NOTE: this blog is no longer active as of 12/07. New one: http://blog.kirchhof.com
Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur.
Sun, 31 Dec 2006
Happy New Year, All
Well, I'm off to Houston to mix a Jimmy LaFave show, which is going
to be a fine way to start the new year. All in all, 2006 has been a
year of challenges and changes, and I am not unhappy to see it quietly
pass. I lost friends this year; I gained friends this year; battled
some demons and even slayed a few dragons. What I seek now is simply
peace of mind.
2007 promises to be a year of building and growth. I am making
some interesting plans.
I'll likely post something tomorrow; I'll have plenty of time to
think on the drive back home tonight, so stay tuned. In the meantime,
have a very happy New Years Eve, and know that you have my best wishes
for a wonderful 2007.
Posted at 13:05 by Randy Kirchhof [Permalink]
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Tue, 19 Dec 2006
More Economics
Seems my post yesterday was fairly timely. Here's a similar piece
by a better (and better informed) writer entitled "The United States
Is Insolvent."
Oh, and Iran
announced today that they will no longer trade in oil with
dollars; they are shifting their currency reserves and basis to
Euros.
Posted at 15:56 by Randy Kirchhof [Permalink]
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Good For Them
A faculty group at SMU sends a letter to the Board asking them to
kill any plans
to host the George W Bush Presidential library.
[T]he letter-writers object to the W Library because of Bush's policies,
seeing the library as symbolizing SMU's endorsement of "attitudes and
actions widely deemed as ethically egregious: degradation of habeas
corpus, outright denial of global warming, flagrant disregard for
international treaties, alienation of long-term U.S. allies,
environmental predation, shameful disrespect for gay persons and their
rights, a preemptive war based on false and misleading premises, and a
host of other erosions of respect for the global human community and
for this good Earth on which our flourishing depends...antithetical to
the teaching, scholarship, and ethical thinking that best represents
Southern Methodist University."
It's so nice to see some sanity seeping slowly back into our
national dialog. Good for them.
Posted at 14:44 by Randy Kirchhof [Permalink]
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Mon, 18 Dec 2006
Coolness
The top ten archaeological discoveries of 2006.
Posted at 23:35 by Randy Kirchhof [Permalink]
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Coming Home To Roost
We may be in real trouble. If the rumors bouncing around the net
today are true, then we're in for a really, really rough patch
soon.
A few quotes from Free Market News' China
To Dump One Trillion In US Reserves article:
1) The Federal Reserve Bank ceased publishing "M3" data in March,
making it nearly impossible for anyone to know how much cash is being
printed. China said this act made it impossible to tell how much a
Dollar is worth.
2) The U.S. dollar has lost upwards of thirty percent (30%) of its
value against other foreign currencies in the recent past, meaning
China has lost almost $300 billion simply by holding U.S. dollars in
its reserves.
3) The U.S. has no plans whatsoever to reduce deficit spending or
ability pay down any of its existing debt without printing money to
pay it off.
[...]
What would be the implications of such a sell-off? "This would
cause a worldwide sell-off of dollars, create almost immediate
hyper-inflation in the US and also impact world markets at a level
worse than the Great Depression of 1929."
A few months ago, I pointed you to the CIA World Factbook
"Account Balance" page. Go take a look at it and find the United
States on it. It is shocking.
A quarter century ago, we were the world's largest creditor
nation. During the brief eight years that the Democratic party was in
power, we actually ran a surplus and started to pay down the debt. The
rest of the story is all about Republican monetary policy, and our
country is now all-but in receivership. The whole Potemkin village is
in genuine danger of collapse.
We are insolvent. There are those who
actually apply Generally Accepted Accounting Procedures to the
federal budget, and the numbers that they produce are staggering. Some
say—for example, the General Accounting Office—that we are running an actual annual deficit in excess of
4.6 Trillion
Dollars. Taxing 100% of all wages, salaries, corporate profits
would not eliminate a deficit of this magnitude.
We have no more money, and the chance that our currency is going to
revert to worthless paper is as strong as it has ever been. No one can
say whether it will happen, but I am genuinely worried. Remember
Weimar Germany in the 20's: they were printing Deutschmark bills with
face values in the tens of millions, just so people could buy bread
without having to bring a wheelbarrow full of money to the grocery store.
That is the worst-case possibility that is in question here.
The possible better news (as it were) is that the dollar is still
the primary world currency, and the US is the world's primary consumer
market. It is not in anyone's interest to destroy that market and
therewith destroy their holdings in dollars.
But panics happen. And they never happen on schedule.
Every time the dollar clicks down a single percentage point, China
watches 10 billion dollars of value in their holdings
disappear. What would you do?
Be watchful. Keep an eye on the gold market as one possible
bellwether. And keep plenty of dry goods like beans and rice and
canned goods in the larder; if you think It Can't Happen Here, you are
making an exceedingly dangerous presumption. Let's just hope that "It"
doesn't.
Posted at 16:53 by Randy Kirchhof [Permalink]
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Sun, 10 Dec 2006
Land Of The Free
Isn't time to rid this country of this asinine "War On Drugs"
foolhardiness and start treating people?
Read
and weep for your country:
A U.S. Justice Department report released on November 30 showed that a
record 7 million people -- or one in every 32 American adults -- were
behind bars, on probation or on parole at the end of last year. Of the
total, 2.2 million were in prison or jail.
According to the International Center for Prison Studies at King's
College in London, more people are behind bars in the United States
than in any other country. China ranks second with 1.5 million
prisoners, followed by Russia with 870,000.
Posted at 20:27 by Randy Kirchhof [Permalink]
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Sat, 09 Dec 2006
Ahh. A Reason Now.
I never have been much on soft drinks. I have one maybe once a
month. Now I know why.
What
happens to your body when you drink a Coke.
Posted at 13:50 by Randy Kirchhof [Permalink]
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