OK, so a few beers have been had, but here goes .... I reckon the US has vast wealth, but is sitting on it: * They have large oil reserves that were discovered decades ago, but have been capped. I believe natural gas as well (in the southern states) * There _is_ gold in Fort Knox, lots of it The US has been buying OTHER people's energy, with money it has been able to print for practically ZERO cost. They send pieces of paper to overseas, in return they get barrels of OIL and other goods. Why should the US dip into it's own reserves? The rest of the world is happy to accept it's pieces of paper! How have they ensured the rest of the world continues to accept their pieces of paper? The military. This is why US military spending cuts have always been 'off limits'. It seems obvious that the US needs to cut military spending, as their annual deficits spiral out of control. But they CANNOT. They need to keep pumping dollars into the military, so they can keep flexing their muscle on the international stage. Don't think the US dollar is good enough for you? Here's some Patriot missiles with your name on it .... Now, this is heading to a situation where at some point, the US is going to give the rest of the world the big FINGER. They are going to print to oblivion, and other countries will stop accepting the USD. When this occurs, the US will know it is now time to start dipping into their own reserves. Their own oil. Their own gas. And their gold, which is now worth <insert unbelievably large number here in> per ounce. What made me think of this, was my younger brother. A while ago, I lent him some money. I later found out he had plenty of spare $$ of his own. When I found out, I blew up! I asked him why the hell he asked for a loan, if he had his own money the whole time. He said: "Why should I spend my money, if I can use yours?" My brother was always a little sh1t. But on reflection, it reminded me of what the US has been doing. Hope everyone is having a great Easter
This is exactly what my father-in-law has been saying for ages. Why use up your own precious oil when you can buy it with computer digits that you can later default on? That way when the scam goes sour your sitting pretty. If other nations don't like it - tough.
Remember the USA have not even started mining much of the grand canyon, their has to be millions of oz of ag/au/pd/pt and other base metals around that area.
I think your thoughts with regard to the enforcement of the petro-dollar bit is pretty spot on, as per Rob Newman' History of Oil: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTZ4gIgAwk8[/youtube] I am, however, somewhat skeptical about the claim regarding US oil/gas reserves. Sure they are blessed with huge natural resources, but the best stuff is gone, and is not sitting there waiting to be pulled up. I've heard the likes of Jim Puplava harp on in the same vein and I just don't buy it. M. King Hubbert predicted US oil production would peak in 1970 or there abouts and he was spot on. Pruhdoe Bay gave them a fair bit to cushion the decline, as did the discovery of the world's second largest oil field on their doorstep in Mexico - Cantarell. With deep sea drilling they have been able to keep production slowing ticking along but the decline was largely geological not political. Sure with higher oil prices and new technologies (coal seam gas) a great deal of additional fossil energy can still be won from continental USA, but decline it will and the EROI is plummeting. The military is the largest consumer of oil in the US, indeed the world, so the topic of the US military and oil/gas is intimately entwined to say the least. I cannot see the US being able to maintain its miltary bases in the 150 odd countries it currently does in a world of increasingly scarce oil. There is only so much drones and black hawk helicopters can do, they can't pick up the oil and bring it home easily. Without cheap abundant energy the empire will wither quickly. Look at the situation in Nigeria as an example - pipelines are constantly sabotaged. Oil/gas infrastructure is an easy target if you are an overt invading force stealing a country's resources. It doesn't take much to put a spanner in the works. Right, time to get barbecuing.
Well they have already defaulted once when the Bretton Woods agreement was in force, i believe either the French or the British wanted $3 billion redeemed into gold ( $3 bill in late 60s or early 70s was a lot of gold ) - Nixon moved to Camp David and few days later defaulted on their promises. why would they redeem the USD now? They didnt keep their words with honour before, why should they now?
Reminds me of a story a guys i used to work with in the mining industry told me, He was to meet up with a customer out in the field (up north in the sticks was his description). While he was waiting he took a wonder around (nature called) & came across several pipes sticking out the ground which were numbered in the hundreds. When the guy showed up he asked what they were, he said they were capped oil pipes that they would get around too one day when the price was right. He said their were thousand like that all over. Like i said i was told but have no reason to doubt it as the guys was a straight shooter for as long as i knew him.
I think the thing to keep in mind is that the 'United States' of America no longer exist, but instead a fascist government controlled by the money masters of Wall Street who call themselves the 'masters of the universe'. They in turn are owned by powers so immense that we can barely comprehend. Sort of like trying to understand the drive that makes a multi-billionaire continue to expand his or her fortune. To these powers sovereignity does not matter and we are simply ants that unfortunately have a democratic vote, so they have to go to through the annoying charades of democracy and governments. I do believe that USA is not 'finished', just the way that Rome was not finished, even when its currency was worthless. It is not 'finished' like Russia was, because the powers don't want that yet. They do want a return to earlier times - think Victorian England. Nobility (the 'elite' and its supporters) an upper class (the 'free' of the need to work) and the peasants (the debt-slaves), and so they've converted the USA, soon to convert Europe and the rest. The final piece of the puzzle will be the collapse of world currency and its replacement by a common unit of trade. The owners of gold and silver bullion, property and cash, will be the aspiring upper classes since the game is played and the places set. If you are in the current middle classes and in debt then you will be joining the peasantry with very little possibility of upward mobility. I agree it is a sour view of the world but I don't think the coming socialist one world currency unelected government will last more than 50 years or so before another revolution of some sort happens and we revert to a world of nation states, owned by nobility with allegiance to a single world council - which is those powers that own Wall Street.
The thing I wonder about regarding the US strategy, is if they have such rich resources, then why are they letting extending the dollar collapse and letting the holders of US debt (like China) buy up resources and use the financial resources that the US could pull at any moment by defaulting. Aren't they just encouraging greater competition? Wouldn't it be in their interest to just default, drop the USD to zero, watch everyone implode around them a little, then remonetise their gold with a new gold backed currency and be perceived as the saviours of the world all over again? Maybe this is their plan and they are playing it out more slowing then anticipated for reasons unknown, but with every day that China spends more of its financial reserves and builds their own FTA's based on sovereign currency swaps, the greater is the opposition to the hegemony of the USA (or its controling forces) and the greater is the independent wealth of these nations. I don't get it. I do get that there is no way in hell the USA can repay its debt to the world and must have an alternate strategy. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VtVbUmcQSuk[/youtube]
It's nothing to do with money and everything to do with control. Forget national borders and 'governments' they are just the soothing music for the masses. The people who own the world have no national allegiances. Eventually your debts will sit in someone's ledger and if it's your house or your car or your university debt, you'll be paying that debt as rent and tithe to a Lord who will allow you use of the things you think you currently own, at his or her pleasure. Again I say, look at the feudal history of the world and remember that this last century is an anomaly. If you are up to your ears in debt when the next GFC comes then I think it likely you will effectively become an indentured servant to whomever has purchased your debts.
what if you have PM and debt? on march 15th john williams has just released his "hyperinflation special report" - http://www.shadowstats.com/article/hyperinflation-special-report-2011 in which he sees hyperinflation for the US by 2014. what do you make of that? is this QE and money printing just a big ruse and everything will collapse when "they" are ready? i'll also create a new thread in case anyone else is interested in the report.. edit: i tend to agree with you julie but playing devil's advocate.. for australia i would guess we see a stagflation...
Agree bsides. Stagflation looks most probable for us here. The USA is a different beast entirely and I think plans are well and truly advanced for the USA future. Australia already has a large part of what the USA is moving toward and we have a very short distance to travel to 'guided democracy' such as developing over in the US. I still think Australians are wise to get totally out of debt and save in PMs for the major part tho.
OK - I just had a thought. The conspiracy theory is that the US hasn't got the gold they claim. That Fort Knox is empty. What if it's not and that TPTB are LOL'ing @ the misinformation and they have a huge stockpile?
Yeah that was my thought. Perhaps they are helping the disinformation spread deliberately, by being quiet on the issue (no audits). .... the whole time, yes the gold is there. The US economy eventually implodes under the weight of their printing presses. So no country will trade with them in US dollars any more. ..... but they do have the gold. EDIT: Why are there no audits? Bullion vaults have auditing requirements. If the gold belongs to the US people, why can't the people demand that their gold be audited?
nugget thats what i think too .Thats my reasoning on the gold price going sideways for so long is they have been buying tonnes of it & keeping the price down to do it
Look , im the first to say ive got a lot to learn about this but it is hard to get my head around the Yanks not having a backup plan.. ie- is silver taking the eye off the ball which is gold , enabling them to get gold figures up in their reserves? The loss though huge in silver is easily made up in getting out of the mess they're in and back on track. NOTE- I am probably wrong. ( But i can just see that Statue Of Liberty smiling somehow one arm raised..single finger salute )
Resources aren't the be all and end all (even if America does still have plenty, which I doubt). Productive capacity counts for a lot. The extreme industrialisation of China over the last 3 decades means that, if push ever came to shove, the Chinese would be able to manufacture more rifles, rockets, planes, tanks, warships, subs, you name it, than the Americans in the long run. This matters, in a total war scenario, productive capacity matters.
Interesting dickmojo ..... the US used to have the manufacturing base, maybe it's all just shut down, sitting idle? (I'm thinking steel works etc.) Perhaps it could ramp up again, using the natural resources that it would then find LOCALLY?
OK this is going from memory but it's accurate(ish) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Hackworth Colonel Hackworth (ret) in his autobiography he had a story where was a guard at the end of WWII. He gave the Germans a hard time asking them if they were so great why was he guarding them. The German prisoner said that he was in an anti-tank unit that engaged the Americans. The German unit destroyed one US tank, then another then another. Soon the Germans were out of ammunition and were defeated. "Why am I a prisoner? Because you (US) had more tanks than we had anti-tank rounds"
