Interesting interview on the global economy

[FarmRanger]

Thanks for the article classicalliberal. I would guess that it’s largely because of stupid and/or overregulation that caused the Fannie and Freddie debacle. Definitely not free market capitalism.

Keep posting, I enjoy having a non-smug “smart guy” educating me. ;-)

[TOM4CWB]

FarmRanger;

Freddie and Fanny... were the Clinton's answer to a US housing program.

By the time Bush finished they lent out $5 Trillion... with $100 billion equity... privately held... impossible to justify.

Isn't this the new 'gold' standard?

Gold would have to go to $32,000/ounce... to back all the currency being traded...

Of course Freddie and Fannie could not work.... without the US treasury/FED backing it!

Then in July...when the shorted hedge funds... got caught after the bail out (of Freddie/Fanny)... they had to take the commodity long positions off... it was a chain reaction.

Talk about leverage.

5 trillion is a drop in the ocean... compared with the derivative markets... until everyone wants to balance their accounts!

Then it is armageddon!

[classicalliberal]

Cottonpicken, I can't seem to figure out where your politics and economic philosophies are. Would you share with me which side of the politics and economics you are on? I think that it is great that there are other opinions on here. It would be pretty boring if all I would say is I agree TOM4CWB or "right on" Francisco, etc.

[classicalliberal]

No one in the media, which is not surprising, has brought up the fact that Freddie and Fannie are products of the Democrats and until recently, had been putting political pressure to back the mortgages on people of minorities and low incomes so that they can buy homes. There is a guy who used to work a local small grain company who said that he sold his house in Kansas City to move back to Canada to someone who made doulbe minimum wage and who's wife did not work and had several children. He said that the house was sold for almost $300,000. People who can't afford houses should know enough not to take on the kind of debt that if the interest rate changes slightly, like the subprime mortgages, that it would put them under. Either the bankers didn't tell who they were lending to that the interest rate would change in two or three years to an inflated higher level, or the people getting the mortgages didn't read the fine print close enough. I would never enter into something like that without wanting to know what my payments would be under various interest rates.

[cottonpicken]

economics-austrian
politics-american constitution/old repulican


Have you studied either?

[TOM4CWB]

C.P.;

I thought you would have caught my comment on Gold!

1. How much currency is in the world?

2. Divide that by the total number of ounces of gold... and how much 'should' gold be worth?

3. Is there any way to even calculate how much currency... the Chinese/Indians/Asian Tigers have printed?

So how practically could a return to a gold standard be accomplished?

[classicalliberal]

Well, CP, I own "Road to Serfdom" by Freidrich von Hayek and have read it and thouroughly agree with it. I haven't learned much about that school of though per se but I know that it is very libertarian and free market oriented. I have learned mainly about the philosophies of Milton Friedman and international economics, as well as very much about risk management using derivative products as well as agricultural economics. If you are interested in some good books, "Capitalism and Freedom" by Milton Friedman and "Free to Chose" both the book and the TV series which I own are very good. The great thing about Milton is that he can argue and articulate his side a lot better than me and all those who disagree with him still like him and respect him. I just don't have that type of ability to get my opinions across without pissing too many people off.

[cottonpicken]

Wow,you read a couple of books and figuered it out eh?

Well ive spent almost 10,000 hours at it and read many,many things and i still have many things to learn.

Have you or have you not heard of austrian economics?

If you havent go to the back of the bus because you are a retard,because you know less than nothing because you think you know something.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard43.html

I can argue at any level on the kenysian/austrian debate.But i cant have an arguement with somebody that has never heard of austrian economics.Its like babe ruth playing ball at a kids t-ball game.

Now read the link i gave you very closely and remember this-all the events that are unfolding have been PREDICTED!

And Tom in the long 4 thousand year breath of human history how was it possible the gold standard flourished(minus the last 38)?Maybe the amount of currency in the world doesnt matter at all?

[cottonpicken]

Find out about this guy to.

Americas saviour.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/

[liberty]

Another good website to view is

www.mises.org

There is a new article on a current topic every day from an Austrian perspective by a variety of authors.

There is also

www.dailyreckoning.com

Peter Schiff, Bill Bonner, Mark Faber and Jim Rogers are all Austrians. Milton Friedman, however, is not an Austrian. He is an inflationist at heart.

Reading articles like this will help a person to understand what is going on in the world's economy, why current efforts to fix it via "stimulus packages" will fail, and what one can do to profit from this failure.