2/16/2011 Portland, Oregon – Pop in your mints…
Oh, fellow taxpayers, it as if some sort of dam has been breached and all sorts of mayhem and shenanigans are barreling down upon us. What has happened? What is the cause? Why, out of nowhere, have governments fallen in the Middle East with the promise of more ousters to follow? Why is the Italian Prime Minister still in office? Why have the oppressed of the world begun to speak out, almost in unison, against perceived injustices?
Is it Social Networking, Facebook, Twitter? Despite what we think, many of those who are rioting may scarcely be able to read or write, let alone operate a computer. While this may help to facilitate, we doubt these tools in themselves have the power to agitate.
The one thing that tends to affect everyone all at once are rising food prices! Even the World Bank seems to be getting it. In a recent report, they state that global food prices have jumped a whopping 29% in one year. The report goes on to blame export bans and weather disruptions as part of the problem. What it doesn't state, but what is obvious now to Mint followers, is that dramatic increases in the global money supply, spewed into the banking system by every Central Bank on the planet, are now finding their way into basic commodity prices.
You see, the Central Banks of the world, through their actions, may have given the current insane monetary system a few more years to survive, but they have essentially stolen the wages of the masses. This is why they are rioting. People will tolerate shenanigans at all levels of government as long as they are fed and see better things on the horizon.
Now that the Central Banks have virtually assured that neither of those things will happen for at least 3 years and counting, the floodgates have opened for any sort of grievance to be publicly aired. It is as if a season of Festivus for the rest of us has been declared!
The Egyptians tolerated Mubarak for 30 years until he could no longer feed them. He fell in 18 days.
The Italians have tolerated Berlusconi on and off for 17 years. Now that the price of Pasta is up, suddenly his numerous abuses of power are suddenly intolerable.
Ruling in Egypt and Italy traditionally has been very difficult, and extremely profitable. The iron fist would be the only way to maintain the aura of control, so it seems. But no matter how large of a fist one wields or how superior their wealth or weaponry, they cannot overcome the wishes of a majority.
Berlusconi's current perils make us wonder if there is any difference between Government and the Mafia in Italy. In some ways, the Mafia may be more efficient.
The bright side of these unfortunate circumstances is that people are rising up in mass against injustices. The sheer magnitude and degree of the discontent can only be explained by the skyrocketing food costs, as we have mentioned before. Confirming this hypothesis, Gold and Silver are both on the rise which is a direct result of years of ever increasing amounts for paper and electronic money chasing a relatively decreasing quantity of real things.
So what is the answer to rising food prices? Should caloric intake or, by inference, population be limited? This is an iron fisted solution that some Environmentalists will most certainly propose. Or should we allow production and consumption to fall naturally into balance by changing the one thing that will fix this problem once and for all: A return to free money and banking, which in a practical sense means using Gold and Silver coinage.
The State of South Carolina is beginning to catch on, as are Georgia, Virginia, and Utah:
The incredible news is that, in the United States, you don't have to wait for your state to adopt a metal-backed currency. You can own Gold and Silver, the universal currency backed by over 4,000 years of experience! In our estimation it stacks up much better than un-backed currency experiment of the last 40 years.
Stay Fresh!
Email: davidminteconomics@gmail.com
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Key Indicators for Wednesday, February 16th, 2011
Copper Price per Lb: $4.50
Oil Price per Barrel: $84.56
10 Yr US Treasury Bond: 3.62%
FED Target Rate: 0.15%
Oil Price per Barrel: $84.56
10 Yr US Treasury Bond: 3.62%
FED Target Rate: 0.15%
MINT Perceived Target Rate*: 4.5%
Unemployment Rate: 9.0%
Inflation Rate (CPI): 0.5%
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 12,227
M1 Monetary Base: $1,909,400,000,000
M2 Monetary Base: $8,774,700,000,000
Unemployment Rate: 9.0%
Inflation Rate (CPI): 0.5%
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 12,227
M1 Monetary Base: $1,909,400,000,000
M2 Monetary Base: $8,774,700,000,000
*See FED Perceived Economic Effect Rate Chart at bottom of blog. This rate is the FED Target rate with a 39 month lag, representing the time it takes for the FED Target rate changes to affect the real economy. This is a 39 months head start that the FED member banks have on the rest of us on using the new money that is created.
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