See: What
Made the Next Depression Worse, by Llewellyn N. Rockwell, Jr.,
Ludwig von Mises Institute Ole Bear, Editor, Commentary Waking
Up to a Bad Hair Day, Mr. Kondratiev? Imagine waking up one morning and all of your money in the bank and in your retirement accounts having taken a 4 to 1 reverse split overnight. Impossible? It happened in Argentina. Imagine trying to sell your property, and there were no buyers and no market. Impossible? Nope. It happened in Argentina. Imagine buying a new Mercedes on your credit card, trying to find some place to park your cash? Impossible? Nope. It happened in Argentina. Imagine the Big Government and the banks telling you that you can only use $400 in your checking or savings account a month. Impossible? Nope, it happened in Argentina. Imagine your local county or city issuing its own paper script money because there wasn't enough of the national currency to conduct business and for folks to live. Impossible? Nope, you are catching on! It happened in Argentina. Imagine trying to send your money off-shore or to another country [safe haven] to get the flock out of dodge and a faltering money system, and the Big Government freezes all wire transfers out of the country. Impossible? Nope, it happened in Argentina. Banana Republic story? Kind of, but I don't consider Argentina to be a Banana Republic at all. It is a great country, has a rather robust history, especially on the political scene, depends on a central bank [and the IMF], and legal tender fiat paper funnie monie. The national language is Spanish, but some English is spoken. Gee, does that sound familiar? This is what I call financial implosion. It hurts a lot of folks. Depressions generally happen in the Winter Cycle of the Kondratieff [Kondratiev] Economic Wave Cycle. It is pretty nasty stuff overall, and the last time the US was in this predicament was back in the late 1920s and 1930s. From start to finish the four seasons [Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall, and not to be confused with Vivaldi's Four Seasons], the Kondratiev cycle takes about 60 to 70 years if central banks stay out of the way trying to prevent it. Japan's in Winter right now, and has been since their stock market shot craps in the early 1990s, and their real estate values tanked. Depression is a pretty ugly word to use on the financial scene -- so just think of it as just another bad hair day. New math: 2005 - 1930 = 75 years, huh? This time, it is different though, ain't it? Real estate bubble? Nahhhh! Yours Truly,
Ole Bear, Editor © 2005 Realty Reality |
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