While pondering the continued existence of slavery and genocide throughout the world, I also thought about the current batch of scoundrels running for the highest office in the land. They all have at least one thing in common: They employ their favorite euphemisms (e.g., “change”) to hide their intent to further increase government power over ordinary citizens.
Amazingly, these masters of deceit are revered by millions. Especially by those politically sedated humanoids who cheer wildly and pump signs into the air as their political heroes work them into a frenzy with the same tired platitudes that have been used by politicians throughout recorded history. Read Full Article
I rarely watch sports on TV anymore, and that includes March Madness. Somehow, I find it difficult to get excited about these young kids, especially knowing that a majority of them will not graduate from college. Heroes? Not so much.
So, instead of watching college hoops like normal Americans this time of year, the other night I watched the DVD of the last Rambo. It was a grim reminder of the never-ending genocide in Burma (a.k.a. the Union of Myanmar). Part of the movie’s weak plot is based on Rambo’s warnings to a group of well meaning but naïve missionaries to go home … that their efforts in Burma were a waste of time. Read Full Article
I had an eye-opening experience this past weekend. My wife and I were out and about late in the afternoon, and the question of dinner came up. She made a couple of suggestions, but neither of them made me salivate. (A bad sign, since that’s my normal condition whenever eating time draws near.)
On this day, I was in the mood for some serious food. After searching my Zagat-oriented mind for a few minutes, I had an epiphany: Georgia Brown’s – a high-end eatery within walking distance of the White House that we hadn’t visited for at least a year. Read Full Article
(Today’s article concludes my series on gold versus paper money, the content of which has been taken from my 1982 book “Civilization.”)
Finally, there is the argument that gold does not pay dividends or interest. But such an argument could only be made by an individual who does not understand the financial realities of today’s world.
As I pointed out earlier in this series, virtually none of the (so-called) traditional investments — i.e., Capital Black Holes and Capital Crapshoots — is income producing. They all lose to price inflation and taxes. Read Full Article
(The content of this series of articles has been taken from my 1982 book “Civilization.” Today, we continue with our examination of real money. Following is what I had to say about that subject in 1982.)
In theory, paper money is fine, provided it is given only to people who produce products and services that other people voluntarily want to buy. So long as a majority of people believe that this is what paper money is used for, they have faith in it. Faith is the key to the whole paper money scheme; it is the key to the stability of any kind of money. Read Full Article
(The content of this series of articles has been taken from my 1982 book “Civilization.” Today, we continue with our examination of real money. Following is what I had to say about that subject in 1982.)
It is interesting to note that the government, in an attempt to demonstrate that it no longer considered gold to be money, finally allowed U.S. citizens to own the metal beginning on December 31, 1974. The ensuing meteoric rise in the price of gold was, of course, a source of great embarrassment to the fiat money printers in Washington. Read Full Article
(The content of this series of articles has been taken from my 1982 book “Civilization.” Today, we finally get to the most important kind of investment: Capital Guarantees. Following is what I had to say about that subject in 1982.)
Capital Guarantees Contrary to what most people ─ particularly speculators – would like to believe, the only way to virtually guarantee the protection of your capital against the destruction of paper currency is to convert it to real money. That’s right, instead of fooling around with “investments,” just use your bogus paper money to buy the real thing. Read Full Article
(The content of this series of articles has been taken from my 1982 book “Civilization.” In the previous excerpt from that book, I examined an investment I referred to as a Capital Question Mark: real estate. Following is more of what I had to say at that time.)
Real Estate - Apartments Apartments and low priced rental homes are much more risky. For nearly fifteen years it has been difficult, if not impossible, to buy good apartment buildings that throw off a positive cash flow, because rents have not kept pace with the increased costs of construction, real estate taxes, and maintenance, not to mention the cost of mortgage money. But now there is an even greater danger ─ rent control. Read Full Article
(The content of this series of articles has been taken from my 1982 book “Civilization.” In the previous excerpt from that book, I examined several alternatives for getting your capital out of paper money, including stocks [which I referred to as "Capital Crapshoots"] and two slightly less risky “Capital Question Marks”: collectibles and commodities. A third and very different kind of Capital Question Mark is real estate-and following is what I had to say about it back then.)
Real Estate Now that everyone has once again been reminded that real estate does not always go up, and now that gullible, arrogant speculators and thousands of uninformed real estate brokers are back to tending bar and waiting tables, we can settle down to analyzing real estate on a rational basis.
(The content of this series of articles has been taken from my 1982 book “Civilization.” So far, you’ve seen the case I made for getting out of paper money – and the reason most of your alternatives for trying to safeguard your capital are like black holes that simply suck it in and make it disappear. In the next section of the book, I examined several alternatives that at least give you a chance – an outside chance – of coming out ahead.)
Stocks
The biggest reasons the Capital Black Hole alternatives are automatic losers are that they are locked into a fixed rate of return and they pay off in paper. Thus, corporate stocks deserve the status of Capital Crapshoots, because they are not automatic losers like Capital Black Holes; they are only wild speculations.
With stocks, you at least have an outside chance ─ a very outside chance ─ of coming out ahead. Even though any dividends paid will not be sufficient to offset taxes and price inflation, what sets stocks apart from Capital Black Holes is the possibility for long term capital gains. Read Full Article
(The content of this series of articles has been taken from my 1982 book “Civilization.” Part II covered what I said in my book about banks and savings and loans. Now, let’s take a look at what I said about some other Capital Black Holes-insurance companies, government and corporate bonds, mortgages, Treasury bills, and money market funds.)
Insurance Companies
Insurance companies are not much better off than banks. First, they have a majority of their assets tied up in bonds and mortgages, which is like the blind leading the blind. Second, as times get tougher, more and more people will want to borrow on the cash value of their life insurance policies.
This money is lent at rates far below the going interest rates in the financial markets, which, of course, is a disaster for the insurance companies. If too many people decide to borrow the amounts they are legally entitled to, insurance companies, like banks, are forced to dump securities and mortgages at depressed market prices, which can lead to insolvency. Read Full Article
