Franklin D. Roosevelt, Inaugural Address, 4 March 1933
"Experience, however, shows that neither a state nor a bank ever have had the unrestricted power of issuing paper money without abusing that power; in all states, therefore, the issue of paper money ought to be under some check and control; and none seems so proper for that purpose as that of subjecting the issuers of paper money to the obligation of paying their notes either in gold coin or bullion."
David Ricardo, The Works of David Ricardo, 1848
"When depreciated, mutilated, or debased coinage or currency is in concurrent circulation with money of high value in terms of precious metals, the good money automatically disappears."
Thomas Gresham, 1560
"It begins with a highly complex financial system, whose very complexity makes it difficult for anyone to know what might be going wrong; by definition, the multiple parts of the financial system are linked, which means that trouble in one institution, city, or region can travel easily and quickly to others.
Buoyant growth in the economy makes the financials system more fragile, in part due to the demand for capital and in part due to the tendency of some institutions to take on more risk than is prudent. Leaders in government and the financials sector implement policies that advertently or inadvertently increase the exposure to risk of crisis.
An economic shock hits the financials system. The mood of the market swings from optimism to pessimism, create a self-reinforcing downward spiral."
Robert Bruner and Sean Carr, The Panic of 1907, August 31, 2007
“For these are a rebellious people, deceitful children, unwilling to listen to the commandments of the Lord. They say to their seers,‘Do not see!’, and to the prophets,‘Say nothing of what is right. Tell us only the things that please us — prophesy illusions.'"
Isaiah 30:8-10
These words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer have never held a stronger meaning for us.
“Against such foolishness we are defenseless. Reason falls on deaf ears; facts that contradict one’s prejudgment simply need not be believed – in such moments the foolish person even becomes critical – and when facts are irrefutable they are just pushed aside as inconsequential, as incidental.And so we see a strong rally in stocks, based on no new information that triggered the sharp sell off from the day before.
In all this the foolish person, in contrast to the malicious one, is utterly self satisfied and, being easily irritated, becomes dangerous by going on the attack. Never again will we try to persuade the foolish person with reasons, for it is senseless and dangerous.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison
Gold and silver, which had sold off sharply the day before, rallied strongly.
Gold has held its short term breakout fairly well so far. It needs to regain some momentum to take out the resistance it now faces, and move on to its next objective. It may well do that.
Silver has not yet broken out of its trading formation on the weekly chart. It made it back up to the top of the range today, but rangebound it remains.
The mundane mind of the spokesmodels finds comfort is silly rationalizations and arcane auspices of the chief equity strategists from the Banks.
On the political front, our official narrative is simple madness, driven by the reckless lust for power and money by the dominant extremes of the halls of power, public and private.
Most are only looking out for their own short term advantage, whether it is truly good for them or not.
And the more frightened and uncertain people get, the louder and crazier they become.
This is a wicked and adulterous generation. It demands a sign.
Well, why don't you tell us what is happening, and what we ought to do?
This is what several voices have been doing, for some time now. Mostly to hardened hearts, in bare, ruined choirs.
This is how it has always been. They don't believe in war, and plagues.
Until something that will be missed has been consumed.
Have a pleasant evening.
