Is the dollar going to become worthless?

I was living in the coalfields of Virginia at the time and there was a lot of talk about coal gasification, too.

That was our mistake. We should have continued that research in anticipation of the problems that we're now having.

Well, this is all very depressing. Watching my life savings going down the drain.

You shoulda put it into rolls so it couldn't fit down the drain slots.

I hate tyo be the one to bring politics into this, but IMHO, this all goes back to the economic slowdown in 2000... When the tech bubble busted. The fact that the economy was in need of deep tax cuts and rate reductions were obvious, but Bush II focused those tax cuts towards the supply side of the equation and relied on the extra liquidity from fed rate cuts to bolster the demand via increased debt. This was totally backwards.

With 70% of our economy being consumer spending, a tax cut focused mainly on ythe middle and lower class would have been the equivelent of giving everyone a raise in pay which would have resulted in increased discretionary spending which in turn would have increased demand. What you would not have seen in this scenario was the mass exodus of jobs overseas or perhaps a drop in demand for foreign goods even.

Of course, the private sector itself did it's fair share of damage by ignoring credit risk and making huge loans to all who would apply. This created a second bubble in the housing sector. I beleive their motive was to continue economic expansion despite the lack of sound fundamentals and just hope that they could stay ahead of the curve. As they say... all good things...

What Bush and TPTB failed to realize is that there is a marked distinction between economic growth and debt induced demand.

I would agree with that except maybe on one point: Why would there have been a decreased demand for cheap foreign goods or the lack of a mass exodus of jobs overseas?

This just in....



with Gold now over $1000 per ounce, Mr. T. is now the world's 3rd richest man.

The simple answer is that as the US slips into recession, many people begin to turn to hard assets as a hedge against both stock market volatility and inflationary pressures.

A euro or pound sterling are subject to the same problems and issues, and lack any value beyond what people put in them, whereas gold and silver can be used to make things.

I beleive that by increasing demand, this would have maintained the record increases in American productivity that we were experiencing in the end of the century, which would have combatted the cheap foreign goods.

As for the outsourcing, I beleive that the increased demand would have combatted this as well. By keeping the average american in the loop, keeping him employed would have benifitted TPTB.

JMHO.

While currency values do have a massive impact on a countries economy, too many people get caught up in "the sky is falling!" talk thinking that is the end for ever.

These things happen, it goes up and down.

In 2001 the Australian dollar only bought US$0.50, now it buys $0.93, I'm sure in a few years it will be back around the $0.70 mark.

Bailey, when I was a kid living in W.A. the aussie dollar bought about 1.40 American. I used to make my Dad pay me my allowance in aussie money then convert it to US money at the bank and spend it on base. (Mostly on bowling and pinball, but such were my youthly vices...)

You know... I was kind of looking foward to a correction in the housing market so that I could possibly pick upo some cheap investment property, but it's obvious that the Fed & Co. are not going to allow the market to reach a true price discovery.

I guess they are much smarter than me when it comes to macro-economics and for what ever reason would not let Bear Sterns go under.

^ Sold for $2/share after closing at $30/share on Friday. That's really, really scary, and until all the bad paper has been written off by our financial institutions we can expect to see more of the same happening. This is what happens when the government fails to regulate complex paper assets and we end up with a great big pile of crap that no one really knows the underlying value of or, worse, that has a known long term value of $0 but that generates lots of paper profit in the short term.

Bear Stearns...I thought he played for the Green Bay Packers.

More like QB for the Bears judging by the return on investment that shareholders got. Was giving Rex a new contract the dumbest thing ever or even dumber than that?

Wow, they really fucked over the stock holders.

That would largely be their own employees:

This is what happens when federal regulators learn nothing from Enron.

Why don't you shut up and listen? Marso answered your question. If you don't have the brains to figure it out, just say so. Or if you don't like the answer, just say so. But your "holier than thou" shtick gets old fast.

It's even scarier when you notice that it opened the week at $70.28.

You shouldn't. Historically speaking, gold's a terrible investment.



Even if you think the current run-up in gold prices is a market correction to appropriate prices rather than a sign of irrational hedging in a dubious commodity, you're still talking about an investment that had a negative return over a recent 25 year period, an investment that's historically been completely stagnant when not buoyed by exuberance, and an investment that you can't possibly expect to return more than a few percent a year over the very long run.

Never take investment advice from a gold bug.

Whatever. I've doubled my money on my gold investment over five years, tripled it on my silver.

And looking at that chart from 1975 to now, gold seems to be doing just fine.

Edited for accuracy.

Glad i have a few solid sliver coins just in case*





*Markets fail or werewolves turn up

Damn! I was gonna cash in that bucket full of coins I've been saving the last few years and get my new officer's uniform made.

Just like the real Confederate Army...

Out of coins?

Fuckkk can't find any images of suits made out of coins


Google you Fail!

Yes it was. The officers pretty much paid for their own uniforms. The army supplied the enlisted men.

My frock coat is gonna cost in the neighborhood of $500 - most of the cost is in the material. The seamstress is going to cut and sew it almost for free.

Gotta get new pants, too, but they'll only be about $100. The high cost of the long coat is the amount wooljean material and the chicken guts on the sleeves.

I'll be a Colonel.

Gotta get a sword and sash. And a Navy Colt pistol.

Given recent events in the market, I'd hardly call using gold as a hedge irrational, but that's beside the point. Historically, yes, it is stagnant, which is kind of the point, you buy gold as a guaranteed measure of wealth. If it is the horrible investment that you say it is, I sincerely doubt that people would continue to hold onto it.

But anyways, you can't possibly expect any investment to return more than a few percent a year over the long run, and in many cases you'll be lucky if an investment beats the S&P average in the long run.

Here's a good example for you. Warren Buffett spoke recently about this. In the 20th century, the Dow Jones Industrial Average increased by 5.3% compounded annually, in order to achieve that same effect in the 21st century, the Dow Jones would have to hit nearly 2 million by 2100.

How do you guys decide who does what? What keeps everyone from being officers?

Officers and NCOs are elected to their ranks by the Battalion, Brigade, Regiment, or Company, or field appointed by an elected officer. which is the way it was done during the war. Back then, anything from Corporal to Lt Colonel IIRC was elected. Colonels and Generals were appointed by the President or state governor.

Yeah, I know that there was a time the Aussie dollar was worth that much, just further evidence that these things fluctuate like all hell and the damage is only maximized when people start doing a chicken little act about it.