Pat Buchanan is not a pundit I would normally quote on anything. His hatred for anything that smacks of free trade is legendary and his wanting to cut us off from the world borders on obsession that often ignores reality. He does think Bush is a dangerous dolt, so he’s not all bad. But has he been right all along on this? Should I now be reinforcing my floors to hold all the gold I should stockpile under my bed? Should I include some rifles, too?

Sinking Currency, Sinking Country

Have gold, silver, oil, the euro, the pound and the Canadian dollar all suddenly soared in value in just a few years?

Nope. The dollar has plummeted in value, more so in Bush’s term than during any comparable period of U.S. history. Indeed, Bush is presiding over a worldwide abandonment of the American dollar.

Is it all Bush’s fault? Nope.

The dollar is plunging because America has been living beyond her means, borrowing $2 billion a day from foreign nations to maintain her standard of living and to sustain the American Imperium.

The prime suspect in the death of the dollar is the massive trade deficits America has run up, some $5 trillion in total since the passage of NAFTA and the creation of the World Trade Organization in 1994.



  1. OhForTheLoveOf says:

    #17 – Who said anything about the Bush administration or right wingers? They don’t mean shit. These large banks run this world. They have enslaved many countries by forcing them to buy debt and the United States is next. You sound very ignorant when you equate my statement to a 9/11 Bush mastermind theory.

    “The banks” run the world. That’s a razor sharp perception. That’s as specific as “they” who are apparently behind many of the world’s great injustices.

    Let’s just say, it’s “the banks.” Why would they intentionally try to break the economy? Wouldn’t that devalue all that they’ve gained?

    Sorry… I want more details in my conspiracy theories…

    And I’m not ignorant. I’m just not telling you what I know. And I know this… If you think who is in power in the government doesn’t mean shit, then you have an overly simplistic view of the world.

  2. Tippis says:

    @#2
    “And yes, what about Denmark, Sweden or the Netherlands? What are their rates of unemployment? And growth?”

    Can’t talk for our neighbours, but Sweden currently sits at a 4.2% unemployment rate, steadily (but slowly) going down; and has a growth of ~4%…

  3. Jim says:

    With Halliburton and Blackwater ***STEALING TRILLIONS OF DOLLARS*** with their phony “war” in Iraq, and with Dumbya’s TAX CUTS FOR THE RICH, the NATIONAL DEBT IS SOARING !!! Dollars SINK, EUROS FLOAT !!! Bush now looking like Pres. “Hoobert Herver” of the Crash of ’29 Infamy !!!

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Street_Crash_of_1929

  4. OhForTheLoveOf says:

    #34 – Spiritually, I’m with you… But technically we haven’t spent one trillion on the whole war yet…

    Still, Haliburton and Blackwater can still be booked on grand larceny charges, I suppose.

  5. ¢ says:

    “And yes, what about Denmark, Sweden or the Netherlands? What are their rates of unemployment? And growth?”

    Denmark 3.8%
    Norway 2.5%

    Growth : Denmark 3.2%
    Norway 4.6%

  6. domc says:

    I get tired of people quoting other countries compared to ours. There systems are better. Most western world countries do just fine.

    I don’t see a lot of poor people in other western countries. They do things different and sometimes better than the U.S. They buy ipods, cars, houses, get married, have kids. Same things just a different way of doing it.

  7. Joey B says:

    Yo Yo Yo! theres something everyones forgetting to mention!
    Our trade deficit is caused exactly because we have the dollar “over valued” so we can import audis. now the dollar is sinking which means its time to export more of our stuff and at a new more competitive rate thanks to the lower dollar, baby. Maybe yall left that out for a reason tho???

  8. MikeN says:

    Hey if you measure the national debt in Euros, it has gone down.

  9. ECA says:

    Ok,
    I Have an idea…
    I want a RICH person, to GIVE me what HE’ thinks is required to live my life. home, bills, and Basic needs…TV, CABLE what ever…

    I WOULD REALLY like to see what I get.

  10. Joey B says:

    #41
    Your idea sucks!
    But it gave me a really good idea:
    I want a RICH person, to GIVE me what HE’ thinks is required to live my life. home, bills, and Basic needs…TV, CABLE what ever…
    And ill tell him how many hours of cocaine use that translates into.

  11. Frank IBC says:

    High hidden unemployment
    The official Swedish unemployment stood on 5.2 percent in May 2005. But Sweden has massive government programs that contain most of the unemployed, chiefly Early Retirement, Sick Leave, Labor Market Programs and Welfare. In addition, since students get a monthly stipend and loan, many unemployed continue to study when they can’t find work.

    Hans Karlsson, a leading leftwing economist, concluded that true unemployment was more in the ballpark of 20-25 percent.

    A few weeks later another labor movement veteran actually became a whistle blower. Jan Edling showed in a report that unemployment figures corresponded with the numbers of people on early retirements and on sick leave. Where unemployment was high, government officials hide the unemployment figures by classifying unemployed individuals as on sick leave or as on early retirement. As LO refused to publish Edlings report, claiming that it might be sensitive so near the next elections, he resigned after 18 years of service for the labor union.

    Estimating the true unemployment rate
    Below is a calculation of true unemployment in Sweden. All figures are from the Swedish Statistical Agency (SCB) Labor survey, first quarter 2005, except the number of individuals only on welfare, which have been taken from Tax researcher Dane Nordlings homepage. The number on Sick Leave have been adjusted for the number of working hours.

    Population 16-64 – — – – 5.755.000

    Not in labor force – – – – – – 1.365.000
    Early retired – – – – – – – – – (494.000)
    Seek work – – – – – – – – – – – (150.000)
    Get Welfare – – – – – – – – – – (84.000)

    Labor Force – – – – – – – – – 4.391.000
    Unemployed (5.6 %) – – – – – (245.000)
    unemply programs – – – – – (130.000)
    Employed in Real job – – – – 4.016.000
    Absent from work – – – – – – (554.000)
    Of which on Sick leave- – – (216.000)

    Actually work – – – – – – – 3.469.000
    Some 4.0 million (70 percent of adult population) are in productive activity rate, while 1.2 million (20 percent of adult population) are living of welfare and Health or Unemployment insurance alone. The remaining 10 percent of adult population are supported by the state by other means (such as parents leave and absence from work due to care of sick children).

    Range of estimate of true unemployment: 8.5%-26%

  12. Frank IBC says:

    Sorry, John, that was a bit longer than I realized it was going to be. 🙁

  13. ArianeB says:

    Um, Frank
    Its true for the US too. Have you not heard of the “Not in Labor Force” statistic maintained by the Bureau of Labor Statistics? This is the number of adults who are not working, a big share being unemployed for more than six months and thus off the unemployment rolls.

    According to the BLS 6.7 million are unemployed in October 2007 making an umemployment rate of 4.4%. Also according to the BLS 79.2 million are “not in labor force”, so does the US have a “true” unemployment of 59%?
    ftp://ftp.bls.gov/pub/suppl/empsit.cpseea13.txt

  14. Awake says:

    You know it’s bad when even models are dumping dollars…
    ===========
    Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) — Gisele Bundchen wants to remain the world’s richest model and is insisting that she be paid in almost any currency but the U.S. dollar.

    Like billionaire investors Warren Buffett and Bill Gross, the Brazilian supermodel, who Forbes magazine says earns more than anyone in her industry, is at the top of a growing list of rich people who have concluded that the currency can only depreciate because Americans led by President George W. Bush are living beyond their means.

    Even after the dollar lost 34 percent since 2001, the biggest investors and most accurate forecasters say it will weaken further as home sales fall and the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates. The dollar plummeted to its lowest ever last week against the euro, Canadian dollar, Chinese yuan and the cheapest in 26 years against the British pound.

    “We’ve told all of our clients that if you only had one idea, one investment, it would be to buy an investment in a non- dollar currency,” said Gross, the chief investment officer of Pacific Investment Management Co. in Newport Beach, California, and manager of the world’s biggest bond fund. “That should be on top of the list,” said Gross, whose firm is a unit of Munich- based insurer Allianz SE.”
    ===========
    copied from:
    http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aCs.keWwNdiY&refer=home

  15. ECA says:

    45,
    Its the 63.1% employed that tells more.
    that 79million is from 232 million total., about 25%..

  16. ECA says:

    42,
    But its true…How many rich person know how much they PAY for services and goods. I get around $700 per month. This rich guy would probably think I need more.. And I might get a 50″ plasma out of it.

  17. Bix says:

    The USD is the stock of the USA.
    Why do stocks go down ?
    No faith in the direction the CEO is taking the Co in.
    You just saw the yesterday with Citigroup and Merrill Lynch.
    The same thing is happening with the leadership of W and the Congress. Both are woefully lacking in quality leadership.
    But who voted these people in ?
    This is a wake up call for the voters of the USA.
    The ship was already sinking in 2004 and the voters gave W a second term. It has been all downhill since then.
    I don’t see the USD turning around until W’s term is over at the soonest. And with the crop of people up for the job, it may be longer.

  18. ECA says:

    does World trade= military intelligence?
    Is there anyway to SHOw me that world trade works?

    The only conceivable way is IF, the USA corps DROP pricing, and let THINGS cost what they should. That and kill the tariffs from protectionism..
    But this is as the OLD days when every STATE had its OWN currency..
    And going from 1 state to another was like entering another country, and your money was worth NOTHING.
    Lord knows that europe, after 10 years, STILL hasnt stopped useing Country funds, over the EURO…

  19. JimR says:

    ECA, products in the good ol’ USA are among the cheapest least expensive in the world. My freezer just died, so I priced them at local stores (we make them in this town) and the model I want is $529 (best reg. price) in Canada and $398 (best reg. price) just across the border. Considering the loonie is on steroids, that $398 is really $370 C$. That’s 30% less! Or, from your point of view, 43% more! Your lower dollar coupled with lower prices will be beneficial to your economy.

  20. 888 says:

    US DOLLAR is the reason.
    As a worldwide-used currency used by other countries, specially in the oil transactions, it is just another way of applying political pressures on your opponents and enemies.
    Also its a good way to reduce your own debt quickly… i.e. trillion dollars debt hold by chinese yesterday is only 800 millions today.

    In other words its a great way to rob other countries of their wealth in a legal internationally accepted and non-violent way.
    Providing you print the currency it is calculated in, of course 😉
    (now you know why europeans, arabs and china want to switch to use euro instead of USD…)

  21. John Buffam says:

    Thanks to Bush, and the total lack of any domestic policy except spying on his fellow citizens and denying poor kids health care, we people outside the US can shop in the US at a great advantage.

  22. MikeN says:

    >Anyone who ties debt to percentage of gross domestic product has a lot >to learn about math. Its a right wing talking point that no respecting

    So if I owe $20,000 while holding down a $30,000 annual salary job, that’s better than having a $100,000 debt with a job that earns 500k?


2

Bad Behavior has blocked 4983 access attempts in the last 7 days.