Video: Peter Schiff explains how a US depression can cause a global 'death spiral'

A quick Lesson on Obama's Job Plan (remedial class)

America: The Best Government Money Can Buy

These gas prices are kicking all of us in the rear end. Many blame the President, others commodity market speculators and still others OPEC. But they all are off from the way I see the issue. The real issue and the culprit is the US dollar. Specifically, its reduced value and purchasing power.

It seems almost intentional, avoiding the declining value of the dollar for the pricing increases we are seeing in everything from oil to food to gas. Politicians seem to just want to exploit the issue by appealing to popular sentiment. The fact is that the US dollar continues to hit record lows against all major foreign currencies especially the yuan, Euro and the Yen. Add to that the recent IMF findings that China’s economy will surpass that of America in 2016, it is more that meets the eye when speaking about the rising cost of gas. Why? Because we are not going through a recovery as the government suggest but rather a debt spending boom based on the home buying explosion of years past.

Truth is US household debt reached a high in June of $8.7 trillion, and with rising unemployment and no economic growth, it is reflected in the reduced value of the dollar. Such impacts negatively US Treasuries especially since now the Japanese government will need to sell its US Treasuries to deal with and pay for cleaning up and rebuilding after the Earthquake. Add to this gumbo China, which has the largest dollar surplus in the world, saw it foreign exchange reserves increased by 197.4 billion U.S. dollars in the first three months of this year to 3.04 trillion U.S. dollars by the end of March.

Now back to oil and gas. In simple terms, the weakness in the US dollar is causing everything to go up. This in an environment in which the rate of new debt growth among families is growing and the overall US manufacturing economy declines. This inherently impacts the dollar since what politicians ignore in their budget and deficit battles is the fact that US trade deficits and the Dollar System are connected.

Historically, in 1944 the Bretton Woods agreement solidified the dollar as the preeminent world reserve currency, defining the dollar in value to be 1/35th of an ounce of gold. In 1971, when President Nixon refused to pay out any of our remaining 280 million ounces of gold, he made the dollar what is today.

Oil is a critical economic and strategic resource and since it is traded in US$, when the US$ weakens, in terms of any other major foreign currency, the countries exporting oil get less. Thus when the dollar goes down in buying power they ask for more US$ for a barrel of oil. This gets even trickier since there is no shortage of oil via production currently. But what they see is our economy, let us say compared to a China which by estimates will expand from $11.2 trillion this year to $19 trillion in 2016, while the U.S. economy will rise from $15.2 trillion to $18.8 trillion. Strange, since it was just a decade ago when the U.S. economy was three times the size of China’s.

All I am trying to say is that the America we once knew with the all powerful dollar bill isn’t the same. The fact is that we have a surplus of oil and that we are not refining gasoline/ In addition, what we are seeing is the impact of a weaker dollar on oil demand in non-dollar economies. Oil producers sell their products in dollars. The dollars they get are used to buy other stuff around the globe. If it cost them more dollars to do so then they have to sell their oil for more dollars.

And as long as the U.S. Dollar is continuously devalued (inflated) by Federal Reserve and U.S. government monetary policies, oil producing nations will lose money if they don’t raise the price.

Yep the problem is our government and our monetary policies. The dollar may never be the same. Yet all the time wall street, big oil companies and politicians are getting richer as the sell all that made America great away to corporations and other nations through our monetary policy. Yep, that’s America; the greatest and best government money can buy.

preparing america for hyperinflation

just run the offense

I am very frightened for the time being, especially when I think of how far K street loot can go to get lobbyist to do un-American things. And on the backside of that is that the administration, from my understanding, is talking to me as if I am stupid. More amazingly is the number of regular folk in my community who don’t know or understand and just reduce it to the event of having a black man in office who inherited the problems of a white man.

It is not that bland or myopic for me, for all I really see the President as is a job description. One that has on the first line, the ability to be deceitful and masterful in the art of double speak via lies, misinformation or silence. Obama and the rest of the folk on Capitol Hill and Wall Street are not being honest with us, the American populous. They tell us that things are ok, that the economy is improving but the reality is that it is not.

Both the Treasury and the Federal Reserve were and are well aware of the troubles which the nine big banks in America face yet feel obligated to tell us otherwise, that the banks are in good shape, improving and that the $125 Billion we gave them has proved successful – not. The reason why I suspect is because these banks and lenders can’t collect on more than 20 percent of their loans, most of which are (non current) 90 days overdue. We have had almost 100 Banks fail thus far this year (which I predicted last year) and a 41 percent increase in personal bankruptcies over the last 12 months. The FDIC even projects more than 400 banks may fall as well. And these are not the Wall street folk, but the folk who be putting cash into mainstream America mostly through investing in your local strip mall and other commercial real estate.

Moreover, when we loose 16K to 67K in jobs on a given day as some papers have documented, things are not getting any better soon (next 3 years). It’s not a good sign. For me, when I see companies cutting 20% of their work force, it tells me about the future, and a future that is one of reduced sales and profits. I also know that the number is paraded out in front of me as the national unemployment rate as if it was in the Rose bowl aint the true value (as we stay in statistics when we speak of error). The model used by the Bureau of Labor Statistics attempts to estimate new job formation caused by the birth and death of businesses and as a result added more than 900,000 jobs when the compute overall unemployment. Which tells me that the true figure may be 20 percent or more?

We lost 263,000 jobs in September making by government number, more than 15 million unemployed since last December. Now I won’t ride the President for trying to get the Olympics, albeit he should have known that there has never been one in South America, and figured up front our odds were reduced. However I will ride him on this focus on healthcare especially since the economy is way more important that that. To me his health plan is more of a mandate and tax. Telling me I have to have to purchase insurance is an economic issue more so than health one to me since it would become a part of the Internal Revenue Code and that failing to comply "could be criminal” - punishable by the $25,000 fine or jail time under Section 7203. I do not know about others, but it is hard for me to accept the prospect of the government mandating for me to pay for and to have a service I may or may not want. Tell me where is it written that in order to be a lawful citizen of this country that I have to buy any good or service? The dollar aint worth jack anyway, especially after the power move the Arab states just made. Mr. President and his flunkies, get your head back in the game, study your playbook and just stick to the offense, run the offense and stop diddle daddling around before we put yo but on the bench

poor mr. or mrs. next president

It was my intention to not discuss the caucus results of Iowa and or Barack Obama at all so early in the election. I was hoping after reading a substantial corpus of blogs from around the globe I would see a majority of the implications discussed. Especially after such a "stunning" victory (others words not mine; stunning to me is 50% of the votes).

For the record, your boy here likes to stack a little change. Easy change which means using your brain. Maybe some consulting or statistical data analysis mostly, but also in them markets, precious metals and Forex exchanges. I mean I bought my first stocks when the DOW was at 3500 (which fell today 266.84 to 12,998.28). So one could suffice to say I have accrued and nice sum of chump change.

However, I feel that whoever the next President is, there will be something to deal with that won't be easily dealt with either with the rhetoric of experience or new leadership. This week, an ominous and unfortunate event occurred, the price of oil went over the mythical $100.00 a barrel mark. Although it returned below that level, it did happen.

True, the price is a function of increasing demand, especially from countries in Asia like china and India, but it is also a major consequence of the falling dollar. It is also a function of disruptions abroad due to civil unrest and war. Not to mention, that in America, there is no productivity in manufacturing, we make nothing anymore, no job creation and as noted in 2007, a 40% increase in consumers filing of bankruptcies. The latter itself is the function of another indicator - the increase in foreclosures and the decline of the housing market.

Now I'm no economist, but I think I was taught well by my 10th grade Econ teacher at Hamilton High School in Memphis, Dr, Moyer, but I can say that when Bush came in, we had a surplus and now, by the next 120 day, who knows, maybe inflation. And the Federal Reserve may not be able to do nothing about it. I mean as long as I have been investing, in particular in forex and precious metals, the dollar normally increased proportionally to the price of Gold. Now the dollar goes down as gold (and oil) increases. This scares the fuck out of me and the 300K plus I have saved over the years.

So yep, Obama won Iowa. I do wish him the best albeit I am supporting neither democratic or the republican nominee. Nonetheless, still more states and regardless of whoever wins, I feel sorry for poor Mr. or Mrs. President, whoever they maybe.

[PS: ANY YAWL SEE HOW ROMNEY STOLE THE MESSGE OF CHANGE FROM YO FOLK OBAMA-LOL. THEY STOLE ROCK NOW THIS.]

where dem dollars at

Boy oh, boy, I’m glad my broker honored my request to put a quarter of my account in pounds and Euro’s each. Im certain by now you have heard that the dollar dropped to $1.40 against euro.This slide has been goin on for about 3 or 4 years now, but never has the change against other currencies been so dramatic. This was after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates in the beginning of last week.

The query is multifold, inclusive of asking what does it say about Greenspan's successor, Ben Bernanke. Not only do we have to worry about the decline in the greenback, but add to that the bust in the housing market and a reduction in manufacturing, this should have a major impact on the U.S. economy.

My concern is that politicians are not even talking about the importance of having a strong currency for the country during the current political dialogue. Especially since it has been reported that China has stocked piled about $200 billion US dollars. Then there is the Arab move to confound all of this. Borse Dubai has just secured 28 per cent of the LSE as part of a wider deal with the US-based Nasdaq designed to settle their long-running battle for control of the Nordic exchanges and telecommunications operator OMX. The Dubai group bought most of Nasdaq’s 31 per cent stake in the LSE for £14.40 a share in cash. In return, it will take a 19.9 per cent stake on the combined Nasdaq/OMX group and receive cash.

Now days the dollar is equal to the Canadian dollar, which places the “loonie" at its highest point in about 30 years. This is important to me since see first had via my travels abroad how the value of the dollar is shrinking. If the dollar keeps dropping, it makes imports more expensive and maybe even increasing the likelihood of inflation.

As I mentioned last week about China, the US trade deficit in goods and service was $726 billion, as we had way more imports than exports. True, a lot of this is a consequence of the increasing price of oil; we may be seeing the beginning of a larger pain that will come in all of our pockets. So yawl keep track of your investments and it might be wise to start looking a forex exchanges and funds to make sure you hold on to your loot. So when Gangtsa Boo ask wher dem dollars at, we can answer china and Dubai. I take my investment seriously, this is America, and yawl can see some of where my money is in my portfolio on the side. And like Paul Harvey- Good Day.