Great Depression Theedux
A while ago, I examined a paragraph from a textbook describing events leading up to the Great Depression in the U.S. during the 1930's, and compared the description with modern events. Compared it "favorably," I guess I should say, though I wasn't in favor of the implications.
It appears I'm not the only one drawing such parallels (from a link from itulip.com);
"Impact phase of the Global Systemic Crisis: Six aspects of America's 'Very Great Depression'"
I've said it before, and I'll say it again; "Great!" <-- Sarcasm.
Now my only question is, what the heck is "GEAB, LEAP/Europe 2020," the publisher of the above article? I mean, yes I can read and can see what the acronyms mean, but... You know, what is it exactly? <-- Slightly rhetorical question.
Also, while I'm over here riffing on global economic meltdowns and systemic crises; does anyone have advice on how to get our cats to use their cardboard scratching box instead of the sofa? Is it worth investing in an honest-to-goodness scratching post instead? <-- Not even slightly rhetorical question.
GRAB/LEAP is a cat organization dedicated to total global destruction. It can be foiled by importing a kitten that will (child-like) immediately see the use for the toy, begin ripping it to ribbons and make the other cats jealous. They will then begin to use the scratching box too. >well, it worked for me...problem is, you are then stuck with the many-clawed kitten.
It is a good idea tho to begin problem solving at home and move on to the global solutions cautiously. I'd begin by taking all my cash out of banks and hiding it in the scratching box where it will be safe from harm until the kitten arrives.
Okay, so, Mom is suggesting we obtain a 3rd cat. Hmm... Our apartment is not exactly tiny, but I'm not sure it would support another (claw-enabled) lifeform at this time.
Re: Investing / Cash hoarding; IMHO there are real problems with the "Where do I put my money" question at the moment. Cash, stocks, gold, real estate, bonds... All have big problems looming on the near horizon. My retirement account is currently in "international" markets - even if worldwide markets are driven down by the impact of a tanking U.S. economy, you can still say foreign dollars will retain more value than U.S. dollars, right? Right? Okay, so, Mom is suggesting we obtain a 3rd cat. Hmm... Our apartment is not exactly tiny, but I'm not sure it would support another (claw-enabled) lifeform at this time.
Re: Investing / Cash hoarding; IMHO there are real problems with the "Where do I put my money" question at the moment. Cash, stocks, gold, real estate, bonds... All have big problems looming on the near horizon. My retirement account is currently in "international" markets - even if worldwide markets are driven down by the impact of a tanking U.S. economy, you can still say foreign dollars will retain more value than U.S. dollars, right? Right? <-- Rhetorical question.
Unfortunately, plain old cash won't do us much good if inflation picks up to the point where we need a wheelbarrow full of 20's just to buy kitty litter - see the "Weimar Republic." This is what happens when a country "floats" its currency instead of pegging the value of a dollar to something real, like gold. Nixon and the Fed took us off the gold standard in 1972, some would say with good reason, but as the Wikipedia entry on the gold standard hints; "governments cannot be trusted to regulate the money supply," meaning the U.S. can now just print paper currency up the wazoo and keep saying "yep, our money is worth a lot, you betcha!" So when China and Japan decide to cash in their trillions of dollars of U.S. treasury bills which they've been buying up the last few years, we'll have to print it for them and then pretend it doesn't have any impact on the value of a dollar versus other currencies. Actually, no amount of pretending is going to fool large investors and the primary interested partys of the world financial market, but attempts will no doubt be made.
I.e., OPEC says "wait a minute, the price of oil is pegged to the U.S. dollar, via our mutual agreement, but now there's a trillion more pieces of paper "dollars" out there that weren't there before, so effectively our price per barrel just went wayyy down. I don't think so, Jack!" And bye-bye goes the primary pillar of our fiat currency.
P.S.; As we all know, Hitler rode into power on the heels of the disintegration of the Weimar Republic. But here in the U.S. we all know it can't get any worse than Bush Jr. anyway, right? So no need to worry. <-- Sarcasm.
After you save up enough dollars you buy GOLD, silly. Of course the price is highest ever, but its better than those wheelbarrows. I knew someone who lived through that in the 1920s-there was a picture in the Cologne (Germany) newspaper of a man with that wheelbarrow going to the tabac to buy a pack of cigarettes.