency flows have risen more than 30% in three years. The yuan ranked 17th in the previous BIS survey, in 2010. The shift also highlights the international nature of the manufacturing supply chain and the flexibility U.S.-based firms can gain by

Like the rising yuan, the Mexican peso ranked among the top-10 most-traded currencies. It cracked the list for the first time since 1998, demonstrating the breadth of the ascent of emerging-market currencies. Both the yuan and peso roughly doubled their shares of the market. The Russian ruble, Turkish lira, South African rand and Brazilian real all also accounted for a bigger slice of global flows, while the Korean won and Polish zloty accounted for slightly smaller shares.

Image

Image
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Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

Post by Austin »

Investors see bargains in Brazil, Russia, India, China

Where some see dross, others spy gold. Case in point: BRICs.

BRICs — primarily Brazil, Russia, India and China — comprise some of the largest and most-developed global emerging markets, not fared well overall this year. But they are once again being considered by investors as they take a closer look at some battered, and possibly bargain-priced, stocks.

Overall, many investors have been fleeing emerging markets. For the first seven months of the year, emerging market equity funds had a net outflow of $4.5 billion, as global investors scurried back to the US and Europe, lured by the idea that US interest rates could rise — a boon to investment returns — if the Federal Reserve winds down its long-running stimulus program, as widely expected.

But the decline among emerging markets stocks may be leaving some golden buying opportunities, say some experts, especially among the BRICs. Those powerhouse economies, including the core four BRIC countries, have strong fundamentals that can insulate them from some of the broader volatility. Those fundamentals include a large and expanding middle class and increasingly sophisticated, acquisition-minded companies.

They also have strong gross domestic production (GDP), the measure of the value of goods and services produced within the country’s borders. Overall, measured by purchasing-price-parity adjusted GDP, emerging markets will create $1.6 trillion more goods and services than advanced markets in 2013, according to the International Monetary Fund.

Cheap


A recent JP Morgan Asset Management emerging market research report noted that BRIC stocks currently look quite “cheap,” as country valuations hover near the bottom end of historical valuation ranges. All four BRIC countries will have higher GDP growth than the US this year, according to JP Morgan.

China and Russia have relatively low debt, 31% and 12%, respectively. And China’s ample international reserves total nearly $3.5 trillion. Both countries’ GDPs are also growing: China’s growth will hit 8% this year, Russia’s 3.4%.

Though there’s no sign of a comeback yet — for the first seven months of this year, the MSCI BRIC Index has plummeted 11.21% — some investors and big emerging market mutual funds, like ones run by T Rowe Price, are bargain hunting.

“We accept some risk in short-term pain,” said Todd Henry, emerging market equity portfolio specialist at Maryland-based T Rowe Price. “But opportunity is there in growth.”

BRIC stocks make up nearly 50% of The T Rowe Price Emerging Markets Stock Fund’s $7.2 billion in assets. The fund is adding to its BRIC holdings, especially the Russian and Indian stock allocations.

Chinese stocks also don’t look expensive right now, Henry said. In late August, the MSCI China Index price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) — a measure of how expensive a stock is — was only 9.75, versus 11.90 for emerging markets. Currently, the fund favours environmental companies such as wind producer China Longyuan Power Group Corp Ltd and gas company Beijing Enterprises.

Despite India’s plummeting rupee, the country is also high on some investors emerging market stock lists.

“India is becoming a huge buying opportunity,” said Peter Kohli, president of Pennsylvania-based DMS Funds. “The stock market is just taking a breather, but it will come back again.”

The reason, he added, is that India has about 10 years of above-average growth left, partly driven by a huge, acquisition-minded middle class. Indian multinational companies such as Tata Group, Wipro Ltd and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd will have strong earnings, he said. A depreciated rupee means these companies are now on sale for emerging market investors, he added.

Who should invest?

Bedevilled by wild swings, emerging markets are typically best as part of well-diversified portfolios, or for value-hungry investors with reasonably long investment horizons. The small sizes of most emerging market economies mean they are vulnerable to the vagaries of global investors.

“In the past, these huge investor inflows have helped prop up countries like Thailand and Vietnam,” said Jonathan Galaviz, a managing director at the Nevada-based strategy and research consultancy Galaviz & Co. “For this reason, economies in Asia have been over-heating for the past five years.”

That is beginning to change. For instance, Thailand’s GDP growth is expected to slow to 4.2% in 2014 from 5.9% this year.

Unlike smaller emerging markets, BRICs benefit from being big, diversified economies with highly liquid markets. Even so, they’re best played by using ETFs, say many experts. There are several BRIC ETFs to choose from, including country-specific ones like Market Vectors Russia ETF or the iShares MSCI India Small-Cap ETF.

Alan Miller, chief investment officer at the London-based investment management firm SCM Private, also prefers ETFs. A contrarian investor, he is eyeballing investments in emerging market BRICs like Russia. One reason: The MSCI Russia Index P/E is only 5. “Yet Russia’s earnings growth isn’t falling off a cliff,” he added.

Some other emerging market experts are looking further afield. Philippe Carre, global head of connectivity for SunGard’s Global Trading Business, says that some Eastern Europe countries, especially Poland and Rumania, are becoming star performers. These post-Soviet countries are seeing their exchanges grow, as more companies are listed.

Yet even Carre isn’t immune to the lures of some of the BRICs. “It’s hard to avoid economic locomotives like China,” he said.
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Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

Post by Austin »

Unlike in Europe, Russia's economic slowdown is a self-inflicted wound. If Russia abandons in own version of austerity, growth will soon pick up - says analyst Ben Aris.

Russia flirts with recession
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Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

Post by svinayak »

Dated news

http://www.forbes.com/sites/charleskadl ... llar-33/2/
The Federal Reserve's Explicit Goal: Devalue The Dollar 33%

The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) has made it official: After its latest two day meeting, it announced its goal to devalue the dollar by 33% over the next 20 years. The debauch of the dollar will be even greater if the Fed exceeds its goal of a 2 percent per year increase in the price level.

An increase in the price level of 2% in any one year is barely noticeable. Under a gold standard, such an increase was uncommon, but not unknown. The difference is that when the dollar was as good as gold, the years of modest inflation would be followed, in time, by declining prices. As a consequence, over longer periods of time, the price level was unchanged. A dollar 20 years hence was still worth a dollar.

But, an increase of 2% a year over a period of 20 years will lead to a 50% increase in the price level. It will take 150 (2032) dollars to purchase the same basket of goods 100 (2012) dollars can buy today. What will be called the “dollar” in 2032 will be worth one-third less (100/150) than what we call a dollar today.

The Fed’s zero interest rate policy accentuates the negative consequences of this steady erosion in the dollar’s buying power by imposing a negative return on short-term bonds and bank deposits. In effect, the Fed has announced a course of action that will steal — there is no better word for it — nearly 10 percent of the value of American’s hard earned savings over the next 4 years.


Why target an annual 2 percent decline in the dollar’s value instead of price stability? Here is the Fed’s answer:

“The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) judges that inflation at the rate of 2 percent (as measured by the annual change in the price index for personal consumption expenditures, or PCE) is most consistent over the longer run with the Federal Reserve’s mandate for price stability and maximum employment. Over time, a higher inflation rate would reduce the public’s ability to make accurate longer-term economic and financial decisions. On the other hand, a lower inflation rate would be associated with an elevated probability of falling into deflation, which means prices and perhaps wages, on average, are falling–a phenomenon associated with very weak economic conditions. Having at least a small level of inflation makes it less likely that the economy will experience harmful deflation if economic conditions weaken. The FOMC implements monetary policy to help maintain an inflation rate of 2 percent over the medium term.”

In other words, a gradual destruction of the dollar’s value is the best the FOMC can do.

Here’s why:

First, the Fed believes that manipulation of interest rates and the value of the dollar can reduce unemployment rates.
The results of the past 40 years say the opposite.

The Fed’s finger prints in the form of monetary manipulation are all over the dozen financial crises and spikes in unemployment we have experienced since abandoning the gold standard in 1971. The financial crisis of 2008, caused in no small part by the Fed’s efforts to stimulate the economy by keeping interest rates too low for, as it turned out, way too long is but the latest example of the Fed failing to fulfill its mandate to achieve either price stability or full employment.

The Fed’s most recent experience with Quantitative Easing also belies the entire notion that monetary manipulation can spur the economy. Between November 2010 and June 2011, the Fed tried to spur economic growth by purchasing $600 billion in Treasury securities, flooding the banking system with reserves and keeping interest rates low. In response the economy, which had been growing at a 3.4% annual rate, slowed to a 1% annual rate in the first half of 2011. Once, the Fed stopped supplying all of that liquidity, economic growth in the second half of the year accelerated to a 2.3% annual rate.

Second, the Fed does not use real time indicators of the price level. Instead, it views inflation through the rear view mirror of the trailing increases in the PCE. And, even when it had evidence of rising inflation — as it did in the first quarter of last year — it chose to temporize, betting that the spike in inflation would prove temporary.

This spike in inflation did prove temporary, as Fed Chairman Bernanke predicted at the time, but not for the reasons — a slack economy — that he cited. Instead, the growing debt crisis in Europe led to a massive shift in deposits out of the euro and into the dollar — an event totally out of the Fed’s control. Yet, this increase in the demand for dollars was far more important than any action taken by the Fed because it increased the value of the dollar and produced a slowdown in the inflation rate.

What we are left with is a trial and error monetary system that depends on the best judgment of 19 men and women who meet every six weeks around a big table at the Federal Reserve in Washington. At the end of a day and a half of discussions, 11 of them vote on what to do next. The error the members of the FOMC fear most when they vote is deflation. So, they have built in a 2% margin of error.

Given the crudeness of the tools the FOMC uses to set monetary policy, allowing for such a margin of error is no doubt prudent. For example, when the economy slowed in the first half of last year, inflation picked up, accelerating to a 6.1% annual rate during the second quarter. And, when the economic growth accelerated in the second half, inflation slowed. These results are the precise opposite of what the Fed’s playbook says are supposed to happen.

The best the Fed can do — an average debauch in the dollar’s value of 2% a year while producing recurring financial crises and a more cyclical economy — is demonstrably inferior to the results produced by the classical gold standard. Here’s just one example. The largest gold discovery of modern times set off the 1849 California gold rush and increased the supply of gold in the world faster than the increase in the output of goods and services. The price level in the U.S. did increase by12.4 percent over the next 8 years. That translates into an average of just 1.5% a year. The gold standard at its worst was better than the best the Fed now promises to do with the paper dollar.

The Fed’s best is hardly good enough. The time has arrived for the American people to demand something far better — a dollar as good as gold.
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Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

Post by svinayak »

http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.co ... ar-to.html
23 JUNE 2013

The Last Time the Feds Devalued the Dollar To Save the Banks


Here is a reprise of an article in which I take a closer look at the Gold Act of 1933 and the devaluation of the dollar against gold to recapitalize the banks.

As you may recall at the time the government withdrew gold from circulation it was the sovereign currency, and essentially 'owned' by the state, even while it was used by individuals as money.

This time gold has no official standing as money, and is considered private property, except perhaps for gold and silver Eagles which is a tenuous claim at best.

Therefore the government might be forced to use extraordinary and deceptive means to keep gold out of the hands of the people, and prepare the way for a revaluation of global currencies against gold is other ways.

Not all countries are on board with this, most notably China and India, although the RBI has been urging its people to substitute paper claims for actual bullion of late.

I do not think the US will go back to a gold standard. However, I do think that there will be some inclusion of gold in the emerging replacement for the US dollar as the reserve currency for global trade. I think it will be a basket of currencies and gold, perhaps silver.

The revaluation of gold to the dollar would boost sovereign reserves significantly. And I suspect that this move is being delayed while some countries are allowed to 'catch up' in their accumulation.

The Last Time the Feds Devalued the Dollar to Save the Banks
14 January 2009

We dipped once again into the Federal Reserve Bulletin Publication from June, 1934 to take a closer look at the growth of the monetary base, and found an interesting graphic that shows the accounting for the January 1934 devaluation of the dollar and the subsequent result on Bank Reserves in the Federal Reserve System.

As you will recall, the Gold Act, or more properly Executive Order 6102 of April 5, 1933, required Americans to surrender their gold coinage and certificates to the Federal Reserve Banks by May 1, 1933. There were no prosecutions for non-compliance except one benchmark case which was brought voluntarily by a person who wished to challenge the act in court.

After a substantial portion of the gold was turned in by US citizens and taken from their bank based safe deposit boxes, the government officially devalued the dollar from 20.67 to 35.00 per ounce in the Gold Reserve Act of January 31, 1934.

The proceeds from this devaluation were used to provide a significant boost to the Federal Reserve member bank positions as shown in the first chart below.

The inflation visited on the American people because of this action helped to take the CPI as it was then measured up 1200 basis points from about -8% to +4% by the end of 1933. To somewhat offset the monetary inflation the Fed also contracted the Monetary Base which served the nascent recovery in the real economy rather poorly and is viewed widely as one of a series of policy errors.
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Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

Post by svinayak »

http://www.moneynews.com/Outbrain/billi ... /id/450265
Billionaires Dumping Stocks, Economist Knows Why
Sunday, 08 Sep 2013 11:08 AM
By Newsmax Wires


Despite the 6.5% stock market rally over the last three months, a handful of billionaires are quietly dumping their American stocks . . . and fast.

Warren Buffett, who has been a cheerleader for U.S. stocks for quite some time, is dumping shares at an alarming rate. He recently complained of “disappointing performance” in dyed-in-the-wool American companies like Johnson & Johnson, Procter & Gamble, and Kraft Foods.

In the latest filing for Buffett’s holding company Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett has been drastically reducing his exposure to stocks that depend on consumer purchasing habits. Berkshire sold roughly 19 million shares of Johnson & Johnson, and reduced his overall stake in “consumer product stocks” by 21%. Berkshire Hathaway also sold its entire stake in California-based computer parts supplier Intel.

With 70% of the U.S. economy dependent on consumer spending, Buffett’s apparent lack of faith in these companies’ future prospects is worrisome.

Unfortunately Buffett isn’t alone.

Fellow billionaire John Paulson, who made a fortune betting on the subprime mortgage meltdown, is clearing out of U.S. stocks too. During the second quarter of the year, Paulson’s hedge fund, Paulson & Co., dumped 14 million shares of JPMorgan Chase. The fund also dumped its entire position in discount retailer Family Dollar and consumer-goods maker Sara Lee.

Finally, billionaire George Soros recently sold nearly all of his bank stocks, including shares of JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs. Between the three banks, Soros sold more than a million shares.



It’s very likely that these professional investors are aware of specific research that points toward a massive market correction, as much as 90%.

One such person publishing this research is Robert Wiedemer, an esteemed economist and author of the New York Times best-selling book Aftershock.

Before you dismiss the possibility of a 90% drop in the stock market as unrealistic, consider Wiedemer’s credentials.

In 2006, Wiedemer and a team of economists accurately predicted the collapse of the U.S. housing market, equity markets, and consumer spending that almost sank the United States. They published their research in the book America’s Bubble Economy.

The book quickly grabbed headlines for its accuracy in predicting what many thought would never happen, and quickly established Wiedemer as a trusted voice

Wiedemer calmly laid out a clear explanation of why a large drop of some sort is a virtual certainty.

It starts with the reckless strategy of the Federal Reserve to print a massive amount of money out of thin air in an attempt to stimulate the economy.

“These funds haven’t made it into the markets and the economy yet. But it is a mathematical certainty that once the dam breaks, and this money passes through the reserves and hits the markets, inflation will surge,” said Wiedemer.

“Once you hit 10% inflation, 10-year Treasury bonds lose about half their value. And by 20%, any value is all but gone. Interest rates will increase dramatically at this point, and that will cause real estate values to collapse. And the stock market will collapse as a consequence of these other problems.”

And this is where Wiedemer explains why Buffett, Paulson, and Soros could be dumping U.S. stocks:

“Companies will be spending more money on borrowing costs than business expansion costs. That means lower profit margins, lower dividends, and less hiring. Plus, more layoffs.”

No investors, let alone billionaires, will want to own stocks with falling profit margins and shrinking dividends. So if that’s why Buffett, Paulson, and Soros are dumping stocks, they have decided to cash out early and leave Main Street investors holding the bag.
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Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

Post by krishnan »

100 % stake in intel ??? surprising, but he sure knowns what he is doing
Theo_Fidel

Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

Post by Theo_Fidel »

IIRC correctly Buffet sold Intel in late 2011... ..and then bought IBM with the money....

So whats the claim again.... :roll:
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Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

Post by RamaY »

Looks like no matter where I invest my 401k (fixed income, stocks, emerging markets etc.,) I am losing my my mooney :((
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Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

Post by svinayak »

RamaY wrote:Looks like no matter where I invest my 401k (fixed income, stocks, emerging markets etc.,) I am losing my my mooney :((
I was talking to my advisor and agent.
There are only two places you are safe. Land and Gold.
All paper currency is just paper.
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Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

Post by member_27444 »

Billion airs may take their money out
But 100 million people will be putting 100 dollars per month in their 401 k
So there is still time for hope
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Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

Post by RamaY »

I posted about this before - Ramanaji asked for it.

Sometimes I wonder if Western economic system is a well thought out SLAVE system.

If you are born into this system, all your productive years (21-65) are spent to pay for
- your college education (directly as loans or indirectly), and
- prepare for your retirement age (SS or 401k)

If you happen to have any excess money the inheritance laws will kick in and ensure that majority of that is confiscated.

If one were to look at it philosophically,it is not that bad. The society is well organized with a good level of life style, in return for working like a slave during productive years.

It works even better if one prefers to pursuit pure knowledge and live a sage like life, the society covers almost all the expenses.

The problem comes only for the people who want to skim this system and take the wealth out of it. That is where all these financial scams hit mercilessly.
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Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

Post by Austin »

Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert report from the heart of hedge fund land in Stamford and Darien, Connecticut, where they discuss the deja fraud of highly leveraged markets five years after Lehman collapsed and the nonsense job economy in which highly-trained engineers spend their working lives dividing one simple mortgage into thousands of pieces of complex derivatives like piles of stinky fried fish. In the second half, Max interviews Jim Rickards, author of Currency Wars, who compares the Fed relationship to the BRICS nations to that of a drunk driver who runs down pedestrians and then blames the pedestrians for being in the way.

http://rt.com/shows/keiser-report/episo ... eiser-804/
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Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

Post by Austin »

The biggest fall: Lehman Brothers, 5 years on
The US is just emerging from the financial meltdown and experts are asking if it will happen again. Wall Street is “reformed” with new “anti-crisis tools,” while Lehman Brothers’ former CEO is tucked away in his $19 million Sun Valley, Idaho mansion.

On September 14, 2008, Lehman was the fourth-largest investment bank in the US. On September 15, in the early hours of the morning, the firm filed for bankruptcy.

Lehman went bust in a sensational downfall, as its stocks became valueless and the firm was downgraded by rating agencies. After a failed acquisition by Barclays and minutes before Japanese markets opened, Lehman declared bankruptcy, which eventually pulled the entire global economy into a tailspin.

The day before Lehman announced bankruptcy, America’s secretary treasurer Hank Paulsen flew from DC to New York for an emergency meeting with Wall Street's top bankers. Paulsen refused to bail out Lehman, proving to America some banks weren't "too big to fail."

The Dow and the Nasdaq crashed, hitting lows that weren’t seen since the financial crisis of 1987, and two days later, the US government bailed out AIG, an insurer which had backed billions in subprime loans.

The US government shelled out dough to save GE and Chrysler, companies as American as apple pie, and employed hundreds of thousands of people who weren’t Wall Street bankers, but plant workers and manufacturers.

Four months later, and three days before Obama’s inauguration as president, Bank of America received $20 billion from the Trouble Asset Relief Program (TARP). If the government hadn’t intervened, many other top banks would have shared Lehman’s fate.The Fed put together a giant, $800 billion bailout for Wall Street at US taxpayers’ expense.

The US government became a lender of last resort, and the UK government also handed out massive bailouts to subsidize British banks.

The source of the 2008 crisis is still an open case, and isolating different factors can yield varied analysis. Hindsight is, however, clear enough to say bankers oversold subprime mortgages which led the housing market to burst. Investment banks had overleveraged their stake in real estate, and Lehman in particular had nearly $40 billion tied up in real estate they couldn’t easily liquidate.

The real estate strategy was complicated by mortgage groups Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, who drove the housing bubble, selling more than 25 million shoddy mortgage bonds prior to the crisis.

The two mortgage companies were saved by the US government, which has kept the firms afloat with roughly $190 billion in assistance.

Banks were left exposed, and unable to liquidate.

‘Not an act of God’

Only Lehman was dismantled, the rest were given government handouts and still remain huge – not only in New York, but in London, Singapore, and other financial hubs worldwide.

Asked if economic crisis could strike again, Paulsen said, “The answer, I’m afraid, is yes,” in an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek. :shock:

One of the biggest Black Swans for economic policymakers is a so-called “Lehman moment” – a series of events triggered by the fall of a single industry. Financial leaders have worked tirelessly on new tools to protect the banking sector from another such crash.

Societe Generale warned that Greece’s exit from the euro zone risked another “Lehman moment” as the shift could have crippled stocks and brought similar devastation to debt markets.

Olli Rehn, EU commissioner for economic and monetary affairs, wants to keep Lehman in the past, and said the crisis was “not an act of God.” Rehn said policymakers must remain “vigilant” and “never lower our guard,” even though regulation and supervision have been significantly strengthened.

Stress test dummies


Are we safe now, do our banks have the tools our leaders say they do to prevent another Lehman moment?

Rhetoric like “more transparency” and “more accountability,” harvested from grassroots campaigns like Occupy Wall Street, now dominates global financial summits and doctrine. No world leader can publicly be pro-shadow banking or anti-disclosure in a post-Lehman era. Even the Swiss, notorious for secret banking, are coming into the light.

The banking industry has rebuilt itself, and large firms claim to be healthier, which the post-recession record number of small business loans in America last July is testimony too.

Financial experts have called for banks to have higher capital requirements, improve internal control, risk, and governance, and undergo Federal Reserve stress tests.

Low equity levels led to the hemorrhaging of Wall Street in 2008, as some banks had just pennies of equity for every dollar lent. The problem is being tackled with higher capital requirements for banks, to protect taxpayers from big bank losses.

The Fed is pushing big banks to meet these requirements, but says there is "still considerable room for advancement,” maintaining that more, high quality capital will help absorb any potential losses.

Stress tests, the annual check-ups of capital adequacy quotas, are performed by the Fed on 19 major banks. They require banks like JP Morgan, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America provide roadmaps on how they would in theory handle a future crisis, ranging from mild to severe.

Basel III, also known as the Third Basel Accord, is a voluntary stress test most international banks have pledged adherence to.

The problem with these tools is that bank lobbyists assist, and often dictate, the draft legislation of new regulations. An obvious conflict of interest, this usually benefits the banks and not the taxpayer.

“Banks have ended up in a toxic alliance with governments, and that’s a fundamental problem for society,” Patrick Young, Executive Director of DV Advisors, an emerging markets advisory firm, told RT.

According to stress tests, the books are better than they were five years ago, yet numerous incidents – such as the Libor-rigging scandal, whale-sized disclosure cover-ups, and probes against JP Morgan – have shown that for some Wall Street execs, the market is still their personal playground, and they are just as detached from Main Street as they were back in 2008.

The lonely 'gorilla'

Lehman CEO Dick Fuld, nicknamed “the Gorilla” among bankers for his crass, aggressive demeanor, spearheaded the company for nearly 15 years – making him, until the fall, Wall Street’s longest surviving chief exec.

Starting as an intern and rising through the ranks, Fuld took an American Express spinoff and did what he promised his employees and crushed all other competition.

His hubris demanded great respect from his employees and also deluded him into thinking the burst was just another routine downturn in markets. He refused to accept he would be the final CEO of a bank he helped build so much.

Investment for Fuld in the bank was both financial and personal, as much of his wealth was tied to the firm. This money disappeared into thin air after the bankruptcy, and he is only worth a fraction of his former fortune, which once exceeded $1 billion.

Fuld walked away with no severance package, but enough security coverage to fend off legal claims. On September 15, nearly all employees came to work were immediately sent home with their office belongings. It was over.

Though somewhat a pariah in investment circles, Fuld is still in the game, trying to keep the Lehman days in the past. In 2009, with his wife Kathleen, he founded Matrix Advisors, a merger and acquisition firm.
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Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

Post by TSJones »

New competition for the dollar......

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ti ... 44586.html

Euro is gonna rule I guess.....
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Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

Post by Neshant »

RamaY wrote:I posted about this before - Ramanaji asked for it.

Sometimes I wonder if Western economic system is a well thought out SLAVE system.

If you are born into this system, all your productive years (21-65) are spent to pay for
- your college education (directly as loans or indirectly), and
- prepare for your retirement age (SS or 401k)

If you happen to have any excess money the inheritance laws will kick in and ensure that majority of that is confiscated.

If one were to look at it philosophically,it is not that bad. The society is well organized with a good level of life style, in return for working like a slave during productive years.

It works even better if one prefers to pursuit pure knowledge and live a sage like life, the society covers almost all the expenses.

The problem comes only for the people who want to skim this system and take the wealth out of it. That is where all these financial scams hit mercilessly.

That is so true. It all stems from the monopolistic control over the monetary system by private banks.

Banks produce nothing of value. Their only means of survival therefore is stealing money from those who do.

The utility value of banks has long since evaporated. Their main business these days is keeping the paper money racket going on which they thrive. Most of their time is spent stuffing government positions with their ex-employees, bribing politicians and running scams that rob people of their money.

Its less an industry and more a scam.

The key to freedom is having the independence over the monetary system and not in the hands of some central banker pretending to represent the interest of the people when really he's just a crony of the banks. Even if he hasn't been bought & sold by the private banks, the notion of some wise man directing economic activity as if he's an all-knowing tsar is absurd.
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Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

Post by member_27444 »

It is not Putin
It's the dollar shedding that caused peace offensive and Euro taking off.
It's not only in US interest to wage peace on war footing, its also Putins and PRC interests else reserves are at stake
That was the chemistry not Chemical stock pile which turned into peace plume like popes chimney white smoke not blue or grey or blue black
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Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

Post by TSJones »

Amyrao wrote:It is not Putin
It's the dollar shedding that caused peace offensive and Euro taking off.
It's not only in US interest to wage peace on war footing, its also Putins and PRC interests else reserves are at stake
That was the chemistry not Chemical stock pile which turned into peace plume like popes chimney white smoke not blue or grey or blue black
Don't forget the oil! All US decisions are based on oil. :)
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Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

Post by svinayak »

Raghuram's handsomeness averts India's crisis
In a stunning development that has left behavioural economists across the world awe-struck, the handsomeness of Raghuram Rajan, the incoming RBI governor, has decisively averted India's economic crisis. This was how the story unfolded: As soon as Rajan was announced as the new RBI governor, reams of column and editorial space in leading dailies and business journals were devoted to hailing India's messiah, beseeching the MIT trained economist to, inter alia, tame inflation, halt the slide of the rupee, solve the impending CAD and BoP crisis, reform the financial sector, improve the Indian economy's competitiveness, open bank accounts for all Indians, pass key Bills, build more roads and ports, dig out more coal, prevent rapes, even 'debottleneck' the IRCTC server!

The coverage attained saturation levels with even TOI page 3 devoting an entire section to his good looks and telegenic countenance. Concomitantly, his file photo was flashed on all leading TV channels and planted across front pages, catapulting him overnight to super-stardom reserved hitherto for the Khans and, perhaps, Sir Jadeja.

Women took to the social media to express their feelings for Dr Rajan, posting comments on Twitter and Facebook such as 'He is so cute ya', 'I am tellin u... its his eyesa¦ they are so dreamy', 'I jus luvz his skina¦ not 2 dark, not 2 lite, jus purrrfect', 'I love his slightly scruffy rebellious hair.' Middle-class parents wanted a son like him, their daughters wanted husbands/boyfriends like him, and their sons wanted to be like him. This influential section of society soon took to organising societies, Facebook groups and concerted campaigns to do all they can to help this man, this Dark Knight that India needs. 'His face shall not get wrinkled, his hair shall not get greyed. Not on our watch,' being their motto.

Every pronouncement of his was seized and acted upon with messianic zeal. First, they went after gold imports — housewives resolved not to stock up on gold, young girls refused to accept gold jewellery from boyfriends, inflation-indexed bonds replaced gold as dowry. Consequently, gold imports this quarter are expected to decline by 35% over the same period last year.

Then they went after fuel subsidies — women bought electric cars. They forced their men to ditch their gas-guzzling SUVs and take public transport three days a week. They junked their diesel generators wherever possible. The fuel subsidy bill and oil imports are expected to decline considerably this quarter.

Then they went after food inflation — they decided to fast twice a week to curb demand for cereals that is driving food inflation. They ditched protein-rich foods to reverse the changing consumption patterns. No stomach will be left 'unhungry' to tackle food inflation, they resolved.

Then they went after remittances/deposits — mothers ordered their NRI sons to remit more. Wives forced their NRI husbands to save more. They then went after interest rates — the fairer sex dumped their credit cards and put off shopping binges to bring down interest rates and spur growth-enhancing investment, as desired by their hero.

All these steps have meant that Dr Rajan's fetching looks have done more for the Indian economy in a couple of days than what Dr Manmohan Singh's UPA has managed in its nine-year tenure.
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Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

Post by sanjaykumar »

There are entirely non-satirical, deeper psychsocial truths behind this sartorial phenomenon and physiognomy.

Most Indian political figures look like dakus (probably because they are); compare to Abe the Japanese PM who puts the Western political big wigs to shame with his impeccable presentation. It is a matter of projecting one's aspirations and self image to peers and the world heirachy. Which is why the CCP Chinese dress in suits in sweltering Hong Kong. Ridiculous, but surely there is some method in the madness.

Of course India has some of the world's most photogenic people. But what people reflexively attribute to India is this:

Image

Of course one may reiterate that external appearances are immaterial, but that would be firmly separate from reality as she is.


Image
Last edited by sanjaykumar on 16 Sep 2013 03:34, edited 2 times in total.
member_27444
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Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

Post by member_27444 »

Now Shale under every feet who cares about oil.
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Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

Post by Austin »

Shanghai Cooperation Organization

Image
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Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

Post by panduranghari »

A cat among the pigeons.

Does US really have all the gold it claims it does?

This is from US Federal reserve minutes of 1992 released after 5 years of the meeting. Normally they are released the next day.

link
CHAIRMAN GREENSPAN. Did I hear you correctly when you said that the gold exports in October appear to have come from the coffers of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York? Has anyone looked lately?

MR. TRUMAN. Well, I didn't want to tell too many secrets in this temple!

VICE CHAIRMAN CORRIGAN. Obviously, we knew what happened to the gold, but I don't think we knew what it did to exports.

MR. TRUMAN. What happens in the Census data is that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York is treated as a foreign country. [Laughter] And when a real foreign country takes some of the gold out of New York and ships it abroad, it counts first as imports and then as exports. However, the import side is not picked up in the Census data. So there you get the export side of it.

MR. LAWARE. Great accounting!

MR. BOEHNE. Great confidence building!

MR. TRUMAN. That's because you haven't been filling out your import documents!

MR. ANGELL. Let me run this by again. You mean a country owns gold and has it stored in the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and if they ship it out, that's an export?

MR. TRUMAN. And in the balance of payments accounts it also counts as an import, so it washes out.

CHAIRMAN GREENSPAN. The Federal Reserve Bank's basement is a foreign country. When they move it out of the basement into the United States, it's an import. Then, when they ship it out again, it's an export.

MR. ANGELL. That makes sense!

MR. TRUMAN. And sometimes when they sell the gold, it might be sold into the United States, so it should count as an import. It doesn't necessarily always show up as an export.

MR. BOEHNE. That really clarifies it!

MR. KELLEY. Does it have to get out of your vault at all in order to be considered an import and an export?

VICE CHAIRMAN CORRIGAN. Well, I'm not even going to try to answer that. In this particular case I know what happened, so I think the description you have is correct.
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Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

Post by panduranghari »

Bundesbank gold moved
In the statement it issued on Tuesday, the Bundesbank said that it would “take up suggestions by the FCA wherever possible.” What does that mean specifically? When, and at what intervals, will Bundesbank auditors physically view the gold being held abroad?

The Bundesbank has decided to strive for a more balanced distribution of gold re-serve holdings at home and broad, thereby taking increased account of gold’s function of preserving trust and confidence. After all, reserve assets have psychological significance, so to speak. In the next three years, we will repatriate 50 tonnes of gold annually from New York to Germany. That will give us the opportunity to inspect these bars, melt them down and convert them into “Good Delivery Standard” bars. That will therefore be a sort of spot check. Moreover, we are currently in the middle of discussions about a further expansion of our rights to conduct audits in New York, London and Paris. But, please: for years, our gold has been stored by the highly esteemed central banks of the United States, Great Britain and France without provoking any complaints whatsoever – not by just any fly-by-night operators. Part of the debate in Germany has veered somewhat towards the absurd.
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Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

Post by panduranghari »

And even more questions questions questions but no one willing to answer them. Why will they? The gold is already gone.

Why Is JPMorgan's Gold Vault, The Largest In The World, Located Next To The New York Fed's?
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Re: Perspectives on the global economic meltdown- (Nov 28 20

Post by panduranghari »

RamaY wrote:Looks like no matter where I invest my 401k (fixed income, stocks, emerging markets etc.,) I am losing my my mooney :((
RamaY ji,

Do not make any decisions based on what others tell you. They won't help you when you are in trouble.Take responsibility and do your own research. You would be surprised how seemingly simple things have been made complicated by mankind with help from people in power.
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