the dollar.

the euro.

residential housing.

the yen.

the yuan.

the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

the S&P 500.

U.S. debt.

automobiles.

Assets against which gold is not making historical highs:

energy.

other metals.

commodities.

my articles.

3-9-10-paco-ahlgren-bottom-violation-podcast

It’s always so funny to see fundamental and technical analyses of these two currencies. Inflation is inflation — pure and simple. It’s like watching a bird try to take off in a hurricane. I’m not much of a trader, but I suppose, theoretically, one could profit from short-term swings in the relative positions of the euro and the dollar. But why? Just short the hell out of them. They’re both going to fail.

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Barney Frank has never been the smartest man in Washington, to be certain. But what befuddles me most about Barney is not the man himself, but the crack-smoking gaggle of brainiacs who decided it would be a good idea to to put him in charge of the House Financial Services Committee. That’s like making Quagmire headmaster at a girls’ boarding school.Recently Barney said the United States Government would not guarantee the $5 trillion or so Fannie and Freddie are up to their necks in. Granted, Fannie and Freddie have never been explicitly guaranteed by the government, but do you really think that pack of fools running this country into the ground is really going to let these two institutions fail? Let me rephrase that: do you think they’d let the institutions fail on purpose? (I only make the distinction because the institutions are going to fail no matter what happens, seeing how the U.S. government is broke).

Anyway, Barney had to retract his statement, because he’s not supposed to say things like that. The Keynesians don’t like it. So I guess they’re going to continue to pretend like it’s possible to save Freddie and Fannie. Cool. Business as usual.

While we’re on the subject of Barney, am I the only person who’s noticed that he sounds like drunk boat engine? And what’s with the R’s Barney? I’m not trying to get too ad hominem here, but why can’t you see a speech therapist or something? I mean they’re just R’s. It’s not that big a deal. I’m just saying that it’s sort of hard to focus on what you’re saying because you sound like a Simpson’s character.

And another thing Barney, we know you didn’t come out of the closet because you thought you were going to “get some.” It’s obviously a play for GLBT votes, because you, my friend, are ugly as hell. And, you’re a dismal failure as an economic pundit.

Okay. I’m done.

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On the television is a woman with thick glasses. The caption under her head reads, Jane Doe, Former Obama Economic Advisor. She says, “I remember how weird it was. We’d all be sitting there pretending to work, and nobody would say anything. We were all so scared to open our mouths. But every day, we’d hear something new from the Fed about more printing, or more easing. And then Mr. Obama would make some promise about cutting spending, but then Congress would authorize another hundred-million here, or another hundred-million there. It was just a sham. It was so weird, because the public was accepting it. Nobody in the office said anything out loud, but we were all whispering.”

Camera cuts to another an overweight man in his mid-sixties, wearing a suit. The caption at the bottom of the screen reads “John Doe, former U.S. Fed official. “Then we’d get another report from the CBO saying that the debt was $45 trillion, and then $50 trillion, and then $55 trillion. It was like nobody knew. Reports about the Chinese were coming in every hour it seemed like. We were told to tell anyone from the media it was all rumor. But we all knew, you know? The government was broke. How are you going to hide that?”

Camera cuts back to woman. “To a certain extent, we were just like everyone else in America. We saw the news too, and we wanted to believe it. But here we were every day seeing the reality. I remember some people comparing it to the Soviet Union. It seemed unreal. I mean, it was the U.S. We all thought it was forever, you know? We all wanted to believe it couldn’t end. I would look at my kids and think , ‘No, it’s going to be fine.’ But there I was at my job every day, watching it come apart. I mean, I… can’t believe how much I was in denial.”

Camera cuts back to man. “When the U.S. invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, it seemed justified, right? They blew up the World Trade Center and all that, right? But when we invaded Iran, I guess it was too much. Everybody knew why. Sure, the Iranians were making nukes, and they were screwed up. But that wasn’t why we invaded. We all saw that. It just seems so stupid now. I mean, didn’t we know what Russia and the Chinese would do? And didn’t we know we weren’t going to be able to hold it together? How can you try to fight that many wars and still fight a civil war at home?

And then what happened next… No… It seems like a hundred years ago, but I still can’t believe it. But then you think about it. What else were they going to do? They were politicians, and they didn’t have anything left. I think they really believed they were doing the right thing. I really do.”

- to stabilize the collapsing housing market.

- to combat so-called “deflation.”

- to create jobs.

Since the Fed announced zero interest rate policy (ZIRP) and began printing more money than ever in history, the results have been:

1. Housing prices continue to fall.

2. Foreclosures continue to increase.

3. The velocity of money is near zero.

4. Oil has more than doubled in price.

5. Precious metals hover at twenty-year highs.

6. Commodity prices continue to climb.

7. Consumer confidence has plummeted.

8. Several sovereign nations have announced their insolvency.

9. The dollar continues to lose value.

10. Unemployment hovers at its 30-year highs.

So remind me: when do Keynesian policies begin to bear fruit? Because it’s been almost a-year-and-a-half, and things look worse, not better. The U.S. has committed to spending $24 trillion to battle this crisis alone. It owes another $55 trillion. It manufactures very little. Now, explain to me how this a good thing again?

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