Gold at ATH.....what do your tea leaves say?

[JohnnyBravo300]

Inflation is crazy in the US too.
People are falling further behind every month and the tent cities are growing fast.
Its not uncommon to see a bum or two begging for change during the summer in Gunnison now.

 

[SKULL]

Inflation is crazy in the US too.
People are falling further behind every month and the tent cities are growing fast.
Its not uncommon to see a bum or two begging for change during the summer in Gunnison now.

When u have Beggars on the streets of small country towns, u know things are getting tough everywhere. I'm in AUS.

I grew up in a small rural town in the 60's. It wasn't until the mid 80's that I had to go to the state capital city that I saw beggars on the streets. Mid 80's was a recession & unemployment was up near 9% for a while.

I don't listen or watch BullShit MSM. Just drive/walk around & notice things. Closed shops. Cracks/potholes in the roads. Junk dumped on the roadside because even landfill is so expensive. Just have to look & the signs of tough economic times are all around.

Given the crap Leadership in most countries , I don't expect improvement anytime soon. In fact I think things are only going to go further into the shit

So I Stack when/what I can

 

[mybullion.com.au]

When u have Beggars on the streets of small country towns, u know things are getting tough everywhere. I'm in AUS.

Yep not good.

 

[mmm....shiney!]

Yep, the ALP aka "the party of the people" completely ignoring this issue.

Cnuts.

 

[JohnnyBravo300]

Thankfully we only have 1 or 2 all summer and they move on along.
We dont have any resources here for them and they cant afford our $350k affordable houses and i like it that way.
We dont hand them vouchers or cash or offer them anything so there's no reason to stay.
Plus they wouldnt survive the winter outside here in these mountains.

There are tens of thousands in my hometown which is a bigger city and its rediculous. I went back two winters ago to visit mom and i was SHOCKED.
You can't go anywhere without driving through tents.
I want to take my wife, she won't believe it!

Talk about streets falling apart holy crap. You'll need suspension work by the time you leave.

In my hometown they have resources, give them money and shelter, let them pitch tents wherever they want until it becomes a problem.
Now its a problem.

 

[SKULL]

U know what happens when u give beggars money ?

U get more beggars.

Yes, there is charity & help for those that are having a difficult time. But that should have a limit & conditions.

As they say " socialisms is great, until u run out of other peoples money "

The Western Economies are about to run out of other peoples money.

Next week, next month, next year ? I don't know. But things are getting bad

But, back to Gold. I think this is a good consolidation.

I'm still looking to near $4000 USD Gold for the end of the year.

 

[JohnnyBravo300]

Yeah im just squirreling away as much as I can every month into metals and not much else now since im done with my land payments.

Don't really want any stocks cept some miners right now and they are doing well anyway and probably have room to run for awhile.
Don't want any aircoins or any other dollar derivatives tied to stocks.
Everything is mostly at ath and not much to choose from but im good with metals and always have been. Seems like the easiest choice for the last decade or so and I like the shiney.

 

[JohnnyBravo300]

Work has been weird the last month or so with alot of time off.
Thats never happened before in the 12 years I've been there.
I dont know if its lack of work or scheduling problems but in the past we've always had 50 other jobs to move up and keep on working.
We easily have 70 hour weeks until December doing asphalt work in the past and eventually guys start asking for time off.
Right now half the crew is applying for other jobs or talking about it.

I dont know what is going on but management is blaming scheduling problems.

To me it feels the same as past slowdowns in the economy like what ive experienced before in other trades.

 

[mmm....shiney!]

The Western Economies are about to run out of other peoples money.

How? You already know that they create money out of thin air.

 

[betterinvestmentthanshare]

How? You already know that they create money out of thin air.

I think that’s what Skull is getting at Shiney

 

[SKULL]

How? You already know that they create money out of thin air.

The quote more accurately should read:-

" Western Economies are about to make everyone's money worthless " ( thru printing out of thin air ) " as they spend other peoples money ( Taxation ) & money printed out of thin air ".

Eg, Weimar Germany was in the end, printing $Trillion Notes. People burnt them as they were cheaper than wood. They even plastered their walls with them as they were cheaper than Wallpaper. When a Gov prints $Trillions/$Quadrillions of money out of thin air, how much Value/Worth does a single $1 hold ?

Governments, thru over Taxation ( spending other peoples money ) & Borrowings ( money out of thin air ) have, in the past, Bankrupted & collapsed their economies.

MMT doesn't work. U can't spend ur way out of Debt, if the rate of spending is higher than the rate of Economic Growth:- GDP. The " P " in GDP is Product. The Majority of Government spending doesn't produce any saleable Product/Service. When the Gov borrows a $1 & spends it, but only get $0.7 growth/return on that $1, it's on a expanding/increasing Debt doom loop as it's Debt grows faster than it's economy.

If MMT works, why doesn't the Gov/Fed just Credit every person in the USA with a $BILLION & America will be the richest Country on the Planet ?

 

[Ag bullet]

So what return are we getting for the money spent on NDIS? (Which has more spent on it than medicare)

 

[betterinvestmentthanshare]

So what return are we getting for the money spent on NDIS? (Which has more spent on it than medicare)

Property investors that have contracted their property for NDIS client use are making a killing. Rents far exceed market prices. Mind you the upgrade of the property to for fill client needs is a very small outlay and tax deductible.
So I guess some people are getting great returns.
At the end of the day, government is the biggest driver of our economy as well as the largest employer both directly and indirectly. We all know how this will end.

 

[SKULL]

So what return are we getting for the money spent on NDIS? (Which has more spent on it than medicare)

NDIS is just another MONEY PIT with a Huge sucking sound coming from it Anything that the Gov gets involved in attracts the grifters/scammers/blungers/parasites of every kind.

Eg, AUS housing is a mess, with average young AUS priced out of reasonable home ownership. Higher education has become a DEBT TRAP for young AUS. A recent posting I saw said the in the 1960's over 50% of 30 year old's were married & buying a home. In 2024 that figure had dropped to 13% of 30 year old's married & buying a home. The younger, starting out, generation is being hammered because of disastrous Gov policies & interventions.

From Local/State/Federal Gov's, any project they get involved in, instantly goes over budget & completion/implementation timelines extend out massively. With todays advancement generally but especially in technologies/construction how do these fiascos happen ? If a private contractor ( with Gov financing ) can build the " Hoover Dam " quicker than proposed & under budget, in the early 1930's during the Depression, why can't projects today at least complete on time & on budget ?

Just 1 recent example of today's Idiocracy. A Sydney Council ( local Gov ) sign up for a new swimming pool/community facilities, at a cost of $20 Million. Not even 1/2 way to completion & the timeline has blown out years & the estimated budget to completion is now $130 Million. How the Fuck do u go from $20 Million to $130 Million & years over completion deadline ? This IS NOT a major new challenging project with untested construction. It's a swimming pool with community facilities on flat ground, with easy access.

ANYTHING that a Gov ( local/state/federal ) gets it's parasitic grip into becomes a money pit that sucks money from TAX PAYERS

Privatization, with Gov oversite ( not management ) has worked in may instances/areas. Private companies work on efficiency/profitability. A private company built the " Hoover Dam " under time & under budget, maybe something to learn from that ?

 

[mmm....shiney!]

" Western Economies are about to make everyone's money worthless " ( thru printing out of thin air ) " as they spend other peoples money ( Taxation ) & money printed out of thin air ".

Governments don't spend our taxes. Taxes paid by us (incl GST) meet our debt obligations to the government only. They do not fund government expenditure. Government revenue is created out of thin air by the RBA.

 

[Real $ Return]

 

[SKULL]

An official website of the U.S. government:- FiscalData.treasury.gov

" Federal Revenue Overview:- Where does federal revenue come from? If you lived or worked in the United States in 2024, your tax contributions are likely part of the $4.92 trillion collected in revenue. The federal government also collects revenue from services like admission to national parks and customs duties on foreign imports and exports. The majority of this revenue is used to pay ( spending of tax/revenue collected ) for government activities (employee salaries, infrastructure maintenance), as well as to pay ( spending of tax collected ) for goods and services provided to United States citizens and businesses ".

In FY 2024, the federal government spent $6.75 trillion. Since the government spent more than it collected, the deficit for 2024 was $1.83 trillion.

Deficit spending is money created out of thin air. Before the Gov does Deficit spending, it spends the " Revenue " it collects in " taxes ".

" Semantics is the study of meaning in language. It can be applied to entire texts or to single words. For example, "destination" and "last stop" technically mean the same thing ". Using " Debt Obligation " & " Expenditure " is semantics for " Taxes " & " Spending ".

Government revenue is created out of thin air by the RBA.

Eg, Government expenditure is created out of thin air by the RBA.

Semantics:- the words Revenue & Taxes are interchangeable.
Semantics:- the words pay & spend are interchangeable.

Sources of Federal Revenue:- Most of the revenue the U.S. government collects comes from contributions from individual taxpayers, small businesses, and corporations through taxes. Additional sources of tax revenue consist of excise tax, estate tax, and other taxes and fees. So far in FY 2025, individual income taxes have accounted for 51% of total revenue while Social Security and Medicare taxes made up another 34%.

Semantics:- revenue the U.S. government collects comes from contributions from individual taxpayers - from the statement above. Change the semantic words around:- Taxes the U.S. government collects comes from contributions from individual Revenue Payers.

Semantics:- So far in FY 2025, individual income taxes have accounted for 51% of total revenue while Social Security and Medicare taxes made up another 34%. Change the semantic words around:- So far in FY 2025, individual income Revenue Paid have accounted for 51% of total Taxes while Social Security and Medicare Revenue made up another 34%.

Word games don't change the underlying meaning of a statement.

 

[mmm....shiney!]

An official website of the U.S. government:- FiscalData.treasury.gov

Goes to show even government departments don't have a clue. You'll find similar myths published on probably every nation's official websites eg https://treasury.gov.au/review/tax-white-paper/at-a-glance and politicians, special interest groups mainstream economists and the media promote these myths.

Deficit spending is money created out of thin air. Before the Gov does Deficit spending, it spends the " Revenue " it collects in " taxes ".

That's arse about. Before it can collect taxes it must spend. How do I pay my income taxes if the government hasn't first issued currency through spending? Governments issue the money through spending, then they impose taxes to control the economic conditions in a nation.

Taxes are not revenue.

This is what someone's account at the ATO would look like if they had a $1000 tax obligation outstanding:




And this is what it would look like after the tax was paid:




You'll note the final balance is $0. In other words there are no funds left over for the RBA to deposit into any of the government's accounts to spend. And if someone were to pay by cash/cheque, the RBA would destroy those notes/pieces of paper.

 

[mmm....shiney!]

Warren Mosler: "A football stadium doesn't collect the tickets first and then sell them..."

 

[mmm....shiney!]

MMT doesn't work.

Ummmm sorry mate, it's not a thing that works or doesn't work - it's an explanation of how government spending, taxation and inflation function in modern sovereign nations that issue their own currency.

If MMT works, why doesn't the Gov/Fed just Credit every person in the USA with a $BILLION & America will be the richest Country on the Planet ?

I'm sure you know the answer to that already. If you asked a MMT expert they would come up with the same answer as an expert from any orthodox field of economics ie it would create rampant inflation, hence why you'll never find a single MMT expert advocating for the government to gift every person $1B.