European nations begin seizing private pensions

[sobmaz]

Makes you want to put your savings under the mattress so no one knows how much you saved!!

Oh wait, it might burn in a house fire, better put it in a safe deposit box.

Oh wait, it is illegal to put cash into a safe deposit box.

Well I guess it doesn’t matter either way because its value would inflate away over time, so you MUST keep it on deposit somewhere.

On the other hand, if you save in Gold, no one knows what you have and it retains value.

Oh, but Gold is a dead asset, it pays no interest!

Gold does not need to pay interest as it is not a depreciating asset as a dollar is.

Just keep in mind that in the late sixties 20 ounces of gold was the equivalent of the Dow Jones industrial average.

Today the Dow is worth about 9 ounces of gold. So in 1960s if you had chosen 20 ounces of gold you’d have 28k and if you had chosen the Dow you’d have 13000.

Sounds like Gold was the better deal to me.

Oh wait, don’t forget that over the years the Dow was manipulated. Companies that fell in value were removed and replaced. Xerox was an example as was now defunct AMC motors. If the original Dow 30 was still in place it would be worth only a couple K.

It is true that the Dow stocks pay dividends and that needs to be put into the calculation and at the very most makes the manipulated Dow issue mute in comparison to Gold.

So the choice is to have numbers on a statement that are subject to Government inflation and confiscation or a chunk of Gold “that you can’t eat”.

It is true you can’t eat Gold but you can trade it for a thousand loafs of bread!

.

[briansd1]

[quote=eavesdropper] The “prosperity” of the 90s and aughts resulted, in large part, from lax monetary policy, widespread speculation, and limitless lending. [/quote]

Don’t just blame the financial industry.

We had growth thanks to tech as well. That is bright area of our economy.

But we have other growth sectors that are killing our long-term future: 1)the prison/criminal system, 2) the military/security industrial complex, 3) and the medical industry.

We got the majority of Americans medicated on something or other and using more and more medical services. Imagine a population of obese, sick people. That can’t be very productive.

[briansd1]

[quote=eavesdropper] The “prosperity” of the 90s and aughts resulted, in large part, from lax monetary policy, widespread speculation, and limitless lending. [/quote]

Don’t just blame the financial industry.

We had growth thanks to tech as well. That is bright area of our economy.

But we have other growth sectors that are killing our long-term future: 1)the prison/criminal system, 2) the military/security industrial complex, 3) and the medical industry.

We got the majority of Americans medicated on something or other and using more and more medical services. Imagine a population of obese, sick people. That can’t be very productive.

[briansd1]

[quote=eavesdropper] The “prosperity” of the 90s and aughts resulted, in large part, from lax monetary policy, widespread speculation, and limitless lending. [/quote]

Don’t just blame the financial industry.

We had growth thanks to tech as well. That is bright area of our economy.

But we have other growth sectors that are killing our long-term future: 1)the prison/criminal system, 2) the military/security industrial complex, 3) and the medical industry.

We got the majority of Americans medicated on something or other and using more and more medical services. Imagine a population of obese, sick people. That can’t be very productive.

[briansd1]

[quote=eavesdropper] The “prosperity” of the 90s and aughts resulted, in large part, from lax monetary policy, widespread speculation, and limitless lending. [/quote]

Don’t just blame the financial industry.

We had growth thanks to tech as well. That is bright area of our economy.

But we have other growth sectors that are killing our long-term future: 1)the prison/criminal system, 2) the military/security industrial complex, 3) and the medical industry.

We got the majority of Americans medicated on something or other and using more and more medical services. Imagine a population of obese, sick people. That can’t be very productive.

[briansd1]

[quote=eavesdropper] The “prosperity” of the 90s and aughts resulted, in large part, from lax monetary policy, widespread speculation, and limitless lending. [/quote]

Don’t just blame the financial industry.

We had growth thanks to tech as well. That is bright area of our economy.

But we have other growth sectors that are killing our long-term future: 1)the prison/criminal system, 2) the military/security industrial complex, 3) and the medical industry.

We got the majority of Americans medicated on something or other and using more and more medical services. Imagine a population of obese, sick people. That can’t be very productive.

[CA renter]

[quote=briansd1][quote=eavesdropper] The “prosperity” of the 90s and aughts resulted, in large part, from lax monetary policy, widespread speculation, and limitless lending. [/quote]

Don’t just blame the financial industry.

We had growth thanks to tech as well. That is bright area of our economy.

But we have other growth sectors that are killing our long-term future: 1)the prison/criminal system, 2) the military/security industrial complex, 3) and the medical industry.

We got the majority of Americans medicated on something or other and using more and more medical services. Imagine a population of obese, sick people. That can’t be very productive.[/quote]

That was a great post by Eavesdropper.

Yes, we had technological advances in the 90s, but this past decade has done very little in comparision. We’ve made some improvements on the developments from the 90s, and we have more “games,” and our widgets work a bit faster (but not as fast as they could without those games), but we’ve not invented or improved upon anything, to my knowledge, that is equivalent to what we saw during the 90s. I’m not a techie, though, so would love to hear what was invented or developed over the past decade — in the U.S. — that is going to make our future so much better.

[CA renter]

[quote=briansd1][quote=eavesdropper] The “prosperity” of the 90s and aughts resulted, in large part, from lax monetary policy, widespread speculation, and limitless lending. [/quote]

Don’t just blame the financial industry.

We had growth thanks to tech as well. That is bright area of our economy.

But we have other growth sectors that are killing our long-term future: 1)the prison/criminal system, 2) the military/security industrial complex, 3) and the medical industry.

We got the majority of Americans medicated on something or other and using more and more medical services. Imagine a population of obese, sick people. That can’t be very productive.[/quote]

That was a great post by Eavesdropper.

Yes, we had technological advances in the 90s, but this past decade has done very little in comparision. We’ve made some improvements on the developments from the 90s, and we have more “games,” and our widgets work a bit faster (but not as fast as they could without those games), but we’ve not invented or improved upon anything, to my knowledge, that is equivalent to what we saw during the 90s. I’m not a techie, though, so would love to hear what was invented or developed over the past decade — in the U.S. — that is going to make our future so much better.

[CA renter]

[quote=briansd1][quote=eavesdropper] The “prosperity” of the 90s and aughts resulted, in large part, from lax monetary policy, widespread speculation, and limitless lending. [/quote]

Don’t just blame the financial industry.

We had growth thanks to tech as well. That is bright area of our economy.

But we have other growth sectors that are killing our long-term future: 1)the prison/criminal system, 2) the military/security industrial complex, 3) and the medical industry.

We got the majority of Americans medicated on something or other and using more and more medical services. Imagine a population of obese, sick people. That can’t be very productive.[/quote]

That was a great post by Eavesdropper.

Yes, we had technological advances in the 90s, but this past decade has done very little in comparision. We’ve made some improvements on the developments from the 90s, and we have more “games,” and our widgets work a bit faster (but not as fast as they could without those games), but we’ve not invented or improved upon anything, to my knowledge, that is equivalent to what we saw during the 90s. I’m not a techie, though, so would love to hear what was invented or developed over the past decade — in the U.S. — that is going to make our future so much better.

[CA renter]

[quote=briansd1][quote=eavesdropper] The “prosperity” of the 90s and aughts resulted, in large part, from lax monetary policy, widespread speculation, and limitless lending. [/quote]

Don’t just blame the financial industry.

We had growth thanks to tech as well. That is bright area of our economy.

But we have other growth sectors that are killing our long-term future: 1)the prison/criminal system, 2) the military/security industrial complex, 3) and the medical industry.

We got the majority of Americans medicated on something or other and using more and more medical services. Imagine a population of obese, sick people. That can’t be very productive.[/quote]

That was a great post by Eavesdropper.

Yes, we had technological advances in the 90s, but this past decade has done very little in comparision. We’ve made some improvements on the developments from the 90s, and we have more “games,” and our widgets work a bit faster (but not as fast as they could without those games), but we’ve not invented or improved upon anything, to my knowledge, that is equivalent to what we saw during the 90s. I’m not a techie, though, so would love to hear what was invented or developed over the past decade — in the U.S. — that is going to make our future so much better.

[CA renter]

[quote=briansd1][quote=eavesdropper] The “prosperity” of the 90s and aughts resulted, in large part, from lax monetary policy, widespread speculation, and limitless lending. [/quote]

Don’t just blame the financial industry.

We had growth thanks to tech as well. That is bright area of our economy.

But we have other growth sectors that are killing our long-term future: 1)the prison/criminal system, 2) the military/security industrial complex, 3) and the medical industry.

We got the majority of Americans medicated on something or other and using more and more medical services. Imagine a population of obese, sick people. That can’t be very productive.[/quote]

That was a great post by Eavesdropper.

Yes, we had technological advances in the 90s, but this past decade has done very little in comparision. We’ve made some improvements on the developments from the 90s, and we have more “games,” and our widgets work a bit faster (but not as fast as they could without those games), but we’ve not invented or improved upon anything, to my knowledge, that is equivalent to what we saw during the 90s. I’m not a techie, though, so would love to hear what was invented or developed over the past decade — in the U.S. — that is going to make our future so much better.

[CA renter]

[quote=briansd1][quote=CA renter] What I do not approve of are the bailouts of the very people who got us into this mess. This cannot be stated emphatically enough.[/quote]

I agree with you…. but that’s the path not taken. What’s done is done.

Letting the financial sector collapse in 2008 would have required the government nationalize all the big banks and socialize the economy. No chance that would happen in America.

Up until the collapse of Lehman, the people in charge though that the market + some government and Fed tweeking could handle it.

I’m not saying that the bailout programs that we got were the best solutions. But bailouts of some sorts were absolutely necessary.[/quote]

Perhaps if we had nationalized the banking system in 2008, we could have removed the profit motive that has made the financial sector grow to such a disproportionate size — and caused all our bubbles, and resultant busts. We could, instead, have focused on the REAL economy — developments that would have improved the lives of our citizens and people around the world, in addition to producing profits that are based on something tangible.

[CA renter]

[quote=briansd1][quote=CA renter] What I do not approve of are the bailouts of the very people who got us into this mess. This cannot be stated emphatically enough.[/quote]

I agree with you…. but that’s the path not taken. What’s done is done.

Letting the financial sector collapse in 2008 would have required the government nationalize all the big banks and socialize the economy. No chance that would happen in America.

Up until the collapse of Lehman, the people in charge though that the market + some government and Fed tweeking could handle it.

I’m not saying that the bailout programs that we got were the best solutions. But bailouts of some sorts were absolutely necessary.[/quote]

Perhaps if we had nationalized the banking system in 2008, we could have removed the profit motive that has made the financial sector grow to such a disproportionate size — and caused all our bubbles, and resultant busts. We could, instead, have focused on the REAL economy — developments that would have improved the lives of our citizens and people around the world, in addition to producing profits that are based on something tangible.

[CA renter]

[quote=briansd1][quote=CA renter] What I do not approve of are the bailouts of the very people who got us into this mess. This cannot be stated emphatically enough.[/quote]

I agree with you…. but that’s the path not taken. What’s done is done.

Letting the financial sector collapse in 2008 would have required the government nationalize all the big banks and socialize the economy. No chance that would happen in America.

Up until the collapse of Lehman, the people in charge though that the market + some government and Fed tweeking could handle it.

I’m not saying that the bailout programs that we got were the best solutions. But bailouts of some sorts were absolutely necessary.[/quote]

Perhaps if we had nationalized the banking system in 2008, we could have removed the profit motive that has made the financial sector grow to such a disproportionate size — and caused all our bubbles, and resultant busts. We could, instead, have focused on the REAL economy — developments that would have improved the lives of our citizens and people around the world, in addition to producing profits that are based on something tangible.

[CA renter]

[quote=briansd1][quote=CA renter] What I do not approve of are the bailouts of the very people who got us into this mess. This cannot be stated emphatically enough.[/quote]

I agree with you…. but that’s the path not taken. What’s done is done.

Letting the financial sector collapse in 2008 would have required the government nationalize all the big banks and socialize the economy. No chance that would happen in America.

Up until the collapse of Lehman, the people in charge though that the market + some government and Fed tweeking could handle it.

I’m not saying that the bailout programs that we got were the best solutions. But bailouts of some sorts were absolutely necessary.[/quote]

Perhaps if we had nationalized the banking system in 2008, we could have removed the profit motive that has made the financial sector grow to such a disproportionate size — and caused all our bubbles, and resultant busts. We could, instead, have focused on the REAL economy — developments that would have improved the lives of our citizens and people around the world, in addition to producing profits that are based on something tangible.

[Author]

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