Comments on: Hyperinflation, here we come… http://spinline.net/blog/2008/11/11/hyperinflation-here-we-come/ comment, claptrap & crankery Thu, 02 Feb 2012 14:01:34 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Elihu http://spinline.net/blog/2008/11/11/hyperinflation-here-we-come/comment-page-1/#comment-150 Elihu Tue, 18 Nov 2008 01:52:47 +0000 http://spinline.net/blog/?p=478#comment-150 I'll have to look that one up. The key difference between then and now is the ability to issue currency. It is completely digital. The Fed just creates money in a computer and buys, say, Treasury bonds or credit card debt (in the last two months it has monetized lots of stuff it didn't used to). That money goes into bank accounts, which can multiply up to ten times the issued amount. Unlike the '30s there are no paper transactions, no need to make the paper notes, no need for people to go the bank and deposit the notes. Just a few computer transactions and keystrokes. And no gold standard to hold an inflated money supply in check. It is that much easier. I’ll have to look that one up.

The key difference between then and now is the ability to issue currency. It is completely digital. The Fed just creates money in a computer and buys, say, Treasury bonds or credit card debt (in the last two months it has monetized lots of stuff it didn’t used to). That money goes into bank accounts, which can multiply up to ten times the issued amount. Unlike the ’30s there are no paper transactions, no need to make the paper notes, no need for people to go the bank and deposit the notes. Just a few computer transactions and keystrokes. And no gold standard to hold an inflated money supply in check. It is that much easier.

]]> By: syzygus http://spinline.net/blog/2008/11/11/hyperinflation-here-we-come/comment-page-1/#comment-149 syzygus Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:44:09 +0000 http://spinline.net/blog/?p=478#comment-149 Do you know what the inflation rates were among all of the major economic players during the Great Depression? I ask out of ignorance, and I wouldn't know where to look. Do you know what the inflation rates were among all of the major economic players during the Great Depression? I ask out of ignorance, and I wouldn’t know where to look.

]]> By: Elihu http://spinline.net/blog/2008/11/11/hyperinflation-here-we-come/comment-page-1/#comment-152 Elihu Sun, 16 Nov 2008 21:55:20 +0000 http://spinline.net/blog/?p=478#comment-152 Anybody with a printing press is going to use it. China inflates the yuan to keep the exports going out. It is also making Keynesian moves: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122623724868611327.html Anybody with a printing press is going to use it.

China inflates the yuan to keep the exports going out. It is also making Keynesian moves:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122623724868611327.html

]]> By: syzygus http://spinline.net/blog/2008/11/11/hyperinflation-here-we-come/comment-page-1/#comment-151 syzygus Sat, 15 Nov 2008 21:35:33 +0000 http://spinline.net/blog/?p=478#comment-151 Karl, governments like China with large manufacturing base and thus non-debt-driven consumerism will not need to inflate (or at least not nearly as much). As you've heard me say before, there're over a billion of them. And they're creating the Greater Asian Co-prosperity sphere that Japan started before WWII. Karl, governments like China with large manufacturing base and thus non-debt-driven consumerism will not need to inflate (or at least not nearly as much). As you’ve heard me say before, there’re over a billion of them. And they’re creating the Greater Asian Co-prosperity sphere that Japan started before WWII.

]]> By: Karl http://spinline.net/blog/2008/11/11/hyperinflation-here-we-come/comment-page-1/#comment-153 Karl Fri, 14 Nov 2008 20:46:05 +0000 http://spinline.net/blog/?p=478#comment-153 Maybe I'm missing something. But, if the coming depression is global in its reach, wouldn't all currencies be affected. The only question, it seems, is whether one will be hit harder relative to another. Won't every other government react similarly to the United States and crank up their printing presses? It seems the United State and Europe are two peas in the same pod. I don't see why their reaction will be any different from ours. Maybe I’m missing something. But, if the coming depression is global in its reach, wouldn’t all currencies be affected. The only question, it seems, is whether one will be hit harder relative to another. Won’t every other government react similarly to the United States and crank up their printing presses? It seems the United State and Europe are two peas in the same pod. I don’t see why their reaction will be any different from ours.

]]> By: Elihu http://spinline.net/blog/2008/11/11/hyperinflation-here-we-come/comment-page-1/#comment-154 Elihu Tue, 11 Nov 2008 15:54:19 +0000 http://spinline.net/blog/?p=478#comment-154 I think in the short-term (1-2 years) Schiff is wrong about hyperinflation. Prices of everything are falling and decline has kicked in. Euro Pacific Capital has lost a lot of money for its investors over the past year by not adequately preparing for global decline. Long-term, however, he is surely right. The government has a printing press and it will always inflate. Always. I think in the short-term (1-2 years) Schiff is wrong about hyperinflation. Prices of everything are falling and decline has kicked in. Euro Pacific Capital has lost a lot of money for its investors over the past year by not adequately preparing for global decline.

Long-term, however, he is surely right. The government has a printing press and it will always inflate. Always.

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