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Posts Tagged ‘Gonzalo Lira’

Friday, May 13, 2011
by Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre
www.ChrisMartenson.com

Today’s contributor is Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre. Many of our readers have expressed interest in hearing accounts from those who have lived through economic collapse. FerFAL experienced the hyperinflationary destruction of Argentina’s economy in 2001 and continues to blog about his experiences and observations of its lingering aftermath. His website and his book Surviving the Economic Collapse offer windows into the probable outcomes to expect during a collapsing economy. Note: Our site’s What Should I Do? Guide offers specific guidance relevant to a number of the steps FerFAL recommends below.

“How can I prepare for an economic collapse?” is one of the most common questions I get. It usually takes me a second to start to explain how complex such a question is. It’s like asking an auto mechanic, “Say, how do you build a car?” or asking a computer engineer, “What’s all that stuff inside my laptop?”

I do have some first-hand experience in this matter, though. The economy in my country, Argentina, has gone through various crises, but none as large as when the economy collapsed in 2001 after a decade of apparent prosperity. The currency devaluated, and Argentina defaulted on its USD$132 billion debt, the largest default ever. The middle class took to the streets after bank accounts were frozen, and the president was forced to resign, escaping the presidential building in a helicopter.

What I’ll do is, provide five quick foundational steps, based on what I know, for you to follow so as to be better prepared if something like what happened in my country ever happens in yours.

Step #1: Secure a percentage of your savings in bullion.

Five years ago, even the most paranoid person claimed you would never see “nationalized” banks in USA. The gung-ho survivalists claimed the entire country would go up in flames and open revolts would start before something as insane as a $700+ billion bailout to save the “too big to fail” rich elite was laid on the backs of the American working class. Yet here we are.

When I try to explain this very important issue to my American friends, they tell me that banks would never steal people’s money because there are laws against that in the USA. Their money is insured. We had those same laws in Argentina, but still it happened. We had a constitutional right to private property. Yet the constitution mattered little during the collapse. Go right ahead — sue the government of the United States if something like that ever happens. Maybe you’ll get some of your savings back in a few years. If they feel like returning it.

What people don’t understand is that laws are written by men, not some greater power. As soon as those running the show feel an emergency decree or law is in order, existing laws are simply rewritten. They may even be ignored all together! What do you do if something like that happens? You may complain, you may sue, but you’re not changing the cold hard fact that as of right now that bank door is closed, that ATM has no money in it, and you still have to survive. This is something Argentines have experienced and know very well. Hundreds of thousands of us have banged the doors of our banks, for years, without a penny being returned. You still sued, and waited, and spent the little money you had by hiring a lawyer. You lose, they win…unless you have some of that money at hand before they decide to steal it.

Every single Argentine wishes he could go back in time, close his bank account, and put that money into gold. We would all do that if we had a time machine. Since you can’t guess the future, all you can do is estimate what can happen and play the odds in your favor. In the event of a full economic collapse, if you have 20% of your savings in physical gold and silver, that’s a percentage of your savings that is spared. It’s not an investment; don’t go crazy over gold and silver going up or down a few dollars, just be content that it’s not getting any lighter as it sits in your safe. If the economy collapses or even if there’s simply inflation (as there clearly will be), that percentage of your savings in precious metals is safe and will likely go up in price beyond its standard purchasing power as things get worse.

During the first stages of a severe economic crisis, you will see ATMs running out of money fast, and many stores won’t be accepting credit cards. As the saying goes, “Cash is king” during those times. Your precious metal can be sold to a dealer, but you better keep that stored for now. When everyone is running around looking for an ATM with a few bucks in it, having a month’s worth of expenses in cash means you won’t be one of them. Why not more than a month´s worth of expenses? Because if the economy fully collapses, that paper money will lose its value within hours. It may drop 50%, 60%, or 75%, as happened in Argentina. Who knows? All you know is that as the currency loses value, the value of the precious metals you have stored goes up in proportion. Still, during those first days, a wad of cash gets you what you need.

So, step one is acquiring precious metals (I generally recommend 20% of your savings but each person is a separate case) and a month’s worth of expenses in cash, kept safe at home.

Step #2: Stock up on food.

The more you have, the better. There may be periods of civil unrest like the ones we saw where stores are being looted and closed after that. There may be problems with resupply because of logistical complications. It’s better if you already have 6 to 12 months worth of food in your expanded pantry. Also, keep in mind the food you buy now will be considerably cheaper compared to post-inflation prices.

This large supply of food will bring peace of mind in case of job loss, as well. Who knows how long it will be before you find another source of income? After the 2001 collapse, some people genuinely spent YEARS looking for a job without finding any. I can’t emphasize enough the peace of mind it brings knowing you still have some time, and that you can, in fact, put food on the table the following night.

The food should be long-term storage type, requiring little or no cooking, at least for some of it. Water is also essential, so having a two-week supply is advised. The minimum amount is a gallon per person per day, and you should double that for flushing toilets and taking an elemental bath in case the water service is interrupted.

Step #3: Acquire the essentials by putting together a survival/emergency kit.

This will include your typical camping gear: a tent, sleeping bags, a stove (have enough fuel for it in case services are disrupted), first aid kit, medicines, LED flashlights and several spare batteries. Depending on how bad civil unrest gets, there may be problems with the infrastructure. After the economy collapsed in Argentina, the power company simply couldn’t afford the repairs needed, and it hadn’t planned for something like this, either. Rolling blackouts became common, and having LED lights and rechargeable batteries was a blessing. You could easily spend two or three days without power during summer. At one time, downtown Buenos Aires was left without power for five days. Imagine the complications this brings. If natural gas service is interrupted, you may need other ways of cooking. A camping stove and enough fuel will get you through it.

Step #4: Improve your personal and home security.

If you ask any Argentinean what concerns him the most, 9 out of 10 people will have the same answer: security. In second place is the economic situation. Ten years after the economic collapse, things are nothing like they used to be. Half the middle class became poor and its standard of living has decreased considerably. We’re still a high-risk economy, and it shows. Inflation is still rampant and could be anywhere from 5% to 10% per month, usually hitting the middle class the worst. But that’s something we’ve grown used to. That’s something we can live with.

What concerns Argentineans the most is the crime problem, and the out-of-control violent crime we suffer is the mayor legacy of the 2001 economic collapse. Poverty sure didn’t help, nor did social segregation; but the greatest cause responsible for the crime levels we suffer is our own government. The liberal government that took control after the collapse considers criminals to be poor victims of brutal capitalism. The unofficial stance is that criminals have a right to steal, murder and rape – in their view, it’s how the “poor” get back to the rich and middle class that thrived during the 90’s. Of course with a government like that, the crime problem just keeps getting worse.

During the first days after the economy collapsed, civil unrest, rioting and looting was out of control. A state of siege and military law was declared, enforcing curfew hours after 10PM. This lasted a few months, and while order was recovered in the capitol district, months after that there still were occasional revolts and looting. The sense of lawlessness extended way beyond the visible accounts depicted by the TV and general media. Its during time like these that you realize you must have means of defending yourself and your family.

My advice is to make your home as secure as possible against criminals that may be taking advantage of the lack of control during the worst of the rioting. After that, a better security plan for the entire family must be worked out. As things get worse, you understand that you can no longer afford to be lax about your personal and home security. Those that are quickly become vicitims. With a more secure home, you may want to consider having a weapon to defend yourself. Certainly not an easy decision and one you must be extremely serious about. If you have the self-control and maturity to handle one, having a firearm and getting the minimum training so as to know how to use it if it ever comes to that is something you should consider doing.

Crime and insecurity will be one of the greatest threats people all across USA will suffer, and very few will be ready for it. It won’t happen one dark gloomy night after watching the latest horror movie. It will happen in the Walmart parking lot at 3PM, with plenty of people around (people that will hurry out of the way, pretending not to see anything). You’ll be thinking about what you just bought, that you maybe should have bought Lucky Charms instead of Corn Flakes. That’s when the nicely dressed person along with two other buddies, all dressing well (neat hair cuts, too), pulls a gun on you. Developing a sense of awareness will be the most important part, as well as making the rest of your family comprehend that times have changed and you can no longer be careless regarding security.

Step #5: Embrace a different mindset (And choose wisely who you follow)

When Argentina went through its economic collapse, people handled it differently. Maybe the most common response was denial. The “I can’t believe this is happening “ attitude was pretty popular. Others complained, but you soon understood it changed nothing: it only made you feel more miserable, more stressed, and that was something you could do without. Others just ended their misery. Suicide rates doubled after the collapse, sometimes jumping under the train at early rush hour, in a desperate attempt to make their misery noticed by others.

What you need to do is become more positive, more active. Be someone that, while accepting those things you can’t change, do something about the ones you can. Get involved now, do what I just recommended right now, it will bring you peace of mind. Remember to stay positive and put every problem into perspective. Complain less. You’ll have enough to complain about when inflation gets worse. Soon you’ll understand that material things can be replaced, and you become more greatful of what you have instead of worrying about what you don’t. Being someone that gets easily depressed will be the end of you as the economy worsens. Its essential to keep a positive attitude. Problems much worse that what you are used to will be of daily occurrence. You’ll just have to roll with it, learn to cope with the new world you live in. Reinforce your relationships with people, fight stress by finding a hobby you enjoy, hopefully one that has a practical side as well. After the collapse, lots of people started their own business when they realized there where no jobs to be found. Maybe it’s better if you get started now, just in case you ever need it to earn a living.

These are my recommendations. I know many people could have used such advice back when our economy collapsed.

Some common questions regarding hyperinflation

How quickly does it happen?

These events occur fast but there are signs: lack of investment, higher interest rates, unemployment. When banks start coming up with excuses so as to not give you your money right away when closing an account, that’s usually not a good sign.

As for inflation and hyperinflation it happens right in front of your eyes. It actually happened to me that the price of an item I picked in a store almost doubled in price by the time I reached the cash register. Good for me the employee just placed the sticker with the new price over the old one (no time to remove them) Employees rushed around changing prices, several times a day, all day long during the ongoing crisis. It was fun to peel back the stack of stickers with the different prices and see how they had gone up in a matter of hours. Rioting happens fast, too. Once the banks close rioting is just minutes away.
What happens to your savings/investments?

I didn’t have much but managed to close my account just a day before the banks closed their doors. My parents are accountants and saw the signs mentioned earlier. When we went to the bank a nice lady told us they didn’t have USD$1,000 in the bank. Our jaws just dropped. That same day we went to the main branch and closed the account my sister and I had. The next day all banks closed, the accounts where frozen.

As for real estate, that was a pretty safe investment. Eventually rents went up so as to compensate for the devaluation. Of course you were much better of with your money in bricks and mortar than in a bank account.

How does the populace react?

Violently, as you’d expect when your life savings are stolen from you.

What is the government saying/doing?

Laws were changed to make everything nice and legal. The excuses the then-president Fernando De La Rua came up with in his speeches during the crisis just made everything worse.

Just days before the bank holidays they promised none of that would happen. Same thing before the devaluation. They swore on their mothers’s names they wouldn’t do such a thing, then did it the following day. Politicians tend to do such things, and they are all similar worldwide.
What happens to the capital markets?

The stock market dropped like a rock, then shut down. What surprised you the most was how everything was simply frozen in expectation. No one wanted to spend a single cent, not even to buy half a gallon of paint for a work site because you just didn’t know what would happen in a matter of hours, let alone next week. The biggest investors had sold and left the country months before everything went down. Another sign to look for.
Does violence and crime become an immediate concern?

Yes it does. While stores were the more common targets, houses were looted, too. The best thing to do was stay home, have a defendable position and be armed. I had looters not 20 yards away from my home. What do you do if they rush your home? Can you just open fire on them? What will they do when/if you do? All these things flash into your mind.

A significant amount of people behave because they believe there’s a punishment if they do otherwise. Once that fear is removed because the authorities have clearly lost control, you see the worst of people’s nature. It’s not a pleasant thought, but it’s better to be ready.

Take care,

Fernando “FerFAL” Aguirre.

Read the entire article HERE.

Thursday, March 24, 2011
Gonzalo Lira

So back in September 2008—in the throes of the Global Financial Crisis—the Federal Reserve under its chairman, Ben Bernanke, unleashed what was then known as “Quantitative Easing”.

They basically printed money out of thin air—about $1.25 trillion—and used it to purchase the so-called “toxic assets” from all the banks up and down Wall Street which were about to keel over dead. The reason they were about to keel over dead was because the “toxic assets”—mortgage backed securities and so on—were worth fractions of their nominal value. Very small fractions. All these banks were broke, because of their bad bets on these toxic assets. So in order to keep them from going broke—and thereby wrecking the world economy—the Fed payed 100 cents on the dollar for this crap.

In other words, the Fed saved Wall Street by printing money, and then giving it to them in exchange for bad paper.

Time passes, we move on.

Then, in November 2010, the Federal Reserve—still under Ben Bernanke—unleashed what is colloquially known as QE-2: The Fed announced that it would purchase $600 billion worth of Treasury bonds over the next eight months.

The rationale was so as to stimulate lending. But really, it was so that the Federal government wouldn’t go broke. The Federal government deficit for fiscal year 2011 is $1.6 trillion—the national debt is beyond 100% of GDP, at about $14 trillion. The Federal government issues Treasury bonds in order to fund this deficit. Ergo, by way of QE-2, the Federal Reserve bought roughly 40% of the Federal government deficit for FY 2011. Add on other Treasury bond purchases by the Fed via QE-lite (the reinvestment of the excedents of the toxic assets on the Fed’s books), and the Federal Reserve is buying up half the deficit of the Federal government, as I discussed here in some detail.

In other words, the Fed saved Washington by printing up money, and then giving it to them in exchange for—well, not bad paper, but at least questionable paper.

So! . . . let’s see now . . . Fed money printing—check! Saving someone’s bacon (even though they shoulda known better)—check! Taking on dodgy paper—check!

Did it in 2008 for Wall Street, then did it again in 2010 for Washington.

But the key difference between these two events is, the banks didn’t have any more toxic assets, once they sold them all to the Fed.

But the Federal government will still have more Treasury bonds it will have to sell, once the Federal Reserve ends QE-2 this coming June.

The fiscal year 2012 deficit will be on an order of 10% of GDP—roughly $1.5 trillion. And 2013 and 2014? Around the same range.

Over at Zero Hedge, they are past masters at timing the funding needs of the Federal government. But we don’t need to go into the monthly figures of POMO purchases and Treasury auctions and all the rest of it. All due respect to Tyler and his wonderful team at ZH, all that is merely the mechanics of Federal Reserve monetization.

What we should look at is the simple, macro question: If the Fed ends QE-2 in June as they have said they will, who will take up the slack? Who will purchase between $75 and $100 billion worth of Treasury bonds at yields of 3.5% for the 10-year?

Is there someone?

Anyone?

The answer is, No one will take up the slack.

Who, Japan? They’ve got some well-known troubles of their own—they’re all about selling Treasuries and buying up yens, both now and for the foreseeable future.

The Chinese? They’ve been quietly exiting Treasuries for a couple of years now, and going into every commodity known to man.

Europe? Are you serious—Europe? Please don’t make me laugh that hard—it hurts.

The fact is, there is no one outside the United States that I can think of who would willingly buy Treasury bonds—not to the tune of +$75 billion a month.

Therefore, if no one outside the United States would willingly give money to Washington to fund the deficit, then someone inside the U.S. will have to step up.

The obvious-obvious-obvious solution to this mess is for the Federal government to stop spending its way to oblivion—but does anyone realistically see this happening?

Therefore, as Spock always sez, if you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.

If foreign sources of funding will not cover the Federal government’s deficit after June 2011, and Washington will definitely not cut spending in any sort of realistic sense, then there really are only two—and only two—possibilities:

• The indefinite continuation of QE by the Federal Reserve.

• Or the requisitioning of private retirement accounts and pension funds.

Don’t dismiss the second possibility out of hand—think it over.

What pool of money is just sitting there, not doing much, while being legally barred from its owners? What pool of money is easily accessed, yet is large enough to fund the deficit?

The retirement accounts of the American people: Both individual private accounts, and pension funds.

After all, the total for all pension monies is roughly 100% of GDP (this includes Social Security). And the Federal government has already raided the “Social Security lock box”—that box is stuffed with Treasury IOU’s.

So the Federal government might well turn to the private sector for cash. The Federal government might conceivably claim that ongoing funding needs require that every single 401(k) and IRA divest from its portfolio of stocks and bonds, and be fully invested in Treasuries.

This could be accomplished very easily, from a practical standpoint—just inform banks, and have them turn over to the Federal government all your mutual funds and stocks you agonized over, and get long-term Treasury bonds of nominal equal value in exchange.

401(k)’s and IRA’s would be the first ones the Federal government would go after—for the obvious reason that union pension funds have the union’s political muscle. But individuals? They have no political machine. So they’re screwed.

Anyway, the language used for this maneuver by the Treasury department would make it difficult for a lot of (unaffected) people to get upset over the situation: The Treasury department wouldn’t call this process “retirement account confiscation”. They’d call it something innocuous, like “retirement asset swap”—or better yet, throw in some patriotic bullshit (indeed, the last refuge of the scoundrel) and call it “Americ-Aide Asset Swap”—or even better: Call it “Help America Retirement Treasury Bond Program”—otherwise known as HART-bonds. (Awww!!! Probably maudlin enough to get Geithner an appearance on fucking Oprah.)

There might be short-term political damage, but like losing your virginity or carrying out state-sponsored torture programs, it would be the necessary start for a slide that will never end. After this first “retirement asset swap” carried out on the 401(k)’s and IRA’s, the Treasury department would start doing more of this to ever-bigger pension funds, until eventually all retirement assets would be converted into Treasury bonds.

Hey, they did it in Argentina. And as Yves Smith always sez, America has become Argentina, but with nukes.

Now, this is one possibility, of the only two which I can see.

The other possibility, of course, is that the Federal Reserve will not end Quantitative Easing-2 come June. The Fed will extend the deficit monetization indefinitely. The Fed will be under the mistaken impression that this will somehow save the U.S. economy. (The best metaphor I’ve been able to come up with for this situation is, the Federal government is like a junkie who’s already OD’ed—and the Federal Reserve is trying to “save” him by shooting him up with even more heroin.)

So between these two possibilities—confiscating retirement accounts and forcing some sort of Treasury bond asset swap, or an endless continuation of QE—which is easier?

Obviously QE-three.

Therefore, that’s what I think is going to happen: QE money-printing as far as the eye can see.

Well, look on the bright side: At least you’ll get to keep your ever-shrinking retirement nest egg. Bully for you!

Read the original blog post HERE.

By Gonzalo Lira
03/17/2011

I could be wrong—hell, most of the time, I’m way wrong. But I do think that today is the day the dollar breaks down.

Consider the evidence:

The Bank of Japan managed to keep the yen down following last Friday’s Sendai quake. It was trading in an eerily placid 81-to-82 band on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday—but then Thursday (Japan time), someone at the BoJ must’ve prematurely decided that it was all over, because they let go of the gas.

What happened? It all went south—huge. As I write this morning (8:12am EST), the yen is trading at 78.50 to the dollar.

Meanwhile, on the eastern side of the Pacific pond, the Producer Price Index numbers came out yesterday—and they weren’t pretty. During February, PPI rose 1.6%, against a consensus estimate of 0.7%. For the year ending February 28, the PPI rose 5.6%. (report here)

Tomorrow, the Consumer Price Index numbers come out—and if the PPI numbers are any gauge, they do not look promising.

But Ben Bernanke and the Tools of the Fed are cavalierly dismissing any notion of incipient inflation. They keep insisting, “Core inflation is all that matters! Forget fuel and food and commodity prices! It’s Core Inflation!” As if people bought more of this magical “core inflation” at the supermarket than food, and filled their cars with “core inflation” rather than gasoline.

Anyway: Bernanke and The Tools need to keep interest rates artificially, sickeningly low. Their rationale is that their Zero Interest Rate Policy (ZIRP) and Quantitative Easing 2 (QE-2) are necessary so as to kickstart the economy. But they also recognize that if they raise interest rates, the Federal government would not be able to finance itself—

—in other words, the Federal government will go broke if the Fed raises rates.

This is really the crux of the matter: The Federal Reserve is in a position where they realize that if they raise rates, they bankrupt the Federal government. So they have to stand pat, and pretend to the public and to themselves that there is no inflation, it’s all just a mirage.

As it is, the Fed debt monetization policy otherwise known as QE-2 is buying up 50% of the Federal government’s deficit for FY 2011. And though QE-2 is supposed to end in June, Treasury funding requirements are so huge—and the Treasury bond market is so weak, especially now that Japan is in crisis mode and will not be able to buy up its regular share—that Quantitative Easing will have to be extended.

But that’s a side issue: For now, the markets all have the fim expectation that the Fed will not raise rates, no matter what the inflationary provocation, precisely because of the reality of the Federal government’s de facto bankruptcy.

Now, a couple of weeks ago, I wrote a piece called “The Dollar and the Next Ten Days”, where I argued that the dollar was at a crossroads: I argued that, off a three year trend, the dollar was at a crucial juncture of either breaking down, or bouncing back up, and that it would all happen over the next week and a half of trading—hence the caveat “the next ten days”.

I used the following chart:

The next ten days came and went, and the dollar essentially moved sideways: A little flirting upstream, a little more flirting downstream, but it just couldn’t seem to make up its mind.

Here’s the chart, the fortnight circled in red:

Then Sendai happened. On the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday after the earthquake, the BoJ managed to control the situation, and keep the yen from rapidly appreciating.

But today, it’s slipping—big time. I woke up this morning and saw the overnights: As I write (8:19am EST), the yen is at 78.56, the euro at 1.402 and rising, gold smartly up, silver sort of up—

—and the dollar index is off nearly a percent, at 75.970.

I think this is it: I think this is the point in time when the dollar is going to break decisively lower—the next 48 hours. And if the Consumer Price Index numbers that come out tomorrow (Friday) are as bad as the PPI numbers would lead one to believe, then I think the dollar will fall harder over the next week.

I could be woefully wrong—like I said, I often am. It’s not just that the Fed and the other central banksters could finesse the situation—prop up the dollar one last time. It’s not just that the Bank of Japan might flood the markets with massive yen liquidity, forcing a scurrying to the dollar. It’s that I could just be wrong: The dollar might somehow—all on its own—muddle through.

But the thing is, if I’m wrong about the timing, I’m not wrong about the outcome. If the dollar doesn’t break down now, then it’ll break down the next time, or the time after that. And not next year or next decade—this year. Now.

The reason the dollar will break down now is because the Federal Reserve is out of options: No matter how you look at it, the dollar is on the path to oblivion—the egregious Federal deficit and the unpayable debt guarantee this outcome.

The Federal Reserve decided on a couple of policy option—ZIRP and QE—that they thought would prop up the U.S. economy. But instead of propping up the economy, these policies have only served to undermine and destroy the dollar.

My sense is that today and tomorrow are a turning point in the dollar’s road to hell. My sense is that either today or tomorrow, the dollar will break through the 75.63 floor—and then all bets are off. That’s what I think.

Of course, the road to destruction is not an immediate outcome: It takes a while for it to happen. But we have been seeing it happen. The rise in commodity prices to record-breaking highs. The inability of the Federal government to function without Federal Reserve monetization. The box the Federal Reserve has maneuvered itself into.

So no matter how much magic the Federal Reserve deploys to save the dollar this time, ultimately—like all magic tricks—it’s all smoke and mirrors: The Fed is merely postponing the inevitable—an inevitable outcome brought about by their own policies.

Update, 3/18/11 in the early a.m.: On Thursday, 8:00 pm EST (Friday 9:00 am Tokyo), the G-7 deliberately tried to make me look foolish, by intervening in the Yen. (I take currency manipulation personally, especially when I go out on a limb with a prediction.)

According to the Financial Times:

The Group of Seven industrialised nations have agreed to co-ordinated currency intervention for the first time in a decade to help Japan recover from its devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis.

Authorities in Japan, the eurozone, the UK, Canada and the US agreed on Friday to help weaken the yen in a rolling intervention that began at 9am in Tokyo, which immediately pushed the yen down from above Y79 against the US dollar to below Y81.

It is the first time the G7 has agreed to intervene as a group since it propped up the euro in 2000 and shows the extent of international sympathy for Japan.

Of note: Though the dollar index rallied up above 76.4 immediately after the intervention, it is now as I write this (6:41 am EST) back down to 76.053, and looking soft.

On a philosophical note, I whole-heartedly agree with the Bank of Japan’s efforts to soften the yen during a crisis like this—that is part of a central bank’s inherent mandate: To protect the people from currency volatility, most especially during times of crisis. In such times of crisis and currency volatility, only traders (and foolish bloggers) stand to win big—while everybody else loses. That is simply not moral, or acceptable.

However, propping up a currency—the dollar—not because of a natural disaster, but rather because it has been mishandled to death, is just postponing the inevitable. Postponing the inevitable, and adding to the misery when the end finally comes.

Read the entire article HERE.