gold – Freeread

Ron Paul’s 2002 Predictions

January 13, 2012January 13, 2012 Joseph Dewey

This entry is part 3 of 40 in the series 2012A

Ruth W writes:
Ron Paul gave these predictions in April 2002. Is he a disciple?

What do you think?

JJ
It depends on how one would define disciple. He is definitely an intelligent man who unwaveringly stands by his beliefs. He sees the genius of the U.S. Constitution and many of the flaws in this country that can be corrected by it. He has taken the initiative to formulate ideas to correct many of our problems and then doggedly proceeded to move forward to plant them in the minds of all who will listen.

Right or wrong he is following the highest he knows with great determination and that is the path all must follow to arrive at true discipleship.

That said, let us take an objective look at the predictions you referenced. I watched the video and found it interesting and wondered about the feedback was on it on the web so I Googled it.

I found it interesting that his predictions were highly praised everywhere I looked, though I must say all this praise seemed to come from strong supporters. On the other hand, there seemed to be a famine of commentators making a critical analysis of his speech. It was either Ron Paul is great and like a prophet – or nothing. It almost made me wonder if non believers are afraid to criticize or analyze Ron Paul.

It therefore appears that I may be one of the few to write a critical objective analysis of Paul’s April 26, 2002 predictions. Keep in mind that the time frame he gave for these was 5-10 years and we are now in the tenth year – 2012. Here goes.

Ron Paul:
Our government intervention in the economy and in the private affairs of citizens, and the internal affairs of foreign countries, leads to uncertainty and many unintended consequences.

JJ
I’m on board with him here. This is certainly true. In fact any action made at any time, anywhere can lead to unintended consequences.

Ron Paul:
Here are some of the consequences about which we should be concerned.

I predict U.S. taxpayers will pay to rebuild Palestine, both the West Bank and the Gaza, as well as Afghanistan. U.S. taxpayers paid to bomb these areas, so we will be expected to rebuild them.

JJ
This was kind of a no-brainer for anytime there is destruction anywhere in the world our tax dollars are sent to help. As the video noted Obama promised $900 Million to rebuild Gaza but can’t find any evidence that the aid materialized. Most of our aid has gone to provide for the necessities of life there.

Of course we spent money rebuilding Afghanistan. We always do this after a conflict ever since World War II.

Ron Paul:
Peace, of sorts, will come to the Middle East, but will be short-lived. There will be big promises of more U.S. money and weapons flowing to Israel and to Arab countries allied with the United States.

JJ
There was no peace. Conflict has never ceased there and of course we continued to support Israel and friendly Arab nations just as we always have.

Ron Paul:
U.S. troops and others will be used to monitor the “peace.”

JJ
The video gives strange “proof” of this statement. They present an article that states that the United States has helped monitor peace there for 30 years. If true Paul was merely stating what was already in existence to some degree. Actually, I do not recall reading of any monitoring that our actual troops have been doing between Israel and Palestine.

Ron Paul:
In time, an oil boycott will be imposed, with oil prices soaring to historic highs.

JJ
No oil boycott so far and it was a no-brainer to predict historic oil prices sometime in the next ten years. I predict we’ll have historic oil prices again within ten years.

Ron Paul:
Current Israeli-United States policies will solidify Arab Muslim nations in their efforts to avenge the humiliation of the Palestinians. That will include those Muslim nations that in the past have fought against each other.

JJ
The Muslim nations are no more unified against us than in 2002.

Ron Paul:
Some of our moderate Arab allies will be overthrown by Islamic fundamentalists.

JJ
We’ve had the Arab Spring with some overthrows but this seemed to come from the people as a whole rather than fundamentalists. The fundamentalists will surely grab for all the power they can. Time will tell on this.

Ron Paul:
The U.N. will continue to condemn, through resolutions, Israeli-U.S. policies in the Middle East, and they will be ignored.

JJ
This is like predicting France will continue to make wine. Of course, this is to be expected.

Ron Paul:
Some European countries will clandestinely support the Muslim countries and their anti-Israel pursuits.

JJ
This was already happening when Paul made the prediction.

Ron Paul:
China, ironically assisted by American aid, much more openly will sell to militant Muslims the weapons they want, and will align herself with the Arab nations.

JJ
There’s evidence that China has sold weapons to militant Muslims but have used their own money for this – not U.S. aid.

Ron Paul:
The United States, with Tony Blair as head cheerleader, will attack Iraq without proper authority, and a major war, the largest since World War II, will result.

JJ
We did attack Iraq as many expected at the time of the prediction but it was not a major war and not the largest since World War II. Vietnam and the Korean war were much larger. In Vietnam we had over 500,000 troops and lost over 50,000 soldiers. We had about 125,000 in Iraq and only lost about 4,400 troops.

Ron Paul:
Major moves will be made by China, India, Russia, and Pakistan in Central Asia to take advantage of the chaos for the purpose of grabbing land, resources, and strategic advantages sought after for years.

JJ
Haven’t seen any of these major moves. China has attempted to purchase additional oil and commodities though. Haven’t seen land grabs.

Ron Paul:
The Karzai government will fail, and U.S. military presence will end in Afghanistan.

JJ
Not happened yet.

Ron Paul:
An international dollar crisis will dramatically boost interest rates in the United States.

JJ
Didn’t happen. Interest rates have been very low over the past 10 years.

Ron Paul:
Price inflation, with a major economic downturn, will decimate U.S. Federal Government finances, with exploding deficits and uncontrolled spending.

JJ
We all knew that “exploding deficits and uncontrolled spending” would continue. I’ll bet even Ron Paul is surprised at how much Obama has spent.

We’ve definitely had an economic downturn but inflation has continued about the normal rate. There’s always some inflation.

Ron Paul:
Federal Reserve policy will continue at an expanding rate, with massive credit expansion, which will make the dollar crisis worse. Gold will be seen as an alternative to paper money as it returns to its historic role as money.

JJ
Credit is tighter now than when the prediction was made. Gold is seen as a good investment but it is not an alternative to money and has not returned to use as money except maybe for a handful of private transactions.

Ron Paul:
Erosion of civil liberties here at home will continue as our government responds to political fear in dealing with the terrorist threat by making generous use of the powers obtained with the Patriot Act.

JJ
I haven’t seen any “generous use of the powers obtained with the Patriot Act” though every time Congress is in session our liberties are at risk.

Ron Paul:
The draft will be reinstated, causing domestic turmoil and resentment.

JJ
This definitely didn’t happen.

Ron Paul:
Many American military personnel and civilians will be killed in the coming conflict.

JJ
If he’s talking about Iraq the loss of military personnel was very low compared with wars of the past.

Ron Paul:
The leaders of whichever side loses the war will be hauled into and tried before the International Criminal Court for war crimes.

JJ
There was no International Criminal Court set up for Iraq war crimes.

Ron Paul:
The United States will not officially lose the war, but neither will we win. Our military and political leaders will not be tried by the International Criminal Court.

JJ
We did win the war in a couple weeks. Keeping the peace was the hard part. Our military and political leaders were not tried. No one of substance expected they would be.

Ron Paul:
The Congress and the President will shift radically toward expanding the size and scope of the Federal Government. This will satisfy both the liberals and the conservatives.

JJ
All thinkers at the time saw that indeed saw the government was expanding, though the radical part didn’t come in until Obama was president. He was right that this brought satisfaction to liberals but wrong on conservatives. I do not know one conservative who is happy about the overall radical expansion, especially the most radical part of all – Obamacare.

Ron Paul:
Military and police powers will grow, satisfying the conservatives. The welfare state, both domestic and international, will expand, satisfying the liberals. Both sides will endorse military adventurism overseas.

JJ
The video references The National Defense Authorization Act which gives the President power to detain U.S. citizens without a trial if they are suspected of terrorism. This fine-tunes legislation (AUMF) that was passed Sept 14, 2011 so this power was already in place.

The national welfare state expanded in the U.S. but it was forced to contract in numerous other nations facing a financial meltdown. We have had a below average amount of military adventurism since the Iraq war began.

Ron Paul:
In due course, the Constitution will continue to be steadily undermined and the American Republic further weakened.

JJ
This has been going on for 200 years with a temporary reversals or slowdowns occurring now and then.

Ron Paul:
During the next decade, the American people will become poorer and less free, while they become more dependent on the government for economic security.

JJ
Perhaps his most accurate statement so far.

Ron Paul:
The war will prove to be divisive, with emotions and hatred growing between the various factions and special interests that drive our policies in the Middle East.

JJ
All wars are divisive, except those which are a life and death struggle for survival and even these are somewhat divisive.

Ron Paul:
Agitation from more class warfare will succeed in dividing us domestically, and believe it or not, I expect lobbyists will thrive more than ever during the dangerous period of chaos.

JJ
This was a pretty accurate description of what has happened. He ends his predictions with a successful one.

Conclusion:
I do not understand the awe that Ron Paul followers have about his prophetic abilities as the majority of his predictions here were either incorrect or can be argued to be so. I’d say that the average political savvy person could be just as accurate if he were to make predictions for the next ten years.

Although not impressed with his prophetic abilities I do give him credit for raising a warning voice of various real dangers that confronted us in 2002 and still apply to us today. Most people in our Congress just want to get along and do not want to ruffle any feathers but this does not stop Mr. Paul from speaking his mind. We need more representatives who are willing to speak up against government encroachment.

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Fiat Money of the Past, Part 5

June 6, 2011July 20, 2017 Joseph Dewey

This entry is part 20 of 31 in the series 2011B

The Greenbacks

Lincoln felt the weight of the world upon his shoulders after he was elected President. Before he assumed office he saw himself facing the greatest crisis since the Revolutionary War. He even called the situation his own Garden of Gethsemane and prayed that the burden of dealing with it could be lifted.

Little did he know at the time that the physical enemies that loomed before him were less than half the problem. The greater half of the war he faced was discovered shortly after he became president and the problem was clearly seen near his death in 1865 when he said this in a statement to Congress:

“The money powers prey upon the nation in times of peace and conspire against it in times of adversity. The banking powers are more despotic than a monarchy, more insolent than autocracy, more selfish than bureaucracy. They denounce as public enemies all who question their methods or throw light upon their crimes. I have two great enemies, the Southern Army in front of me and the bankers in the rear. Of the two, the one at my rear is my greatest foe.”
Nov. 21, 1864 (letter to Col. William F. Elkins) The Lincoln Encyclopedia, Archer H. Shaw (Macmillan, 1950, NY

Lincoln first received a taste of this first enemy at the beginning of the war when he realized that they would have to amass an enormous sum of money if they were to defeat the South. The problem for both sides is that neither had the supplies of gold and silver coin necessary to wage much of a challenge. It seemed that whoever could borrow the most money would prevail.

As Lincoln and his cabinet checked out the possibility of borrowing from banks within the country they soon found that they were of little use. Over 1600 private banks existed and each of their 7000 notes had different values and confidence of the people. But the real problem became obvious when Lincoln discovered that they wanted over 20% interest on any loans they made to a government that may not be there tomorrow if the South were to prevail.

The eastern banks were particularly outrageous as they offered Lincoln a $150 million loan package at rates between 24-36%.

Lincoln felt there must be a better way to finance the war than making the winners slaves to the banks. This was irony indeed considering the war was said to end slavery.

There had to be a better way to finance the war so the President listened to all possible suggestions from his cabinet, Congress and consultants.

There was only about $100 million in gold and silver in the whole country and about 25 times that amount would be needed by the North alone to consummate the war. Secretary Chase supported the idea of issuing government war bonds. There were about $2 billion worth of these issued during the war usually at 6% interest.

As the war continued it became obvious that the bonds would not fulfill all the financial needs and the Greenback made its appearance to supply additional financing. Some say that Congress acted on its own initiative to pass legislation to create the Greenbacks and others call Lincoln’s friend, Dick Taylor the “Father of the Greenback” for selling he idea to the President.

The story relates that Lincoln called on Taylor for advice on financing the war and when meeting they he said:

“Why, Lincoln,” Taylor is said to have replied, “that is easy; just get Congress to pass a bill authorizing the printing of full legal tender treasury notes or greenbacks, and pay your soldiers with them and go ahead and win your war with them also.”

“Do you suppose the people will take them?” Lincoln is said to have asked.

And to this Taylor replied, “The people or anyone else will not have any choice in the matter, if you make them full legal tender. They will have the full sanction of the government and be just as good as any money; as Congress is given that express right by the Constitution and the stamp of full legal tender by the Government is the thing that makes money good anytime, and this will always be as good as any other money inside the borders of our country.”

Lincoln also had an economic adviser named Henry Carey who was a big supporter of the Greenback idea and it is thought that he also had a strong influence on Lincoln.

Some claim Lincoln then worked with Congress to pass the Greenback legislation and other historians believe Congress passed it independent of the President. Congressman E. G. Spaulding from New York was a big promoter of Greenback legislation. It seemed that the Greenback was an idea whose time had come. Legislation was passed on Feb 25, 1862 and Lincoln signed it into law. At first $150 million was authorized with a total of $450 million being put into circulation as the war continued.

The Lincoln administration partially bypassed the bankers with the war bonds, but the Greenbacks left them completely out of the loop. This was pure fiat money from the government that created no debt whatsoever and there was no interest to be paid to bankers or anyone else.

As word of the Greenbacks reached the big bankers in England and Europe great alarm was felt. In 1865 The London times wrote:

“If that mischievous financial policy, which had its origin in the North American Republic, should become indurate down to a fixture, then that government will furnish its own money without cost. It will pay off debts and be without a debt. It will have all the money necessary to carry on its commerce. It will become prosperous beyond precedent in the history of civilized governments of the world. The brains and the wealth of all countries will go to North America. That government must be destroyed or it will destroy every monarchy on the globe.”

The Greenbacks had several advantages over the fiat Continental currency in that they were very difficult to counterfeit. They used a proprietary green chromium tint invented by Canadian Dr. Sterry Hunt to combat photo duplication. This made the Greenbacks very difficult to counterfeit. The bills got their name from this “green” ink on the “back” of the bill. The name did not come from the Lincoln administration but from the common people who started calling them “Greenbacks.”

It is interesting that the two men with the greatest authority (Lincoln and Chase) had strong reservations about the Greenback. Chase was particularly negative and may have influenced Lincoln at first. After Lincoln’s death Chase supported the retirement of the Greenback.

Fortunately Lincoln saw that the greenback was necessary and supported legislation to create them. As time passed he seemed to have embraced them as he said: “… (We) gave the people of this Republic the greatest blessing they have ever had – their own paper money to pay their own debts…”
Quote from Who Rules America by C. K. Howe

Near the end of his life Lincoln expressed interest in printing more Greenbacks. Some believe that his association with the Greenbacks, as seen through the eyes of the bankers, was part of the reason he was killed. Many students believe that his lack of cooperation with powerful bankers created a conspiracy against him. Whatever the case, it is obvious that many bankers were happy to have him out of the way thanks to John Wilkes Booth.

Those who do not like fiat money and/or the Greenback attack it as being inflationary and not holding its value. Most of the Greenback attacks I have read point out that it reached a low of 36 cents against what started as a dollar’s worth of gold. They rattle this off and then dismiss the Greenback out of hand as being “toilet paper money,” or worthless.

This is an extremely deceptive and mean spirited affront on truth and logic and leaves out the whole picture. Let us therefore fill in the blanks so the reader can make an informed judgment.

What readers are generally not told was that this low represented a spike that lasted less than a month. It was caused in part by a fear that the country would have a repeat of the inflation of the Continental currency. As soon as Congress let it be known that the total issue would not exceed $450 million the value of the Greenback sharply rose against gold. Here are the facts.

Congress authorized the circulation of Greenbacks on Feb 25, 1862. Their stated value was equal to one dollar in gold. They dropped down to 58 cents by the end of the year, but rose back up to 82 cents about six months later and then back down to the low of 36 cents on July 16, 1864. This low followed the largest release of Greenbacks during the war – $200 million and some were frightened that an unlimited inflationary amount was forthcoming.

Congress stated the total release would be limited to $450 million and put and end to this fear and it rose to 68 cents by December 1865. It rose steady after that until it became equal with gold in December 1878.

If the total issue of new money was limited to Greenbacks during the war the value of the Greenbacks would have held much higher, but often overlooked is the fact that almost $2 billion in war bonds, which was over four times the number of Greenbacks, was the major cause of the inflation of fiat money during the war.

It is interesting to note that this still does not tell the whole story. A small detail left out by the anti Greenback crowd is that the purchasing power of gold itself fluctuated significantly during the Greenback era.

Now some diehards will claim the value of gold never fluctuates giving their reasoning that an ounce of gold is always worth an ounce of gold. This thinking makes no sense and is like saying a Greenback is always worth a Greenback or a pound of wheat is always worth a pound of wheat. The hard fact is that every currency and commodity fluctuates in value and this includes gold as we illustrated a few pages back.

During the war conversion of notes into gold was suspended so this turned gold into a commodity with fluctuations like wheat or corn. The price of gold in relation to its value compared to commodities at the beginning of the greenback era fluctuated over 200% during the war. Cotton fluctuated much more though because of interrupted flow from the South. Its range of value was 1300%. In other words, it took a lot more gold to buy a pound of cotton near the end of the war than the beginning.

Wages also rose but not as much as the average commodity price or gold. When one takes all these fluctuations into account he must conclude that any indexed value of the Greenback would move like a roller coaster during such turbulent times no matter what happened to gold.

Stephen Zarlenga gives this interesting quote from Civil War historian J. G. Randall:

“The threat of inflation was more effectively curbed during the Civil War than during the First World War. Indeed as John K. Galbraith has observed, ‘it is remarkable that without rationing, price controls, or central banking, Chase could have managed the federal economy so well during the Civil War.”

He then adds this:
The fact that the Greenbacks were not accepted for import duties may also have been an important negative factor against the currency:

“Hence it has been argued that the Greenback circulation issued in 1862 might have kept at par with gold if it, too, had been made receivable for all payments to the Government,” wrote financial historian (Davis Rich) Dewey.

When one considers the mountain of obstacles the Greenback had to surmount to hold on to any value it is amazing that it did not go the way of the Continental which was worth virtually zero at the war’s end.

Here is a partial list of what the Greenback had to overcome.

(1) Almost $2 billion worth of inflationary bonds thrown into circulation.

(2) A Secretary of Treasury that was against their existence.

(3) The fact that almost all the spending of the Greenbacks during the war was for the war itself which added no wealth to the economy. This would be similar to spending money on digging holes and then filling them up again. Nothing is added to wealth.

(4) The fluctuations of wholesale, commodity and labor prices during a fight for survival.

(5) Attacks by big bankers to undermine its value.

(6) Attacks by the Press attempting to bias the people against it.

(7) Counterfeiting attempts

(8) Being associated in the public mind with the Continental currency, which failed for reasons previously noted.

(9) A little known but potent problem the Greenbacks faced were religious fanatics of the time. Many Bible believers thought that gold was a God-sanctioned money and any move to create money not backed by it came straight from Satan. These people created quite a stir and turned many politicians against the Greenback after the war.

These preachers must not have read their Bible very carefully for it doesn’t really support their case. Yes, they used gold and silver as money or barter in Bible times but God didn’t seem to be thrilled with the idea. Take a look at these scriptures:

“Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: (Sounds like gold and silver coins)

“They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not:

…They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.” Psalms 115:4-8

“Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold. For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.” Proverbs 8:10-11

“He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver.” Eccl 5:10

“They shall cast their silver in the streets, and their gold shall be removed: their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the LORD: they shall not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumblingblock of their iniquity.” Ezek 7:19

“Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’S wrath.” Zeph 1:18

It is amazing that the Greenback survived these problems and became a major factor in not only winning the war but inspiring people for a generation afterwards including the creation of a Greenback political party. Now finally, after its seeming demise, interest in the principle behind it is surfacing again.

The confederate currency didn’t fare so well as the Greenback.

In 1861 a confederate dollar was worth 90 cents in gold. By 1862 it had gone down to 83 cents and then took a big drop the next year to 29 cents. By 1864 it was worth only 5 cents and by early 1865 was on its way to oblivion at less than 2 cents in value.

The student of history may wonder why the Greenback held on to its value so much better. After all, they were the same type of money in similar circumstances, weren’t they?

Not quite.

There were several key differences. The first all important difference is that the Greenbacks were declared by fiat to be money, not a loan or promissory note, but national “legal tender for all debts public and private.”

The Confederate notes had no such fiat. Instead, they were promissory notes to be redeemed for something else of value in the future.

The second difference, which is also huge, is there was no limitation set on the number of Confederate notes that could be added to circulation. Whereas the Greenbacks were limited to $450 million the Confederates with no limitation wound up printing $1.55 billion in bills – over three times the amount of the Greenbacks in the North.

On top of this Lincoln took a queue from the British and counterfeited the Confederate dollar and circulated as many as possible in the South. Private counterfeiters also did their share. Their inflation became so bad that the South used Northern Greenbacks themselves to purchase essential goods and services. No one knows how many Confederate dollars were in circulation but judging from their inflation rate, it was several billion dollars worth.

Many students of monetary history believe the Greenback was the best money ever created. Its creation did not depend on bankers or loans and there was no interest to pay to anyone.

During the Greenback/Civil War era Ellen Brown says “the country managed to become the greatest industrial giant the world had ever seen. The steel industry was launched, a continental railroad system was created, the Department of Agriculture was established, a new era of farm machinery and cheap tools was promoted, a system of free higher education was established through the Land Grant College System, land development was encouraged by passage of a Homestead Act granting ownership privileges to settlers, major government support was provided to all branches of science, the Bureau of Mines was organized, governments in the Western territories were established, the judicial system was reorganized, labor productivity increased by 50 to 75 percent, and standardization and mass production was promoted worldwide.

“How was all this accomplished, with a Treasury that was completely broke and a Congress that hadn’t been paid themselves? As Benjamin Franklin might have said, “That is simple.” Lincoln tapped into the same cornerstone that had gotten the impoverished colonists through the American Revolution.”
Web of Debt by Ellen H. Brown, 2008, , Page 82

If we had created Greenbacks in our age rather than borrowing many trillions we would not be paying over $450 billion a year in interest. Instead, we could put that money to good use in keeping the nation solvent.

Maybe we will eventually learn our lesson.

Sources:
Web of Debt by Ellen H. Brown, 2008

The Lost Science of Money By Stephen Zarlenga

Patrick Carmack, Bill Still, The Money Masters: How International Bankers Gained Control of America (video, 1998), text at:
http://www.no-debts.com/anti-federalist/files/moneymasters.txt
Video at:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-515319560256183936#

The Lincoln Encyclopedia, Archer H. Shaw (Macmillan, 1950, NY

The Case for Gold by Ron Paul and Lewis Lehrman,

J. G. Randall, The Civil War and Reconstruction, edit. D. David, (Boston: Heath & Co, 1937, 2nd edition 1961)

Charles J. Bullock, Monetary History of the U.S., (New York: Macmillan, 1900)

Wesley Mitchell, Gold Prices and Wages Under the Greenback System, (Berkeley: Univ. Press, 1908)

Irwin Unger, The Greenback Era
(Princeton University Press, 1964)

A History of Money by Glyn Davies, 1994

Read This entire series. Here are the links.
Copyright 2011 by J J Dewey

Copyright by J J Dewey

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Preparing for the Worst

March 20, 2011March 20, 2011 Joseph Dewey

This entry is part 3 of 31 in the series 2011B

Maryellen: Does it matter if we buy gold and silver coins vs. jewelry made of the metal? I mean, if it doesn’t matter, we may as well enjoy our investment as jewelry!!

JJ I think Blayne was steering you correctly about buying coins, not only as an investment, but as something that can be practically used if the dollar collapses.

There are several advantages of collectors coins.

First they have intrinsic value so they can be used for trading.

Secondly, they have collectors value so even if the price of gold or silver drops they will still hold their value and in many cases go up.

Thirdly, you do not have to pay sales tax when you buy and sell them.

Getting a few gold coins is fine for diversity of investment but they are not too practical for spending. A one ounce gold eagle sells for about $1500 so this would be kind of awkward to trade for some groceries.

I would recommend the pre 1921 Morgan silver dollars for several reasons.

First, collectors love these coins and they will always be in demand.

Ruth: What if the Lights don’t gather because many didn’t have soul contact or hear the soul, is that a possibility?

JJ If the lights do not gather by the time the next major earth changes come then we could lose many of the basics of our civilization and have to start over.

What happened in Japan was just the earth scratching an itch. Imagine what a major spinal adjustment would be like.

So far the media and anti nuclear people are attempting to scare the dickens out of the people.

The truth is that no one has received a dangerous level of radiation yet nor are they likely to unless the worst possible scenario happens and if it does it will be nothing like Chernobyl as the Japanese plants have a much better design.

The only ones who need to be concerned about radiation levels at present are those working directly with the core in the plant itself and they are monitoring levels closely.

Here’s an article giving some good information without the hype.

http://www.stoptheaclu.com/2011/03/14/a-factual-reply-to-the-nuclear-panic-spark\ ed-by-the-japanese-disaster/

Secondly, there is a very limited number of them so they will eventually go up in price even if the price of silver goes down.

There are two directions to go with these. You can buy the rare more expensive coins, say $60 or more retail – or the less expensive at around $30-$40 or less each. The cheaper ones will have good value for their silver content as well as the collecting value. I would recommend going this direction unless you get a good deal on the more expensive coins – and this can be done.

You can accomplish this on Ebay by reviewing numerous coins and then making bids on those that seem to be undervalued. Here are fairly current prices on Morgans: http://www.numismedia.com/fmv/prices/mordlr/pricesgd.shtml

The problem with buying jewelry is that the price is highly marked up and if you ever sell it then you have to take a big discount. If I wanted to buy jewelry as an investment I would go on Crag’s list and look for some deals from private individuals. If you buy low enough you can always get your money back and maybe make a profit.

If anyone else has good ideas for inflation proof investments feel free to post.

Dan: How are you going to treat the water for storage in your 55 gallon drums? Purify, mineralize, sun, and then store it or just store tapwater which you then purify, mineralize and sun prior to drinking (or some other method)?

JJ If I wind up using them I’ll do the same thing. I’ll filter it, add ingredients (if available) and then place clear jugs in the sun. Purifying water by using the sun is recommended in survival manuals anyway.

You can get clear glass bottles by going to glass recycling bins and taking what you need. Gallon ones are not always available though.

JJ wrote: If I wind up using them I’ll do the same thing. I’ll filter it, add ingredients (if available) and then place clear jugs in the sun.

Dan: You’ll do this before or after you place the water in the 55gal drums and store it?

JJ
After. I’ll take the water out of the drums, filter it, put it into clear glass jugs, add ingredients and then place them in the sun.

Predictions 2011, Part 4

January 4, 2011January 25, 2011 Joseph Dewey

This entry is part 4 of 50 in the series 2011A

Apple will continue to put out innovative products that will keep it on the cutting edge and its popularity will increase when it markets a 3-D monitor.

Obama will work toward normalizing relations with Cuba whether Congress cooperates or not.

There will be several weather related disasters and flooding will be a problem. Problems will be worse than usual but not cataclysmic.

With the high price of gold staying up there and unemployment high more people will prospect and mine for gold. There will be a gold rush in several parts of the world and gold production will go up.

The danger of China having a monopoly on rare earth elements will finally dawn on the public consciousness and there will develop a push to mine theses elements in the United States, Canada, Australia and other countries.

Prices of essentials such as food, fuel and power will go up and many non essentials will go down. This will create the illusion that there is not as much inflation as there really is affecting he average household.

Talk of global warming will become a joke except during the summer when it does truly get warm.

The Patriots will win the Superbowl.

Academy Awards
The King’s Speech will win best Picture and Colin Firth who stars in it will receive Best Actor

Natalie Portman will receive best actress for Black Swan.

No direct pipeline to God claimed for these predictions.

Money Masters

March 1, 2010December 29, 2010 Joseph Dewey

This entry is part 21 of 62 in the series 2010

Posted Aug 7-9, 2010

Blayne:
The links I posted on mining in my last post before this one show otherwise However lets look at the idea this conveys.

JJ
The link mention adds about 2 billion dollars worth of gold. $2 billion is peanuts in today’s economy.

Blayne
When it is said “$300 worth of gold” I am assuming you mean at the current exchange rate to FRN’s? If so then at around $1200 an ounce your looking at about a quarter ounce of gold. Little bit more then a grain of sand.

JJ
If the whole world went on the gold standard the price would skyrocket and a piece of gold about the size of a grain of sand would be worth about $20 making it impractical as exchange without some type of fiat or fractional money.

Blayne
Second this evokes the idea that everyone would be poor.

JJ
I didn’t say anything to indicate that.

Blayne
Again based on the myth of credit expansion being necessary for a healthy economy. This is based on the current Keynesian model which is failing miserably.

JJ
I didn’t say anything about this, but expansion of production as well as the money supply is essential for a growing economy.

Blayne:
It also does not take into account silver and other monetary metals that could
and would be used and appears to be coming from a strict gold standard
standpoint of government fixing the amount. . When you say not very practical
certainly not in an “inflated” economy such as ours where $300 is a pittance in
terms of purchasing power and trade where all prices are based on this massive
inflation.

JJ
If gold is practical then whether it works should not depend on whether the economy is inflated or not.

Blayne
If we look at it from a different angle where gold is currently at about $1200
on ounce then 300 ounces of gold or 15 $20 gold pieces (what fiat money tries to
mimic) would be equal to $3,600,000 current FRN’s.

JJ
No argument there, but I don’t see this fact making a case for the gold standard.

Blayne
Indeed economy expansion would be much slower but would be stable and there
would be less poor as people would be more likely to have sufficient for their. needs. More on this later.

JJ
Yes, it would be slower, but a stifling of the economy and production is not a necessary thing.

It doesn’t matter what standard we use for corrupt people will try to take advantage of it of it. The gold standard was abused just as the fiat one is. The new financial system needs to be transparent as well as understood by the people for it to operate successfully.

Did you check out that video series that Susan posted? Did you find anything you disagreed with?

***

Blayne:
The links I posted on mining in my last post before this one show otherwise However lets look at the idea this conveys.

JJ
The link mention adds about 2 billion dollars worth of gold. $2 billion is peanuts in today’s economy.

Blayne
Second this evokes the idea that everyone would be poor.

JJ
I didn’t say anything to indicate that.

Blayne
Again based on the myth of credit expansion being necessary for a healthy economy. This is based on the current Keynesian model which is failing miserably.

JJ
I didn’t say anything about this, but expansion of production as well as the money supply is essential for a growing economy.

JJ
If gold is practical then whether it works should not depend on whether the economy is inflated or not.

JJ
No argument there, but I don’t see this fact making a case for the gold standard.

Blayne
Indeed economy expansion would be much slower but would be stable and there
would be less poor as people would be more likely to have sufficient for their. needs. More on this later.

JJ
Yes, it would be slower, but a stifling of the economy and production is not a necessary thing.

Good comments on money from both sides. There is a lot I could say on the subject, but we tackled this once before through general posting and nothing got resolved. What i’ve decided to do is to write a treatise on the subject giving a step by step approach to substantiate my views. I may make this a section in my book since it is an important subject.

I figure that those who provide criticism can only help to make the final treatise more sound.

***
Larry W writes:
I questioned whether JJ actually did use the spiritual connection he claims. But, again, as I got into it the gravity of
that program it confirmed JJ’s process validity and probably confirms his spiritual Internet access.

JJ
Thanks for your faith in my Larry but I want to make it clear that no one should have faith in my writings because they see me as having a connection beyond that which they have themselves. The most I expect is to be respected as an earned authority. This means that if they disagree they will look twice at my reasoning and ask themselves if they missed something – that perhaps i knew what I was talking about. If, after doing this the person cannot accept what i say then they can either reject it or put it on the shelf. It matters not to me.
***

Larry Woods says, Blayne, let me spell it out very simple. The total amount of monetary gold today in the whole world is about 3.4 trillion dollars worth in today’s inflated dollars. Compared to annual world economy of about 60 trillion dollars (inflated exaclty the same) there is NO POSSIBLE WAY 3.4T can directly cover 60T. That is 17 to 1 even if China had not already horded 80% of the world’s monetary gold supply. GET REAL!

Blayne Why would it have to cover 60 trillion? This has been explained several times. Perhaps you can explain why it must cover the inflationary bubble of credit in light of the fact and fundamental law of economics that prices are relative to the amount of currency in circulation regardless of production? Prices would simply adjust to the amount of currency in circulation.

JJ
You’re overlooking something important here that is not even disputed by the Austrian school as far as I know.

We have 3.4 trillion dollars worth of gold. This value is by the standard of dollars as they exist today. In other words, all the gold available can buy 3.4 trillion dollars worth of real estate, oil or whatever.

On the other hand, the amount of money in dollars can buy $60 trillion worth of assets.

If we went on the pure gold standard tomorrow then the people would only have the purchasing power of 3.4 trillion or about 6% of what we have today. This means that if you are making $40,000 a year now in purchasing power that you would only be making $2400 if we suddenly switched to a pure gold standard. Just imagine if the average person had to live on $2400 a year in purchasing power. Not too desirable.

Then if China corned the market on gold, things could be even worse than this.

Let me add one more thing. For there to be a adjustment in prices that you mention then the whole world would have to go on the gold standard. If just the United States did then there would be little adjustment except to lower purchasing power.

If a true adjustment was made then the price of gold would be so high that a $20 gold piece might be as small as a grain of sand like I said.

If we somehow decreed that a $20 gold piece would be equal to one ounce of gold then in the adjusted world you could buy a car for $20. How would you go about buying an ice cream cone in such a system?
Copyright 2010 by J J Dewey