Saturday, September 27, 2008

The Government "Investment/Bailout" (Whos' to blame, what to do)

Would we be talking about a "crisis" today if the Federal Reserve had not embarked on unprecedented monetary and credit expansion, in the process inflating a housing bubble of epic proportions similar to the late '90s Internet bubble? Or the bubble of the Roaring 20s? Isn't the entire housing edifice built on shaky foundations since Freddie and Fannie enjoy a protected lending status with all sorts of moral hazard implications? Wasn't it former Federal Reserve Chairman Greenspan who not long ago urged borrowers to shift to variable rate debt, most of which is now resetting at a perilously higher level?

The free market has not failed, the market is simply correcting the mal-investment brought on by governmental interference. Let contractual arrangements remain in force, let good lenders prosper and bad ones suffer (similarly with borrowers) and let the taxpayers' pockets go unpicked. Legislative interference with market processes is likely only to prolong and deepen the downturn. The 700B in “New” liquidity is simply being printed up as before.

In the Austrian theory of the business cycle, the distinction is made between the "primary" and "secondary" depression. The secondary depression is what catches the eye: the turmoil in the financial markets. Yet the underlying cause is the distortion of the economy's capital structure: the primary depression. We have this economic crash today because our growth over the years has been phony, because our growth has been a product of what we’ve barrowed and spent, and not what we’ve saved and produced. You had millions of home owners who really thought they won the lottery, they looked at home prices that had been bid up in a speculative bubble, and assumed that the equity was legitimate wealth, and they borrowed Trillions of dollars, collateralized by that, expecting that by the time the payments were set higher they would have all this extra home equity that they could also tap into. That didn’t happen though, and now Americans are losing their home equity, they have trillions of dollars of mortgages that they can’t pay, and all the consumption that went along with the perception of real-estate wealth is going to evaporate. It is this reason that you will see a bigger crash in the economy, because its 70% consumption, and we can’t consume anymore, because we can’t borrow anymore and we don’t have the equity.

A true and complete Economic Recovery Plan would involve a Natural economic overheating, and massive capital reconstruction.
Removing:
The Capital Gains Tax,
The Income Tax,
The Federal Reserve,
The Federal Deficit,
Sarbanes-Oxley(particularly the Mark to Market rule… This is what killed Merrill Lynch.),

Sadly, none of these things will happen or even get mentioned. Hardly a day goes by without someone's proposing how to make the bad situation in subprime mortgage lending even worse. I cringe when I hear people talking about how Short Selling should have been done away with long ago. Short selling increases the number of people with an incentive to discover valuable information about firms' prospects, by providing an added mechanism to benefit from information that turns out to be negative. That in turn allows for a more true value for the market worth. When someone's research or information leads them to negative conclusions about a firm, short selling allows them to communicate their less optimistic expectations to others and make a profit if they anticipate the direction the market will later come to agree with. That is, they profit only if they come to "correct" conclusions before others. In the process, they benefit others by revealing accurate information sooner than would otherwise be the case, reducing the mistakes people would have made from relying on the less accurate prices that would otherwise exist. Personally, I’ve always seen Short Sellers as policemen of the market… But as I’ve said before, the government doesn’t want the true values, they just want rising stock prices. The old Progress before Stability routine.

I simply can’t agree with this Federal Investment, both for moral and economic reasons. Capital reconstruction is the solution to the problem, not further devaluing the dollar which was partly the cause of our problem to begin with! You also must remember, even if this “Investment” takes place, and it maintains the status que for a bit longer… it will not make up for the fact that the true equity and capital is gone. Anything else will be fake, false, and short lived.

Friday, March 7, 2008

A second look at Big oil, and Iraq

Don't leave Iraq just yet. For a long time i've been saying "Get out of Iraq now!" "No timetable" But... I know that in combination to the upcoming financial crisis, the U.S dollar just might not make it. And so I begin...


If you think we are in the Middle East solely because Bush wants to line the pockets of this oil buddies... then you are sadly mistaken.
Although it probably does have an influence... it isn't the main demand.

The unique thing about oil is the demand for oil is inelastic which means when the price of oil goes up, the demand doesn't fall much, mostly due to the fact that everyone drives and no one is really going to give up driving. The gross revenue oil producers receive is Quantity x Price. So if the oil producer pumps out 6million barrels of oil the price of oil will be $50 a barrel and thus he has made 300 million dollars. BUT! If he cuts production to 4million barrels the price will rise to $90 dollars a barrel, earning him 360 million. Therefore oil producer makes more when he produces less. That is if he is alone, but the problem is he has competition. And no oil producing country is big enough to be price makers, they are all price takers. And if you are a price taker the best thing you can do is produce and much oil as possible because you have no control over the price.

But if oil companies all get together and agree to limit production they can jack up the price of oil and make more money. Why? Because the demand for oil is inelastic. That is what Opec is, a cartel to get oil-producing counties to limit production thus raising prices.

So Bush invaded Iraq to limit production and raise oil prices to line the pockets of his oil buddies? Maybe an extra bonus. But is just another example of government intervention in markets.

The main reason we are in the Middle East is that the fate of the dollar is tied to oil. Now everyone knows that the U.S runs two big deficits… A trade deficit and a budget deficit. Normally trade deficits work themselves out, when a country like the US runs a trade deficit, it pays for it with inflation. Our currency falls. Another country sees the good exchange rate and buys a bunch of American goods. Thus canceling out the deficit and restoring the dollar. And we are back to square one. But… that's not happening. And the reason it is not happening is because everyone still wants dollars, and the reason is oil. That is because the big oil producing nations only trade in dollars. So if a country wants oil… Which can be shortened to "If a country". Then you had to or have to have plenty of dollars around. This means that despite two huge deficits the U.S is running, the dollar is still prized for its ability to get oil. (Believe it or not but this is the short explanation)

Budget deficit also add to inflation because budget deficits have the same effect as printing money. Because when a government runs a deficit it issues a bond. And this bond pays back more than what the bondholder put in. That payback comes from taxes or just printing money(IE lowering the interest rates) But when the bond expires there will be more money floating around than there were before. Causing more inflation. The main reasons for the budget deficits are the 3 main welfare programs.

Medicare/caid - $673 Billion
Social Secutiy - $586 Billion
Income Security(Welfare checks) - $367 Billion

Defense - $ 527 Billion

Everything else - $661 Billion


As Ron Paul has said… We are living beyond our means.

Now… Right before the Iraq invasion, Iraq switched from selling oil in dollars to selling oil in euro. If oil producing countries follow that trend then the effect would destroy the dollar's special traits and put it on an level playing field with other currencies. Once this happens the true value would be shown. This will completely destroy the dollar and we will see the kind of hyperinflation the Germans had after WW1. So at this moment, the life of the petrol dollar is the life of the States. How do we fix this? Well we can't stay in Iraq forever because even that is adding to the deficit now. So we have to drastically cut spending. And when I say cut spending, I mean drastically cut government. While at the same time, SLOWLY pulling out of Iraq.

I might be one of the few people to be happy about the higher gas prices due to less production in Iraq. No, im not joking. I'm happy. That is because the dollar, and America's future rests all on oil. And the less oil on the market, the longer the U.S Economy can survive...

Basicly...

We are stuck with trying to get around the "Inflation Bomb"

If we stay there, the budget deficet rises along with inflation. Then time will run out on the bomb and we all go boom...

If we leave all at once and Iraqi oil goes on the market tommarow, then the Dollar drops flat as a rock and once again, Boom... The inflation bomb...

Sadly... I think the time has already run out on us and it is too late to disarm the bomb... We haven't curbed spending, and the Petrol dollar before the crisis and I think we are about to pay for it.

The major problum now is that many more countries are switching from the U.S Dollar to another currency...

The higher gas prices we are seeing right now are only due to inflation of the U.S dollar due to Oil countries basicly telling the U.S dollar to "Go to hell" The bad thing is, Pandora's box is now open... The American dollar's bubble is now burst, and I expect Economic disaster soon... I figure that 4 dollar gas will be an indicater to store up supplies.

I would END african aid. Part 1,2, and 3

Save Darfur?

No, Leave Darfur alone.

Don't send the military. Have you forgotten Somalia, Korea, vietnam, Kosavo, or Iraq?

Military interventionism makes every situation worse.

Don't send money or food, it makes things worse.

Western money enables dictators like Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe to gain and hold power without the support of his nation's people. African rulers learn to manipulate foreign governments and obtain an independent source of income, which makes them far richer and more powerful than any of their political rivals. Once comfortably in power, and much to the horror of the western governments that funded them, African dictators find their subjects quite helpless and dependent.

African poverty is rooted in government corruption, corruption that actually is fostered by western aid. We should ask ourselves a simple question: Why is private capital so scarce in Africa? The obvious answer is that many African nations are ruled by terrible men who pursue disastrous economic policies. As a result, American aid simply enriches dictators, distorts economies, and props up bad governments. We could send Africa $1 trillion, and the continent still would remain mired in poverty simply because so many of its nations reject property rights, free markets, and the rule of law.

This process gives African politicians the "power to impoverish." The bottom line is that despite decades of western aid, more Africans than ever are living in extreme poverty. Foreign aid simply doesn't work.

Despite this reality, many Americans still think that more money and more aid will solve the problum. But what about the people who are suffering here at home, whether from hunger, illness, or poverty? Are their lives and well being less important? Where is the constitutional provision allowing American tax dollars to be sent overseas? Well... There isn't one.

If you are going to give them something, may I suggest a plane ticket.

Part 2:

For those who disagree

Lets treat this a little like math.
X = U.S Response y= Africa

y= -2 (Before U.S Action)

X+y(-2)= Y

Action A = -5
Action B = -6
Action C = -1
No Action N = 0 (Capital says it would be positive, but I will put 0)

That means Action A, B, C create a lower outcome. Makeing
N+y= -2 And therefore making it the highest equation.

Now... here is the interesting part. I have reason to believe that N or (No Action) is actually a positive.

My reasoning? Capital and power. Since situation y is post aid. The environment at the time is of weak under funded militants killing starving villagers. Well what do we know about militants? The militant soldiers join militant groups to survive, not because they are born killers. Militants cannot hold power without weapons and money. If you break the supply lines between a militant group and their supplier. They eventually turn on each other for control of what is left. This can happen multiple times and usually ends in destroying the group or giving the local population time to bounce back and resist the weakened militant group.

It makes the math problum N(3)+y=+1

And improvement in Africa!

Part 3:

African Capital.

On the terms of feeding a starving population, many socialists forget that it was Norman Borlaug agricultural researcher and businessman who was credited with saving over a billion people from starvation. Take that Opera. (the foolish, handout giving, socialist)

Socialism became popular in Africa after the 1960s. Imperial powers ruling Africa where all capitalists. Socialism swept the area because Africans saw it as being consistent with their strong tradition of family and community. The new ruling regimes where usually either inept, or completely corrupt. Take Zimbabwe for example. For a while it had high economic growth. Then Mugabe came along and seized all white farms and redistributed them among the black population. This killed off 60% of the wildlife, raised the unemployment to 60%, and created an inflation rate of 66,212.3%.

Now lets look at Diamond mining in Botswana. 1/3 of Botswana's GDP comes from Diamond mining. Botswana was once one of the poorest countries in the world, it is now a "middle income" nation. It currently has the highest economic growth rate in the world. How has this happened? Botswana is a very free market country. There is little government regulation.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

How do we defeat collectivism?

Looking at the results in California and elsewhere I see our biggest enemy is collectivism. Hispanics voted in a large block for Clinton, blacks for Obama, Mormons for Romney, Christians for Huckabee.

Seniors vote for anyone that does not mention social security. Non of these groups even consider how blind their allegiances are. Black people are still enslaved by the democrats 150 years after the emancipation.

What is it going to take to break these people away from their masters? Is it that we need our economy to completely fail? Even then I feel there will be a blame game without looking at the real causes.

People need to grow up, stop playing politics, and start really caring about this country.

***A Revolutionary Victory*** For me and the Cause

I am 19 years old... and the VC(Vice Chairman) of the republican party wants me to become the New Republican County Chairman so I can help "Bring life back to the party".

And just recently I got the entire Boone County Republican party to vote Ron Paul in a 6 min stump speech...

And after the speech, Rep. Johnny Key (Running for State Senate) gave me his card and told me to contact him after im done.... =)

I really hope more of our guys are getting active in the party. I think working within the party is our only hope.

So yeah... (JOIN YOUR LOCAL PARTY!)

Score 60 new voters!!!!! YES! (My speech to Republicans)

Haha!! Yes! *Does Dance*

I'm the main Arkansas organizer, and i've been going to Republican meetings and diners across the state... every one I can attend!

Tonight I went to the Boone County Republican meeting with 20 fellow RP supporters for a total of 80 people. After the meeting issues were taken care of, the chairman gave me the floor.

I have a 4 min stump speech on Paul’s positions and on returning dignity and conservatism to the party. I started it off with my “I don’t look conservative I look like I came from Berkeley” Joke… It was ok, not my best speech, but I get no sleep and was tired.

Sadly I had to step out for a min to organize things for a RP meeting Tuesday. When I got back, a RP supporter was up talking about the CFR... (Oh shit!) A concerned older republican asked a very good question, and that was if RP doesn't get the nomination, would we be there to support the Republicans against the Democrats. Two more of our people got up and started heckling the guy about the "globalist elite", completely ignoring the man’s question.

The man was pissed, and his friends and fellow republicans were getting annoyed. Right when the yelling was about to start I stopped raising my hand and just got up and announced over my own guy:

"Ok, I run the local as well as the state grassroots... (loudmouth shuts up) I've put alot of blood, sweet, tears, and money into this campaign. (loudmouth gets asked to leave) I stay up all night working for this man because I love my country too much to see it fall. I'm about as strong of Ron Paul supporter as you can get… but come election day, I know another Democrat will destroy our country. (applaud) …and if I Ron Paul isn't the nominee, I know one thing for certain, ANY Republican is better than Any Democrat, ANY day... (Cheers) (looking at the guy who asked the question) And I will promise you right now that there is no way my vote is going to be cast for anyone but Republican. (More Cheers)

The thing I am most worried about, and what you probably already know is… We are in some serious trouble. The Democrats have the upper hand on us. We got kicked out of power in 2006 for runaway spending, because of ethical breaches, and we lost our confidence as a party to stand up for our ideals of limited government and free enterprise. I’m sure many of you are in favor of staying in Iraq, as are most of the Republican candidates, but we are walking into this election slaughter with 75% of the population against the occupation. What chance does a Pro-war Republican have against Obama or Hillary? If you want to be really serious about keeping a Democrat out of the Whitehouse, vote for a man who won’t polarize the rest of the nation against us, but instead will revitalize the love of true conservatism in this country. The country I love so much… Thankyou, (applaud)”

Every single person who attended that meeting had to double check my name, tell me they loved what I said, and tell me that they would be voting Ron Paul come the 5th… Every one of them… It got even better because two of the people who attended were both running for state senate seats and asked if I could get in touch with them some time.

YES!!!!!!!! Score!!!



Oh and btw... QUIT TALKING ABOUT THE DAMN GLOBAL ELITE AND THE CFR! Republicans dont care!