I'm worried about the increasing likelihood that Thadeus will attack me and my loved ones with a machete. That's definitely the direction your anti-winner drivel has been going towards.
Think of his machete hand as the invisible hand of the marketplace balancing the distribution of wealth. (You can't discount the effects of the psychological factors in economics)
But as an unstable poor person, are you really that precise in your attacks? Can you tell the difference between reality and perception when you're consumed by anger, bitterness and contempt? Don't hack me, I'm just the messenger.
Don't wet yourself Ronny, even in my agitated state I will be able to differentiate between your overweight family of four rolling into the handicapped space in the Golden Corral parking lot in a 1987 Ford Econoline van for a great Friday night out at the all-u-can-eat bacon buffet, and a wealthy oligarch attempting to subvert the democratic process.
Gold has no inherent intrinsic value, except as an industrial metal. Beyond that, it's just a commodity that people value, no different than an iPod or a car (except that it doesn't depreciate). It's worth whatever people are willing to pay for it, and when people are scared, they tend to be willing to pay more for it. In this current gold increase, for example, it's going up in ALL currencies. The history of gold and silver price spikes is extensive throughout history - and it's not because currencies suddenly became worth nothing and then just as suddenly became worth a whole bunch again. Why? If gold prices come crashing down but the price of things you actually buy doesn't go down, will you suddenly consider yourself richer because you can buy lots of gold now?
Domestic manufacturing continues to grow in America. It's not creating jobs because of increasing automation, but the actual amount we produce is more than any other country - and is still growing. Manufacturing jobs and manufacturing output are two very different things.
It's comforting to know youre stable enough not to attack a mirror, Nathadeus. But I am humored by your accurate, touch line representation of middle class America that you know all too intimately. We impoverished suburbanites are all on the same yacht, creeping and crawling our way to survival while the oligarchs in Japan sleep on rubble. The oligarchs in their 20s at Goldman Sachs carelessly hedge against reality and laugh away at their steak dinners provided by the oligarch upstairs. Where exactly do your targets start, and where do they end, Akmed?
poor analogy. that iPod/car will be worthless in a matter of years. at no point in history has gold ever been worthless. it has always been a store of wealth. that is the point. LOL @ "gold has no inherent intrinsic value". and thadeus wonders why the rich are able to get away with raping the sheep! actually it is because currencies suddenly became worth nothing. in the same history you speak of, the average lifespan for currencies has been roughly 40 years. and btw, it's been about 40 years since nixon took your trusty dollar completely off the gold standard
Yes but does this include us based mnc's who actually have the bulk of their production facilities overseas?
Major covered that by explaining that their value depreciates - because unlike a hunk of gold, which will just sit on your desk and look shiny, I can do useful things with a car or Ipod over a period of time. In essence, you pay money to have those useful functions over a period of time. As was also explained, gold is just a rock which we choose to give value because it's shiny and because our grandfathers thought it was valuable. This possesses as much value as the government decreeing that the pieces of paper in your wallet can buy bread. And at least those pieces of paper are easy to create, unlike something which requires extensive mining and smelting operations. And since when do people get rich off of investing in gold? It's not exactly the speciality of Gates or Jobs or the guys who made Google. Care to explain why or how they became worthless? Do I wake up tomorrow and decide that a dollar bill can't do anything? People like to talk about how the value of a dollar has decreased so much compared to the last century, while conveniently forgetting the fact that people earned $3 a day back then.
Damn, it selectively omit the data for 2009 and 2010, when China surpassed US as the no. 1 manufacturer.
grandfather always knows best. he knows that gold is money precisely because it is scarce and requires extensive mining and smelting operations, as opposed to the pieces of paper in your wallet created out of thin air. aside from the obvious point that pulling 2 guys from the hi-tech sector is akin to me randumbly saying since when do people get rich off of playing basketball, tiger woods and justin bieber don't play basketball (there are myriad different ways to create wealth) -- the fact that you say "investing in gold" reveals that you are missing the whole point. gold is money. that's why it pays no interest. it is nobody's debt (unlike the paper in your wallet). you don't invest in gold, you hold it as a store of value. this is why the us govt hold 8000 tons of it at fort knox and the ny fed (although you and major might want to write your congressmen and recommend they switch over to ipods) government overdoses on debt
US was still #1 in 2010. Still is #1: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110131/ap_on_bi_ge/us_economy_manufacturing
Gold is actually in demand to make jewerly and for some industrial purposes. India and China are two of the biggest consumers over gold, and considering they are two of the fastest growing economies (combined with large populations), I'm not surprised the gold price (just like many other commodities) is sky-rocketing. I think people are overstating the "fear" trade. Sure, some people buy it out of fear. But I think most of it is emerging market demand. Besides, the economy is improving, so there is less fear now than a coupe years ago. And the "inflation" trade is overstated as well. If people thought inflation was going to go up, they would buy Treasury inflation- protected bonds, but they aren't.
Then what makes gold special? Any scarce resource, such as plutonium and rare wood could then be used as money. And it means that it would be impossible to regulate the flow of money at all, which would lead to serious economic disasters - during the late 19th century, sudden changes in the price of gold would have drastic repercussions on the economy. Besides, we can regulate the supply of money to make it scarce. Not that that's a good idea, since I would note that there's more money out there than it is value of gold. Wrong. If I buy a gold bar tomorrow, and let it sit around for 20 years, I could possibly get more value for it when I sell it. Or I could get less. Perhaps I sell it right when a gold rush hits, for example. Investing in gold is not that much different from investing in any other sort of rare metal. And oh god, you're going into the "money as debt" crap? Should I inquire as whether you think fractional reserve is a bad idea as well?
it has been deemed money worldwide for 6000 years. this is a fact, whether u choose to acknowledge it or not again it is different because those other rare metals have not been treated as money for millennia. the us govt's current official price per ounce for the 8000+ tons of bullion it hoards is $42.50. they obviously don't care what the value totals up to in *****ing dollars b/c it doesn't matter - gold is gold.
the average lifespan of currencies is 40 years? i haven't heard that before. also, let's not forget that the problems in the u.s. are still very, very correctable and we are nowhere near the level of debt of somewhere like japan. our issues are more political than anything else.
