Perspectives on the global economic changes

chanakyaa · Post by **chanakyaa** » 17 Mar 2016 04:33

Just my personal opinion, even 2 hikes are remote at this point. Rate hikes don't work well for highly leveraged, debt addicted western economies. Hiking rate from all time low of 0% hasn't happened in 300+ history of the US. Why are people confident that it will happen now?

"Data Dependent" Fed Chickens Out Again: Blames "Global" Risks For Unchanged Rates, Cuts Rate Hike Forecast

Neshant · Post by **Neshant** » 21 Mar 2016 11:20

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 21 Mar 2016 23:47

A question for the MBA gurus:

How many countries have adopted US based accounting rules like FASB and GAAP?

I know MNCs which operate everywhere adopt selectively.

The question is related to US tugging countries to adopt their accounting standards.
Also what are the differences in FASB and the other worldwide standards?

TSJones · Post by **TSJones** » 22 Mar 2016 09:00

ramana wrote:A question for the MBA gurus:

How many countries have adopted US based accounting rules like FASB and GAAP?

I know MNCs which operate everywhere adopt selectively.

The question is related to US tugging countries to adopt their accounting standards.
Also what are the differences in FASB and the other worldwide standards?

international accting standards.......

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internati ... ards_Board

another perspective is.......how bad does an international company want to list on a US stock exchange?

Neshant · Post by **Neshant** » 22 Mar 2016 09:56

This is how private banks will now get the public to pay their bailouts from 2008.
The debt & liabilities have been transferred to govt.
And now the govt will force institutional investors to buy (worthless) govt bonds as "quality" collateral.
But it will all be garbage in the end.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 23 Mar 2016 09:14

ramana wrote:A question for the MBA gurus:

How many countries have adopted US based accounting rules like FASB and GAAP?

I know MNCs which operate everywhere adopt selectively.

The question is related to US tugging countries to adopt their accounting standards.
Also what are the differences in FASB and the other worldwide standards?

Indians who have MBA from international school need reply.
international perspective on trade and corporate finance is required.

Gyan · Post by **Gyan** » 23 Mar 2016 10:37

I have been pointing out for some time on BRF that the current strategy of “loose monetary “ policy with tight fiscal policy is not going anywhere and will lead to perpetual stagnation by keeping asset prices high while limiting the means of middle class to buy them.

It seems that for their own very selfish reasons a Group of economist now being promoted by Bloomberg Group called “Modern Theorists” (?) have started calling for higher fiscal deficit limit.

Eventually loose monetary policy + loose fiscal policy will convert the present stagnation to stag-inflation (stagflation).

We should have reasonably loose fiscal policy but tight/controlled monetary policy. The artificial limit of 3% GDP for fiscal deficit has to be replaced by dynamic limit based on :-

1. Rate of GDP Growth
2. Velocity of money , CRR/SLR Ratio, Monetary policy etc
3. Amount of Budget invested in productive assets
4. Reasons of inflation whether it is cost push or due to excess moeny in the system

For India I think that Prime Interest Rate hovering around 10% should be around 8% while Fiscal deficit limit should be 5% with massive Govt Investment in Infrastructure and seed money for high tech industries.

Just investing in infra while letting foreign interest control the Financial, Service, High Tech Industries, Media will turn us into a colony.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 23 Mar 2016 12:56

Ah Desperate times call for Desperate Measures , Perpetual Stagnation or Every Growing Bubble ? From Negative Interest Rates to Higher Fisical Deficit every thing is on the table.

India should just be more disciplined with its Economy , Lower Interest Rates would mean Corporate can borrow internally , Fisical Deficit should be not more than 2-3 % and Public Debt should be reduced to 20 % of GDP ......RBI should buy more Gold there are testing times ahead

KrishnaK · Post by **KrishnaK** » 24 Mar 2016 02:33

How The Economic Machine Works

Neshant · Post by **Neshant** » 27 Mar 2016 01:09

I wonder how much of that gold has been re-hypothecated many times over.

Just like fractional reserve banking which is a fancy name for counterfeiting, how many guys holding stocks & paper receipts on a gold bar held in the London vault on their behalf actually have claims on the same bar of gold.

Neshant · Post by **Neshant** » 28 Mar 2016 04:51

TSJones · Post by **TSJones** » 29 Mar 2016 18:15

Part of stolen Bangladeshi funds still in Philippine casinos

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/part-stol ... 12938.html

MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- About $6.9 million out of $81 million stolen from Bangladesh's central bank and sent to fake bank accounts in the Philippines remain in local casinos and may still be recovered, the Philippine Senate heard in testimony Tuesday.

Kam Sin Wong, a Chinese junket operator known in the Philippines as Kim Wong, told the hearing that the $81 million was remitted by two casino junket agents and gamblers including a Beijing resident named Gao Shuhua whom he has known for eight years and a Macau resident named Ding Zhize he just met in February.

The laundering of the stolen money in the Philippines has added pressure on the Southeast Asian country to close loopholes in its financial system.

Wong volunteered to return $4.63 million dollars that remains in a junket account in Solaire Resort and Casino, and another 40 million pesos ($863,000) still in Midas Hotel casino under the account of his company, Eastern Hawaii Leisure Co.

Silverio Benny Tan, corporate secretary of Solaire's operator Bloomberry Resorts Corp., told the hearing the casino has frozen 108.67 million pesos worth of chips and money in different denominations confiscated from the gamblers when the bank heist issue came to light.

Related Quotes
Wong alleged $17 million is still with remittance company Philrem, which the company owners denied during the hearing. Wong said Gao also paid him 450 million pesos ($9.71 million) for a loan that covered Gao's losses in an earlier gambling spree in the country. He said if compelled to do so, he can also return that money.

Casino operators and government regulators said it may be difficult to account for the rest of the money, which was used at gambling tables. Wong said $370,000 in cash was withdrawn by the casino junket agents in violation of their agreement that all the money would remain in the casino accounts.

The $81 million was remitted to five accounts created with fictitious names at a branch of the Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation, consolidated then remitted to the casinos and junket operators through Philrem.

Wong said Maia Deguito, the bank branch manager, and Gao met in May in his office to discuss opening the accounts for a big amount of money that will be brought in and invested by Gao. Wong said he had no role in the fake paperwork and that was all arranged by Deguito.

On Feb. 4, Wong said Gao told him that he and Ding would close their casino in Macau and invest the money in Manila. Gao also reportedly said he had money from the sale of his land in China.

On Feb. 5, the money was transferred in portions to the five fictitious bank accounts. Philrem then electronically transferred the money to the casino accounts while other amounts were delivered in cash to Wong and the junket agents, or received by Wong at the house of Philrem owners Salud and Concon Bautista.

Bangladesh also turned over to the committee a list of 30 other suspicious transactions that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York did not execute. The list showed another $850 million would have been transmitted to the fake accounts in the Philippine bank had those transfers not been stopped.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 29 Mar 2016 21:58

Janet Yellen feels good about America's economy but sees risks rising overseas.

http://money.cnn.com/2016/03/29/news/ec ... oplead-dom

Neshant · Post by **Neshant** » 31 Mar 2016 07:10

Neshant · Post by **Neshant** » 01 Apr 2016 05:30

The big banks sit in the ultimate bias position - wanting to use regulation to prevent and block competition from new entrants into the financial services industry to preserve their monopolistic scam over the issuance & value of money.

Global regulators move closer to regulating fintech

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/global-regula ... ts-postbox

By Huw Jones

LONDON (Reuters) - Global regulators have moved closer to regulating the fledgling fintech sector, which includes blockchain technology that supports bitcoin, to ensure the industry's rapid growth does not pose any risks to the financial system.

The Financial Stability Board (FSB), which met in Tokyo on Thursday, has agreed on a framework for categorizing different components of fintech and assessing their potential risks.

The FSB, made up of central bankers, regulators and finance ministry officials from the Group of 20 economies, is looking at fintech partly in response to uncertainty over whether it will "disrupt" traditional banking.

Some big investment banks, including Goldman Sachs, are already investing heavily in fintech to avoid missing out. Analysts at Citi said this month that investment in fintech had grown from $1.8 billion in 2010 to $19 billion last year, mostly in payments systems.

Citi said the "tipping point" for disruption (for banks) was not far away in the United States and Europe, and had already been reached in China where fintech companies have as many, if not more customers than the major banks.

csaurabh · Post by **csaurabh** » 01 Apr 2016 10:19

How did the advanced economies of the world maintain their standard of living?
Through industry, they imported raw material and exported finished goods.

But when others start doing the same thing, they run into a crisis.
Steel industry in Britain is doing very bad..
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-35930904

Neshant · Post by **Neshant** » 02 Apr 2016 08:31

steel industry everywhere is doing bad.

china can no longer consume all that steel to build endless horizons of apartments and buildings.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 03 Apr 2016 10:17

Link says Canada has given up all the Physical Gold it has

http://russia-insider.com/en/business/r ... er/ri13649

Canada, which is in the top 10 of gold producers, has sold off its reserves maintaining a symbolic 100 ounces.

In February, Canada’s Finance Department spokesman David Barnabe said the government has a long-standing policy of diversifying its portfolio by selling physical commodities (such as gold) and instead investing in easily tradable financial assets.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 03 Apr 2016 11:26

IMF Manipulation on Greece Debt reveled by Wikileaks

Greece challenges IMF over 'debt transcript leak'

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-35953028

chanakyaa · Post by **chanakyaa** » 04 Apr 2016 05:54

Welcome to the new distraction for the world. Things like this are supposedly something no one knew about.

X-posting from TSP thread...

Guddu wrote:Here are some links to the Panama papers, unfortunately site is down, probably too many people logging in

https://www.occrp.org/en/panamapapers/o ... -scrutiny/

https://panamapapers.icij.org/

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents ... ydoc5.html
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents ... ydoc2.html
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents ... ydoc1.html

Neshant · Post by **Neshant** » 04 Apr 2016 06:07

Looks like the govt at the suggestion of private banks want Indian temples to hand over their gold in exchange for paper money that pays interest under a so called "Gold Monetization Scheme" (GMS)

Every scheme of trading gold for paper promises suggested by private banking interests, inevitably it ends up as a ripoff.

What happens when the private bank which has "borrowed" this gold goes bankrupt or is nearing bankruptcy and is unable to return the gold they have "borrowed".

It looks like a ripoff scheme where banks can borrow, gamble, make profits and leave the temples holding the bag.. or the taxpayer holding the bag for replacing the temples gold.

2 times in history, India built up a large stockpile of gold in its temples only to see it stolen. First by the muslim invaders who looted and razed the temples and second by the British who robbed it and took it back to their country. This looks to be the third round by private banker chicanery.

RBI decision clears hurdle for temples

http://www.business-standard.com/articl ... 800_1.html

panduranghari · Post by **panduranghari** » 04 Apr 2016 19:00

Dont worry Neshant. No temple will do that. Any temple who does that will eventually endure the wrath of the deity.Tirumala Devasthan wants go ahead if gold is given in interest. I am hopeful Kuber will protect the Lakshmi of Bhagwan Vishnu.

udaym wrote:Welcome to the new distraction for the world. Things like this are supposedly something no one knew about.

They are not hiding their money. These guys are hiding money which belongs to the sheeple and now are calling it theirs by hiding it away.
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives ... nama-leak/

What do you expect? The leak is being managed by the grandly but laughably named “International Consortium of Investigative Journalists”, which is funded and organised entirely by the USA’s Center for Public Integrity. Their funders include

Ford Foundation
Carnegie Endowment
Rockefeller Family Fund
W K Kellogg Foundation
Open Society Foundation (Soros)

among many others. Do not expect a genuine expose of western capitalism. The dirty secrets of western corporations will remain unpublished.

Expect hits at Russia, Iran and Syria and some tiny “balancing” western country like Iceland. A superannuated UK peer or two will be sacrificed – someone already with dementia.

The corporate media – the Guardian and BBC in the UK – have exclusive access to the database which you and I cannot see. They are protecting themselves from even seeing western corporations’ sensitive information by only looking at those documents which are brought up by specific searches such as UN sanctions busters. Never forget the Guardian smashed its copies of the Snowden files on the instruction of MI6.

For some fun;

The dream team.

TSJones · Post by **TSJones** » 04 Apr 2016 23:30

the reason why there won't be many Americanskis on the Panama list is because of Obama's offshore banking rules changes (and also prior administrations).

in short the US muscled countries like Switzerland and Panama into agreeing to adhere to our reporting requirements or else no access to Wall Street or the US banking system.

"you no team player? you no play on team."

so all the US thundering herd must report their overseas holding or potentially go to the hoosgow. and you won't like the hoosgow.

it is definitely major league hard ball.

in response, a number of ethnic American oligarchs are now Irish oligarchs and spend less than six months a year in the US. and if they try to stay more than six months a year, they are told to leave by free birds in suits.

of course the blogster Monsieur Murray forgot to include that in his rant.....

https://www.justice.gov/tax/offshore-co ... initiative

chanakyaa · Post by **chanakyaa** » 05 Apr 2016 06:26

Panduranghari, thanks for the link.

This panama papers garbage is full of gov/MSM psyop. There may be some truth to it, but as always "stated" and "un-stated" purposes behind such dramas are not too difficult to figure out. See how wonderfully the website is designed including a Hollywood movie ready name "Panama Papers". Some movie directors may have started working on the movie already. Dragging Ruskies/Pootin is also expected as media psyop has already begun ahead of their assembly/presendential elections. What is interesting is that in some European capitals people are already asking their leaders to react, as if this is a color revolution. I'm sure in days and weeks, all will be forgotten, but, as before this is not going to be first time or the last time shady organizations such as International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and children of Edward Barneys will try to pick a chapter or two from the book "Propaganda".

Is that picture of all central banksters real? It reminds me of the scene from movie Godfather. Don Vito Corleone meeting other Mafia families..

Neshant · Post by **Neshant** » 05 Apr 2016 10:14

I think it's a false flag operation to herd the cattle into digital money.. which the honest bankers will control.

Once in digital money, stealing from people and societal enslavement becomes easier.

panduranghari · Post by **panduranghari** » 05 Apr 2016 17:01

Central bankers are no less than mafia bosses or at least they think they are. The good thing is even the French Monarchy never saw the slaughter coming.

BTW This is a great interview.

http://www.financialsense.com/financial ... -case-gold

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 05 Apr 2016 21:23

There is one specific firm which is spearheading the conversion of the U.S. into Panama: Rothschild.

Rothschild, the centuries-old European financial institution, has opened a trust company in Reno, Nev., a few blocks from the Harrah’s and Eldorado casinos. It is now moving the fortunes of wealthy foreign clients out of offshore havens such as Bermuda, subject to the new international disclosure requirements, and into Rothschild-run trusts in Nevada, which are exempt.

For financial advisers, the current state of play is simply a good business opportunity. In a draft of his San Francisco presentation, Rothschild’s Penney wrote that the U.S. “is effectively the biggest tax haven in the world.” The U.S., he added in language later excised from his prepared remarks, lacks “the resources to enforce foreign tax laws and has little appetite to do so.”

TSJones · Post by **TSJones** » 05 Apr 2016 21:39

svinayak wrote:There is one specific firm which is spearheading the conversion of the U.S. into Panama: Rothschild.

Rothschild, the centuries-old European financial institution, has opened a trust company in Reno, Nev., a few blocks from the Harrah’s and Eldorado casinos. It is now moving the fortunes of wealthy foreign clients out of offshore havens such as Bermuda, subject to the new international disclosure requirements, and into Rothschild-run trusts in Nevada, which are exempt.

For financial advisers, the current state of play is simply a good business opportunity. In a draft of his San Francisco presentation, Rothschild’s Penney wrote that the U.S. “is effectively the biggest tax haven in the world.” The U.S., he added in language later excised from his prepared remarks, lacks “the resources to enforce foreign tax laws and has little appetite to do so.”

highly misleading........if operating in the US they still must pay US corporate and individual income taxes.

what they are in effect saying is that US taxes are cheaper than some counties. And unlike the US, most countries do not tax their citizens foreign earnings. At least a lot of euro countries don't, but the US does.

so all of the US tax haven pitch is nothing more than argle bargle malarky.

so can you get confidential corporate status in a couple of US states? Apparently yes, but you still pay US taxes and a lot of counties do not tax foreign corporate or individual earnings. Like India.

chanakyaa · Post by **chanakyaa** » 06 Apr 2016 05:44

svinayak saar, this Rothschild and Nevada trust story may not be telling the whole story. I'm not a lawyer, trust expert or a tax attorney, but you don't need Rothschild to explain the basic benefits of hiding assets in a trust away from you spendthrift no-so-better-half or pesky creditors.

I'm not an expert in this space, but I wonder if the following is one of the main reasons why YooS trust could become a new heaven to hide wealth for this so to speak international elites. After the tax cheats were uncovered in the Swiss probe, YooS may have threatened foreign governments and banks to periodically report all the assets of YooS persons. If they don't report they may get banned from access to YooS financial system. This arrangement with other countries may very well be one-way. The opposite may not be true. Meaning, if Pappu decides to stash his father's Bofors loot in a YooS trust, India can't (or may not) be able to force YooS to ensure Nevada trust reports Pappu's details with Indian tax authorities because India can't force YooS with anything if they choose not to do so, or for that matter any other country. Now, India in theory should disallow any country who does not comply with such requests, by banning them from accessing the Indian consumer market, but that is a different topic.

TSJones · Post by **TSJones** » 06 Apr 2016 06:42

criminal financial transactions are routinely investigated in the US.

court orders are routinely obtained and there is no right to privacy from the government in the US banking system. I've personally kept a personal dossier on a person who told a stupid drug joke to a bank teller. from there on, I routinely sent records of all his banking transactions to the department of the US Treasury. the guy never even knew it.

the state has no standing of confidential corporate records from either a civil law suit or a criminal investigation. all it does is protect records from nosy journalists.

nandakumar · Post by **nandakumar** » 06 Apr 2016 07:43

On the US tax law, this is what I understand. US incorporated companies don'thave to pay tax on foreign incomes unless they are repatriated to the US as dividends. If you keep the profits abroad there is no tax liability on foreign profits. The Apples, Googles of the US are able to exploit this loophole to the hilt. Of course there is an exception in that if there is a merger between the US entity and any other foreign entity then the accumulated overseas profits of the US company is taxed once the merger goes through.
So the way it works for someone who has money to invest is to set up a company in Delaware. The Delaware company in turn parks money in investments abroad and shelter the resultant incomes from US taxation by keeping such profits offshore. So if I have made some money on purchase by India of guns from Bofors the commission is paid into a Delaware company which then invests in stocks in Indian companies via a Mauritius outlet and the Mauritian outfit churns the portfolio from time to time and makes profits on such transactions, there is no tax in India as the Mauritian outfit can elect to subject such profits under Mauritian tax law. Since Mauritius subjects such income to zero rate of tax there is no tax liability under that country's tax law. If the Mauritius outfit which is a wholly owned subsidiary of a Delaware based company there is no tax liability as long as profits stay outside the US, which it will as there is no need for me to remit the money back to the US. You see I am only a SDRE Indian ekeing out a living by fixing defence purchases for a small commission.

TSJones · Post by **TSJones** » 06 Apr 2016 09:57

as long as you don't bring the money back to the US. OK. nothing illegal about it in the US. nor in India.

but an individual cannot. if you are a US citizen and receive profits overseas from a corporation, you must report it.

so essentially the money in the US corporation overseas is locked up in the corporation's foreign operations. no ticky, no washy. unless you go illegal.

criminal activity is an entirely different matter. for instance the US has whacked a number of Iranian shell companies in the US. and some Chinese IIRC.

nandakumar · Post by **nandakumar** » 06 Apr 2016 10:52

TSJones wrote:as long as you don't bring the money back to the US. OK. nothing illegal about it in the US. nor in India.

but an individual cannot. if you are a US citizen and receive profits overseas from a corporation, you must report it.

so essentially the money in the US corporation overseas is locked up in the corporation's foreign operations. no ticky, no washy. unless you go illegal.

criminal activity is an entirely different matter. for instance the US has whacked a number of Iranian shell companies in the US. and some Chinese IIRC.

TSJones
The Panama Papers leak is all about corporations although there is an individual behind it as a beneficial owner. There are always individuals having beneficial stake in a corporation if you peel sufficient layers of registered shareholders. But the tax law recognises companies as a distinct and separate legal entity. So, the larger point is this. The tax structure and access to information in the US is just as benign as in Panama from an investor perspective. Conversely it is just as difficult for law enforcement and tax authorities in thirld world countries to obtain information from the US. It is precisely for this reason portfolio monies into the Indian stock market is increasingly funneled through the US corporate entities than Mauritius. This was reported in one of the Indian business dailies recently. I am unable to get the link immediately. But it is there.
Edited once for clarity.

Neshant · Post by **Neshant** » 06 Apr 2016 10:53

Banks have laundered billions and there have been only small fines with not one banker going to jail. The so called regulators and shockingly even the Justice Dept of many Western countries have now been corrupted beyond redemption. The rule of law is thus a joke.

This rot has even spread to Canada where govt is slowly but surely corrupted. Instead of jail time for bank crimes there are small meaningless fines. Meanwhile these regulators and justice dept folks when they retire get a job in the banking "industry" as a reward for non prosecution of criminal activity of banks.

Or they get to give speeches at $350000 a pop or do "consulting" for the same banks they bailed out with taxpayer money like Bernanke.

There are these bogus, feeble attempts at pretending justice has been served to fool the people. Example :

---------

Canadian bank fined $1.1 million for failing to report suspicious dealing

https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/canad ... 33490.html

In this case, Fintrac spokesman Darren Gibb said he cannot legally discuss details of the bank's infractions, and the federal agency is exercising its discretion to withhold the identity of the financial institution, which recently paid the penalty of $1,154,670.

But Fintrac wants to send a strong message

that it will take whatever measures are needed to encourage compliance with the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 06 Apr 2016 10:53

panduranghari wrote:Central bankers are no less than mafia bosses or at least they think they are. The good thing is even the French Monarchy never saw the slaughter coming.

BTW This is a great interview.

http://www.financialsense.com/financial ... -case-gold

Dont see any interview in the link

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 06 Apr 2016 10:55

From what I read on Western MSM on Panama Papers leak , Putin is the Biggest Chor out there even though his name is not there , that seems to be the Moral of the Story but the lesser fall guy is Iceland PM

TSJones · Post by **TSJones** » 06 Apr 2016 11:20

Austin wrote:From what I read on Western MSM on Panama Papers leak , Putin is the Biggest Chor out there even though his name is not there , that seems to be the Moral of the Story but the lesser fall guy is Iceland PM

the russian who was bludgeoned to death in washington dc was the chief exec of a panama organized corporation.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 06 Apr 2016 13:27

TSJones wrote:
Austin wrote:From what I read on Western MSM on Panama Papers leak , Putin is the Biggest Chor out there even though his name is not there , that seems to be the Moral of the Story but the lesser fall guy is Iceland PM
the russian who was bludgeoned to death in washington dc was the chief exec of a panama organized corporation.

Not surprised Putin killed him

panduranghari · Post by **panduranghari** » 06 Apr 2016 16:54

Austin wrote:
panduranghari wrote:Central bankers are no less than mafia bosses or at least they think they are. The good thing is even the French Monarchy never saw the slaughter coming.

BTW This is a great interview.

http://www.financialsense.com/financial ... -case-gold
Dont see any interview in the link

Its there. Anyway http://www.financialsensenewshour.com/b ... 0402-2.mp3

panduranghari · Post by **panduranghari** » 06 Apr 2016 17:00

The main reason why US decided to go against British and non British tax heavens is because they are going to soon see a Balance of Payment crisis and they are trying to get hands on all the dollars they can, before they need to print. Brexit referendum is the referendum on Cameron. If he fails to keep UK within EU, then he is gone. The old bat living in Buckingham palace has expressed her displeasure at the fiasco that was Scottish independence. And they way things are going, Brexit might just win. The negative Marshall–Lerner condition means Britain and Japan are already at the precipice of BOP crisis.(something similar happened in 1991 in India). And what does Rajan say today- QE to infinity will ensure asset prices will stay where they are. Either way- have you got gold?