"People of privilege will always risk their complete destruction rather than surrender any material part of their advantage. Intellectual myopia, often called stupidity, is no doubt a reason. But the privileged also feel that their privileges, however egregious they may seem to others, are a solemn, basic, God-given right."
John Kenneth Galbraith
"Countries such as Great Britain and the United States became rich because their citizens overthrew the elites who controlled power and created a society where political rights were much more broadly distributed, where the government was accountable and responsive to citizens, and where the great mass of people could take advantage of economic opportunities."
Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson, Why Nations Fail
"I don’t think there’s any doubt that quantitative easing enabled the rich and the quick. It was a massive gift… I hope that we do indeed succeed in being able to say in the end the wealth effect was more evenly distributed. I doubt it.”
Richard Fisher, former Dallas Fed President
Freedom is not an objective to be reached and then forgotten. It is a way of life.
Gold and silver were lower today, largely on a stronger dollar and what I like to think of as stock market option expiration for September which is this Friday. The options on miners are lucrative enough to warrant the attention of some of the pigmen.
It is fashionable but fatally myopic to blame everything on government manipulation when the regulatory bodies and their bosses are as ideologically and financially compromised as they are today, and the moneyed interests buy and sell politicians almost openly, and even then quite brazenly.
But still, these fluctuations in the metals themselves are just short term 'wiggles' for the most part, and the overall trend remains bullish.
So if you chase and fret about with these fluctuations, you may get dizzy, and a bit poorer, from chasing your own tail. Especially if you are over-playing your hand and your temperament with excessive leverage.
The economic news starts trickling in tomorrow.
Have a pleasant evening.
