The Dollar Vs. the Euro

A brief discussion of the Dollar Vs. the Euro by Tom Campbell, Haas School of Business, UC Berkley.

The Dollar Vs. the Euro: Video Presentation

A Chart of the Euro Versus the US Dollar Index

A Chart of the Euro and US Dollar Index Versus the Currency of Enduring Resort

"In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to protect savings from confiscation through inflation. ... This is the shabby secret of the welfare statists' tirades against gold. Deficit spending is simply a scheme for the confiscation of wealth. Gold stands in the way of this insidious process. It stands as a protector of property rights. If one grasps this, one has no difficulty in understanding the statists' antagonism toward the gold standard.(1967)...Gold still represents the ultimate form of payment in the world....(May, 1999) " Alan Greenspan

"Gold is not necessary. I have no interest in gold. We will build a
strong state without an ounce of gold behind it. Anyone who sells above
the set price, let him be marched off to a concentration camp. That's
the bastion of [fiat] money." Adolf Hitler

Michigan Consumer Sentiment, the SP 500, and Gold

U.S. Michigan Consumer Sentiment Drops to 69.6 This Month
By Courtney Schlisserman

Feb. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Confidence among U.S. consumers fell more than expected this month, reaching a 16-year low, as the labor market cooled.

The Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer sentiment decreased to 69.6 from 78.4 in January, the lowest since February 1992.

The first drop in employment in more than four years and higher gasoline prices are causing Americans to take a dimmer view of the economy and their financial situation. That may reduce consumer spending, which has already has slowed in recent months.


The first chart compares the SP 500 and Michigan Consumer Sentiment. There is a pronounced divergence between the stock market and Consumer Sentiment.

The second chart adds the SP 500 as deflated by gold, which shows a remarkable coincidence with the Consumer Sentiment.

One can only wonder.

SP 500 Bear Market Update: This *Could* Leave a Mark

Most good people find it hard to imagine that the Wall Street banks and beltway politicos might be manipulating the markets and misleading public perceptions of the true state of the economy. Those actions would put the good of the people and fiduciary duty aside, even if it might delay an economic dislocation, while special interest groups and insiders take the necessary actions not only to save themselves, but to a reap immense personal fortunes from the public catastophe which they themselves caused.

We don't. But let's see what happens.

Hint: "As a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavour to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed." Abraham Lincoln, 1865

Cf: What Happened In the Last Bear Market and Recession?