(This will be my last column till 10/16, as I am taking a well earned vacation to visit my daughter Melissa. She will be added to our team around the first of the month. She will join my son David and I at Colorado Gold. Her business cards, and everything she needs are ordered, and even her toll free number has been obtained. Davis is 44, Melissa will be 42 in a few days, and fossilized me, will be 75 in February.)
As you may see, there will be no more orders taken for any silver, till the mints catch up. They’ll never catch up, if the orders keep piling up, so we’ll stop piling them up. All silver orders will be filled and shipped before we take any more orders. It is sheer logic to do this. Picture this business before the mad rush came on us. My son and I had leisurely days, talked at length to our clients, and took on a few new ones every week. Now, what I knew would happen eventually, has happened. People are frantic to get out of paper dollars and paper investments. They know that gold and silver may be manipulated, but they can never go to zero. No tangible can go to zero, as have many stocks, and many more will go to in the future. Cans of vegetables, tires, paint, clothes, lumber, and of course any tangible, cannot ever go to zero. The reason is simple. All tangibles require energy, capital, natural resources, and machinery to produce. It has been said that if it can’t be mined or grown, it can go to zero. Such things as paper money and paper assets can, and have many times, gone to zero.
Why is the dollar ’stronger?’ Not because it has gained purchasing power, but in comparison to other paper currencies, it is ’stronger.’ All currencies, and even the Icelandic currency has weakened, because of the printing presses, derivatives, collapse of banks around the world. If one ant is stronger than another ant, are either of them strong, in comparison to a dog? If one piece of lumber is stronger than another, are they strong in comparison to a piece of steel? If the dollar is stronger than the yen, or euro, can it compare to gold or silver, which are historic money for thousands of years? Of course not. If the dollar could gain ’strength,’ consumer prices would go down in dollars, which will probably never happen, other than in a total 1929 like depression, and even then, probably not much.
What power do banks and governments have to rehabilitate the economy they have ruined? They have but one simple power, and that is the printing press. One bank will buy another, and governments will pass laws and issue checks as a ’stimulus,’ but it all boils down to the printing press. Printing presses cannot create actual, true wealth. Honest wealth, can only be created by effort, machinery, farming, mining, thought, expertise, education, and many other things, not related to a governmental power…other than to get the hell out of the way and let man act as they naturally will act, if left alone.
In order for government to stop killing America, it needs to get out of the way, and let thoughtful, energetic men and women act. Ludwig von Mises had the best two word description of economics, when said that economics is simply that “Men Act.” In order to save America, government needs to get out of the way by eliminating things which hamper success. Getting rid of the Federal Reserve might be a very important idea. Can America’s economy ever be rehabilitated? Since the debt is so astronomical that it can never be repaid other than by means of the printing press, I am not sure. Since the government, in all its wisdom, has seen fit to subsidize everything and virtually everyone, to time indefinite, how could the budget ever be balanced? Since all the promises, subsidies, and handouts have created a huge underclass, who will riot if their handouts are denied, I have no idea what could happen to make us whole again. I really don’t. (Once again, I urge everyone to obtain and read the novel ATLAS SHRUGGED).
Government, under the Democrats, could have limited credit card interest rates, which would have helped those in debt to them, but they decided not to do that, but rather create a trillion dollar debt. There’s nothing wrong with usury laws. Under the Democrats, government could have not backed Fanny and Freddie, or at least paid attention to McCain when he tried to control them. It isn’t the Bush tax policy which has created the mess we now see, but greed, stupidity, and a general idea that there is no limit on anything, which there is. Unfortunately, America is not a thoughtful nation, or we would see Ron Paul as the Republican candidate. He would have lost of course, because America isn’t too bright, and for that matter, the world as a whole isn’t much, or any better.
All we can do is protect ourselves, and with the storm of new people who are finally waking up, it is difficult for our old clients to get through to us. The newly smart, are punishing the old smart ones by tying up the phone lines, and I can’t blame them. That’s why there will soon be three numbers on the web site, instead of two. See you in a week. Meantime, keep the faith and protect yourself with tangibles. If you can’t get through to us, think about buying tangible things which will be needed in the future. Canned foods, a new roof, tires for the buggy, or pay off debts? I really think we’re in for hard times. Be smart and act wisely.