No shrinking violet, Dr. Paul, he has predicted correctly and incorrectly quite a few occurrences over the past 20 years, and quite a few 'end of days' scenarios as well, which never seem to pan out.
This time, he predicts that the U.S. economy will collapse this year. He points to runaway spending, sky high tax rates and the lack of any political will to do anything about any of this by Congress as a precursor to economic chaos in 2015.
Ron Paul has always been very pessimistic when it comes to the resilience of Americans. He has persisted in his 'end of days' comments on every single bill coming out of Congress, and that we are doomed. But what he doesn't count into his calculus is the backbone of the American people. We have seen tough times before, and we will again. And we will overcome those tough times, as we always do.
As in years passed, some of his predictions have come to pass: in 2002 he predicted the "Arab Spring" would result in many of our shaky Arab allies being overthrown by Muslim extremists. This indeed has happened. But he also predicted that we were in for an economic melt down that would bring us to our knees, this one made perhaps 15 years ago.
So far, that hasn't happened. And it probably won't. If we were to see the economy blow up, that would have happened in 2007-9, (the Great Recession). Sure, things were bad, and lots of people lost their jobs and the economy has shrunk. No denying that this is true.
But the extent to which Dr. Paul portrays the 'end of days' just isn't in the cards for the largest economy on the planet. Despite the horrible Great Recession, the U.S. economy is still the mightiest, most robust and reliable economy in the world today.
Ron Paul is now offering up his doom and gloom predictions on behalf of precious metal interests, and warning that if we Americans don't start going back to using gold and silver as money, we will all end up in the gutter, destitute and forlorn in our misery.
From my understanding, Dr. Paul is a medical doctor, and more specifically a gynecologist/obstetrician by trade. He was elected to serve the people of Texas in the House of Representatives back in the 1970's, and now considers himself an expert in world economics.
I may trust Dr. Paul to perhaps lance a boil or set a broken bone with competence, but his complete lack of credibility in all things economics is frankly breathtaking.
He has been predicting the end of days here in the U.S. for what seems like forever, and now he is finally doing it for money. He is the perfect spokesperson for precious metal commodity brokers, because they have been saying the same thing for the last thousand years.
And I am not buying what he is selling, and neither should you. Both he and all of those gold bugs out there have been wrong, wrong, wrong for centuries. And centuries to come.
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24 comments:
Armageddon predictions never come to pass.
As in years passed, some of his predictions have come to pass: in 2002 he predicted the "Arab Spring" would result in many of our shaky Arab allies being overthrown by Muslim extremists.
You didn't need a ouji board to predict that one. When Hillary took a few victory laps, you knew that it was going to come crashing down. The Barack/Hillary foreign policy team was the gang that couldn't shoot straight.
Ron Paul and friends are HOPEFUL that the economy will collapse, but it won't. Other countries can't let it, and that's the secret to US monetary policy. As we go, so goes the planet.
LL: yeah, the guy's not exactly Carnac the Magnificent.
Ron Pauls friends would be delighted if we crashed and burned, as they all are shorting the US treasury.
One will.
He's always struck me as a more successful Lyndon LaRouche, with a loyal cadre of devotees.
And they say the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree.
An acorn, of course, being another nut.
Apart from properly criticizing him for being a shill for precious metals, do you think we should have left the gold standard initially?
I've always heard that was a bad move.
"Armageddon predictions never come to pass." - BUT, Armageddon itself WILL come to pass, just not on the command of some mere human.
Ed:
I'm OK with the international monetary system not based on physical gold/silver/platinum. The gold standard was fine when the world economy was only dealing with two or three billion people, and most of them were third world folk, who bartered with goats and dowries, etc.
At some point, there just wasn't enough gold to support the world economy, and that was evident to Richard Nixon and Paul Volker in the early 1970's. Those guys were brilliant. It's akin to refining platypus poop and nothing but platypus poop into methanol to fuel the planet's internal combustion engines: at some point, this bottle neck would fail. Now we have 6 billion humans running around, all wanting an Apple iPhone 6. All of 'em.
Paper money and gold are nothing more than an abstract concept of value. Or bitcoin. Same same. Simply built on the confidence of the holder that the issuer will when push comes to shove redeem the bills for something of equal value to the stated value on the piece of paper. Physical gold was just not plentiful enough, and once we left the gold standard ( and therefore increasing the 'money supply'), look what happened to the world's abstract wealth: it went through the roof. Living standards throughout the world sky rocketed (with some backwoods exceptions due to political restrictions). Check out the Dow Jones industrial average as of the time Richard Nixon suspended gold certificates to now. There's no better gauge than that to show you that what I am saying is true. We all live with central HVAC and big screen TV's. Even the bums. Back in the 1970's and before, we all darned our socks to make them last. Now we toss them when they get dirty. We are living large because we ditched the gold standard.
No, no gold needed to sustain a world economy, despite what the gold bugs such as William DeVane, Glenn Beck, G. Gordon Liddy and Ron Paul tell you. They don't know jack shit about how the world works.
They are just trying to jack up the price of gold and silver, both mere commodities, nothing more. They may as well try to convince the public that we all should switch to physical pork bellies to pay for our Egg McMuffins, and dump paper money, and carry around bacon in our wallets.
It's just nuts.
Gorges:
Armageddon will indeed come. If the mullahs in Iran have their way, they will be the ones to set it off.
If the world has any sense, it will simply aim their nukes at Iran, and send them all to meet their 73 virgins. And while they are happy with their afterlife virgins, we will let their country cool off, let the radioactive fallout half life simmer down over a generation or two, and then maybe repopulate this plain of glass by a more reasonable population.
ED:
The LaRouchies of the day closely resemble the Paulbots. Most of the Paulbots simply wanted to smoke pot all day and play Call of Duty in their parent's basement.
Your are right: you look up the definition of 'crackpot' and you will see photos of both Ron Paul and Lyndon LaRouche. And John Birch. All cut from the same bolt of cloth.
Thought so, about the volume of gold, and wondered.
Good explanation and thanks.
Agreed.
If armageddon doesn't happen, it will be the only prophecy not to. Before the return.
I am REALLY happy to hear you say this because all this talk about financial collapse and no more dollar and the Chinese, etc etc...has me worried.
I'm going to go along with YOU!
thanks!
Z:
No more dollar, Chinese yuan taking over as the world currency, all bunk.
All spewed by folks with an agenda which doesn't coincide with yours or mine.
Ignore those idiots.
All that crap is just a sales tactic, no more, no less. The oldest one in the book, in fact: create fear, real or imagined (most often the latter), offer a solution to ease the fear, sit back and rake in the bucks.
Example: the sky is falling. Just look, you can see the clouds swirling around making room for the falling chunks of sky. And when they fall, they will crush your precious two month old baby in its cradle. Do you want that to happen? Do you? No, of course not, and I can sell you a sky chunk-proof cover for your child's cradle that is guaranteed to work, and your precious child will be safe.
But wait...if you order now...
But isn't the climate changing????
Fredd, I'll just say that 'mankind' has always placed a value on gold. Go as far back as you want and people want it.
Interesting if someone didn't know, but if you take all the processed gold in the world it would fit in the size of a tennis court as a cube.
Only when someone has no food or water will they no accept gold as a form of payment.
I also read where the gold miners have hit 'peak production' last year. Who knows if that's true but still.
Kid:
I know you love your gold, who doesn't.
BUT: mankind has always loved beef, too. We don't base our economy on it, however.
Mankind has always valued salt, so much so that Roman soldiers were paid with salt (worth your salt).
Mankind has always valued olive oil, and it too was used as a medium of exchange back in the good old days. That, and you can't make a good spaghetti sauce without it, can't be done.
Gold is no different. It has been valued since antiquity, it's shiny, durable and you can use it for lots of things. But its time as a medium of exchange has come and gone, Kid.
Time to move into the 21st century, Kid, rather than hang around with those folk who love to cling to the past. Like Cleveland Browns fans, for example.
Gold now is only a commodity. Nothing more, nothing less. Not an international medium any longer. Those days are over.
Ed: yup, changing all the time.
Back in the day, we used to call it 'weather.'
Now, though, it's called inequality of income, or words to that effect.
Fredd, If you're talking about a god standard, I agree, not gonna happen, but get ready for the coming 50 year bull market in gold as people begin to realize pieces of paper are just pieces of paper.
Here ya go Fredd.
I wish I was younger so I could participate in more of this coming Gold Bull market.
Bottom line? 105 on the GLD and buy buy buy and close your eyes.
Fredd, PS - I don't own any physical gold, and don't expect to. I will lean toward going long various Gold based ETF's though - GDXJ, GDX, NUGT, JNUG mainly.
Kid:
Gold, everybody loves the stuff. I am not gambling on gold at the moment, as I don't have a good feel as to what the perceived value is, compared to where it will be 2 years from now.
But there's just not enough of the stuff to base any kind of economy on anymore. 500 years ago, sure.
There is no immediate answer to our disagreement on paper vs gold, as that will only shake out in the long run.
But consider this:
Those greenbacks that you call 'pieces of paper' are contracts. The bearer redeems a promise by the U.S. government that the face value of the contract (also known as a 'piece of paper') will be delivered on demand.
Dollars are not just 'pieces of paper,' Kid, you couldn't be more wrong. Oh, so wrong.
Yes, dollars are printed on paper, but that's about the only thing that has to do with paper.
If you truly believe that dollars are only pieces of paper and nothing more, then get out of my house, Kid.
Yeah, that house you are in right now is mine. I am claiming it. Forget that deed, that's just a 'piece of paper.' Nothing more. And take your crappy furniture with you. But leave the guns.
And while you're at it, hand over that woman you are living with. Wife, smife, Kid. That marriage license is 'just a piece of paper.'
And your car, it's mine, Kid. And don't try to pawn off on me that 'piece of paper' you are calling a pink slip. Hand those keys over, I am planning a trip to Vegas, and need some wheels. Yours will do just fine.
Your 'piece of paper' argument could describe just about every contract in the world. You can't just tear them up and call these contracts worthless just because the terms of the contract are not chiseled into ingots of gold.
Fredd, Yes, good for all debts public and private but who was it that had to haul a wheelbarrow full of it to buy a potato? :)
"But wait...if you order now.."
BRILLIANT, Fredd...just BRILLIANT..very clever!
Fredd, How'd you like that +25 move in Gold today? lol. Just funnin.
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