Tuesday, June 26, 2012
A pause
My blog may sound anti-government and anti-US. But it really is not. What I wish for is limited government, libertarianism, and free-market capitalism. Unfortunately we don't have all those in the modern age. The US just happens to be the best example that I can use, because they became powerful based on the principles of libertarianism and free-markets. However, today they're totally opposite of what they used to stand for.
Monday, June 25, 2012
Sugar Delight
Some Sugary Appetiser to share (I may post a Sugary Main Course full of demand and supply data):
Sugar
Historical high: 65.2 Cents/lb in November of 1974
Inflation-adjusted high using govt-manipulated inflation figures: $2.91/lb
Inflation-adjusted high using private sources of inflation figures: > $6/lb
Today's price: About 21 Cents/lb
1974 Gold:Sugar ratio = $100 : $0.65
Today's ratio = $1600 : $0.21
If 1974's ratio is achieved again = $1600 : $9.92
Sugar
Historical high: 65.2 Cents/lb in November of 1974
Inflation-adjusted high using govt-manipulated inflation figures: $2.91/lb
Inflation-adjusted high using private sources of inflation figures: > $6/lb
Today's price: About 21 Cents/lb
1974 Gold:Sugar ratio = $100 : $0.65
Today's ratio = $1600 : $0.21
If 1974's ratio is achieved again = $1600 : $9.92
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Minimum government and maximum freedom
100 yrs ago, US became the richest and most powerful nation history has ever known. They achieved it based on: Minimum government and maximum freedom. People flocked there and lived the "American Dream", because it is the land of free people. They can produce and save and retire.
Before the creation of the Federal Reserve central bank, there were no Federal government taxes, no department of education, no department of energy, no healthcare involvement, no medicare, medicaid, social security, and of course, people were able to produce and save, because they were on a gold standard and their savings grow in value over time. They had 200 yrs of sustained fall in prices of goods and services.
Today US is the opposite.
Money-printing by the Fed (this is not capitalism!) enables the government to grow so huge and be involved in so many things - education, healthcare, wars, bailouts, banking, food, etc
Money-printing causes inflation, and hard-working people's savings lose value.
Money-printing drives interest rates down, and no one is able to save. So they borrow and borrow and consume and consume. Everyone becomes a speculator and buy stocks/forex in order to get more money.
Now they're deeply indebted, and a crisis is coming very soon, maybe towards the end of this year, or next year. The timing, I can't be sure. But it'll be a currency/debt crisis. The end-result is a 100% certainty. It's just a matter of time.
Before the creation of the Federal Reserve central bank, there were no Federal government taxes, no department of education, no department of energy, no healthcare involvement, no medicare, medicaid, social security, and of course, people were able to produce and save, because they were on a gold standard and their savings grow in value over time. They had 200 yrs of sustained fall in prices of goods and services.
Today US is the opposite.
Money-printing by the Fed (this is not capitalism!) enables the government to grow so huge and be involved in so many things - education, healthcare, wars, bailouts, banking, food, etc
Money-printing causes inflation, and hard-working people's savings lose value.
Money-printing drives interest rates down, and no one is able to save. So they borrow and borrow and consume and consume. Everyone becomes a speculator and buy stocks/forex in order to get more money.
Now they're deeply indebted, and a crisis is coming very soon, maybe towards the end of this year, or next year. The timing, I can't be sure. But it'll be a currency/debt crisis. The end-result is a 100% certainty. It's just a matter of time.
Liberty
For those who are not pleased with taxes and CPF:
Is the foundation of civilisation peace and free exchange and voluntary interaction of individuals, or is the foundation of civilisation -as the state would have it- the gun, the badge and the hangman? The state has warped our moral sense, and taught us that looting and aggression are okay, as long as they're done by majority vote. It has turned us against each other. It has taken natural harmonies and replace them with disharmonies. - Tom Woods
What we are really faced with in society is not a conflict of rich vs poor, or white vs black, or city vs country, or industry vs agriculture - but all of us against the parasites who live off our labour, and train us to believe that there is no other way to live. There is anohter way to live, and it's called liberty. Join us.
- Murray rothbath:
Fiat money creates big govt.
The data show that Govt (and of course, economic problems) grows enormously ever since the creation of Fed (the current US central bank and the 3rd central bank of US. The first 2 failed).
(All figures in billions)
Year 1800 --- GDP $0.476 --- Govt size $0.01 --- govt size as % of GDP 2.1%
Year 1850 --- GDP $2.556 --- Govt size $0.04 --- govt size as % of GDP 1.6%
Year 1910 (3 yrs before Fed was created) --- GDP $33.423 --- Govt size $0.84 --- govt size as % of GDP 2.5%
Year 1950 --- GDP 293.7 --- Govt size $44.80 --- govt size as % of GDP 15%
Year 2000 --- GDP $9951.5 --- Govt Size $1788.95 --- govt size as % of GDP 18%
Year 2010 --- GDP $14526.5 --- Govt size $3091.34 --- govt size as % of GDP 21%
These are according to official govt figures... the most recent 2 decades of which have been heavily manipulated. Some really big things are being hidden from their balance sheet. So the actual figures for 2000-2010 are actually far worse than is shown here
(All figures in billions)
Year 1800 --- GDP $0.476 --- Govt size $0.01 --- govt size as % of GDP 2.1%
Year 1850 --- GDP $2.556 --- Govt size $0.04 --- govt size as % of GDP 1.6%
Year 1910 (3 yrs before Fed was created) --- GDP $33.423 --- Govt size $0.84 --- govt size as % of GDP 2.5%
Year 1950 --- GDP 293.7 --- Govt size $44.80 --- govt size as % of GDP 15%
Year 2000 --- GDP $9951.5 --- Govt Size $1788.95 --- govt size as % of GDP 18%
Year 2010 --- GDP $14526.5 --- Govt size $3091.34 --- govt size as % of GDP 21%
These are according to official govt figures... the most recent 2 decades of which have been heavily manipulated. Some really big things are being hidden from their balance sheet. So the actual figures for 2000-2010 are actually far worse than is shown here
Is big government the answer?
We've been born into a world of big governments, and they are in control of many things. So much so that we have been conditioned to think that without them, a lot of "big" economic projects will never happen. Below are some examples of how the free market benefited the people tremendously, back at the time when government was very small and there were LESS regulations on the market:
Cornelius Vanderbilt offered steamboat services and reduced prices from $3 to $0.10. In some trips, he let people ride for free, but hope to make some money selling food on board to them. He used his rail-road company to deliver mail, and compete with another government-subsidized rail company. He did this at a quarter of the price, and kicked the subsidized company out of business.
Andrew Carnegie single-handedly reduced the price of steel from $160 a tonne to $17 a tonne.
John D. Rockefeller dropped the price of kerosene from $1 to $0.10.
Are we supposed to hate these rich people, because we were told that they sit on the world's wealth? Of course, those who got rich lobbying a powerful government for a share of the power ought to be condemned. But the problem is powerful government itself, not greedy businessmen. Without power, no one will be lobbying for it. Businessmen increases people's standards of living. Big government destroys wealth.
Cornelius Vanderbilt offered steamboat services and reduced prices from $3 to $0.10. In some trips, he let people ride for free, but hope to make some money selling food on board to them. He used his rail-road company to deliver mail, and compete with another government-subsidized rail company. He did this at a quarter of the price, and kicked the subsidized company out of business.
Andrew Carnegie single-handedly reduced the price of steel from $160 a tonne to $17 a tonne.
John D. Rockefeller dropped the price of kerosene from $1 to $0.10.
Are we supposed to hate these rich people, because we were told that they sit on the world's wealth? Of course, those who got rich lobbying a powerful government for a share of the power ought to be condemned. But the problem is powerful government itself, not greedy businessmen. Without power, no one will be lobbying for it. Businessmen increases people's standards of living. Big government destroys wealth.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
US maturing short-term debt
USD 2 TRILLION !
Bear in mind that the figures:
1. exclude state debts.
2. do not take into account unfunded obligations such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac obligations, and mandatory payments for programs such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security (present value of these obligations are estimated to be in the region of $100 trillion)
Mainstream will soon realise that US trouble is deeper than Europe's.
People have to realise that the world economy is suffering because they are trying to PROP UP the US, not because US demand goes down. To think that the world relies on US consumption is one of the BIGGEST fallacies of modern-day economics.
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