SayAgain

Have you tried to buy gas in the past week? Seen the prices of gold/silver move significantly higher?

flyingtigermco

Yea, the forced aborting thing if you dare have more than one child. Thing of the past? Nope...still happening. China is very much a communist nation. Communism may be a social and economic system, however it's nearly impossible to separate the oppression and lack of freedom that comes with it. Has there been a communist nation where the people had abundant freedoms?

I forget who said having gold was a bad idea, but two years ago, when I thought of buying some, I damn sure wish I had. Price then, about $700/oz. Price now, almost $1500/oz. Doesn't sound like a bad investment to me!

As a few already said, history shows that monetizing the debt was, and still is a bad idea.

jungle

Communism has proven to be a failure around the world, and Poland was no exception. It is not compatible in any way with a free society.
China has moved to more economic freedom to drag itself out of the third world malaise and to try to compete with the rest of the world.

Perhaps a little Polish history is in order:

"A shock therapy programme, initiated by Leszek Balcerowicz in the early 1990s enabled the country to transform its socialist-style planned economy into a market economy. As with all other post-communist countries, Poland suffered temporary slumps in social and economic standards, but it became the first post-communist country to reach its pre-1989 GDP levels, which it achieved by 1995 largely thanks to its booming economy.

Most visibly, there were numerous improvements in human rights, such as the freedom of speech. In 1991, Poland became a member of the Visegrád Group and joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) alliance in 1999 along with the Czech Republic and Hungary. Poles then voted to join the European Union in a referendum in June 2003, with Poland becoming a full member on 1 May 2004. Subsequently Poland joined the Schengen Area in 2007, as a result of which, the country's borders with other member states of the European Union have been dismantled, allowing for full freedom of movement within the EU."wiki


Communism is now only associated with pariah states such as Cuba and North Korea. Abject failures in anyone's book. All former communist states, while they may retain the name, have been forced to embrace capitalism to survive. If you can, name a single communist state linked with democratic freedom and economic success, but you can't and this is why communism has joined the junkpile of human thought.

The object of any dictatorship or communism is to control wealth and power through denial of the most basic human rights and economic freedoms.

In China, our attention is drawn to the 15% who are living in a world of western standards and we ignore the 85% who are still living the life of the collective farm. This is economic failure and denial of the most basic human rights for the majority.

Just to stay on track- QE2 will work as well as QE1, that is to say not at all.

Further explanation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTUY16CkS-k

chuck416

May we all ask where it is you go to for unbiased, pertinent news?
chuck

chuck416

How So???
>China completely underwrites North Korea
>There is NO alternatives in selection of government for the citizen
>There is NO option to even SELECT one's form of governance
>There is NO (real) opportunity to worship one's god (God) in the manner one's conscience dictates. Just ask
1.The Dali Lama
2.Any evangelical Christian in-country
3.Any follower of fu-long-gong (SP),
4.The 2010 winner of the Nobel peace prize (a chinese currently under house arrest for "subversion against the state".

So, yeah, I can see your point on how "en lighted" that these communists are, that you seem to be an apologist for. These guys (communist Chinese) are nothing more than leg-breaking thugs, make no mistake about it.
Chuck

chuck416

Jungle,
You, sir, should seriously run for some political office. If your stomach could stand the company you'd have to avail yourself to. The good of our country desperately needs principled, informed leaders.
Chuck

jungle

Thanks, very kind of you, but the problem is that people seek leaders instead of understanding.

Mao was fond of correctly saying that all power grows from the barrel of a gun, the rest of what he and others have been telling you all along is that the continuation of power is caused by the hand of state sinking further into your wallet and your life.

We don't discuss politics here, but a true understanding of motives always brings one back to economics. Keep your eye on the ball.

chuck416

Do you have any recommendations for asset allocation? Even at almost $1400. an oz. Gold still looks pretty good. I think this market is going to fall off a cliff, sooner rather than later. Whadda' ya' think?
Chuck
p.s., I've got a small stake in gold, around 2 % of my portfolio. Heavy in bonds. I'm thinking of selling those off, but don't know of any other safe haven. Cash is probably gonna get clobbered in this inflation impending environment...

jungle

It is often said that pilots are poor advisors when it comes to investment. I would add lawyers, doctors and most financial advisors and brokers to that list.

For every opinion on the future, you can easily find an opposite which is equal in reasoning. Most people will spend far more time shopping a new car than researching an investment.

Read as much as you can and like life, don't go into a place without exits.

You are already assuming there is inflation to come, but there are many who think a long term deflationary spiral is in the works. Getting a good picture of general direction is the most important thing you can do, being flexible enough to change that opinion over time is the next most vital action.

Lastly, we are working during a period in which large scale government intervention in free markets is having a large influence on direction. China, Europe and the US are all making large changes in monetary and fiscal policy.

Mortgage Calc

The best thing to do is to save your cash or invest it in something you believe in (i.e. gold, blue chip stocks, etc.)

Don't buy a home if you can help it in today's economy. You don't know where it's going to go next. Check out a mortgage calculator and see whether the cost you pay per month is going to be worth it when compared to renting a similar home. There are always tradeoffs to renting, but as seen recently, there are also downsides to owning.