Weekday NEWS to Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.
Thurs 07.02.2009
Hyperinflation Special Report "How has the hyperinflation outlook changed since the Hyperinflation Special Report was published in April 2008?" Such is the most frequently asked question I receive these days. The answer is that the outlook is little changed, since the following report outlines the basic issues and limited options for the U.S. government that were in play well before the current crises broke. The actions taken since by the federal government, U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve, in response to the still-deepening recession and ongoing systemic solvency woes, just exacerbated the long-range problems described in the report. The official actions likely have advanced the timing of the hyperinflation to the much nearer future, perhaps within the next year or two. Since September 2008, the Federal Reserve has been attempting to debase the U.S. dollar at an extraordinary pace, and such now is recognized widely among the major U.S. trading partners.
Inflationary Recession Is in Place [PDF] Banking Solvency Crisis Has Opened First Phase of Monetary Inflation Hyperinflationary Depression Remains Likely As Early As 2010
The U.S. economy is in an intensifying inflationary recession that eventually will evolve into a hyperinflationary great depression. Hyperinflation could be experienced as early as 2010, if not before, and likely no more than a decade down the road. The U.S. government and Federal Reserve already have committed the system to this course through the easy politics of a bottomless pocketbook, the servicing of big-moneyed special interests, and gross mismanagement. The U.S. has no way of avoiding a financial Armageddon. Bankrupt sovereign states most commonly use the currency printing press as a solution to not having enough money to cover their obligations. The alternative would be for the U.S. to renege on its existing debt and obligations, a solution for modern sovereign states rarely seen outside of governments overthrown in revolution, and a solution with no happier ending than simply printing the needed money. With the creation of massive amounts of new fiat (not backed by gold) dollars will come the eventual complete collapse of the value of the U.S. dollar and related dollar-denominated paper assets.
$78.8 Trillion; United States Debt Obligations exceed world GDP; Monetary Collapse Looming? (from February 16, 2009 interview)
Fair Treatment for Precious Metals Investors Act S.1367: Fair Treatment for Precious Metals Investors Act Summary: Seeks to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to treat gold, silver, platinum, and palladium investments in the same manner as stock and mutual fund investments for the purposes of the capital gains tax rates imposed. The bill seeks to amend the Internal Revenue Code in order to attain fair treatment for precious metals investors as compared to stock and mutual fund investors. Under the current tax law, investments in precious metals are treated as "collectibles gains" which are subject to a tax rate of 28%. By contrast, investments in stocks and mutual funds are currently subject to a tax rate of 15% if the assets are held for more than one year.
Gold - It's Just Time To borrow a phrase from a recent piece by Martin Armstrong, "it's just time" for Gold to shine and revert to its role as money. Of course, the powers that be and their minions laugh in contempt at such a concept. Wall Street laughs at the investment that has no growth potential and pays no dividends. And yet, these are the people who didn't see this economic crisis coming and now declare that it is over! It may be over for them, since they have lined their pockets with taxpayer funds to mitigate their losses, but for the rest of us, the pain is just beginning. Economic depressions are a process, not a one-time event.
Gold rallies above $940, dollar drops on China news Gold climbed above $940 an ounce on Wednesday, as news that China has asked to debate proposals for a new global reserve currency sent the dollar reeling, highlighting the status of gold as a hedge against a falling U.S. currency. Investors have recently viewed the dollar as a safe haven. In early June, a resurgent greenback had foiled gold's attempt to break above the $1,000-an-ounce level.
US Dollar will default in 2009 1/3 Gold, the reserve currency . . . Will the US Dollar collapse under the weight of debt in 2009? Bob Moriarty from 321gold.com thinks so. M/C Michael Levy Panelists: Louis James, David Morgan, Jon Nadler, Robert Moriarty
US Dollar will Default in 2009 2/3
US Dollar will Default in 2009 3/3
Gold Rises, Halting Two-Day Drop, as Weak Dollar Boosts Demand Gold gained the most in a week, halting a two-day slide, as a weaker dollar boosted the metal's appeal as an alternative investment. The dollar fell as much as 1.1 percent against the euro as a report from Automatic Data Processing Inc.'s Employer Services unit showed U.S. companies cut 473,000 jobs last month, more than forecast. Gold typically rises when the dollar falls because some investors buy the precious metal to protect value when the world's reserve currency weakens.
Gold's Leading Authority Expects Gold to Break Price Record Don't own gold yet? Don't worry... Because even at $940 an ounce, gold prices are still positioned to surge by three... four... or even five times! In fact, if gold prices perform even half as well as they did during the bull market of the 1970s, the yellow metal will explode to over $2,500 in a matter of months. The world's top gold consultant agrees... GFMS Ltd. (formerly known as Gold Fields Mineral Services) recently echoed Gold World's longstanding rationale for higher gold prices and predicted a new price record within the next few weeks.
IMF gold sale to dampen bullion market The Gold Report recently caught up with newsletter writer and analyst Lawrence Roulston of Resource Opportunities, who's been travelling to learn more about the state of mining worldwide. In this exclusive interview, Roulston provides his thoughts on the outlook for the economy and what factors impact gold and other metal markets. "As the Western world gets back on track," says Roulston, "commodity prices will continue higher."
Gold is not bullish but don't count it out yet The demand for gold is potent, indicated by strong buying pressure. This is being brought on because of weakness in the U.S. dollar. Additionally, when analyzing the SPDR Gold Trust (GLD), the relative strength index and stochastic indicators both suggest that higher prices are likely to occur. GLD is up 5.4% year-to-date and is trading above its 200-day moving average. Trading volume doesn't indicate that gold is necessarily bullish, however, it doesn't confirm that gold isn't bullish, either. In other words, don't count it out yet.
pt 1/4 Georgre Soros Interview
Buying On Spec Through its rhetoric and actions, the Obama Administration has made it clear that no matter the current or future costs, the federal government will not allow a collapse of the banking system. The resulting aura of certitude has, in turn, encouraged investors to roll the dice one more time. Some of these investors are likely trying to make good prior investment losses through speculative trading in U.S. equities. The surety of the government guarantee has sadly allowed them to overlook the fact that U.S. corporate earnings continue to fall. So, as is the case with all government guarantees, the risks our economy faces are now disproportionate to the opportunities. Haven't we been down this road before?
Goldman Sachs The Fourth Branch of the U.S. Government Quietly and almost unnoticed by most Americans, the US Federal Government introduced a fourth branch to its political structure in 2006. As you know we already had three branches, they are:
The Judicial: the Supreme Court
The Executive: the President
The Legislative: Congress
This pretty much has us covered in terms of political strategy... but what about financial issues? Everyone knows Congress has no clue how to allocate capital. And the Executive Branch doesn't exactly have a great track record when it comes to financial matters either (we've run a deficit virtually every year since 1970).
The Great American Bubble Machine From tech stocks to high gas prices, Goldman Sachs has engineered every major market manipulation since the Great Depression - and they're about to do it again The first thing you need to know about Goldman Sachs is that it's everywhere. The world's most powerful investment bank is a great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity, relentlessly jamming its blood funnel into anything that smells like money. In fact, the history of the recent financial crisis, which doubles as a history of the rapid decline and fall of the suddenly swindled-dry American empire, reads like a Who's Who of Goldman Sachs graduates.
How Obama Blew His Credibility On The Economy Six months into the Obama presidency and the New York Times is already running an autopsy analyzing how he could have been so wrong about the economy. David Leonhardt's bottom line? The administration was deluded by hope. We doubt it. We suspect Obama, Summers, Geithner & Co. just decided that they had to issue rose-colored projections about the unemployment rate and recovery or they would never have a hope in hell of ramming such huge spending increases through. And if the forecasts proved optimistic? Well, by then, maybe everyone would have forgotten. They haven't.
A Forecast With Hope Built In In the weeks just before President Obama took office, his economic advisers made a mistake. They got a little carried away with hope. To make the case for a big stimulus package, they released their economic forecast for the next few years. Without the stimulus, they saw the unemployment rate - then 7.2 percent - rising above 8 percent in 2009 and peaking at 9 percent next year. With the stimulus, the advisers said, unemployment would probably peak at 8 percent late this year.
Mr. Sunshine? Ron Paul Wins Support to Audit Fed Reserve All of a sudden, Congress is paying close attention to Ron Paul. The feisty congressman from Texas, whose insurgent "Ron Paul Revolution" presidential campaign rankled Republican leaders last year, now has the GOP House leadership on his side - backing a measure that generated paltry support when he first introduced it 26 years ago. Paul, as of Tuesday, has won 245 co-sponsors to a bill that would require a full-fledged audit of the Federal Reserve by the end of 2010.
The Great Bank Robbery: How the Federal Reserve is destroying America As global leaders struggle to rescue their nations from economic breakdown, the legitimacy of the dollar as the world's reserve currency is under attack. Perhaps the problem lies with the Fed. A large part of the "super" in the American superpower is based on the modern creed of liberal democracy, which serves as the motor of free-market capitalism. And the lubricant that keeps this colossal machine humming at full speed 24/7 is the US dollar. So before we risk any conjectures on the future prospects of America's versatile banknote, which presently serves as the 'world's reserve currency,' perhaps we should know more about who controls it.
Obamageddon - 2012 Empire America is on the verge of collapse. Its social, economic and political systems are failed and failing. The measures taken by successive governments to save the politically corrupt, morally bankrupt, physically decrepit giant from collapse have served to only hasten its demise. While the decline has been decades in the making, the acceleration of ruinous policies under the current Administration is leading the United States - and much of the world - to the point of no return.
pt 2/4 Georgre Soros Interview
Walls to Block US Deflation Many are the obstructions to the so-called (mislabeled) deflation threat within the USEconomy. To begin with, falling asset prices does not constitute deflation. One of the primary objectives of the banking elite in firm control of the USGovt and USCongress is to confuse the public and investment community on the entire topic of inflation, what it is, how it is measured, and its risks. The same goes for deflation. All debate as to whether the Untied States will suffer from inflation or deflation is a horrible misdirected distraction that manifests the confusion. The US will suffer both higher monetary inflation and worse economic deterioration, not one or the other, but BOTH, and with steadily increasing intensity.
U.S. stimulus a small patch for big economic hole The $787 billion U.S. economic stimulus package may not be able to live up to lofty expectations, painting President Barack Obama into a policy corner once the money runs out. With only a little under 7 percent of the stimulus actually paid out so far, it is a bit early to try to measure success. However, the White House is already fielding questions about whether another spending package will be needed. One of Obama's top advisers said on Sunday that the current stimulus plan is "adequate to the task.
Shredding Your Safety Nets Modern man believes in government-funded safety nets. He thinks that other taxpayers can and should be taxed to bail out those taxpayers who make bad economic decisions, so long as those taxpayers being bailed out are people like themselves. They don't want bailouts for bankers, and they don't want bailouts for people who got into no-money-down mortgages to buy in neighborhoods "above their station."
The Myth of 2016 The ever-increasing share of Americans who keep working after age 55 will buy Uncle Sam some more time to solve the Social Security crisis. In May, the media flashed the latest grim news on Social Security: Its trustees had concluded that the money pouring out of the system will start exceeding the tax dollars flowing in by 2016, a year earlier than previously forecast. Unreported, however, was a curious fact: The calculations effectively deny the existence of a longtime trend that probably will delay the arrival of Social Security's doomsday. That trend is Americans' growing propensity to work beyond traditional retirement age. In doing this, the agency could be making a $200 billion mistake in its assessment of Social Security revenue over the next 10 years. That sum is the likely unanticipated income from payroll taxes levied on older workers who remain on the job, based on the projections of demographer Peter Francese, who has had an excellent record predicting such trends.
U.S. Economy: Manufacturing Shrank Least Since August Manufacturing in the U.S. shrank at the slowest pace since August 2008 and pending sales of existing homes advanced for a fourth month, underscoring signs the economy began to stabilize in the second quarter. The Institute for Supply Management's factory index rose in June for a sixth straight month, to 44.8; readings less than 50 signal contraction. The National Association of Realtors said the number of Americans signing contracts for existing homes increased 0.1 percent in May after a 7.1 percent gain.
Positioning for When Water Runs Out: Part I If current trends continue, there is no doubt that there will be wars fought in the 21st century over water. Not oil. Not ideology. Not theology. Water. Survival. It takes somewhere between the three pounds of grain the National Cattlemen's Beef Association estimates and the sixteen pounds some environmentalists and vegetarians claim to produce a pound of beef. I believe the truth lies closer to the cattlemen's numbers - all the ranchers I know, and I know plenty, graze their cattle where they consume vast quantities of weeds and natural grasses. What business person wants to buy grain, adding to their cost of doing business?
pt 3/4 Georgre Soros Interview
Lear to File Bankruptcy After Lenders Agree to Terms Lear Corp., the world's second- largest maker of automotive seats, is planning to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after reaching an agreement with representatives of secured lenders and bondholders. Lear is seeking support from other bondholders and lenders and plans to "commence shortly" with a restructuring under court protection, the Southfield, Michigan-based supplier said in a statement today. The company said it has commitment for $500 million in financing for the bankruptcy and exit from a syndicate led by JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Citigroup Inc.
Hotel Loan Defaults Double as Recession Cuts Travel As many as one in five U.S. hotel loans may default through 2010 as the recession means companies are spending less on travel and perks, according to University of California economist Kenneth Rosen. The value of hotel properties in default or foreclosure almost doubled to $17.3 billion in the second quarter through June 24 from $9 billion at the end of the first quarter, data compiled by Real Capital Analytics Inc. show. The New York-based research firm, which began tracking distressed commercial property in November, expects hotel defaults to increase by as much as $2 billion this quarter, said analyst Jessica Ruderman.
Small businesses vital to economic recovery go bankrupt Entrepreneurship and new small businesses are supposed to lead us out of the recession, just as they have in prior downturns, right? Sure. Your neighbor's grand idea will persuade a bank to lend her start-up money; she'll open for business in six weeks; and money will immediately flow from customers to her to her employees. Taxes will be paid, and the national economic engine will hum effortlessly in no time. If only.
Business owners cut to the bone Recent surveys indicate that business owners are still sacrificing staff, benefits, and personal savings to keep their doors open. To stay open. That's the goal of business owners across the country as they continue to lay off employees, cut benefits and pull back on retirement contributions. These cost-cutting strategies are likely to stay in place for months to come, according to several recent reports. On the employment front, the numbers remain grim: In the past month, small businesses with fewer than 50 workers shed 177,000 employees, according to a report released Wednesday by payroll processor ADP (ADP, Fortune 500). That's an improvement, but not much to celebrate. By contrast, mid-sized businesses cut 205,000 jobs and large businesses, those with more than 500 employees, lost 91,000 positions.
US private sector sheds 473,000 jobs US companies cut nearly a half million jobs last month as the recession continued to cut into the labour market in spite of other recent signs of hope in the economy. Private companies cut 473,000 jobs from their payrolls in June, according to a survey by ADP employer services on Wednesday. The figure was slightly lower than the revised 485,000 jobs slashed in May, but was worse than economists expected and raised fears that the unemployment rate would continue to climb.
pt 4/4 Georgre Soros Interview
California Misses Deadline to Avoid Issuing Need IOUs California is poised to issue more than $3 billion in IOUs to pay some bills after lawmakers failed to reach an agreement to close a $24 billion budget deficit facing the most-populous U.S. state. Last-minute negotiations between Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, fellow Republicans, and Democrats who control the Legislature failed to produce a compromise before the state's fiscal year began at midnight. Without budget revisions to account for a recession-driven 20 percent drop in revenue, California doesn't have enough money to meet its debts and will issue IOUs beginning tomorrow, Controller John Chiang said.
California, Illinois Fail to Meet Budget Deadline Seven U.S. states from California to Connecticut began the fiscal year today without spending plans in place as they battle over tax increases and other measures to balance budgets amid declining revenue. Democratic Illinois Governor Pat Quinn refused to sign a budget after lawmakers failed to approve raising the income tax, said his spokeswoman Ashley Cross. Connecticut is at an impasse after Republican Governor Jodi Rell rejected a tax increase passed by the Democrat-led Legislature.
California declares fiscal emergency over budget California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a fiscal emergency on Wednesday, forcing lawmakers to tackle a budget gap that has raised the prospect of drastic measures to keep the state working. Lawmakers debated late into the night Tuesday but could not agree on a plan to balance California's budget -- now showing a deficit of $26.3 billion -- in time for the new fiscal year, which began on Wednesday.
Tax hikes and budget woes: States crunched States are still struggling to balance their budgets as fiscal year 2010 starts. New tax hikes and spending cuts take effect. And California is running low on cash. It's not a happy new year for the states. States are carrying their financial woes into the new fiscal year, which for most started on Wednesday. Some had yet to pass their fiscal 2010 budgets. For others, tax hikes and draconian spending cuts went into effect. Governors and legislators spent fiscal 2009 wrestling to balance budgets as tax revenues plummeted amid the weakening economy. Many were forced to slash funding for social services, education and public safety, as well as raise sales levies, income taxes and other fees.
Why taxes will need to go up Health reform can reduce the deficit, but not nearly enough to address the country's debt problem. Higher taxes and spending cuts will be needed. The promise of health reform is to make care more accessible for everybody -- and to reduce the federal deficit by slowing the growth rate in costs. But the promise of deficit reduction through health reform might be overstated. Here's why: Even if reform works well, the cost savings will not be nearly enough to tackle the debt ogre breathing down Uncle Sam's neck.
Where the economy is going... from March 11, 2008
Obama enters decisive phase of presidency Healthcare reform will be a critical test Barack Obama is gearing up for the most decisive phase of his presidency when the fate of his core legislative proposals will show whether he is capable of taming Washington or whether Washington will tame him. Critics and supporters see Mr Obama's attempts to push his flagship healthcare reform through Congress this month as a critical test of the president's pledge to take on Washington's most powerful lobby groups.
Kennedy Seeks Public Health-Care Plan That Finances Itself Senator Edward M. Kennedy's committee will propose creating a government-backed alternative to private insurance designed to pay for itself after getting federal start-up money. A summary of the provision written by the Massachusetts Democrat's Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee describes a public insurance plan that could be quickly available around the U.S. with payment rates set by the Health and Human Services Department. The summary was provided by a person close to the committee.
Helen Thomas: Not Even Nixon Tried to Control the Media Like Obama Following a testy exchange during today's briefing with White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas told CNSNews.com that not even Richard Nixon tried to control the press the way President Obama is trying to control the press. "Nixon didn't try to do that," Thomas said. "They couldn't control (the media). They didn't try. "What the hell do they think we are, puppets?" Thomas said. "They're supposed to stay out of our business. They are our public servants. We pay them."
Delinquencies On Prime Mortgages DOUBLE! Delinquency rates on prime mortgages, the least risky category, more than doubled in the first quarter from a year earlier, according to statistics released yesterday by the government.
Prime mortgages 60 days or more past due climbed to 2.9 percent of such loans through March 31. At the same point last year, 60 day delinquencies were just 1.1 percent of all prime loans.
Two thirds of all mortgages in the US are prime mortgages, so any percentage increase in delinquencies represents a huge absolute number of delinquent mortgages.
So here are the absolute numbers: 661,914 prime mortgages were at least 60 days delinquent in the first quarter, a jump from 250,986 a year earlier.
Insured Mortgage Defaults Resume Upward Climb Defaults on privately insured U.S. mortgages rose in May following three months of declines, and the number brought up to date fell, providing new evidence that the nation's housing market is still deteriorating. The Mortgage Insurance Companies of America, a trade group, said 87,904 insured borrowers were at least 60 days late on payments in May, up 8 percent from April and up 29 percent from a year earlier. Late payments often foreshadow foreclosure.
David Walker: Who Will Bailout the Budget? (December 04, 2008)
The Growth Of Prime Mortgage Delinquencies Is Actually Slowing Despite government attempts to aid home owners in trouble with mortgages, the share of mortgages that are seriously delinquent-with payments over due by 60 days or more-is still growing. Serious delinquencies grew by nearly 9%, and now stands at 5% of all mortgages. The good news is this represents a dramatic slowdown in the growth of serious delinquencies. In the fourth quarter of 2008, serious delinquencies jumped from 3.54 to 4.60, a 30% increase from the previous quarter.
Mortgage applications fall to 7-month low Mortgage applications plunged to a seven-month low last week as demand for home refinancing loans tumbled 30%, data from an industry group showed Wednesday. The drop does not bode well for the hard-hit housing market, which is showing some signs of stabilization, with sales rising and home price declines moderating in many regions of the country.
Obama Offers Bailout To Homeowners Deep Underwater Obama is expanding the homeowner bailout so that underwater homeowners with a 125% LTV ratio can refi more easily through Fannie and Freddie. Before your LTV ratio could only be 105%, because, well, as we've learned, fat loans relative to value are more likely to go bad. As many have described it, Obama's solution to the housing crisis is: more subprime loans. Like the original subprime loans, they're really only going to work out of home prices grow rapidly over the next few years, otherwise you're looking at the perpetuation of people living underwater in their homes.
Real Estate Crash: How's Your City Doing? The rate of crash for real-estate prices nationwide has finally begun to moderate. Specifically, it dropped from -19% a year in March to -18% a year in April. No, not much to celebrate. But a step in the right direction. Of course, as your ever-optimistic neighborhood realtor will tell you, real-estate is a local business: Each market is different. What does that mean? Well, in this case, it means that some markets are falling slowly, and other markets are falling like rocks.
Banks brace for tough second half of '09 Loan losses and regulatory reforms will give bankers and investors plenty to worry about in the months ahead. Stress tests. Massive government interventions. Speculation that the government would nationalize Citigroup and Bank of America. Suffice it to say that the first half of 2009 was anything but normal for the usually sleepy U.S. banking sector. But even as some sense of calm has returned, there are few indications that lenders will make a full recovery by year's end. For starters, many banks are still trying to get a firm grip on their unwieldy loan portfolios that continue to deteriorate.
Four banks ordered to boost capital Regulators have served four Georgia community banks with "cease and desist" orders, requiring the banks to raise capital, clear bad loans off their books and improve lending practices. The orders, the most serious type of regulatory enforcement action short of a shutown, were made from mid-April to early May but were just made public by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The banks are: Community Bank & Trust in Cornelia; Gordon Bank in Gordon; Crescent Bank and Trust, Jasper; and Farmers & Merchants Bank in Lakeland.
Dollar Collapse - America, A Country Living On IOU's - Peter Schiff -Part 1 - America Is Finished September 15, 2008
Dollar Collapse - America, A Country Living On IOU's - Peter Schiff - Part 2
Treasury official: If GM bankruptcy is delayed, U.S. will withdraw The only viable option to save General Motors is a sale of its main assets to a "New GM" backed by the federal government, a U.S. Treasury official told a bankruptcy court Wednesday as the automaker sought approval for the deal. The official, Harry Wilson, also said the government would withdraw its portion of the $33 billion "debtor-in-possession" financing for GM if the sale of the main assets did not close by the government's July 10 deadline.
GM Plans 'Garage Sale' for Toxic Plants, Golf Course As General Motors Corp. prepares to sell its best assets to a streamlined new entity, the worst of what it owns will be auctioned off in bankruptcy court, including contaminated factory sites, parking lots in Flint, Michigan, and a nine-hole golf course in New Jersey. One property the carmaker is ditching is a foundry in Massena, New York, bordered on the east by the St. Regis Mohawk Indian Reservation and on the north by the St. Lawrence River. Built to make aluminum cylinder heads for the Chevrolet Corvair in the 1950s, it generated PCB sludge and waste from hydraulic fluids.
Foreclosure help will reach more homeowners The Obama administration is expanding a program to stave off foreclosure for borrowers who owe more than their homes are worth. Housing secretary Shaun Donovan says borrowers who owe up 25% more than their home's market value will qualify for government help refinancing their mortgages. The program currently is limited to borrowers who owe 5% more than their homes are worth. The change addresses concerns that the initial terms excluded too many so-called 'underwater' borrowers.
Citi's credit card move will test Treasury Raising rates on credit cards at odds with government infusion Citigroup Inc.'s move to raise credit-card rates on nearly 15 million of its customers will test the government's stomach for affecting decision-making at the bank. In a statement, Citigroup (C 2.97, 0.00, 0.00%) said the "changes also reflect the dramatically higher cost of doing business in our industry as we work to preserve the broad availability of credit." That's kind of like a dentist saying he's going to ease your pain by knocking out a few teeth.
Spitznagel's Universa new Hyperinflation Project - Nassim Taleb explains the economic rationale behind Spitznagel's Universa betting on extreme price instability with a new Black Swan Protection Protocol - Hyperinflation.
U.S. 'ready' for N. Korean missile U.S. missile defenses are prepared to try to knock down the last stage of a Taepodong-2 missile that North Korea is expected soon to launch if sensors detect the weapon threatens U.S. territory, the commander of the U.S. Northern Command told The Washington Times. "The nation has a very, very credible ballistic-missile defense capability. Our ground-based interceptors in Alaska and California, I'm very comfortable, give me a capability that if we really are threatened by a long-range ICBM that I've got high confidence that I could interdict that flight before it caused huge damage to any U.S. territory," said Air Force Gen. Victor E. "Gene" Renuart, Northcom commander.
Arms to Be Focus in Meeting of Obama, Russian Leaders The Obama White House on Thursday adopted a hard line against negotiating away missile-defense sites in Eastern Europe and limiting NATO expansion in the former Soviet Union, just days ahead of a summit meeting in Moscow. The hardened posture made it clear the Kremlin wouldn't make headway on two of its top priorities for the summit. "We shouldn't have excessive hopes" for the meeting, said a senior Russian diplomat in Moscow. "Despite all this constructive atmosphere, the deeper you get into details, the more difficulties you find."
Fed Copies Weimar Hyperinflation
Hyperinflation - Germany 1923 A teaching resource to support an explanation of the economic process of inflation; how the Weimar Government reacted and how it contributed to the Year of Crisis 1923
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