Liberty Maven

D o w n s i z e r – D i s p a t c h

Quote of the Day:

“It has been argued that full disclosure of details of funding facilities like TALF and PDCF, that enabled massive bailouts of Wall Street, would damage the financial position of those firms and destabilize the economy. In other words, if the American people knew how rotten the books were at those banks and how terribly they messed up, they would never willingly invest in them, and they would fail. Failure is not an option for friends of the Fed. Therefore, the funds must be stolen from the people in the dark of night. This is not how a free country works. This is not how free markets work. That is crony corporatism and instead of being a force for economic stabilization, it totally undermines it.” — Congressman Ron Paul

You’re not allowed to know who got how much, and under what terms. This information was NOT heard at the hearings about the “Audit the Fed” bill. Therefore, the only way to learn the answers is to . . .

Audit the Fed!

Please use our Educate the Powerful System to send Congress another letter demanding that they pass the Audit the Fed bill.

Use your personal comments to say something similar to what I’ve said in my own letter to Congress . . .

The “Audit the Fed” hearings proved that the Federal Reserve will not reveal its activities without an audit. A majority of the House has co-sponsored the Audit the Fed bill. This leads me to wonder what dark forces are keeping it from coming to a vote. I elected you to represent me, so please do your job. Force the leadership in the House and Senate to bring this bill to a vote! You must lead your “so-called” leaders. Make it happen! I URGE YOU TO DO IT NOW!

You can send your letter here.

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Ron Paul described in this week’s Texas Straight Talk column the recent hearing for HR1207 and the witnesses who testified on both sides of the issue.  Here is part of it:

If the Fed gave its actual arguments against a full audit, they would not have mentioned anything about political independence or economic stability. Instead they would admit they don’t want to be audited because they enjoy their current situation too much. Under the guise of currency control, they are able to help out powerful allies on Wall Street, in exchange for lucrative jobs or who-knows-what favors later on. An audit would expose the Fed as a massive fraud perpetrated on this country, enriching a privileged few bankers at the top of our economic food chain, and leaving the rest of us with massively devalued dollars which we are forced to use by law. An audit would make people realize that, while Bernie Madoff defrauded a lot of investors for a lot of money, the Fed has defrauded every one of us by destroying the value of our money. An honest and full accounting of how the money system really works in this country would mean there is not much of a chance the American people would stand for it anymore.

Read the whole article.

by Peter Schiff, president of Euro Pacific Capital and author of Crash Proof 2.0: How to Profit from the Economic Collapse

As another G20 meeting rolls around, this time on home soil, the time comes once again for the economically curious but politically unconnected to wonder what is really happening behind closed doors. But while admiring the pageantry, chuckling at the awkward group photos, and parsing the joint communiqués like newly found Dead Sea scrolls, the overwhelming majority of observers will miss the meeting’s dominant theme: hypocrisy.

Everyone agrees that the principal agenda item in Pittsburgh will be the need to rein in the ‘global imbalances’ that created the late economic crisis. Everyone also agrees that these imbalances involve too much spending and borrowing by Americans and too little of both by the Chinese and other developing nations. In his remarks this week at the United Nations, President Obama used his peerless rhetorical skill to frame the issues clearly and plainly. Noting that a return to pre-crisis economics is impossible, the president assured the world that his administration will pursue policies to increase savings and decrease spending at home and challenged his Chinese counterparts to enact measures with the opposite effect in their own country.

While this is roughly what needs to happen, President Obama is actually doing everything in his power to prevent it. In point of fact, every policy move undertaken by his administration has exacerbated the very imbalances he supposedly wants to curtail. To so seamlessly profess one goal while simultaneously undermining it is an impressive piece of political theater. Unfortunately, this particular drama is likely to have an unhappy ending – and the ticket price will be staggering.

What exactly are the federal fiscal stimuli other than deliberate, but clumsy, efforts to get people, companies, and governments to spend money they don’t have? Programs like tax credits for new homebuyers or ‘cash for clunkers’ are intended to encourage consumers to spend money that they otherwise might have saved. Grants to municipalities allow them to hire workers and spend money locally that they otherwise would have forgone.

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Ron Paul and his son Rand Paul appeared on Neil Cavuto’s Fox Business channel show earlier today.

Among other things Rand Paul seems to take responsibility for helping to grow the “freedom movement”. Cavuto, in the end, gets away with calling the Paul family “cheap”, but it was all in good fun. Watch below.

The American Conservative has posted an except of Ron Paul’s new book End the Fed in which Paul gives a short history of our nation’s monetary policy and how the Fed came to be. Then of course he goes on to explain why the Fed is the #1 culprit in why our currency has lost 95% of its value in the past 95 years.

But how much do we really know about what goes on inside the Fed? Even with the newest round of bailouts, journalists had difficulty determining where the money was coming from and where it was headed. From its founding in 1913, secrecy and inside deals have been part of the way the Fed works.

It says that its job is to keep inflation in check. But this is like the car industry claiming to control road congestion. The Fed might attempt to stop the effects of inflation, namely rising prices. But under the old definition of inflation—an artificial increase in the supply of money and credit—the reason for its existence is to generate more, not less.

The banking industry has always had trouble with the idea of a free market that provides opportunities for both profits and losses. The first part, the industry likes. The second is another matter. That is the reason for the constant drive in American history toward the centralization of money, a trend that not only benefits the largest banks with the most to lose from a sound-money system, but also the government, which is able to use an elastic system as an alternative form of revenue support.

Whenever instability turns up, we see efforts to socialize the losses, but rarely do people question the source of instability. Economist Jesús Huerta de Soto places the blame on the institution of fractional-reserve banking. This is the notion that depositors’ money in use as cash may also be loaned out for speculative projects, then re-deposited. The system works as long as people do not attempt to withdraw their money all at once. In the face of such a demand, banks turn to other banks to provide liquidity. But when the failure becomes system-wide, they turn to government.

Read the full excerpt here, and then purchase the hardcover version of End the Fed for only $12.09 here.

Here is the video from MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” of Peter Schiff officially announcing his bid for Senate in Connecticut. Everyone seems to be focused on his potential opponent Chris Dodd and overlooks the fact that he must win the GOP primary first. He’s not even the front runner in the primary…. yet.

Rand Paul appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” this morning to discuss his race for Senate in Kentucky. Once again he shows that he is a “force to be reckoned with” for Trey Grayson, his GOP primary opponent.

by John Browne – Senior Market Strategist, Euro Pacific Capital

Readers familiar with my views know that I believe that the current stock market rally is a bullish chapter in an otherwise bearish novel. In the spring of this year, I had said I would not be surprised if the Dow were to hit 10,000 by the end of summer. While I was a little too optimistic on that particular forecast, it now looks as if U.S. stock markets are a bit ‘toppy’ and a reversal may be in the cards. Seven factors, five tactical and two strategic, cause me to see a change in the wind.

Tactically, the employment situation, falling house prices, tight credit, a sliding U.S. dollar and depressed world trade are cause for deep concern. But as these factors could show rapid changes over the short term, I am less inclined to set my investment bearings by these readings. More troubling are the two strategic issues, the continued creation of excessive debt in the United States and the continued growth of consumer spending as the overwhelming driver of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP). In order for a bull market in U.S. stocks to be sustainable, these problems must be brought to heel. However, making a dent in these imbalances would require the sort of political courage that is vanishingly rare in D.C.

***

For the tactical investor, the following portends a coming correction:

Unemployment

Recently, Wall Street cheerleaders seized on the falling rate of unemployment growth as a sign of economic recovery. In July, the official figures showed unemployment increasing by some 216,000. If this were a reflection of reality, it would be a sign of possible improvement. However, the often-ignored figure for employment, as opposed to unemployment, showed some 980,000 less people employed, or 4.5 times more than the unemployment figure!

How could these two vitally important totals differ by some 764,000? The short answer is that the government excludes from the unemployment figures all those who have given up hope of finding a job and all those who have settled for part-time jobs. In other words: if you have stopped looking for a job, congratulations, you are no longer unemployed! So much for government statistics. The true level of unemployment has been estimated at 20 million, or double the official figure.

Home Prices

In recent days, reports have emerged to show that home prices have stabilized. Given the dismal fundamentals of the real estate market, we had projected that national home prices would have needed to fall an additional 20 percent from current levels in order to return to the Case-Schiller 100-year trend line. But given the massive and continued Federal involvement in every facet of the home buying process, there is nothing at all ‘fundamental’ about home prices today. Absent this intervention, prices would continue to fall. Since the federal treasury does have its limits, the outlook for real estate subsidies, and therefore the entire sector, is still negative.

Tight Credit

Despite reckless federal efforts to boost liquidity, credit remains tight. This reality is the market’s own discipline signaling that the fundamentals remain unsound. Meanwhile, the Fed is inhibiting liquidity to shore up the money center banks by, for the first time, paying interest on bank reserves it holds. The banks thus have little incentive to lend to small businesses, the largest job creators, or to individuals. As an aide, this may also be serving to hide the effects of the Fed’s currency expansion by slowing the velocity of new cash.

Collapsing Dollar

Meanwhile, for Americans, the plummeting U.S. dollar is forcing up the price of most commodities, despite decreased demand. This stagflation is a dangerous recipe not only because it neuters any attempt at policy manipulation of the market, but because it hits the underemployed and unemployed with rising prices for everyday goods.

***

While some investors fixate on the symptomatic issues above to determine their strategy, we choose to focus on the underlying malady itself. Keeping your eye on these unfortunately static conditions will provide a solid point of reference by which to navigate:

Conspicuous Consumption

The Obama Administration has shown no appetite for allowing consumers to reign in their spending habits. So, consumption still accounts for some 70 percent of American GDP. Where individuals have tried to reduce spending and increase savings, stimulus programs and quantitative easing have overridden their gains. Indeed, President Obama’s massive expenditure plans for health and educational entitlements will serve to magnify this crucially damaging strategic imbalance.

Exploding Debt

Finally, contrary to election promises of “change,” the Administration shows no signs of controlling its expenditure and massive debt. Indeed, the ill-advised wars fostered by President Bush in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to drain blood and treasure. This Administration appears set to continue its predecessor’s mission of unending debt expansion.

***

Due to our failure to restructure, America is finding it harder and harder to compete globally. Instead of taking our lumps, Washington is lashing out with suicidal measures like this week’s Chinese Tire Tariff, an ominous prelude to next week’s Pittsburgh G-20 meetings.

And the markets just don’t get it. Technically, S&P profits are down some 90 percent, but the Index has risen to push P/E ratios to levels not seen since 1929. The financial media’s cloying banter about ‘green shoots’ is reminiscent of “Baghdad Bob,” the comically delusional Iraqi information officer who denied the advances of American forces even as U.S. tanks overran Saddam’s headquarters.

Some talk of a “jobless recovery.” In the past, such an event could only occur when an asset boom (such as a real estate bubble) provided Americans with non-employment income. Today, there is little prospect of such a boom.

Stock markets tend to reflect financial hope. Given today’s situation, investors might be wise to prepare themselves for economic reality by investing selectively in more prudent economies abroad.

For a more in-depth analysis of our financial problems and the inherent dangers they pose for the U.S. economy and U.S. dollar, read Peter Schiff’s 2007 bestseller “Crash Proof: How to Profit from the Coming Economic Collapse” and his newest release “The Little Book of Bull Moves in Bear Markets.” Click here to learn more.

More importantly, don’t let the great deals pass you by. Get an inside view of Peter’s playbook with his new Special Report, “Peter Schiff’s Five Favorite Investment Choices for the Next Five Years.” Click here to dowload the report for free. You can find more free services for global investors, and learn about the Euro Pacific advantage, at www.europac.net.

In a wonderful interview the Wall Street Journal’s “Real Time Economics” blog discusses Ron Paul’s ultimate goal of ending the Federal Reserve system. Paul is again at his best when he is educating the people. He puts the nature of our monetary system is layman’s terms in this interview in a very effective way. He makes it accessible to all. He may not advocate Universal Health Care, but he certainly advocates Universal Monetary Education.

So without the Fed, there wouldn’t be as much credit.

Yeah, it would be different. If you were selling me a car and the car was worth $10,000 and I didn’t want to pay cash, you could take credit from me. You’ve got to have something to measure it by. What is a dollar? We don’t even know what a dollar is. There’s no definition for a dollar. There’s never been a time in law that said a Federal Reserve note is a dollar. That’s the basic flaw. There’s no definition for money. We’ve built a worldwide economy on a measuring rod that varies every single day. That’s why it was fragile, and that’s why it collapsed. There was no soundness to it. So that’s why you have to have a stable unit of account.

If you live in a primitive society, you’d trade goods. And if you wanted to advance, then you would trade a universal good, which would be a coin. But we’ve become sophisticated and smart and say, ‘Oh, you don’t have to go through that. We’ll just print the money. And we’ll trust the government not to print too much, and distribute it fairly.’ That’s often just a total farce. People are realizing that it is.

Read the entire Q and A at the Wall Street Journal.

Ron Paul appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” this morning to promote his new book “End The Fed” (although he didn’t really get a chance to do so) and the general state of economic affairs America. Joe points out how right Ron Paul was when he predicted the economic crisis in 2003.

This is another great educational appearance by Ron Paul. As one of the Youtube commenters stated, “This is the one video that needs to be forwarded to your family members.”

Joe asks Ron Paul, “What did you know in 2003″ that no one else knew? Check the video out below for Ron Paul’s answers.