Great Depression of 2016

[hemet dennis]

Free trade is just another liberal lie. Why should they be allowed to sell stuff here without paying a tariff? They say they are free trading, but the tax on a US made automobile in China is about 25 per cent. While some countries say they free trade, they use all sorts of other legal strictures to blunt it. If the law only allows one vehicle a day to be off loaded from a transporter, that ship would be in port for about ten years.

Our exports to China are ownership of our industry, real estate and intellectual property that they decided not to steal. The biggest real export to China is scrap metal. And, that may come back to us in a real bad way.

Consumers will always want the cheapest item available, but that is not always in the best interest of the nation. After buying all of those cheap gee gaws from China at Wally Mart, then they wonder why their job has gone to China.

Here is some interesting reading on the Canadian experience: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-02/how-canada-s-flirtation-with-a-china-oil-market-soured.html

America's exports to China amounted to
$122 billion or 7.7% of overall US exports

1. Oil seed: $13.8 billion
2. Aircraft, spacecraft: $12.6 billion
3. Machines, engines, pumps: $12.2 billion
4. Electronic equipment: $11.4 billion
5. Vehicles: $10.3 billion
6. Medical, technical equipment: $7.7 billion
7. Plastics: $4.7 billion
8. Woodpulp: $3.6 billion
9. Copper: $3.5 billion
10. Organic chemicals: $3 billion
These are facts.
http://www.worldsrichestcountries.com/top_us_exports.html

The U.S. is the 2nd biggest exporter in the world. We export more then all but one other country.

 

[rufus]

Dennis, we have some trade with China, but is it stuff that we really should be selling them? We had trade with Japan before Pearl Harbor. When the Marines invaded Guadacanal, they found the Japanese were using Dodge trucks. We have to be careful what we sell to whom.

During the great depression, my father collected scrap iron and sold it to a nice Japanese fellow. At the same time, my mother would locate, file a claim on and sell guano deposits. She sold those claims to a nice Japanese fellow. We paid dearly for that.

The Chinese are now pushing the Philippines, Viet Nam, Taiwan and Japan over the Parcel Islands and are attempting to dominate vast areas of the Pacific Ocean. The issue is not just fishing rights, but mineral resources. We may be dragged into a long, difficult and unwinable war. Caution is advised.

 

[Farmer Mike S]

Is buying gold a good move right now? I have a lot of money in my bank and in the stock market (which wasn't my choice, my parents put my money into stocks, I personally don't prefer to support big corporations even if I do make money off it). I have somewhere in the relm of $30,000 all together, and I got into a completely free college including room and board, so I have nothing I need the money for right now. I was thinking about buying $20,000 worth of gold, because gold will always hold value whether we have an economic collapse or not. If there was some kind of economic collapse, there would eventually be a demand for gold, if not right away. If there wasn't any issue at all, I couldn't really lose because the gold would still have value. But my $30,000 would be completely wiped out if there was an econmic collapse. If I bought $20,000 worth of gold, I would still have $10,000 in quick cash. I would imagine that the gold would be relatively easy to hide too if I plan to use it only as a stored investment; I can bury it in a box in the yard and plant a bush over top.

I haven't read a post on this discussion, but I really can see a great depression coming just by looking at how much we import yet so little we export. I'm no economics major, but the way I see it, it's like me printing out money to keep buying a car from someone, and all I export is maybe a few chicken eggs. Not too long ago so much was made in america, but I guess in the mid 80s that's when we got into major exports.

Regardless of anything, is gold a good investment? Everyone thinks I'm nuts

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Its always good to have some money in gold but its high now so I would not invest a lot in it. Used gold or silver rings in chains is probably a better investment now if you can get them for the right price. Something you can actually barter with. Gold bars will always have value but what are you going to buy worth one whole gold bar....

 

[rufus]

Gold holds its value, but the problem is you holding on to it. The government stole the peoples' gold before, and they will do it again. Those that risked prison by hiding their gold could then only sell the gold at a deep discount because it was an illegal item. In some countries like China, people hiding their valuables got killed.

But those that hung in there, eventually managed to retain their wealth. But it took a long time. Are you prepared to hide your wealth for fifty years?

You need to think about other investments and evaluate the risks before you commit your funds.

Good Luck

 

[Farmer Mike S]

What would you recommend investing in? My brother told me to buy guns and survival stuff, which may be reasonable to maybe drop a grand or two on, but definitely nothing close to $20,000. That would be stupid because guns and survival gear would be USELESS and somewhat worthless unless there actually is a crisis.

But with a somewhat skeptical view, I would be looking for something that's valuable now and also still valuable in the event of an economic collapse. That's why I thought gold may be a viable option. It's definitely true that something like a gold chain would be easier to trade than just a gold brick... One thing I know though is that $30,000 in cash would be completely worthless in an economic crash, and with all the hours of minimum wage, that money means so much more to me than it's value, that's why I fear losing it so much

 

[newfoundland]

Farmer Mike I have always understood it is best to spread your investments, and buying small, gold jewellery can be a good investment. You must however be very wary. If you bought a diamond ring for lets say £1000 ($15000) today, I can assure you that you could not get anything like that back if you sold it tomorrow. For this reason Romany people, and curiously Cockneys, have always invested in gold jewellery but in old jewellery. There is for example no purchase tax on pre-owned or as we call them second hand items. Plus, there is a value in the age of things as they start to become vintage and antique. In fact antiques in general are a good investment if bought wisely.

If I were you I would start finding out about the resale value of antiques and collectibles. I am sure there are enough TV programmes over there on antiques and auctions, there certainly are here. This traditionally, has always been a strong area, because there are always people with money to buy things, that after all, if not unique, are rare enough to make them desirable. Look to your resale market. Russian and Chinese antiques/collectibles are very strong. Why? because so much of their things were destroyed/confiscated in the political turmoil they have undergone in the last 100 years. The internet means the whole world is your market place now. I regularly see items going off the China and Russia from UK, and people are prepared to pay good prices because they are buying back their heritage.

My advice is this. Do your homework. Find out all you can about antiques. Read the books, watch the programmes. Get a feeling for what's on trend. Then go round garage sales, second hand shops, rummage sales etc and try your luck at spotting some resalable items. Think internationally. A thing that would have no resale value in the US might be snapped up by someone from Russia, China, or indeed anywhere else if it has significance to their culture. The bonus is you can enjoy the item yourself whilst it is in your possession.

 

[rufus]

Years ago, I worked with a little Jewish lady that gave me some good advice. I had been buying bonds for my kids future, but she told me that if I would buy a small gold item every pay day, I would have a lot more saved by the time the kids were ready to go to college. The government cannot print more gold.

The pawn shops were just the right ticket. I figured out that when they made loans, they only loaned a mere fraction of the value of the item. If they loaned fifty dollars on an item that had three hundred dollars of gold value, they had a lot of leeway when the owner defaulted and they went to sell it. I caught on that their bottom price on an item would be the price of gold that day.

When the price of gold was low, I would go to the shops on my lunch hour and buy gold. I wouldn't pay for it right away; I would put it on lay away and pay for it in payments. That way, it was safe in the shop's vault and not hidden under a mattress in my dicey neighborhood.

By putting it on lay away, I froze the price. When the price of gold would go up enough, I could redeem the item and if necessary sell it for scrap.

Eventually, I had a safe deposit box full of old jewelry. It served its purpose; my kids went to law school.

I suggest you buy a gold testing kit and read up on the gold jewelry available. Don't buy religious medals; I got burned on them. They are fake.

When the US government stole the nation's gold, they didn't make people sell their jewelry. Coins were another thing though.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

I will just randomly put this here...

 

[rufus]

This is not good news! http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-...egree-of-accommodation-remains-warranted.html

Government is not the solution, it is the problem. We cannot borrow our way out of this problem; we cannot spend our way out of it either.

There are none so blind. http://pjmedia.com/blog/lighten-up-pelosi-pretty-confident-china-not-overtaking-u-s-economy/

Notice that in either article no one mentions the "working class" but they refer to the "middle class." The idea of working is totally alien to these people.