Credit Writedowns Mon 2010-07-19 12:08 EDT

Misunderstanding Modern Monetary Theory

Paul Krugman wrote a post today regarding MMT called "I Would Do Anything For Stimulus, But I Won't Do That (Wonkish)." The gist of Krugman's post was to refute Modern Monetary Theory's view on money and deficits...Krugman's post mischaracterizes both MMT and Galbraith's statement...Krugman is trapped in a gold standard view of money as he assumes the government must issue bonds to fund itself. He forgets that we live in a fiat world...the problem for deficits is not national solvency but inflation and currency depreciation. That makes me worried about deficits. If that makes me an inflation hawk and anti-deficit, then so be it. Nevertheless, MMT does say the same thing about deficits, namely that they can lead to inflation. But MMT also says that inflation is not a problem when you have an enormous output gap from 17% underemployment. MMT proponents recommend deficit spending to close that gap. But you can't spend at will under MMT; eventually the output gap closes and inflation becomes a big problem...

credit writedowns; Misunderstanding Modern Monetary Theory.

The Money Game Fri 2010-05-21 13:30 EDT

Sorry, We're Not Weimar Or Zimbabwe, And Gold Is Never Going To Be A Currency Again

Gold is hotter than ever...As an asset class gold has outperformed just about everything over the last 10 year period. It's been an impressive run. But is it all justified? Bear with me for a bit while I take a long-term macro look at gold as an asset class...the fiat currency system is here to stay (or at least some form of it). The odds of reverting back to a purely gold based system is next to zero in my opinion. The truth is, the gold standard as a currency system is a barbarous relic. It is a currency system that worked well in the old world economy, but simply does not have the flexibility to meet the demands of the growing global economy. The global economy has become too complex and too intertwined to be constrained by the gold standard. The fiat currency system is a product of economic evolution and the growing demands and strains of international trade. Famous examples of the break-down of the gold standard and its inflexibility to meet trade demands include the UK in 1931 and the U.S. government's destruction of the gold linked currency system under the Bretton Woods agreement...

currency; Go; gold; Money game; Sorry; Weimar; Zimbabwe.

PRAGMATIC CAPITALISM Tue 2010-05-18 15:15 EDT

A DEFLATIONARY RED FLAG IN THE $U.S. DOLLAR

TPC

...the performance of the dollar is the surest evidence of the kind of environment we're currently in. The surging dollar is a clear sign that inflation is not the concern of global investors. This is almost a sure sign that deflation is once again gripping the global economy and should be setting off red flags for equity investors around the world. The recent action in the dollar is eerily reminiscent of the peak worries in the credit crisis when deflation appeared to be taking a death grip on the global economy and demand for dollars was extremely high...As for the gold rally, I think it's clear gold is rallying in anticipation of its potential to become a future reserve currency. The potential demise of the Euro has become a rally cry for inflationistas who don't understand that the Euro is in fact another single currency system (like the gold standard) which is destined to fail. In the near-term, the rise in gold is likely justified as fear mongering and misguided governments increase demand for the yellow metal. Ultimately, I believe investors will realize that there is little to no inflation in the global economy and that the non-convertible floating exchange systems (such as the USD and JPY) are fundamentally different from the flawed currency system in place in Europe. Debt deflation continues to plague the global economy. Thus far, policymakers have been unable to fend off this wretched beast and I attribute this largely to the widespread misconceptions regarding our monetary systems. This extends to the very highest levels of government...Positioning yourself for hyperinflation and a U.S. dollar collapse has been a recipe for disaster and will continue to be a recipe for disaster as debt deflation remains the single greatest risk to the global economy.

DEFLATIONARY RED FLAG; PRAGMATIC CAPITALISM; U.S. dollar.

Culture of Life News Tue 2010-04-06 10:23 EDT

Ireland And US Will Be Devoured By Derivatives Beast

Elaine Supkis

The banking mess in the West continues. It has rather deep roots. That is, we decapitalized our own banking system long, long ago. The fix for this was to create a fake banking system with virtually no real capital reserves at all. This was possible thanks to the floating fiat currency created when Nixon suddenly cut the gold standard back in 1971. By 1987, the banking collapse was tremendous during a deflationary time that followed a hyperinflation era. This fix created conditions that caused the near-total collapse in Western banking...So far, governments in the West are being bailed out by Asia. And this is being done so Asia can continue to rapidly expand its own industrial base. This savage business gets worse and worse over time due to the self-feedback system of this debt expansion: you get more credit from export powers via letting them export even more to your own home base. So as capital vanishes, the need for debt shoots upwards and the system continues to get more and more unbalanced...Sure, we have little inflation except in important commodities but this is due to the Goddess of Zero slashing away at the mountain of debt, using the default tool to fix this mess in a very brutal way. Unfortunately, the bankers still control our `democracy' so they are moving all their losses onto our books and far from things going to zero, it is actually heading towards infinity: infinite debts owed by the taxpayers who want to continue stupidly cutting taxes while increasing credit based on virtually no capital at all! Sheesh.

Culture; Derivative Beast; devouring; Ireland; Life News.

The Money Game Fri 2010-03-19 12:38 EDT

Kenneth Rogoff's Sovereign Debt Warnings Are So Wrong, It's Like He's Living In A Different Time Period

Marshall Auerback

We've persistently taken the view that there is no economic doctrine, no magic number, which would imply a firm external constraint as far as public spending goes, when dealing with a sovereign government issuing debt its own floating rate, non-convertible currency. At some point, we may indeed have a resource constraint, or an inflation constraint, but not a national solvency issue. Yet the hysteria surrounding fiscal policy has moved from the realm of rational debate and metamorphosed into a matter of national theology...A sovereign government is never hostage to the dictates of financial capital because it no longer faces the external constraint that was always present under a gold standard regime. A nation that adopts its own floating rate currency can always afford to put unemployed domestic resources to work. Its government may issue liabilities denominated in its own currency (for interest rate maintenance reasons or to offer its savers an interest-bearing alternative to cash), and will service any debt it issues in its own currency...

different time periods; Kenneth Rogoff's Sovereign Debt Warnings; lively; Money game; wrong.

Jesse's Café Américain Tue 2010-03-09 17:51 EST

Russia Continues to Build Its Gold Reserves Ahead of the SDR Discussions

Jesse

Thanks to friend Dave at Golden Truth for this updated chart.As you know, Russia, India, China and some of the BRIC-like countries will continue to push hard for a gold and silver content in the new formulation of the SDR this year. The US and UK are vehemently opposed...One cannot have a common currency with uncommon fiscal policies and laws. While there is some room for discretion, it is sorely tried in changing economic conditions and social attitudes...This is why a one world currency, except for international trade only and at the discretion of trading partners, is so dangerous. One cannot maintain their sovereign freedom when someone else controls the supply of their money: either you cheat or you submit. All serious economists understand this; too few of the voting public do...This is the fallacy of the US dollar as the reserve currency for the world. It 'worked' as even Mr. Greenspan noted, as long as the US dollar was able to demonstrate the objective stability of an external gold standard relative to other currencies. That lasted for a few years, and the rest is foreign policy and currency wars. The time for its replacement is long past. The BRIC's understand this, and are playing their hands accordingly...

building; gold reserves; Jesse's Café Américain; Russia continues; SDR Discussions.

Wed 2009-12-16 12:30 EST

James Grant Mourns the Loss of the Gold Standard - WSJ.com

...There's no business value in financial safety when the government bails out the unsafe. And by bailing out a scandalously large number of unsafe institutions, the government necessarily puts the dollar at risk...Collateralize the dollar--make it exchangeable into something of genuine value. Get the Fed out of the price-fixing business. Replace Ben Bernanke with a latter-day Thomson Hankey. Find--cultivate--battalions of latter-day Hellmans and set them to running free-market banks. There's one more thing: Return to the statute books Section 19 of the 1792 Coinage Act...

com; gold standard; James Grant mourns; losses; WSJ.

Jesse's Café Américain Sat 2009-10-10 13:07 EDT

Why the Feds Seized the Gold in 1933

Jesse

...The Feds acted on gold because at the time it WAS the currency of the country, and the government had some proper claims on it. When the US left the gold standard it relinquished all such claims, as gold became purely private property. Except perhaps if you are holding gold American eagles, which bear the patina of 'currency.' It should also be noted that the sole action of the government was to ask for the gold, to withdraw convertibility of gold notes from the domestic public, and to monitor the activity of safe deposit boxes taking certain categories of gold, and essentially nothing else. There were no investigations, searches, or even active prosecutions for non-compliance. The purpose of the confiscation was to prepare the way for a formal devaluation of the dollar while it was still on the gold standard.

1933; Feds seize; gold; Jesse's Café Américain.

Thu 2009-09-17 10:31 EDT

China, Bernanke, and the price of gold - Telegraph Blogs

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard

China has issued what amounts to the ``Beijing Put'' on gold. Former Vice-Chairman of the Communist Party's Standing Committee Cheng Siwei: China has fundamentally lost confidence in the US dollar and is going to shift to a partial gold standard through reserve accumulation. [dollar losing reserve status]

Bernanke; China; gold; Price; Telegraph Blogs.

Thu 2009-07-30 00:00 EDT

Will The Dollar Standard Collapse?

By John Carney; Sahm Adrangi opines ``Abandoning the gold standard has gradually resulted in a very overvalued US dollar, and that the dollar is headed for disaster. The dollar standard is inherently flawed and increasingly unstable. Its collapse will be the most important economic event of the 21st century.

Dollar Standard Collapse.

Fri 2008-01-18 00:00 EST

Money Matters: Cheap Money Extracts A Terrible Price In The End

by Elaine Meinel Supkis; "Eventually the Chinese and the Muslims just might unite forces and force a gold standard again."

Cheap Money Extracts; ending; money matters; terrible price.