Phat's Bookshelf

Another book...

From Intro:

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Central banking is magic. With a few words, the Fed can lift the stock market out of desperation and catapult it towards euphoric highs. With a few keystrokes, the Fed can conjure up trillions of dollars and fund virtually unlimited Federal spending. And with a few poor decisions, the Fed can plunge the entire world into a recession. The Federal Reserve is one of the most powerful institutions in the world, and also one of the most difficult to understand.

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The Fed acts through its Open Markets Desk, which sits at the heart of the global financial system as the world’s ultimate and limitless provider of dollars. On behalf of policymakers, the Desk gathers market intelligence from all the major market participants, sifts through reams of internal data, and works behind the scenes to keep the financial system intact. It is responsible for all of the Fed's market operations, from trillions in quantitative easing to hundreds of billions in repo and FX-swap loans. The financial crises of 2008 and 2020 abated only through the emergency interventions of the Desk.

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Stay tuned...

First of all, it takes me time to address arguments. I need to hear arguments articulated in a disciplined format, such as a book can offer. Critics will say that the "Book" could be propaganda, but what would we rather have? An authoritarian regime that burns books for the "good of the people"? I am using the Book Nook to address each book that I actually read. Critics previously lambasted me for getting my information from YouTube videos. One of God's gifts that he has given me is the ability to read, and that's what I am doing. In fact, I have two new books to add to the list as soon as I finish them.I do note your point about answering previous rebuttals. In fact, as I look around the Book Nook, I even have several book topics which I never finished! I will attempt to address your endless stream of rebuttals but don't expect me to believe that your evidence in any way defines reality. If nothing else, I will challenge the "woke" culture and show them how asleep they really are.

Glen Beck has a new book out which I have listened to on Audible. Critics likely will dismiss him as "conservative propaganda" but I am unsure what does and does not constitute propaganda of either ideology.According to "Alexa", Glenn Beck is affiliated with the independent Conservatives.

Critics previously lambasted me for getting my information from YouTube videos. This is a perfect case in point. Much lower standard of living coming for Americans.​Even though everyone was introduced to jars Source vs Content argument, there is a double standard. Schiff (the source) essentially argues, through the content (of the video) that the private sector will have to save the financial system nationally if not globally since the governments all inflated and thus debased the currency and are thus charging the public too much to utilize their product.The argument is well done and well presented. Too many people look to the government as the final authority of valuing money, for example. The counter argument, one which I wholeheartedly agree with and embrace, is that the people (private sector) and the marketplace should determine the value of a product. Hard assets provide a concrete value that data and hypothesis cannot nor should not provide.
Period.

This whole book on Central Banking 101 does not even mention gold. I am convinced (so far, anyway) that the Central Banks want to promote digital currency and data/ethereal value based on the whim of the people rather than hard assets, which are in fact the bottom line. Anyone who doubts the bedrock value of hard assets (Land, Gold, Copper, Nickel, Oil, Natural Gas, etc) need only ask Europe what they think as they shiver this Winter.This is what the book *does* mention:
Section 1-Money and Banking

Central Bank Reserves

Bank Deposits

Treasuries

Fiat Currency

Common Questions- (which I will elaborate on)
Why don't banks lend out their reserves?
Will the stock market soar because of all the cash on the sidelines?

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Fascinating theories and hypothetical situations! (and so pie-in-the-sky)
Everyone in global finance knows that Gold still backs the Central Banks. If not, why would they bother to own it?

You guys are learning slowly. Remember what Nixon did in 1971?

That in our arrogant attempt to control a country as large and powerful (nuclearwise, anyway) as Russia with sanctions as if they were a banana republic essentially was equivalent to shooting ourselves in the foot. The US dollar, weakened by years of inflation and no longer backed by anything but a democratic nod by a Western alliance, is on its way out.Russia and China play the game of good cop/bad cop. Putin, despicable though he is, is no fool. He is evil, heartless, and cruel but he chose to hang Russia's hat and economic future on the next rising global empire rather than the older falling one.

Thats irrelevant...neither here nor there. Consider that Gold and Silver are slightly down, but in no way will they ever crash (as Bitcoin did). Stop and think. They are priced (valued) in US Dollars. There are five times as many dollars in circulation as there used to be. The dollar is inflating. Its not like the gold is going down. Gold doesn't "go" anywhere.It is the dollar that is essentially "going down" (inflating)Does that make any sense?

First of all, what is this insane idea that it is "normal" for assets to keep up with inflation?
Inflation is when the prices "inflate" while the assets stay put. Its a bit like the chicken and the egg analogy.So which came first in 1974? Wage hikes or Price hikes? and what were both of them hoking further and further away "from"? Riddle me that.My friend decided, a couple of years ago before the bear market to "cash in" his 401K and buy a bigger house. He wanted to own that sucker outright and also own the land that it sat on.This is whats beautiful. He is one of my liberally minded friends. He did know, however, that the markets would correct. Yet he worried about the "value" of his house also crashing. I told him to relax. A house is always going to be a house. The copper pipes are not going anywhere. The brick stay stacked. The floors are solid.Now...even if the value of that house (relative to the US Dollar, as are all assets) dropped, the intrinsic value of the house would remain. A house is a hard asset. And though Nixon decoupled the value of the currency (Cash, US Dollar) from the gold in 1971, the dollar has been hiking while the gold stays the same. It is not that gold fails to keep up with inflation. It is not that the dollar is increasing in value. The dollar is becoming worth less. The gold is standing still.(bedrock) It will be interesting to see once the world decides to dump the dollar and value everything relative to the value of some new currency. And I wonder what the bedrock will be that supports that currency?Republicans by and large want the gold to be the bedrock.(I think, anyway)
Democrats want the people to be the bedrock. But here is the kickr. Humans are not a solid bedrock. Only rocks are solid bedrock. (Or the Rock of Ages! )Human value is subjective like shifting sand.

Au Contraire, Paulie. Do *your* research before you step in it.Let's look at the History of major decisions and what ideology the decision makers were, shall we? Quick question. Which would you rather have today? $100,000.00 in government bonds or $100,000.00 in precious metals or gemstones? Be honest and explain your reasons.1933-Roosevelt (D) confiscates public gold (for public good? )
1944-Bretton Woods. (Bi Partisan)
1971- Nixon(R) seperates gold from the US Dollar.
1974- Ford(R) makes it legal to own gold again. (gives back what was confiscated)2008-Obama(D) bails out banks and financial institutions too big to fail.
2020-Trump(R) oversees the quickest recovery from a stock market crash ever in history. (the downside is that the money supply increased exponentially. We still are observing the effects of that.I have an assignment for you. Write down the times the Fed has done QT. Compare it with the times the Fed initiates QE. Compare the two and note the patterns.Is the car moving forward or are we rocking it back and forth in the snow? We are stuck.

Is a dollar in 1940 worth a dollar today? Why or why not? My point is that the very idea of less is relative to the time or era we are in?A 2022 dollar is worth less than a 1933 dollar.
An ounce of gold is worth an ounce of gold.

I am not yet wise enough to write a book, but I am quite capable of reading them.
And I am in the process of weighing ideas and in effect teaching myself. I dumped the modern economic theorist around a year ago. They were a bad advertisement for their product.

If we were on the gold standard neither could happen and we would be stuck. stable. There. Fixed it for you. If being stuck means not being in debt, I'm all for stuck. Explain how 30 trillion in debt is not worrisome. Explain how inflating both money and debt helps anyone. Life is a risk, carnale.

These days, I would rather bring home the bacon.If in 2030 we have to pay the hog farmer 1 million per pig and the grocer sells the bacon for a thousand dollars, I think I would prefer a different medium of exchange. Since you think humans have such stable value, maybe they should slap a chip on you and you can trade for whatever you want and run up the bill. Israel had a jubilee every 7 years.What would happen if they had that now? You would be off the hook at least.

Yes, but I would say that bonds are less of a risk than gambling and that commodities are less of a risk than bonds in todays current environment.