This bubble will not last, and when this new housing bubble does burst, will it end as badly as the last one did? … Read More
Arizona lawmakers approve gold and silver as legal tender
As RT reported earlier, an effort in the State House and Senate to have precious metals once again considered legitimate currency has garnered an immense amount of support in recent months, particularly in the wake of ongoing round of quantitative easing conducted by the US Federal Reserve, the country’s central bank. On Monday, the Arizona House of Representatives signed-off on a Senate bill that now only requires the governor’s signature to become official [PDF].Once Gov. Jan Brewer authorizes the bill, retailers in Arizona that are willing to accept gold and silver in lieu of paper money are allowed to let customers purchase goods with precious bullion.”This gives them the ability to use it as tender and have the same recognition as the paper dollar coming out of the Federal Reserve,” Republican State Sen. Chester Crandell tells the Associated Press.Sen. Crandell is a sponsor of the bill, SB 1439, and helped craft the act to mimic a similar law that was passed in the state of Utah in 2011. Speaking to the AP from Arizona, Scottsdale Bullion & Coin broker Mike Rowlands suggests other states should follow suit before the buying value of the dollar diminishes even further.”We know in the situation where we’re at they continue to pump money in and pump money in, which eventually that game is going to end,” Rowlands tells the AP.Days before the Arizona House approved Sen. Crandell’s bill with a 36-22 vote, University of Central Oklahoma Professor Loren Gatch told Bloomberg News that more states are likely to adopt similar bills if the Federal Reserve continues its current policies under Chairman Ben Bernanke.“The legislation is about signaling discontent with monetary policy and about what Ben Bernanke is doing,” Gatch said. “There is a fear that the government, or Bernanke in particular and the Federal Reserve, is pursuing a policy that will lead to the collapse of the dollar. That’s what is behind it.”Lawmakers in Arizona might not have words as harsh as Gatch, but nonetheless seem to agree: since the United States abandoned the gold standard in 1971, inflation has been rampant as prices soar and the dollar’s value declines.For some, though, going back to how things were before the ‘70s seems to just make sense. “This is the type of currency we have had over the history of mankind,” adds Republican State Rep. Steve Smith.If Gov. Brewer signs off on the bill, Arizona residents will be allowed to use gold and silver as legal tender starting in 2014 — only, of course, in places willing to accept them. After the Arizona Senate first passed the bill in February, the House tacked on an amendment that exempts the state’s Department of Revenue from being covered under the measures — essentially negating a rule that would have mandated businesses accept precious metals.“They wanted to make sure they wouldn’t be required to take gold and silver,” Republican State Rep. David Livingston says of the department. “They just didn’t want to have to deal with it right now.” … Read More
Ben Bernanke: Economy ‘clearly still far from’ desired state
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Monday that the US economy still has far to go to recover to an acceptable state of health. “Today the economy is significantly stronger than it was four years ago, although conditions are clearly still far from where we would all like them to…
Is Bitcoin a novelty or a revolution?
The central banks have set up too cozy relationships with their primary dealers who cash in 2% for every billion they borrow (yes, they borrow at negative interest rates). I saw a trend going back to Refco in 2007 who violated sacrosanct securities laws by dipping into customer accounts, something repeated by MF Global and then again by the ‘banksters’ in Cyprus.The economic policies post the 2008 Lehman crash were designed to inflate the bubble bigger and badder and it didn’t matter how many people lost their job, how badly wages fall apart or how many become homeless.On the periphery of this narrative was the emerging crypto currency Bitcoin – promising to do to ‘banksters’ what bittorrent, p2p and file swapping had done to the music and movie business: revolutionize. Bitcoin was something else I was banging the table on to Alex Jones; who, to his credit allowed me to get the word out to millions of his listeners many of whom bought in at under $5.Boom! Cyprus unleashed the Bitcoin genie out of the bottle. The market cap for BTC jumped past $1bn. and then past $1.5bn. Every central bank sympathizer from Henry Blodget at Business Insider to Felix Salmon at Reuters came out with panic stricken screeds trying to stem the flow of interest in this ‘bankster’-killing new stateless, bankless currency. (Why couldn’t they just admit they were pea green with envy at the sight of all these new Bitcoin millionaires).Put it all together and I feel comfortable in declaring victory on my call from nine months ago. The stock, bond, and fat currency markets have all crashed against Bitcoin. For all you bloggers out there about to hit the keyboard with some uniformed and jealousy fueled rant I’ll say again: just buy Bitcoin and be a part of the bankless currency revolution that will finally help rid us of the scourge that is Ben Bernanke and his ilk. … Read More
Market buzz: Pessimism remains on Cyprus news
The March 19 session brought 0.9% loss to MICEX and 1% drop toRTS. The metals sector suffered the most significant decline inTuesday’s session. Mechel, TMK, Severstal, Belon and NLMK papershave lost from 2.3% to 3.5%. Macroeconomic prospects for the sectorare rather pessimistic on the latest data from the eurozone, wherethe building has dropped by 1.4% year-on-year in January.European stocks have been falling for a third day in a row onTuesday in fear that Cyprus would reject the one-off bank depositslevy. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index lost 0.4% at the close of trading.National benchmark indices were down all over western Europeanmarkets. Only Ireland and Denmark sustained. The British FTSE 100dropped 0.3%, Germany’s DAX fell 0.8% and France’s CAC 40 lost1.3%.A European group of creditors pledged yesterday to supportCyprus weary economy despite the late Tuesday’s vote against thedeposit levy.US stocks closed mixed on Tuesday, despite the anticipation ofnews from Cyprus threatening to bring more turmoil across theEuropean financial system. S&P 500 was down 0.24% on the newsthat Cypriot parliament voted against the revised deposit levymeant to secure EU bailout loan. The NASDAQ lost 0.26%. Only theDow remained afloat with almost static trade.European group of creditors pledged yesterday to support Cyprusweary economy despite the vote against the deposit levy.Today’s main news is expected from the US Federal Open MarketCommittee, due to be announced by Ben Bernanke by the end of themeeting. Monetary policy makers agreed at the previous meeting thatthe rates should start climbing again as inflation and unemploymentfigures improve.Asia is mostly in the black on Wednesday. Japan’s Nikkei andShanghai Composite are adding more than 2% each. The Hang Seng isup 0.9%. Positive macroeconomic data from the US and expectationsthat the soft monetary policy in the US, Europe and Japan willsupport the Asian stocks. Oil quotes are slightly up. Brent is reaching $108 perbarrel. … Read More
MAX KEISER: Banksters Smoke Bellybutton Lint [KEISER REPORT E418]
http://www.youtube.com/v/ybqC8Nfk-uw?version=3&f=videos&app=youtube_gdata View this article - MAX KEISER: Banksters Smoke Bellybutton Lint [KEISER REPORT E418]
