In the current economic environment, it’s not the “next best thing” that is so important, but what NOT to do – as Doug Hornig reveals in his article: The 10 Biggest Mistakes Investors Must Avoid in The Coming Decade
The Middle East is in a constant state of military alert, and hardly a day goes by without some bigwig, somewhere, issuing an incendiary statement intended to fan the flames of conflict. And to make matters worse, ordinary people are subjected to a constant onslaught of propaganda – from all sides. But how much do we really know about that area?
Here’s a small quiz to test your own knowledge:
Q: What Middle East country has the most Jewish people outside of Israel?
A: Iran – with 25,000 Jewish citizens
Q. What Middle East leader donated money to a Jewish hospital, one not in Israel?
A: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran
Q: Would you rather be a Palestinian living under Israeli occupation in Gaza, or a Jew living as a citizen in Iran?
A: Only you know the answer to that last question. But before answering it, I recommend you read this illuminating article by Mike Whitney, which attempts to set the record straight about our perceptions of the Middle East situation: Why Iran’s Jews Are Better Off Than Gaza’s Palestinians
Moody’s rating agency has warned that the USA and other developed countries face a critical moment – likely to be 2013 – when in the US, interest payments on debt will equal 14% of tax revenues. According to the agency this is the tipping point.
Once debt servicing reaches such a critical point it continues to rise, eating up more and more of the annual tax revenues. And this can only be made worse by anticipated interest rate rises into the future.
Given the dire warnings, and the all-too-obvious shocking fundamentals apparent to those who look closely, it’s going to be crunch time in more ways than one.
One thought occurs to me – amongst all this potential doom and gloom. This level of debt can bring down governments (and no doubt will), and the social dislocation can cause people to cross the mental threshold required to accept new ideas. So it’s quite possible that the debt crisis will represent an opportunity – and opportunity to move away from centralised state control, as people search for new answers to apparently intractable problems.
Of course, a different direction is also possible – that of moving towards an increasingly fascist form of governance. I see both scenarios as possible – even perhaps coexisting on the planet as a whole – but only the unfolding of actual events will reveal the exact nature of what is to come.
One thing is for sure. No amount of burying heads in sand and pretending nothing is wrong will prevent the day of reckoning.
While many commentators, including myself, recommend holding a substantial portion of one’s cash in gold, what is not often discussed is the potential for supply problems – once the gold market really takes off and more people move into the market.
Jeff Clark conducts a fascinating interview with two guys who have an intimate knowledge of the supply side of the gold market – and what they have to say is a little disturbing …
Yes, the USA is bankrupt – but you wouldn’t know it by reading the news. The talk is always about spending more money (money it doesn’t have) on economic “stimulus” packages, perpetual foreign aid and never-ending wars. And no one is brave enough to shout, “The Emperor has no clothes!”
But it appears the reality of US bankruptcy is seeping through the cracks and starting to become discussed in respectable circles. Boston University Economics Professor, Laurance Kotlikoff, spells out the dismal situation here …
Terry Coxon has some important things to say on why you need to vigorously protect what is rightfully yours :
“If everything you own is held in your own name in your own country, then you are not merely exposed, you are vulnerable absolutely, to whatever decisions the government might make about how you should behave and who gets the wealth you’ve earned. Tomorrow’s new government measure, which might land out of the blue, could be a law that affects everyone, or it could be a rule devised to deal with people like you. Or, it could be an administrative action aimed at you alone. In any case, with all your assets at home, you’d find out how the lobster feels when his trap is being hauled out of the water. Nothing he can do about it.”
Click here to read the rest ….
Ever since I first got on the internet back in 1996, I have known it is a radical tool for freedom. Justin Raimondo reminds me of this fact in his essay – The Information War.
The search is always on for good economic news, to bolster the idea that the recession is over, and that better times are just around the corner. But the data does not support that optimistic view – as David Galland illustrates in his commentary – Who’s Scoffing Now?
The United States has always been the world’s largest energy consumer – until now, as Marin Katusa explains …
The fear in the US now is due to the strong possibility of serious deflation and a “double-dip” recession. Obviously should prices fall, then one could expect gold to fall also – at least temporarily, until other economic factors come into play later (inflation for example).
However, it’s not entirely certain that gold will fall to such an extent, or even if it will fall much at all, as Louis James ponders in: Gold Meltdown or Mania – Batten Down The Hatches
