Category Archives: 1) Decline

Decline will be death by a thousand cuts as too many problems occur and overwhelm societies ability to fix them (i.e. Tainter’s “complexity”). Already our infrastructure (oil and gas pipelines, electric grid, roads, bridges, etc) has a Report Card of D from the American Society of Civil Engineers. All 18 components of essential infrastructure, from the electric grid to the financial system are vulnerable to cyber-attack, The end of growth means bankruptcy for cities, pensions, families, and businesses, and no credit for energy companies to borrow for new projects to obtain oil, coal, and natural gas, the real drivers of the economy (just try putting dollar bills in your gas tank)

Gail Tverberg on Inflation, Deflation, or Discontinuity?

Posted on May 13, 2014 by

Gail Tverberg. July 1, 2013. Inflation, Deflation, or Discontinuity? ourfiniteworld.com A question that seems to come up quite often is, “Are we going to have inflation or deflation?” People want to figure out how to invest. Because of this, they … Continue reading →

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External costs of coal: probably over $500 billion per year in USA

Posted on May 4, 2014 by

Paul R. Epstein, et al. 2011. Full cost accounting for the life cycle of coal in “Ecological Economics Reviews.” Robert Costanza, Karin Limburg & Ida Kubiszewski, Eds. Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 1219: 73–98. This paper tabulates a wide range of … Continue reading →

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Cash is King in a deflation — but there are dangers

Posted on May 1, 2014 by

Risk 1: Capital controls Restrictions on bank withdrawals (no ATM withdrawals, no bill payments, etc) Restrictions on money market fund redemptions Greater restrictions on retirement fund liquidations Fixing an official exchange rate and criminalizing market rate transactions Banning the conversion … Continue reading →

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Why Treasury Bills are likely to be safe for at least a few years

Posted on May 1, 2014 by

my comment: SHORT-TERM 4-week or 13-week treasury BILLS that is Apr 19, 2012   Ilargi at the automaticearth.com Mauldin: unproductive government debt is killing us. So we either make some big, tough collective decisions, and make them soon; or we come … Continue reading →

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Inflation: defining and identifying it

Posted on May 1, 2014 by

Ilargy 2011 automatic earth The fact that there’s all that zombie money around (or zombie credit, to be precise) leads many to believe the US witnesses inflation. Not true. Inflation is not the same as rising prices. Prices can rise … Continue reading →

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Drowning in digits: National, Unfunded Liabilities, State, and Derivative Debt

Posted on April 26, 2014 by

Just about everyone I know believes in the permanence of the Dollar, the Eternal Supremacy of the United States, and the propaganda to constantly grow their money by taking risks. So they dutifully feed hard-earned wages into the voracious slot … Continue reading →

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How Money is Created: 3 articles

Posted on April 24, 2014 by

Also see: Money as Debt (45 minute video) Can Banks Create Money out of Nothing? – Richard Werner Money Creation in the Modern Economy –Bank of England David Graeber. March 18, 2014. The Truth Is Out: Money Is Just An IOU, … Continue reading →

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Are Brokerage Accounts Safe?

Posted on April 22, 2014 by

James Stewart. December 9, 2011 A Risk Once Unthinkable. New York Times. Are customer accounts at brokerage firms safe? SIPC will replace up to $500,000 of securities and cash (but not futures contracts) missing from customer accounts at member firms. … Continue reading →

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The case for Gold

Posted on April 21, 2014 by

Gold, Infinite Debt, and the Problem of Capital Storage: Has The Hotelling Moment Arrived? March 9, 2011 Gregor Macdonald One of the reasons that gold retains its competitiveness as a capital-storage unit is the rather slow and plodding rate at … Continue reading →

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Jeff Rubin: Oil and the End of Globalization

Posted on April 14, 2014 by

Jeff Rubin: Oil and the End of Globalization Nov 8, 2010. ASPO-USA Much of the article has been snipped below: It is easy to see how sub-prime mortgages blew up Wall Street; it is a little more challenging to see … Continue reading →

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