[noobtube]

That is a sign of how fast you are destroying your "wealth", not how much "wealth" you have.

No. GDP has nothing to do with wealth. It measures productivity.

How can GDP measure productivity when the standard of measurement keeps changing every year (the dolluh).

If the 1970 Dollar was the same in 2022, at least GDP would be useful from that standpoint. But, the US government changes the dollar every year (if not every 6 months). GDP is meaningless because there is no LEGAL definition of what a dollar is. Is it a dollar bill? Is it a Sacagawea? Is it a bank loan? Is it commercial paper? Is it a T-bill? Is it 4 quarters? Is it a bank draft? Is it a cash app? A dollar is whatever the Federal government wants it to be, from one day to the next.

I remember watching the movie Syriana (2005 with George Clooney), and the top Attorney made a joke about that. Or, watch Wall Street (1987) when Michael Douglas tries to explain to Charlie Sheen how the financial world really works. Or listen to Hal Holbrook's character in the same movie, when you first see him. I also like Jeremy Irons' final speech in Margin Call (2011). He should have said credit, not money. But, the point was made.

All this so-called productivity and wealth is nothing more than an illusion of prosperity. Things have been declining for decades. "We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false."-William J. Casey, CIA Director

This is what happens when you abandon money (gold and silver) for a purely debt-based system.

That is why GDP has been and will always be an idiotic measure of productivity or "wealth." That is why the standard of living has gotten worse, while the government claims GDP has increased.

The most important factor in my opinion is QUALITY of LIFE, not Standard of Living. GDP is loosely coupled to standard of living, which is loosely coupled to quality of life. I'd rather have high QoL than high GDP. The US has high GDP, but should have much higher QoL for such a high GDP.

How can you use numbers to measure QUALITY of LIFE?

You need a stable form of payment

Exactly!!! And for that the $$$ has been pretty good. I hate the inflation them gov idiots are producing, but all-in-all it's stable enough to do serious business.

The dollar was stable up to the 1970s. If you call the dollar stable today, I would like to know what is your definition of stable.

I said "stable enough" to do serious business. There was always inflation, even before 1970
https://www.officialdata.org/us/inflation/

See, that's the thing. Who is doing business?

Top 12 in 1970 - GM / Exxon Mobil / Ford Motor / General Electric / IBM / Chrysler / Mobil / Texaco / ITT Industries / Gulf Oil / AT&T Technologies / U.S. Steel

Top 13 in 2020 Walmart / Amazon / Exxon Mobil / Apple / UnitedHealth Group / CVS Health / Berkshire Hathaway / Google / McKesson / AmerisourceBergen / Microsoft / Costco Wholesale / The Home Depot

Now, which economy looks like its doing serious business to you?

Was it the one from 1970, when the country was producing heavy industrial goods?

Or, was it the one from 2020, when the country sold cheap Chinese goods and focused on old and sick people?

But, a truly stable dollar would turn your world upside-down. 3rd-worlders would be the least of your problems, as you try to keep the lights on and fuel in your tank.

you're confusing me. Above you spend time explaining why inflation is bad, now you're telling me if the $$$ was stable I would be in a world of hurt?

Inflation is bad for those who work for a living and have to produce things people actually want.

But for social influencers, brand managers, relationship consultants, tech "workers", healthcare professionals, government employees, outside consultants, athletes, entertainers, and especially anyone in the FIRE sector (finance, real estate, insurance), inflation is fantastic.

Imagine if these people had to actually work for a living and the chaos that would result as they tried to find "real" jobs because they could no longer rely on inflation to get constant raises to pay ever-increasing prices from a steady decline in production.

The debt dollar is slowly killing the ability of the country to take care of itself because it has moved so far from reality, that people don't know what real money is anymore.

[AdamB]

I think once you get past a certain age, it becomes impossible to gain this understanding

I think once you get past a certain age you've seen about every trick in the book and aren't a sucker anymore.

Yeah. Everyone knows old people are known for their open minds, willingness to change, and admit when they're wrong. Yep, that perfectly describes old people.

Oh now we know all old people aren't known for open minds any more than neophytes, amateurs and younglings ever knew anything about peak oil. Then, or now. But I'll bet old farts know better than to store gold on boats and then get them sunk compared to the youthfully incompetent when it comes to sailing.

Sure, none of it would be possible without oil. But, why is it that China has very little oil, yet is the world's workshop and not Saudi Arabia or Venezuela? Many claim China has the most gold in the world and is the biggest manufacturer, without much oil.

China is one of the world's larger oil producers, what kind of youngling logic told you otherwise? Typical childish oil ignorance? Noob indeed.

Oil IS the master resource.

Yeah, and younglings don't learn why that is wrong every time they say it because they can't or won't learn. Mouse has it laid out better, human growth is about the ability to generate power and that is hardly only an oil story. try to learn and maybe you won't lose your gold, sink your boats and end up sweeping floors for a living. At which point you whine incessantly as though the game is rigged against everyone, rather than you landing exactly where your lack of ability lands you. Deservedly so according to your own stories.

[AdamB]

Adam says old people have seen every trick in the book, and Adam has fallen for most of them. It's why he has two useless old Teslas in the carport.

Do try and keep up..or at least take some pills to ward off mental sundowning when posting. I don't own Tesla's, never have. And my cages, and motorcycles, aren't stored in a carport.

He couldn't afford a new one so he bought two near the end of their lifespans.

Make up your mind...either they are too expensive, don't last very long, or aren't any good at being transport. Mine were not expensive, have 100's of thousands of miles on them, and show no sign of having reached the end of their lifespans. Try 100's of thousands of miles with your kangaroo...I dare you.

[AdamB]

I remember watching the movie Syriana (2005 with George Clooney), and the top Attorney made a joke about that. Or, watch Wall Street (1987) when Michael Douglas tries to explain to Charlie Sheen how the financial world really works. Or listen to Hal Holbrook's character in the same movie, when you first see him. I also like Jeremy Irons' final speech in Margin Call (2011). He should have said credit, not money. But, the point was made.

Well this explains a bunch. What you think you know about money comes from fictional characters in Hollywood movies who say things you agree with, and therefore must be true. What is your take on mermaids in Disney movies, maybe they have advice on how they can help you get your gold back out of your sunken boat?

Is knowing how to read and research into the basics of how things work really beyond your intellectual abilities?

[theluckycountry]

How can GDP measure productivity when the standard of measurement keeps changing every year (the dolluh).

If the 1970 Dollar was the same in 2022, at least GDP would be useful from that standpoint. But, the US government changes the dollar every year

And more than that, the definition of what is GDP changes every year as well. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the arms/money sent to the ukraine is counted in to GDP. CC debt is a part of it, home loans, all things that have nothing at all to do with domestic profit.

People who quote such government metrics are really not offering anything other than misdirection. The entire political reporting system from unemployment rates to gdp to national debt is a pack of lies. The true debt, which includes the SS obligations, is over 100 Trillion. A nation built on lies.

[AdamB]

A nation built on lies.

America ain't dead and gone yet, but you keep hoping that when all is said and done the kangaroo riders will rule the roost. I'm betting on New Zealand at the end of the day, fine and intelligent people, polite and fearless....too bad they are stuck in the Commonwealth with those low class nations that can easily immigrate and pollute their gene pool.

America will stick to flying reuseable space vehicles at least for now, you and your countrymen can keep riding kangaroos because you don't have what it takes to build build cars or ferris wheels, let alone rockets that not only go up, but fly themselves home.

[theluckycountry]

countries around the world continuing to accumulate gold as monetary reserves

...the trend of de-dollarization isn’t some far-off future fantasy. It is happening now. Federal Reserve notes as the proportion of foreign reserves has been steadily declining over the past few years. Russia has had no choice but to pursue alternatives to the dollar in response to it being blacklisted from the SWIFT international payments regime. Other nations have taken note of this retaliatory blacklisting – something the U.S. hadn’t even done during the Cold War – and have been increasingly repatriating their gold holdings to insure against future attacks or sanctions.

Now China is looking to strike back at the U.S. as well. President Joe Biden called China’s Xi Jinping a “dictator.” Biden administration officials attempted to downplay the characterization. But offense was clearly taken by the Chinese Communist Party. China moved to enact export controls on critical commodities, including rare earth metals. The United States is nearly 100% dependent on China to supply certain of these rare earths which are needed in high-tech and energy applications.

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen went to Beijing to try to assuage the Chinese, insisting she wants the two powers to remain trading partners rather than adversaries. Implicit in her appeal to China is that any move on the part of the Chinese to ditch the U.S. dollar and conduct trade in an alternative gold-backed currency would be viewed as an escalation of hostilities.

Of course, there is nothing the Biden administration can do to prevent China, its trading partners, or other countries around the world from continuing to accumulate gold as monetary reserves. The mere fact that gold is being considered by BRICS countries as a basis for international trade should incentivize central banks – and individual investors – to accumulate precious metals. If gold’s role as a global alternative currency is to increase, then so, likely, will its price.

https://www.investing.com/analysis/bric ... -200639843

[careinke]

noob, nice job,

I enjoyed looking at the issue through your eyes, and agree with most of it.

BUT:

[quote="noobtube"] ...anyone in the FIRE sector (finance, real estate, insurance), inflation is fantastic.

Wouldn't the above acronym work better if FIRE = (Finance, Insurance, Real Estate)?

Peace

[theluckycountry]

Central Bank Gold Demand In First Half Of 2023 Was The Highest On Record

Despite significant selling by Turkey that slowed net central bank gold buying in the second quarter, central banks added a record amount of gold to their reserves through the first half of 2023.

Now this is where it gets interesting. Why would Turkey sell?

Turkey was the biggest gold buyer in the first quarter but turned to selling in March. In a three-month span, Turkey reduced its gold holdings by 160 tons. According to the World Gold Council, this was a response to local market dynamics and didn’t likely reflect a change in the Turkish central bank’s long-term gold strategy.

"Gold was sold into Turkey’s domestic market to satisfy very strong bar, coin and jewelry demand following a temporary partial ban on gold bullion imports.”

Why would a nation ban gold imports? Because it's money flowing out, and what comes in (Gold) doesn't stimulate the economy aside from a one off tax if applied. This happens quite a bit and it shows how desperate nations are to protect their state issued currency and their revenue streams when they have to focus on small aspect of trade like Gold.

How much gold is produced in the world each year?
In 2022, worldwide gold production stood at 3,100 metric tons.

How much Gold has ever been mined?
The best estimates currently available suggest that around 208,874 tonnes of gold has been mined throughout history, of which around two-thirds has been mined since 1950. And since gold is virtually indestructible, this means that almost all of this metal is still around in one form or another. If every single ounce of this gold were placed next to each other, the resulting cube of pure gold would only measure around 22 meters on each side.

To help put that in perspective: Global steel production in 2022 reached 1900 million tonnes.
Or 9000 times the total amount of gold that has ever been mined. The mainstream meme for decades has been "we don't need Gold any more" Another meme has been "The world is at peace now, there will be no more wars." But we have had nothing but Wars, endlessly, for all recorded time basically and certainly over the past 100 years. Also demand for gold at all levels of society; from the low income couple getting married to the middle class investor through to all the world's governments, has continued apace. And Gold itself of course has risen in cost as a/ the energy required to extract and refine it has become more expensive, and b/ the mines themselves deplete their higher grade ores.

No, Modern man, you don't need to own Gold as a savings vehicle, as a hedge. But if you don't you are ignoring the one monetary unit that has been prized by all civilized people throughout all time until just a few decades ago.


https://schiffgold.com/key-gold-news/ce ... on-record/
https://www.gold.org/goldhub/data/how-much-gold
https://worldsteel.org/media-centre/pre ... al-totals/

[theluckycountry]

Which central banks around the world are hoovering up the yellow metal? setting a fresh record over the first half of 2023 at over 200 tonnes. Well the usual suspects from the BRICS of course because if you intend to switch from the $US system to a Gold backed system then more is better obviously. Singapore? Well they haven't put a foot wrong since they emerged out of the swamps after WWII. They are just Smart. But third on the list @ 48 tons is Poland?



Poland, why is Poland hording Gold now? We know from recent news they are planning on building the strongest military in Europe, at great expense. How much of that actually happens is for the future to tell but they are now also big Goldbugs. I love that phrase, it was first coined as a derogatory but as a Goldbug I think it's a lot more disarming than "Gold Hoarder" Gold hoarders are dangerous actually. Gold and Guns go hand in hand so to be considered a harmless collector, like a bookworm, is nice.

But Poland isn't a bookworm, they are a militant culture and perhaps they want in on the BRICS too? They haven't said as much, but neither did Saudi Arabia or Iran (two natural enemies) before they were accepted as members. As the $US hegemony collapses there will be a vacuum left behind, and typically, historically, this is filled by Gold until another world power rises to put forth its currency as a standard.

The West continues to divest itself of gold of course, Canada doesn't have a single ounce in it's reserves and like ol england sold it all off at a bear market bottom. What else would you expect from Nazi sympathizers.


https://dollarcollapse.com/jeftovic-can ... old-gaffe/

[EnergyUnlimited]

Poland, why is Poland hording Gold now?

No high profile politician will speak it here openly, just not to stir emotions of large part of mob, but Poland is quietly preparing to leave European Union.
There are numbers of policies of EU which are here unacceptable and openly rejected by our government, beginning from certain environmental policies like fit for 55, then going through all sort of women and perverts rights & privileges and ending with European compulsory migrant relocation schemes.

These are plain unacceptable ideas and we are preparing to leave EU - there are more and and more voices about it but politicians of ruling party are quiet about it.
Nevertheless our propaganda is already working hard to blame EU for inflation, high energy bills and problems with migrants.
There is also more and more disputes about applications of EU laws (or rather refusal to introduce them here etc).
Once mob is sufficiently hostile to EU because all sort of developing ills, then Polexit will be announced.
I give about 5-10 years for it to happen.
Once we have decided to proceed it will be easy.
One voting in Parliament with 50%+1 votes for exit and signature of President and we are out.
Procedure here would be MUCH simpler than in case of Brits. No referendum or public consultations are necessary.

But we need currency support for it - hence gold purchases and also proper army - just in case, though we are definitely going to stay in NATO.
There is general agreement here that leaving NATO would be suicidal.

But Poland isn't a bookworm, they are a militant culture and perhaps they want in on the BRICS too?

We are not contemplating joining BRICS but we understand that good relations with China in particular are very important.
We have also VERY good relations with Saudis who are becoming our important trade partners.

[theluckycountry]

Once mob is sufficiently hostile to EU because all sort of developing ills, then Polexit will be announced.
I give about 5-10 years for it to happen.

Based on historical total war cycles, I give it one to three years. Once the major conflict begins there won't be any EU. The whole purpose of the EU was to aid in preventing another war (so some commentators say)

[yellowcanoe]

The whole purpose of the EU was to aid in preventing another war (so some commentators say)

Yes, indeed. However the original idea was just to establish a common market among European nations on the theory that if countries were closely tied economically they would be far less likely to go to war with each other. Unfortunately this then moved in the direction of trying to establish a political union which conflicts with the sovereignty of individual countries. I thought they would have learned from Brexit but they still seem to be focused on doing things like telling countries that they need to accept asylum seekers.

[mousepad]

we are preparing to leave EU .

Good for you. I hope you succeed.
More likely however, you will eventually be ground up by the EU globalist BS machine, swamped with 3rd world shit.
The super EU argument: without us, you're economy will shrink and you will experience economic hardship. And we all know that GROWTH must be maintained at all cost, so says every politician and economist. /sarc

The grind is relentless. As your next generation watches american movies containing "the Message", the media performs leftwing indoctrination and your teachers preach to accept (the now still sporadic) 3rd world imports in class as their equivalent in preparation of "the invasion". And the old generation slowly fades away, shaking their head wondering why their granddads even bothered to fight Adolf as their country goes to shit now anyways.

[EnergyUnlimited]

The grind is relentless. As your next generation watches american movies containing "the Message", the media performs leftwing indoctrination and your teachers preach to accept (the now still sporadic) 3rd world imports in class as their equivalent in preparation of "the invasion". And the old generation slowly fades away, shaking their head wondering why their granddads even bothered to fight Adolf as their country goes to shit now anyways.

Leftism here is not that popular between young generation like on the west of Europe and in US.
Don't take me wrong - there are plenty of lefties between youngsters but still in age group 18-35 far right party has more support than center left and far left combined (particularly between males) and this by western standards is unheard of situation.
Feminism is now mocked even in part of mainstream and government is preparing to withhold Poland from Istanbul convention which is dealing with women rights and some other leftist ideology.
Abortion is becoming unavailable (the only exceptions are significant risk to life of mother, incest and rape though abortion tourism is not penalized yet).
There is another risk though - low fertility with TFR 1.3 - 1.45 (what anti-abortion laws are in part meant to alleviate without success).
To prevent general collapse of pensions and decline of economy government muddles possibilities of admission of migrants but at least not from Arab countries or Africa only from ASEAN.
Few whitelisted countries from where migrants might be taken are Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia and Nepal.
Kazakhstan is also mentioned but it is not ASEAN of course and many people living there are descendants of Poles taken there in Soviet era and speak Polish.
Anyway on coming Sunday we have general parliamentary election and thereafter it will be more clear where we go.

[theluckycountry]

Feminism is now mocked even in part of mainstream and government is preparing to withhold Poland from Istanbul convention which is dealing with women rights and some other leftist ideology.

To prevent general collapse of pensions and decline of economy government muddles possibilities of admission of migrants

I have always thought our government admitted migrants for the same purpose, to maintain the tax base. Whether or not they care for the elderly is a moot question as they are collectively a pack of sociopaths whose only interest is prolonging their tenure and increasing their personal wealth.

Down here Feminism has done it's work and passed on. Most of the girls are whores with tattoos, even the middle aged ones. It's disgusting to see. They go around bared armed flaunting their 'ink' like outlaw motorcyclists but they are all useless outside of the task of cleaning a house. I would have added in bed and cooking but they are hopeless at both those jobs now. All their spare time and effort is spent on preening themselves, making themselves look like some Instagram influencer, fake tans shaved loins and colored hair. If they cook some slop they assume it's tasty because 'they' made it. In bed they expect to be treated as queens and show little interest in pleasing their man.

I'm really quite over them. I know there are good ones out there, but to me the effort of maintaining a relationship simply isn't worth it anymore. The sex drive is diminishing and I can do without all the baggage they bring to the table.

Here a female Dating Coach gets outed as a hypocrite. Her response though is not atypical, most women feel this way, it's all take and no give outside of a few bones to lure a man into a "relationship" where he provides for her. This woman is a relationship coach and a single mother, she admits she's been on the cockcarousel all her life but believes she can help people in relationships. It's really quite an insight into the female brain.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cO7SsL25tg

[EnergyUnlimited]

I'm really quite over them. I know there are good ones out there, but to me the effort of maintaining a relationship simply isn't worth it anymore. The sex drive is diminishing and I can do without all the baggage they bring to the table.

Here a female Dating Coach gets outed as a hypocrite. Her response though is not atypical, most women feel this way, it's all take and no give outside of a few bones to lure a man into a "relationship" where he provides for her. This woman is a relationship coach and a single mother, she admits she's been on the cockcarousel all her life but believes she can help people in relationships. It's really quite an insight into the female brain.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cO7SsL25tg

I was observing this nonsense and silliness developing while around 20 and have settled with Chinese.
I consciously rejected white women while young and decided to go for something what had IMO a greater chance to work - and it succeeded!
When I look retrospectively on that and observe sad lives of most of my university friends who have failed marriages and loads of troubles, I am quite amused of my wisdom from my young days.
To work out such a move at age of 20 with no assistance and prompting from outside, against my parents and rest of family, against still prevailing social expectations and all that solely base on personal observations is quite an achievement.

[theluckycountry]

I was observing this nonsense and silliness developing while around 20 and have settled with Chinese.
I consciously rejected white women while young and decided to go for something what had IMO a greater chance to work - and it succeeded!

I am quite amused of my wisdom from my young days.
To work out such a move at age of 20 with no assistance and prompting from outside, against my parents and rest of family, against still prevailing social expectations and all that solely base on personal observations is quite an achievement.

Yes, you made a good call and rightly deserve some kudos. Alas I was a tearaway when young, a boozer and a traveler, I never really settled down until I was 35 and after one failed marriage in my 20's I made up my mind to never go a second round. It hasn't been a bad life either, there was always a woman on hand for a live in relationship, some lasted 2 years, some 8, but in the end they left because I wasn't the type to commit. I always kept my own finances and hobbies and all that. I suppose I was a bit of an arsehole, a loner, a go my own way bloke.

That's typical of GenXers and I'm a prime example. Now at age 60 I feel content to be alone, but we're all different. I have a few mates that can't bare to be alone and always have to get into another 'relationship'. Some have chosen Asian women and it's a mixed bag. Thai girls seem loyal, Vietnamese less so, and Filipino's are just gold-diggers. But I slept with a few and they were lousy cooks and very ordinary in the sack so I went back to white girls. White girls are whores in bed lol. You can tell what I think of women lol. I'm one of those guys the feminists hate.

[theluckycountry]

$2000 US, which equates to $3000 Aussie, is one of those barriers they talk about. It's hit it three times in the past few years, only to pull back. The chart doesn't show it but it's US$ 1920 today, almost crossing the line again.



One day obviously inflation will push it over, and all this talk about risk_on/risk_off is pure BS as it relates to current action I think. When they post stories up in the mainstream press it's just chatter to justify their own existance, day by day, week by week.

I believe risk/off was no doubt the case back in the years of the GFC though. Lotz of people were scared then. Slow and steady wins the race.

[theluckycountry]

Are the Chinese selling US dollar-denominated assets to buy gold?

It sure looks that way. https://schiffgold.com/key-gold-news/ar ... -buy-gold/