Your Choice: Ron Paul Or A Wheelbarrow?
January 25, 2012 by John Myers
You might have good need for a wheelbarrow, especially if the Presidential election turns out the way I fear it will. After we know the victor, the smart thing to do will be to run out and buy wheelbarrows to replace our wallets, purses and even bank accounts.
The United States is creating money to a degree that has happened only twice before in its history. It was initiated to overcome the Great Recession of 2008. On Seeking Alpha, contributor Jeremy Robson writes:
The Federal Reserve balance sheet has expanded from $869 billion on August 8, 2008, to $2.929 trillion on December 28, 2011. This is an average increase per month of $55.1 billion or an annual increase of $661 billion.
A similar situation is occurring in Europe. Greece, Ireland and other nations could quickly fall into default.
Robson points out: “The rise in the balance sheets of the big 4 central banks over the 2008-12 period will amount to about 15 per cent [sic] of GDP, which is equivalent to over 50 per cent [sic] of the cumulative budget deficit of these countries over the same period.”
One can legitimately argue that central banks are financing government deficits. This certainly sets up the possibility for hyperinflation in 2012 and beyond.
Only twice in American history has the Nation had to endure hyperinflation: 1779 and 1861-1865. Both occurred during wartime.
Three generations of Americans have lived through good economic times. That is not to say there haven’t been some hardships in American life. The rolling recession of the early 1980s was tough on the Nation, and the Crash of 2008 scared most of us witless.
America is not immune to economic catastrophe. Currently, a $1 trillion per year deficit is being backstopped by the Fed which is now buying more than 50 percent of all new Treasury debt. China holds more than $1 trillion in Treasury debt, and it may soon believe it is sitting on fool’s gold. More and more dollars are being created by a keystroke on the Fed’s computer. This means that every existing dollar holds less value.
If China or other foreign investors start to sell off their Treasury bills, notes and bonds, it will create a flood of new money. Rampant Treasury liquidations could tip off a period of hyperinflation and that would drive an already shaky economy into oblivion.
Who is going to stop it? Not President Barack Obama. He has done more to create catastrophe than any President since Herbert Hoover. Will Mitt Romney engineer a rescue for a Nation that has failed to deal with economic realities for the past three decades? How about Newt Gingrich, a consummate Washington insider? I doubt that any of these three have the will to take the draconian steps necessary to save the U.S. dollar and to save the United States.
Gingrich talks a good game. Last month, he proclaimed that he is now running on a hard money platform. While campaigning in South Carolina, the candidate recommended a “commission on gold to look at the whole concept of how we get back to hard money.”
I suggest that Gingrich’s promises to the Nation are as empty as the promises he made to his former wives.
According to CNN Money:
Gingrich would model his “gold commission” after one put in place after Ronald Reagan was elected, when the nation was battling double-digit inflation. But even then, the commission overwhelmingly rejected the idea of a return to the gold standard.
One of only two members of the 17-member commission to endorse a return to the gold standard was Ron Paul.
Jim Rogers, a hard-asset guru and billionaire who has hit big-market trends correctly over the past 25 years, believes that Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul can save America from an economic catastrophe.
Rogers told Beacon Equity Research that he believes Paul understands the problems that are facing America.
Rogers pointed out that unlike the other candidates for the Oval Office, Paul is willing to implement painful cuts to U.S. debt levels including severe budget cuts and the slashing of defense spending. That isn’t just a bitter pill for the Nation, it is major surgery. And let’s face it; the majority don’t like Paul’s prescription to make America well.
The Huffington Post Canada pointed out this week:
Both Democrats and Republicans seem to have this problem with Ron Paul, but Democrats tend to like the opposite 50 percent of what Ron Paul says from the 50 percent that Republicans like. Democrats tend to like the part about protecting civil liberties and reducing military spending, while the Republicans tend to like the 50 percent that’s about slashing social programs, but hate the part about withdrawing all our troops from around the globe. As Rick Santorum said, “The problem with Congressman Paul is, all the things that Republicans like about him he can’t accomplish and all the things they’re worried about, he’ll do day one.”
That is, if Paul gets the chance.
It is like millions of people who are told by the doctor every year to give up smoking or drinking. Most of us change our habits only after we get a terrible diagnosis, and then it is often too late.
Paul is both a real doctor and a realist. He has given his diagnosis to the Nation. I bet few Americans have the courage to accept it.
This will ensure old policies and overspending by Washington and the continued destruction of the U.S. dollar. Short of some miracle, now is probably a good time to buy a few additional ounces of silver and gold. Buying a wheelbarrow wouldn’t be a bad idea either.
Yours in good times and bad,
–John Myers
Editor, Myers’ Energy & Gold Report
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