I wanted to add for the audience (I’m sure you know) that while no one knows for sure what caused Rome to fall, debasement of their currency is one of the theories for what caused their economic decline, and thus loss of military power. This happened under Nero and later emperors, who since they couldn’t print paper money, had to resort to adding impurities to the coins, until eventually the coins became near worthless. Von Mises and others discussed this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decline_of_the_Roman_Empire

The consequence of debasing the currency was rising prices, so then the emperors tried to create various price controls, which failed. Hopefully we’ll notice the problem before this happens in our country!

It would be wonderful to suggest that the year ahead will be filled with cheer and good news on the home front, but the sobering events of 2007,2008 are likely to be repeated in the coming 12 months.

As folks have begun to figure out, we are now faced with a full-blown financial crisis. The government’s efforts to organize a $100 billion “SIV” bailout for big banks failed just before Christmas. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have each sought additional capital while hundreds of lenders have contracted or gone out of business.

The failure to regulate mortgage lending at the federal level is increasingly seen as the root cause of the financial crisis. Even so, at New Year’s the best the President could propose was a voluntary loan modification program that lenders were free to ignore. In December HUD claimed that the much-hyped FHASecure program had helped 33,000 borrowers nationwide while the actual number of delinquent homeowners saved from foreclosure turned out to be just a few hundred.

Look for more the same in 2009. Another two million or so foreclosures, no meaningful federal relief for distressed toxic loan borrowers, huge efforts to scuttle meaningful lender reform bills that have passed in the House and the Senate, declining home values, and reduced state and local revenues because of falling real estate prices. And if interest rates do rise, watch out. The economic impact will be worse than anything seen since Herbert Hoover sleep serenely at the White House.

Hi Bill,
I have been a big fan of Agora for sometime. You folks have a huge readership and with that “power of the pen”. I have been disappointed that except for Porter Stansberry none of your editors have proposed solutions for this global mess. I have been after Allison and Porter to get with it. Now I decided it is time to involve the Boss.

Most of your readers are intelligent and would appreciate a good discussion on global solutions not just critiques or your standard solution “Buy Gold”.

I have thought about these Solutions for awhile and believe they will restore the power back to the individual worker and restore global prosperity.

Time is running out for society, you boys should use your power of the pen to get a meaningful discussion started.

Hi Porter,

Your public needs common sense solutions for this melt down, sooner rather than later. Here are the solutions in summary:

1) Meaningful work and pay for the individual worker commiserate with their talents; will restore pride and sense of self-worth. This is the most important.

2) Establish a Global Gold Standard for All currencies tagged to Gold at $2000 per oz.

3) Now, since all currencies are worth the same get rid of the Forex exchange. This massive “Casino Game” has no inherent worth for the individual worker.

4) Also get rid of all “Casino Games” that are not directly related to commerce, such as betting on the “interest rate” , naked shorts, and other derivatives that divert money away from the individual worker. Imagine if these Trillions of dollars were now spent supporting real work?

5) We need a fair Flat income tax now and get rid of the IRS and the dissention it causes society.

6) Forbid manipulation of the markets by Governments, Corporations and Individuals for this only stalls the individual workers real worth.

7) Forbid “Nationalization” of private industries do you think these shareholders will ever see any of the money? Now that the taxpayers own banks and car companies do you really believe they will ever see any of the money?

Come down hard on those corrupt individuals that destroy shareholders and pension funds of the individual workers. What happens to these people in retirement when they cannot afford food or shelter? Pensions must be protected and not at 40 cents on the dollar.

These Solutions will restore our government premise that we are a”Nation of the People for the People”. It will drag the rest of the world with it including the under privileged workers in India and China that will even the field for manufacturing jobs.

Only when the world stops exploiting its workers, shareholders and pensioners will we return to true prosperity based on talent, ingenuity and efficiency.

OK Porter, this would be a start and I am sure none of your readers will “Kill the Messenger” but a lot of financial people and IRS agents will need retraining. The boys at Agora need to stop critiques and get on with solutions, time is running out.

Tompet

San Diego

The same can be said for oil, right? Like currency that is largely a free market thing. Assuming free markets are right, as you state. Everything you said is applicable to oil and not just the dollar. Wheee.

As thus, and of course free markets are free markets:

“Once entrenched, backwardation in (oil) means that the cancer of (oil) has reached its terminal stages. The progressively evaporating trust in the value of the irredeemable (oil) can no longer be stopped.”

Awesome!

“How are banks going to be able to lend trillions of dollars when they have none?”

Banks have no money? None? Zero? Really? No banks? Anywhere?

Regards,

Matt

Please see Ron Paul’s paper from NINETEEN FREAKING EIGHTY ONE – yes parroting for nearly thirty years!? (google ‘Gold, Peace, And Prosperity, Ron Paul)

“Today, thanks to 67 years of bank control over the money supply, we face an economic and political crisis greater than ANY we have faced before.

We probably will see widespread civil disorder in the 1980s as a direct result of our faltering economic system. The dollar has been damaged by decades of interventionism, and Congress has legitimized depreciation of the dollar and forced redistribution of wealth through corporate and welfare schemes.”

Wow, yeah, the eighties were horrific! Or… Not. Maybe instead of getting scared, time might be spent improving oneself?

- Matt

You ever tried to read their transcripts?

Really. I looked. It’s far more inflammatory than Schiff or Faber, and way less biased:

Please cite your ’source’ as I assume you heard this from Mr. Celente (I sent him a quick email with your notions):)

So you think:

“hyper-inflationary depression, leading to the inevitable use of troops and mercenaries to deal with the crisis as Americans are incarcerated in internment camps.”

I apologize for me, man, me