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Want To See Something Sad, Depressing, And Scary? Of Course You Do

Skwim

Veteran Member
.

"This video shows the Top 20 countries with the largest reserves from 1960 to 2018. Total reserves comprise holdings of monetary gold, special drawing rights, reserves of IMF members held by the IMF, and holdings of foreign exchange under the control of monetary authorities.

Information Source: International Monetary Fund"
I suggest you enlarge.



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Estro Felino

Believer in free will
Premium Member
Speaking of gold...

cula.jpg
 

Stevicus

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
.

"This video shows the Top 20 countries with the largest reserves from 1960 to 2018. Total reserves comprise holdings of monetary gold, special drawing rights, reserves of IMF members held by the IMF, and holdings of foreign exchange under the control of monetary authorities.

Information Source: International Monetary Fund"
I suggest you enlarge.



.

And to think that it's all the result of U.S. capitalists having a severe grudge with labor unions. They wrecked our economy purely out of spite and ego.
 

Salvador

RF's Swedenborgian
And to think that it's all the result of U.S. capitalists having a severe grudge with labor unions. They wrecked our economy purely out of spite and ego.

The employment data shows real wage growth, the U.S. economy is booming, poverty is declining; our Trump-led Trumped up economy is very prosperous.
 

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
And to think that it's all the result of U.S. capitalists having a severe grudge with labor unions. They wrecked our economy purely out of spite and ego.
I know that's what motivates me in business.

Anyway, what is sad or scary about piddling gold reserves?
 

sun rise

The world is on fire
Premium Member
The employment data shows real wage growth, the U.S. economy is booming, poverty is declining; our Trump-led Trumped up economy is very prosperous.
The deficit is exploding but the borrow and spend right does not care.
 

Salvador

RF's Swedenborgian
The deficit is exploding but the borrow and spend right does not care.

Obama year deficits from 2010 to 2016 on average were ca. 5.4 percent of G.D.P. compared to Trump year deficits from 2017 to 2019 being on average ca. 4 percent of G.D.P.. A fair comparison of federal deficit spending relative to Gross Domestic Product reveals Obama year deficits being higher than Trump deficits.

US Federal Deficit as Percent of GDP - plus charts and analysis
 

sun rise

The world is on fire
Premium Member
Obama year deficits from 2010 to 2016 on average were ca. 5.4 percent of G.D.P. compared to Trump year deficits from 2017 to 2019 being on average ca. 4 percent of G.D.P.. A fair comparison of federal deficit spending relative to Gross Domestic Product reveals Obama year deficits being higher than Trump deficits.

US Federal Deficit as Percent of GDP - plus charts and analysis
The important statistic is the growth of the deficit. When a recession happens, the percent of GDP will skyrocket. We may see that in 2020 if some economists are correct.
 

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
The important statistic is the growth of the deficit. When a recession happens, the percent of GDP will skyrocket. We may see that in 2020 if some economists are correct.
Nonetheless, the poster is right that % of GDP
is more meaningful than absolute spending.
Btw, I've taken precautions against recession.
We're at risk for it with both individuals &
gov on a debt financed spending spree.
 

Salvador

RF's Swedenborgian
The important statistic is the growth of the deficit. When a recession happens, the percent of GDP will skyrocket. We may see that in 2020 if some economists are correct.

Economists have been wrongly predicting for years an imminent U.S. recession looming on the horizon. ..I know many Democrats would like this to happen soon in order to keep Donald J. Trump for being re-elected.
 

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
Economists have been wrongly predicting for years an imminent U.S. recession looming on the horizon. ..I know many Democrats would like this to happen soon in order to keep Donald J. Trump for being re-elected.
I hate predictions.
What we have are a multitude of risk factors for recession.
The more in number & severity, the greater the risk.
But predicting a date?
That's a bad idea because the triggers for depression are
chaotic, eg, the 9/11 attacks leading to economic contraction,
leading to loan defaults, leading to recession in 2008.
This is observable in retrospect, but no one...absolutely no one
could've predicted a meaningful time frame.
Right now we have the same risk factors as before....
- Big terrorist attack (but much less likely from planes now).
- Massive borrowing with inadequate security, ie, high loan
to value rations (some 100% financed loans again).
- Bank regulation which inhibits flexibility with troubled
borrowers, sending them into foreclosure rather than
refinancing.
- Low interest rates, which lead to over-borrowing & unstable
high stock values (making them crashworthy if rates rise).
 

Salvador

RF's Swedenborgian
The important statistic is the growth of the deficit. When a recession happens, the percent of GDP will skyrocket. We may see that in 2020 if some economists are correct.

In order to prevent a recession, Congress should work to enact the USMCA trade deal. Please let your Congressional Representative know that you'd like him/her to vote for the USMCA instead of doing nothing useful.
 

Stevicus

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
The employment data shows real wage growth, the U.S. economy is booming, poverty is declining; our Trump-led Trumped up economy is very prosperous.

Maybe, although I'd have to see the stats. This chart indicates that the US economy peaked in the early 1970s, hit its lowest point in the mid-1990s and has slowly improved since then. But it still hasn't reached the same level as it was at its peak in the early 70s.

United_States_real_wages_%28red%2C_in_constant_2017_dollars%29.png
 

Salvador

RF's Swedenborgian
Maybe, although I'd have to see the stats. This chart indicates that the US economy peaked in the early 1970s, hit its lowest point in the mid-1990s and has slowly improved since then. But it still hasn't reached the same level as it was at its peak in the early 70s.

United_States_real_wages_%28red%2C_in_constant_2017_dollars%29.png

"The official poverty rate in 2018 was 11.8 percent, down 0.5 percentage points from 12.3 percent in 2017. This is the fourth consecutive annual decline in poverty. Since 2014, the poverty rate has fallen 3.0 percentage points, from 14.8 percent to 11.8 percent."

Income and Poverty in the United States: 2018

Figure-1.-Poverty-Rates-by-Race-and-Ethnicity-1966-2018.png



The Trump-led Trumped up American economy now has an overall rate of poverty nearly as low as the rate of poverty had been during the 1970's. Blacks and Hispanics are more prosperous now in the Trump-led Trumped up economy than they'd ever been before.
 
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Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
I'm not sure. Maybe it's a sign of desperation to have to tap into the gold reserves?
Or the recognition that gold just sitting there is
an unproductive asset in the age of fiat currency.
Know what my gold reserves are?
One plain gold wedding band.
 

Stevicus

Veteran Member
Staff member
Premium Member
Or the recognition that gold just sitting there is
an unproductive asset in the age of fiat currency.
Know what my gold reserves are?
One plain gold wedding band.

I have a couple of gold crowns. Gold isn't totally useless.

The price of gold seems to go up and down a lot, at least according to the chart on this page: Gold Prices - 100 Year Historical Chart

If you bought gold in 1970 and sold it in 1980, you'd make ten times your investment.

historical-gold-prices-100-year-chart.png
 

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
I have a couple of gold crowns. Gold isn't totally useless.

The price of gold seems to go up and down a lot, at least according to the chart on this page: Gold Prices - 100 Year Historical Chart

If you bought gold in 1970 and sold it in 1980, you'd make ten times your investment.

historical-gold-prices-100-year-chart.png
And if we could know in advance when gold will balloon in value,
& sell it before it crashes that would be great. But what if one
bought in 1978, & sold in 2000? One's arsch would be lost.
That's like claiming that slot machines have economic value
because luck can bring a payoff.

Btw, I calculate a much lower rate of return for your 1970 to 1980
figure. You'd get about 4 times your purchase price ($200 to $800).
 
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Salvador

RF's Swedenborgian
Or the recognition that gold just sitting there is
an unproductive asset in the age of fiat currency.
Know what my gold reserves are?
One plain gold wedding band.

I'd lost 40 lbs. nearly 15 years after my wedding day. My gold wedding band back then 11 years ago had fit me rather loosely. I'd done some commoner folk stuff back in my pre-inheritance days like bowling. Upon returning from the bowling alley, my wife immediately noticed my gold wedding band was missing. At this awkward moment in my life, the Lindsey Buckingham song "Trouble" played in my mind.


Fortunately, I was able to promptly retrace my steps and reclaimed my gold wedding band where it'd slipped off at the base of the ball return on lane 13.
 
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