Anyway, back to economics, I don't envy Bernanke, but I think he was chosen for a reason. The central bankers didn't appoint an expect on depression era economics by accident, and I believe it would be naive to think so.
Essays on the Great Depression book jacket wrote:Few periods in history compare to the Great Depression. Stock market crashes, bread lines, bank runs, and wild currency speculation were world-wide phenomena--all occurring with the storm clouds of war gathering ominously in the background. Even as the disaster abated, the unevenness of the recovery had a profound effect on the next world crisis to arise: World War II. This period has provided economists with a marvelous laboratory for studying the links between economic policies and institutions and economic performance. And the events of the depression era resonate with today's world economic headlines--a supercharged, information age economy with volatile financial markets, currency crises, and even deflation. Here Ben S. Bernanke has gathered together his essays on why the Great Depression was so devastating and lasted so long. These essays include some of the recent research on the international character of the crisis. This broad view shows us that while the Great Depression was an unparalleled disaster on a truly universal scale, some economies pulled up faster than others, and some made an opportunity out of a disaster. By comparing and contrasting the economic strategies and statistics of the world's nations as they struggled to survive economically, the fundamental lessons of macroeconomics stand out in bold relief against a background of immense human suffering.
Assuming for the sake of argument that replacing the USD with a continental currency to compete with the Euro (i.e. the "Amero") is on the agenda, what Bernanke is doing has logic and the fiscal malfeasance of the current administration can be seen from a different perspective.
EVERY single fiat currency in history has eventually failed without question, the USD will be no different. The US has become the greatest debtor nation in history. Consumer and government debt have risen to outrageous levels to the point where its difficult to even pay the interest let alone the principal.
I believe inflation, and eventually hyperinflation is the way this will play out.
Who wants to be a millionaire? By careful what you wish for.
Recent history is littered with examples:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperinflation#Hyperinflation_around_the_worldNotice how many of these historical hyper-inflationary periods precede the introduction of a new currency. ..
In 1923 once hyperinflation took off in Germany 1 dollar equaled 80 BILLION marks! Or look at Hungary, before 1945 the highest denomination of currency was 1,000, in little over a year inflation increased to
4.19 quintillion (4.19 x 1018) percent!!On January 1, 1946 one adópengő equaled one pengő. By late July, one adópengő equaled 2,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 or 2×1021pengő. When the pengo was replaced in August 1946 by the forint, the total value of all Hungarian banknotes in circulation amounted to one-thousandth of one US cent.
Today, there is no possible way American citizens would agree to replace the USD with an international currency. Eventually they will beg for it.
Problem, Reaction, Solution. It works EVERY time....
In the meantime expect another rate cut this month. The Dào needs to remain above 1200 in the near term as that is the metric (however flawed) the average person looks to as an indicator of economic health. There is is also great psychological resistance to $1000 gold for similar reasons. The gold/silver price ratio will to continue to decline, in 2004 the price of gold was 70x that of silver, and now that's down to 48x and continuing to fall. As "Paul-tards" and other 'conspiracist nutters' increasingly lose confidence in the concept that pieces of paper and binary digits represent real 'wealth', silver is likely to reemerge as a monetary metal when the gold is priced out of the reach of the average person.
To put things in perspective, 6 silver quarters (pre 1964) is worth over $20USD today in pure melt value alone.
At the moment, almost every standard technical indicator points to a near-term correction in the overheated precious metal market
coin-siding with the the start of corrective wave-4 in the fractal Elliott wave cycle, preceding the final fifth wave which is generally the strongest for commodities. If gold and silver continue to rise in the short term this could signify a shift more towards the underlying fundamentals of a larger than expected recession in the U.S. and decreasing international confidence in the Fed's printing press.
Modern Money Mechanics Workbook, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, 1975 wrote:"Neither paper currency nor deposits have value as commodities, intrinsically, a 'dollar' bill is just a piece of paper. Deposits are merely book entries."
Robert H. Hemphill, former credit manager, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta wrote:"Money is the most important subject intellectual persons can investigate and reflect upon. It is so important that our present civilization may collapse unless it is widely understood and its defects remedied very soon."
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Gold, p. 10 wrote:"Without the confidence factor, many believe a paper money system is liable to collapse eventually."
