Further Reading …

Sometimes articles come across our desks that we find interesting or relevant (or sometimes both!). When that happens, we try to post them here. Enjoy the reading, and if you find any articles that you think would make good additions, please feel free to use our Contact Page to send them our way!

Debunking Deflation
- Now that almost every Wall Street economist is looking for the arrival of a Great Deflation, we think investors should begin looking the other way. Keep an eye out for inflation, we say.
The gold standard: generator and protector of jobs
- The abandonment of the gold standard in 1971 is closely tied to the massive unemployment the industrialized world has suffered in recent years…
Inflation Causing Decline in U.S. Standard of Living
- The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) today released their Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for the month of April, which showed year-over-year price inflation of 2.24%. This was down from March's year-over-year increase of 2.31%. As discussed in NIA's new documentary 'Meltup'…
Hyperinflation Looms—The Dollar Arrives at Its ‘Havenstein Moment’
- There is an interesting article in Canada’s Globe & Mail about the lack of growth in the US money supply. Ignoring for the moment that the quantity of dollars in circulation is significantly underreported, it observes…
Healthcare Bill to Cause U.S. Hyperinflation By 2015
- The National Inflation Association today issued a warning to all Americans of a potential outbreak of hyperinflation in the U.S. by year 2015 caused primarily by the healthcare bill and rising interest payments on our national debt. Medicare was created in 1966 at a cost of $3 billion per year and the House Ways and Means …
U.S. Decline, Sloth Look a Lot Like End of Rome
- Historians cite the late second century as the turning point of the Roman Empire, when the once-proud, feared society began its descent into infamy. As the ruling class was undermined by civil wars and attacks by outsiders, the …
US Dollar Money Supply Is Underreported
- As the financial crisis has unfolded over the last two years, the Federal Reserve has been responding in a variety of unprecedented ways. Therefore, it is logical to assume that these never-before-used actions have altered long-established ways of viewing things. One area that has been impacted is the US dollar money supply.
The U.S.: Land of the Free and Home of a Nearly Failed Treasury Auction of Its Own
- While most of the investment world focuses on the various ”senior officials” (none of whom seem to have actual names or positions) commenting on whether Greece will or will not be bailed out / receive an emergency loan / be offered moral support, a far more significant debt story is emerging in the US.
John Embry: Why gold will keep going up for years
- Good afternoon. It is once again a great pleasure for me to address a knowledgeable gathering at Joe Martin's always excellent Cambridge Conference.
  When I was here last year gold was around $850 and there was the usual angst among mainstream commentators fearing a drop to $600 per ounce or worse. Today the price is roughly $300 higher and the same individuals continue to try to frighten the public with prophesies of vertiginous falls in the gold price. Despite this ongoing aggravation, I am even more bullish on the prospects for gold than I was a year ago.
  However, despite my consistent enthusiasm for the yellow metal once termed a "barbarous relic" by Lord Keynes, I still have …
Timothy Geithner Meets Vladimir Lenin
- “The best way to destroy the capitalist system is to debauch the currency.”
  
  Vladimir Lenin, leader of the 1917 Russian Revolution
  
  Last week, while Congress and the nation were preoccupied with the holidays, the Treasury made a Christmas eve announcement that it would be providing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac unlimited financial support for the next three years.
Is it all just a Ponzi scheme?
- In our May/June Markets at a Glance, "The solution…is the Problem", we discussed how much debt the US government would need to issue in order to balance the budget for fiscal 2009. We calculated they would need to sell $2.041 trillion in new debt - or almost three times the new debt that was issued in fiscal ...
Will Sovereign Debt Defaults Bring the End of Socialism?
- Socialism has come to mean many different things to many people, but regardless how it is defined, in the months immediately ahead it will be put to a rigorous test. The test will be visible to everyone as countries around the globe run out of money and confront overwhelming debts that cannot be repaid as well as other wide-ranging financial promises that can no longer be met. In short, the ideological bankruptcy of socialism will be laid bare by…
Viva la Restoration: Remarks of Robert K. Landis
- It is an honor and a pleasure to be here among so many good friends and great minds.
  I feel a special affinity for Zurich. It was the home of my friend and inspiration Ferdi Lips. It is the home of other friends like Tony Deden.
  It was also the ancestral home of the Landis family.
  In fact, this ancestral tie makes me a little nervous at the prospect of a question and answer session. The last time a Landis preaching a dissident message was questioned in Zurich, it was while he was stretched out on the rack. His answers irritated his questioners. So they cut off his head.
  …
Doug Casey on Gold
- Historically, many things have been used as money. Cattle have been used as money in many societies, including Roman society. That’s where we get the word “pecuniary” from: the Latin word for a single head of cattle is pecus. Salt has been used as money, also including in ancient Rome, and that’s where the word “salary” comes from; the Latin for salt was sal (or salis). The North American Indians used seashells. Cigarettes were used during WWII. So, money is simply a medium of exchange and a store of value.
When to Buy Gold
- I bet you don’t own enough gold. Before you tell me I’m wrong, let me ask it this way…
R.I.P. - The London Gold Pool, 1961-1968
- Most of the public is still unaware of that the gold price is currently suppressed by governments and central banks in collusion with bullion dealers. Even fewer realize that suppression of the price of gold has plenty of historical precedence. The following is the story of the London Gold Pool.
Why Healthcare is Killing America
- Healthcare is the biggest segment of our economy. In the debate over who should pay for what or, increasingly, for whom, most people don't stop to understand just how large a portion of our society's money is dedicated to …
Where to Find the Best Deals in Physical Gold
- When gold breached the $1,000/oz mark this February, the mass media were full of reports of unprecedented coin demand and long wait times for bullion buyers. You couldn't open the paper without seeing a piece about the gold rush.
Widening Deficits
- On March 20, 2009, the bipartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released its latest forecast in an effort to take into account the impact of the recently released Obama budget. The verdict? A whopping $1.8 trillion deficit for 2009, approximately four times larger than the all-time record established in 2008 ($455 billion).
When Bernanke Says All Is Well, It's Time To Duck And Cover
- “We’ve averted” the risk of a depression, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said this week. “Now the problem is to get the thing working properly again.” Appearing on CBS network’s 60 Minutes, Bernanke told correspondent Scott Pelley that concerted efforts by the government likely averted a depression similar to the 1930s. He also stated the nation’s largest banks are solvent and that he doesn’t expect any of them to fail; and that the U.S. recession will come to an end “probably this year.”
Obama Says Short US Treasuries
- Bank bailouts, homeowner bailouts, auto-industry bailouts, and now massive stimulus packages; the federal government spending list goes on and on.
Federal obligations exceed world GDP
- As the Obama administration pushes through Congress its $800 billion deficit-spending economic stimulus plan, the American public is largely unaware that the true deficit of the federal government already is measured in trillions of dollars, and in fact its $65.5 trillion in total obligations exceeds the gross domestic product of the world.
The Importance of Failure
- There is much discussion these days about bailouts. Are they needed? Are they just? I say no on both counts. Yet many economists, politicians, and businessmen tell us that bailouts are needed to prevent catastrophic economic collapse. Without commenting on the justice of bailouts, they warn that we are facing massive economic pain if we stand aside and let markets run their course. Bailouts can staunch this pain, they claim, and restore order and calm to the economy.
How Deflation Creates Hyper-inflation
- Yes, there is debt deflation, and the overall money supply is shrinking as a result. However, those calling for "multi-year bull market" for the US dollar are insane. These individuals need to review basic monetary theory. The money supply is only one of three factors that determine whether prices rise or fall. The other two are the changes in the velocity of money and the real output of the …
The Death of Money - Deflation or Hyperinflation
Smaller Banks Resist Federal Cash Infusions
- Community banking executives around the country responded with anger yesterday to the Bush administration's strategy of investing $250 billion in financial firms, saying they don't need the money, resent the intrusion and feel it's unfair to rescue companies from their own mistakes…
What Went Wrong
- How did the world's markets come to the brink of collapse? Some say regulators failed. Others claim deregulation left them handcuffed. Who's right? Both are. This is the story of how Washington didn't catch up to Wall Street.
Anatomy of a Train Wreck: Causes of the Mortgage Meltdown