Bond King Bill Gross sees Bond Bubble

PIMCO's Bill Gross, in spite of having made a name for himself in bond trading, bet huge against US Treasuries in 2011. Unfortunately for him, Treasury yields managed to remain low and overall demand remained high, on account of massive bond buying by the US Federal Reserve. Nowadays, Gross is still of the same mind, but with the added knowledge that the Fed is going to continue doing what it's doing. The bond bubble will go on in 2013.

ECB mulls rate cut for 2013

Photo from London Evening Post

There really is no escape from the damage of bad monetary policy, rising deficits and debt, etc. But this won't stop the European Central Bank, the ECB for short, from trying. It is considering a cut in its interest rate for next year, which goes to show that absolutely nothing has been learned since Greece started falling apart several years back.

Higher food prices here to stay

The World Bank, a disease-ridden institution that perpetuates the bubbles that wreak havoc in the world, is admitting that higher food prices are now the norm.

This to me indicates just how far ahead we are in understanding the link between bubble monetary policies, and higher prices.

Banks and Governments: Why You Should Park Your Savings in Gold

This article from Spiegel Online spells it out with no holds barred. The gist is that banks supply governments with the means to continue their spending operations, which often involve raising deficits and debt to unsustainable levels. In turn, governments bail these banks when such operations fail inevitably.

Expect more China inflation, higher gold prices

China has reported a drop in its 'inflation rate,' to 1.7% over the past year. Of course, by 'inflation rate,' China means an increase in its consumer price index, however the heck it fudges the numbers for this. What is ignored is the actual rate of inflation, that is, the rate that money supply increases, which is the better indicator as to how high prices will get.

The Eve of the 2012 US Elections, and the Fate of Gold

In spite of myself, I have been rather excited about the US elections. Not that I think it really matters who wins; it doesn't. But I do like watching friends and the media make a big deal about this sideshow among two guys who think they bring anything different to the table.

King World News and Bullishness on Gold & Silver

Buy Gold / Silver in Singapore

Gold Price, SGD, October 2002 to October 2012

King World News is one of the more popular sites for 'gold bugs.' It is also quite controversial and has been accused of hyping up precious metals for the sake of commissions. 

However, if you take a look at the analysts interviewed, they are people who know their stuff in the bullion market. Their timing may be off, and they constantly see gold and silver skyrocketing, but the long-run picture is right. 

Romney vs Obama - No Economic Policies Will Change

It's interesting how Obama ran in 2008 on the campaign of "Change we can believe in" when really nothing has changed. The wars have expanded in spite of his insistence during that campaign that he will bring the troops home. Troops will be in Afghanistan until 2020 (supposedly) and now there are even more countries that the US occupy and drone attacks are on a record high.

But foreign policy aside, not only did he expand the wars, he also kept the economic policies of George W. Bush. The same unelected bureaucrats in the treasury and Federal Reserve remained in power. The bailouts continued and inevitably the debasement of their currency continued as well.

Now we see in the news how Romney and Obama are attacking each other on different campaign ads. But wil there really be any differences especially when it comes to economic or monetary policy? The answer is no. The same kind of monetary policy will continue. 

The unelected quasi-private Federal Reserve will continue to increase the money supply. They will continue with their artificial interest rates. Yes, it makes the economy seemingly okay especially with all the turmoil in the Eurozone. The dollar is seemingly looking strong. But this is all artificial and facts just show that this is not true at all.

This is why it is still best to invest in gold to be able to protect yourself from economic instability and immoral monetary policy. It won't matter whether Romney or Obama wins. The dollar as the world's reserve will continue to lose its value and investing in gold is your best hedge against inflation.

There really is this false promotion that there is a big difference between Romney and Obama when really all will be the same especially economically. Romney runs as if he will cut spending but it's really all illusory especially since it's all just fake cuts over the next decade and the size and spending of government will actually increase by then! Don't even waste your time watching their attack ads on each other, it's time that you start thinking about gold or silver or investing in other precious metals.

Romney even chose supposed fiscal conservative Paul Ryan as his running mate. No, that guy is not fiscal conservative at all. How can you call yourself a fiscal conservative if you voted for the Patriot Act and the expansion and spending on wars. Real fiscal conservatives want government to be small and not intrusive to the lives of individuals. Something that both Romney's and Paul Ryan's voting record goes against.

Investing in Gold in Singapore - Lifting of the GST and Economic Freedom

This coming October, Singapore will be lifting the GST (Goods and Services Tax) on gold. Not only will that lessen costs, it will also lessen the burdens on trading gold itself. If you have been thinking about investing in gold as a hedge against inflation then Singapore is the place you want and it's not just the lifting of the GST, it's also the economic freedom that the Singaporeans are blessed with.

According to the Index of Economic Freedom made by The Heritage Foundation, a study on rating different countries' economies based on levels of liberalization, Singapore is the second most economically free country in the world. There are zero tariffs and burdens on international trade. 

Up to 80% of businesses in Singapore are also foreignly owned with the most minimal red tape and taxes. That is surely the market dictating that it is a good idea to invest in Singapore.

This kind of pro-market policies have made Singapore one of the most prosperous and peaceful countries in the world. There is very little crime and there is strong enforcement of the rule of law. Anti-corruption laws are strictly followed and there are big punishments for those who disobey them. So aside from a very liberal market, their government is not corrupt. This is truly such a perfect environment for entrepreneurship and investments.

There are many ways to invest in gold in this country. You can buy actual physical gold bullion like bars or coins and there are many safe storage facilities that really respect the individual's right to privacy.

There are also ways to invest online in case you are not residing in Singapore. For example, you can invest in gold in Singapore through BullionStar.com. Even with just a few clicks of a button, you can easily protect your earnings against inflation and at the same time make money with the growing opportunity because the price of gold will surely be on the rise very soon. 

In fact, it is one of the best investments I can recommend even against other commodities or stocks. Historically, it has always been the most stable and as economic crises all over the world are starting to emerge, it will be best to protect your money through gold. Not to mention that the decisions of central banks for continuous expansion of credit and increase in the money supply will continue to debase currencies all over the world.

I firmly believe that now is that time to buy gold and my recommendation is that you do so in Singapore. 

Ron Paul Schools Pundits on Gold Standard and the Moral Hazard of Bailouts

This is a very interesting discussion because it portrays how even the supposed "experts" in the mainstream media know very little about the Austrian School of Economics, the gold standard, the moral hazard of bailouts and government intervention in the market, and even competing currencies.

Many times, I don't think these people are even doing this on purpose, you know, like doing it for the sake of an evil motive or intent. It's just more of how they were trained and taught to think. Keynesianism is the most prominent position not just in politics but also in the academe. There are very little Austrian school economists or libertarian professors in the academe.


I think the best thing is that we have the internet now and schools are not the only places we can learn. Knowledge is just disseminated so much faster now and almost without restrictions. Just look at how social media helped topple tyrannies in Libya or Egypt or how WikiLeaks is helping make governments more transparent and exposes corruption and crimes.


Now that we have the internet, I don't think there's any sort of excuse to now know about what's really going on. Mainstream media has lost its monopoly on spreading the news. The truth is in the internet now and almost everyone has access to it (which is also why we must keep them from restricting or censoring the internet).

If you really want to learn more about the reasons for buying or investing in gold or the benefits of doing so in Singapore then you can use Google and just see for yourself. Learn about monetary policy and the Federal Reserve and you'll know for a fact why you need to invest in gold.

Paul Krugman Thinks Gold Price Increase Is Because of Glenn Beck

Paul Krugman, one of the greatest opponents of the Austiran school, thinks that gold prince increased all because of speculation from Glenn Beck. It's probably the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard (source).

This if course outlines the difference of how Keynesians and Austrians see inflation, the other seeing it as something to do with prices while the latter seeing inflation as something to do with the quantity of money and credit. 

Of course Krugman doesn't think that the trillions of dollars printed since 2008 and injected into the economy like steroids have nothing to do with the price of gold. He doesn't seem to be even considering the euro crisis, a direct example of a failing fiat currency and authority to control interest rates and manage the economy.

Peter Schiff Wonders What Krugman is Smoking
You know Peter Schiff predicted the housing bubble and the recession. Why not just search YouTube for "Peter Schiff" was right (maybe I'll blog about that soon). So when it comes to credibility, will you believe in someone who has been spot-on before or someone who thinks that a TV show host like Glenn Beck (I don't watch his show by the way) affects the price of gold drastically.
I guess Peter Schiff will be saying the same thing about what Krugman is ranting about with the gold price. Again, it doesn't have to be gold, it's just that it is what the market has dictated for centuries. It's like economic law. It has all the perfect qualities to be legal tender. If Krugman and any of his other "liberal"(not in the classical sense) followers really think that currency backed by gold makes no sense then why won't they just allow competition? If they trust is paper money so much then they won't have anything to worry about, right?
But hey, all he really wants to do is break a bunch of windows so that it will create jobs and boost GDP. Smart, huh?

Historical Trend of the Price of Gold

There are many factors that affect the price of gold but what most people don't know is that it has a lot to do with monetary policy and the policymaking of central bankers and other appointed and unelected bureaucrats. 

Trend Price of Gold

Since the recession, which most libertarians predicted by the way, the price of gold has been going up. It's ridiculous how high the price of gold has been going and how low paper currency has becoming. The Federal Reserve has had no choice but to keep on printing money, increasing the money supply, for funding billions of dollars of bailouts and for quantitative easing and as they keep on doing this, the price of gold will keep on going up.

The same is happening in the eurozone. All they've been doing recently is buying each other's debt and bailing each other out with even more debt and even more printing of money. What's worse, they keep interest rates artificially too low. It's crazy, really. Interest rates are obviously one of the greatest indicators in the market and to manipulate it distorts the whole economy completely. It's so scary how a small group of unelected people can have this kind of power. Many countries in Europe have lost sovereignty because of the European Union. 

This is just the market starting to reject fiat currency. This rise in the price of gold is just the market correcting the price back and restoring the value of gold as money. 

Here's an interesting video of Ron Paul lecturing Bernanke on gold as money. There's a funny bit at the end where Ron Paul asks if Bernanke thinks gold is money and he even says that the only reason central banks still keep gold is "tradition". It's the most non-sensical answer I've ever heard and it's almost laughable if not for it being so immoral:

These reasons really are the things that made me think about investing in gold and other precious metals. Fiat currency is just so arbitrarily controlled by a small group of central planners and it's very scary. Let us all protect ourselves and invest in gold. Let us advocate auditing the Federal Reserve. Let us all advocate competing currencies and eventually transition to the liberation of our money.

John Maynard Keynes vs F.A. Hayek (rap version)

These two economists are both Nobel Prize winners yet both have entirely opposite views when it comes to economics and political philosophy. Keynes advocated central planning and management of the economy while F.A. Hayek believed that it's impossible to manage an organic economy and to think otherwise is the pretense of knowledge.

To learn a lot more about this, I would recommend the PBS documentary The Commanding Heights: The Battle For World Economy. It is quite long thought and for those who aren't really interested in economics, here's something that's very light and entertaining:

Keynes vs Hayek Rap
I love the economic references that are turned into something so comedic and easily understandable even by those who have not much interest in economics. Of course, I still recommend the PBS documentary but for some entertainment, the video above is highly recommended.
Of course, I love every single line in Hayek's rap in the video. It shows the power of the market, the power of the price mechanism, and how governments can't really manage the economy and will only lead to failure, corruption, and the opposite of progress and development.
The same applies to our money. Why should the government have a monopoly on money? It's really so immoral. When I say buy or invest gold I don't actually mean do this for profit's sake, no, it's actually a moral stance. It's protection from people who want think they can control the economy, a sentiment that Keynes shared with Lenin (the documentary "Commanding Heights" is actually a reference to Lenin because that is what he called the steel industry and he believed that it should be nationalized and monopolized by the State). 
If I were you, watch that PBS documentary. It'll really show you a lot more about history and a lot of alternative positions when it comes to economic policy. The mainstream in economics, those who advocate Keynesianism and those who are usually marginalized and discredited like those from the Austrian School of Economics.
Nietzsche mentioned something similar in Thus Spake Zarathustra about how those who are telling the truth, the prophets, they are usually discredited and even laughed at. We've seen the same happen to Ron Paul, Peter Schiff, Nigel Farage, and many other libertarians all over the world. But then almost every single prediction of theirs have come true and more are yet to come. My honest recommendation: protect yourself and invest in gold.

“In the beginning of a change the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot.” - Mark Twain

Ron Paul Debate About Gold in 1983

Ron Paul's principled integrity and intellectual consistency is absolutely unrivaled. Just check out this debate from 1983 with someone who was a member of the Federal Reserve governors during that time.  This debate really shows how he's been advocating this positon for a long time and it's really something that he has thoroughly researched and have been fighting for up to now.

Ron Paul 1983 Debate about Gold
I love how the title is "Gold versus Discretion" because it is really so true. Fiat currency, backed by nothing but government edict, is something that is so arbitrary. Even the Keynesians themselves debate on what exactly the policies should be. This is because the market, the economy, all of it is all so complex and organic. The idea that one could manage or direct it somehow is ridiculous. F.A. Hayek referred to it as the pretense of knowledge.
Gold, on the other hand, is something that has been dictated by the market. It has been historical and economic law and the market that dictated that gold has the perfect qualities to become legal tender. But it doesn't necessarily have to be gold. In fact, what Ron Paul is actually pushing for right now is just competing currencies (against, something that Hayek advocated as well). This means that currencies that are backed by commodities like gold or silver (or, again, any for that matter) will be able to compete and the market can decide what really has value. If the governments of the world and worshippers of fiat currency really believe that there paper money has value, then why are they so afraid to compete?
One of the biggest argument I've heard is the concept of how the Great Depression happened because there was very little regulation and that there's a need for an institution like the Federal Reserve (which is quasi-private, by the way) to intervene and manage. There's no other way of talking about it except that it is central planning. In fact, this has been going on long before John Maynard Keynes, only he was the one who turned it into some sort of religion that's indoctrinated to economics students all over the world.
What can we do? Even the simplest attempts of Ron Paul to audit the Federal Reserve is being blocked by lobbyists and corrupt politicians. It's disgusting, really. Much with my argument with competition, what's so wrong with transparency?
For now all we can do to protect ourselves from the discretion of the unelected cronies in the Federal Reserve and from the whim of central bankers is to invest our earnings and savings into precious metals like gold or silver. They increase the money supply and debase the paper currency all they want, but if your money is invested in gold or silver or any other precious metal for that matter, then you are protected. It goes well beyond the concept of being a "hedge against inflation".  It's really a very immoral system that legally steals our earnings.
As I have said, I will be detailing and documenting my experiences with investing in gold here in Singapore here in this blog.

Why Invest in Gold in Singapore

You know I used to be a complete social democrat / social liberal (not in the classical sense) / progressive or whatever you'd want to call it. But then I learned about Ron Paul during one of the 2008 US presidential election debates. Now I have learned so much more about libertarianism and the Austrian school of economics.

One of the most important things I learned through Ron Paul is monetary policy. I learned about our current system of money which is fiat currency. I've always thought that money is backed by gold. This isn't really something that is taught to us in school or whatever. But I researched more and more about fiat currency, the Federal Reserve, the gold standard, and of course, the benefits of investing in precious metals like gold. 

Here's one interesting and quite entertaining video of Ron Paul debating a defender of fiat currency:

I chose to post this video because it's light and easy to absorb. Stephen Colbert is liked by many liberals (in the American sense of the term) and that's why maybe it'll help some people rethink their views on monetary policy and political philosophy itself.
So as you can see, Ron Paul totally destroys the defender of fiat with his arguments. If you want to learn more about Ron Paul's position on gold, his book "End the Fed" would be a good starting point. As I write more on this blog (this blog will probably be full of my experiences and speculations when it comes to gold investments), I will be talking more and more about the different arguments against the State monopolized monetary system. 
Well, because by October 1 the Singaporean government has decided to take out the GST (Goods and Services Tax) on gold. People will be able to freely trade physical gold bullion with very minimal restrictions or burdens from the government.
This is a really great move, in my opinion and will really help make people more aware of the value of investing in precious metals like gold and at the same time also expose the truths about the current monetary policy and central banking of the different countries all over the world.
There are many ways you can buy gold in Singapore. You can buy actual physical bullion that you can keep in your possession, as in something you can hold on to. Or perhaps you can decide to get a storage service like a vault of some sort. There are many websites that offer this and I'm sure when the GST is lifted there will be even more establishments that will be offering this.Right now I'm looking for an online service because I would really find that very convenient. Maybe an online dealer that offers delivery service or storage? There are many different advantages and disadvantages of keeping your own gold and getting a storage service but that's probably a topic that I will discuss some other time. For now, I will start looking for where I can buy gold here in Singapore and then I will be blogging here about all my experiences and progress with my investments.
I knew that blogging would be a great way of keeping track of my gold investments. So be sure to follow my blog or drop by again soon to get updated on what's going on with my journey of investing in gold here in Singapore.