Comments on: Catching Argentinian Disease http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/10/catching-argentinian-disease/ Macro Perspective on the Capital Markets, Economy, Geopolitics, Technology, and Digital Media Tue, 14 Feb 2012 19:59:08 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.5 By: Fred C Dobbs http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/10/catching-argentinian-disease/comment-page-1/#comment-231239 Fred C Dobbs Sun, 01 Nov 2009 18:38:45 +0000 http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/?p=42798#comment-231239 Like others, you suggest Gold is one of the ways to go. However, neither you nor the others tell your readers the US has the power and has exercised this power in the past to deny ownership of Gold, other than a minimal amount of gold coins, to citizens. Have you forgotten FDR gave the US government a monopoly over Gold ownership, and denied the benefit of Gold ownership to people who are supposed to be the government? Promoting ownership of Gold can be leading people into another Wall Street trap. If Gold takes off, and people become worried about holding paper money, do you think for one minute that wonderful, warm, and considerate Barney Frank and Chris Dodd would not hesitate one second before pulling an FDR, and denying us a hedge against inflation (and deflation for it falls in price slower than the currency and thus rises in purchasing power). As for your friends anecdotal price changing experience in Argentina, I can add that I had a friend who lived in Germany in the '20s and he said the stores posted prices for products, but converted the prices into dollars at the cash register, and when one entered, the conversion rate might be 10 to 1, but might be 20 to 1 by the time you picked up the produce and took it to the cash register to pay for it. Also, the banks opened only once a week, for an hour or two, to serve people standing in line who wanted to withdraw from their accounts to pay their bills. The secrecy of the Fed and Obama's government is a sign that we can expect they will do the unexpected to us, in the name of urgency, emergency, etc. They want to take over the entire economy in order lock the Democrats into power. Price-fixing will come in if there are product shortages. Remember OPA in WWII? Like others, you suggest Gold is one of the ways to go. However, neither you nor the others tell your readers the US has the power and has exercised this power in the past to deny ownership of Gold, other than a minimal amount of gold coins, to citizens. Have you forgotten FDR gave the US government a monopoly over Gold ownership, and denied the benefit of Gold ownership to people who are supposed to be the government? Promoting ownership of Gold can be leading people into another Wall Street trap. If Gold takes off, and people become worried about holding paper money, do you think for one minute that wonderful, warm, and considerate Barney Frank and Chris Dodd would not hesitate one second before pulling an FDR, and denying us a hedge against inflation (and deflation for it falls in price slower than the currency and thus rises in purchasing power). As for your friends anecdotal price changing experience in Argentina, I can add that I had a friend who lived in Germany in the ’20s and he said the stores posted prices for products, but converted the prices into dollars at the cash register, and when one entered, the conversion rate might be 10 to 1, but might be 20 to 1 by the time you picked up the produce and took it to the cash register to pay for it. Also, the banks opened only once a week, for an hour or two, to serve people standing in line who wanted to withdraw from their accounts to pay their bills. The secrecy of the Fed and Obama’s government is a sign that we can expect they will do the unexpected to us, in the name of urgency, emergency, etc. They want to take over the entire economy in order lock the Democrats into power. Price-fixing will come in if there are product shortages. Remember OPA in WWII?

]]> By: msaroff http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/10/catching-argentinian-disease/comment-page-1/#comment-231157 msaroff Sun, 01 Nov 2009 03:49:04 +0000 http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/?p=42798#comment-231157 The Argentine government was running deficits because they had privatized their social security. Had their social security remained a state activity, the government have had a positive balance of payments. The Argentine government was running deficits because they had privatized their social security.

Had their social security remained a state activity, the government have had a positive balance of payments.

]]> By: FrancoisT http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/10/catching-argentinian-disease/comment-page-1/#comment-231140 FrancoisT Sun, 01 Nov 2009 01:46:07 +0000 http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/?p=42798#comment-231140 @mpavan: My thought exactly! I couldn't believe that a self-proclaimed free-market advocate would exhibit such contempt for the politicians that he'd be willing to give a free pass to an institution that has proven so incompetent in upholding their fiduciary duties, so ready to favor big private banks at the expense of the rest of the economy on top of running afoul of the law. Unbelievable! For more on the absolute need to end the Fed: http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2009/10/guest-post-the-empire-strikes-back.html http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2009/10/guest-post-government-is-trying-to-make-bailouts-for-the-giant-banks-permanent.html Remember that Geithner IS the Fed's man. He just happens to work for the Treasury and of course, Mish's serie of excellent posts on the Fed. @mpavan:

My thought exactly! I couldn’t believe that a self-proclaimed free-market advocate would exhibit such contempt for the politicians that he’d be willing to give a free pass to an institution that has proven so incompetent in upholding their fiduciary duties, so ready to favor big private banks at the expense of the rest of the economy on top of running afoul of the law.

Unbelievable!

For more on the absolute need to end the Fed:
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2009/10/guest-post-the-empire-strikes-back.html
http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2009/10/guest-post-government-is-trying-to-make-bailouts-for-the-giant-banks-permanent.html
Remember that Geithner IS the Fed’s man. He just happens to work for the Treasury

and of course, Mish’s serie of excellent posts on the Fed.

]]> By: Goldilocksisableachblond http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/10/catching-argentinian-disease/comment-page-1/#comment-231133 Goldilocksisableachblond Sun, 01 Nov 2009 00:32:54 +0000 http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/?p=42798#comment-231133 "John Williams notes that one-time stimulus or inventory items represented 92% of the reported quarterly growth. The nature of the stimulus-related gains was that they tended to steal business activity from the future. The months ahead are the future. Accordingly, fourth-quarter quarterly GDP change will likely turn negative, again. (The King Report)" Yes, current growth based on new debt steals that growth from the future, whether that debt is public or private --- like the home equity orgy of recent years. So where was the outcry when , starting around 1980 ,the ratio of total (public + private ) debt / GDP went parabolic ? Why the concern now , all of a sudden ? The recent quarter of GDP growth was phony , indeed , but no more so than that of the last 30 years. “John Williams notes that one-time stimulus or inventory items represented 92% of the reported quarterly growth. The nature of the stimulus-related gains was that they tended to steal business activity from the future. The months ahead are the future. Accordingly, fourth-quarter quarterly GDP change will likely turn negative, again. (The King Report)”

Yes, current growth based on new debt steals that growth from the future, whether that debt is public or private — like the home equity orgy of recent years.

So where was the outcry when , starting around 1980 ,the ratio of total (public + private ) debt / GDP went parabolic ? Why the concern now , all of a sudden ?

The recent quarter of GDP growth was phony , indeed , but no more so than that of the last 30 years.

]]> By: mpavan http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/10/catching-argentinian-disease/comment-page-1/#comment-231113 mpavan Sat, 31 Oct 2009 21:01:36 +0000 http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/?p=42798#comment-231113 "But better the Fed than Congress" uh, excuse me ? Better a private bank wholly owned by other private banks than the elected representatives of your country ?? Look up 'fascist' in the dictionary My. Mauldin. All I need to know about you. Shan't be reading your drivel any longer. “But better the Fed than Congress”

uh, excuse me ? Better a private bank wholly owned by other private banks than the elected representatives of your country ??

Look up ‘fascist’ in the dictionary My. Mauldin. All I need to know about you. Shan’t be reading your drivel any longer.

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