While it is true that the average consumer isn’t (and won’t soon be) spending as much as he used to, it’s not because he’s waiting for bargains. No, it’s because he’s out of credit, he’s unemployed, his house, car, motorcycle, boat, and plasma television have all either been repossessed or foreclosed upon, and his wife just left him. He’s not exactly in the mood for shopping. He’s not waiting for bargains. He’s waiting for a miracle - and I don’t think they sell those at the mall. Words: 1582

Every textbook Keynesian solution to escape the [financial] black hole of liquidity entrapment [we are in] has been tried on a grand scale, and failed on an even grander scale but the solution is simple: renounce/write down all impaired debt, wipe out the "too big to fail" banks, and restrict the reach and political power of the remaining banks and Wall Street. Until we're willing to do that, then the liquidity trap will remain a black hole that the economy cannot possibly escape. [Let me explain.] Words: 1122

The kind of impact [our economy is] going to have will not be like flying into the side of a mountain. It will be the kind of crash that skids over land, clipping trees and buildings until the plane ends up wingless in a smoldering heap. I just hope the fuel tanks don’t ignite when the long rough ride is over. [Let me explain.] Words: 832

The peak nominal price of gold ($850/ozt.) occurred on January 21, 1980, which would correspond to about $2,450 in today's dollars according to my calculations using the CPI. If history repeats itself [exactly, then] gold will gain another 35% or so, briefly, before becoming one of the worst investments in the world for the next decade or two. [Let me explain.] Words: 558

It really is hard to find the words to describe the true horror of the national debt of the U.S. The U.S. government has been on the greatest debt binge in all of human history, and a day of reckoning is coming that is going to be so painful that it is going to shock America to the core. We have lived so far above our means for so long that none of us really has any concept of what "normal" is like anymore. The United States has enjoyed the greatest party in the history of the world, but now this decades-old party is ending and the bills are coming due. Our current system is headed for an inevitable collapse. There is no way of getting around it - a horrific economic collapse is coming [and] it is going to change the world. You better get ready. [Let me explain further.] Words: 1771

Even though the U.S. has managed to avert a debt crisis and perhaps a ratings downgrade, there remains a stain on our reputation, a scarlet “A” for budgetary “Abuse,” that will not disappear. The whole world was watching, and what they saw was a dysfunctional government taking its country to the financial precipice and backing off at the very last moment. [That being said, what options does the U.S. government have to reduce/eliminate its current $10 trillion of outstanding Treasury debt and an unfathomable $66 trillion of future liabilities? I have identified 4 likely courses of action all of which will lower the standard of living of every American.] Words: 1374

Buy-and-hold gold and silver and [the stocks and long-term warrants of quality] precious metals miners - and sleep well at night. [Let me explain why that is the case.] Words: 731

What are the implications for gold in each of the debt and "default" scenarios possible after August 2nd? [Let's take a look.] Words: 1111

I think we all would agree that owning a 10 kg bar of gold would be nice but that it is probably out of the question at the current cost of over $500,000! I had the pleasure of caressing such a bar recently and being surprised at just how heavy (22.045855 lbs.) it was for such a small object. Below I describe the gold coins of Canada and the United States. Words: 870

The ridiculous posturing by Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. over the imminent rise in so-called borrowing makes it almost embarrassing to be human. They can’t even get out of the way of their own political agendas to solve a problem threatening to make politics obsolete. Certainly, I’d be embarrassed to be American - or English, Irish, German, French, Swiss, Portuguese and especially Greek, Italian or Spanish. Stand close to any of the Davos men who constitute these nations’ finance ministers and you are immediately struck by the impression that you’re in the presence of the best-dressed con artists walking the globe. [Let me explain.] Words: 1375