Paranoia has a sharper taste if the danger is real.
Printing money is merely taxation in another form.
A federal bailout would spare California from having to make spending cuts needed to bring its budget into balance. The matter has become urgent since California voters rejected several tax-hiking ballot initiatives. Rather than taking the vote as a signal to dramatically curtail spending, the state turned to the feds. If they get a free pass, the politicians can avoid fixing any of their past mistakes or preparing California for the future.
The real bubble in China is in US Treasuries, in US dollars.
Central banks are choosing to increase their gold holdings as a percentage of total reserves. They obviously think there is a reason to do that. It doesn't make sense to back up one currency with a hoard of other paper currencies. There needs to be a real anchor there. I think that central banks are well behind the curve. If you look at the percentage of above-ground gold controlled by central banks, it's historically low. Hence the fact that central banks are trying to increase their holdings. They've got a long way to go to get where they need to be.
Well, I don't like the UK. I haven't ever been a fan of the pound (sterling), and even though they are taking some steps in the right direction - more so than the US - in addressing some of their problems, I still think they're doing it much too slowly. So, I think that the pound will continue to lose value relative to some of these other currencies. I ultimately expect the pound to rise against the dollar, but that's not the best way to take advantage of dollar weakness.
All those commodities are going to have to rise in value as we are in short supply and we are printing too much money.
There is more grace per square foot in San Francisco than any place on earth.
Probably a dozen times since their death I've heard my mother or father, in an ordinary conversational tone of voice, call my name. They had called my name often during my life with them. . . It doesn't seem strange to me.
Sorrow, the heart must bear, Sits in the home of each, conspicuous there. Many a circumstance, at least, Touches the very breast. For those Whom any sent away,--he knows: And in the live man's stead, Armor and ashes reach The house of each.
The people who are filing for bankruptcy in increasing numbers every year, it's not the poorest. It's not the people at the economic fringes. It's people who worked hard and played by the rules.