13 Former Trump Officials Warn of ‘Absolute, Unchecked Power’ in Open Letter

[ericbj]

1 hour ago, Old Curmudgeon said:

 

A major effort by @ericbj.

Or perhaps by an astute A.I. bot.

I can't really tell.

But I thank you for taking the time to post all that.

 

As the OP here, I just wish you'd read the opening post more carefully and thought more thoroughly before you went off on that tangent about gold, silver and uranium.

(In fairness, you have a lot, really a lot, of company on that tangent on this thread.)

 

I now wish I'd started the opening post something like this:

• "Imagine that you've saved and saved and acquired a healthy amount of gold, silver, whatever.  And then comes the day the money dies.  All money.  Everywhere.  You've got your gold, silver, whatever, but nobody wants it.  Nobody will trade you anything for it.  Nothing!!  Because it's no good to them.  Your "stash" won't/can't buy anything.
• And add to that you are an expat living in Thailand, where foreigners are prohibited from doing almost any job, or operating almost any business.  What will you do??

 

Back over to you @ericbj for any further thoughts, but without any gold, silver, or uranium.

 

 

My opinion, which you may well disagree with.

 

Yes, the day may come when people will have no desire to acquire scrap paper in the form of promissory notes that effectively promise nothing.  Not even by the barrow-load as with Weimar Republic Germans purchasing their groceries.

 

However, it is my belief that they will still accept gold and silver, especially if in a form that is recognisable as guaranteeing purity.

 

Gold, for obvious reasons I shall not go into, will be the more valuable of the two metals as it always has been.  Perhaps in the old relationship of about 1:15, ounce to ounce.  Not as at present about 1:80.

 

More practical than barter.  Or cowrie shells and the like.  Although barter will likely become more common.

 

On a local scale we may see the widespread development of Local Exchange Trading Systems [LETS] using hand-filled paper tokens whose details are then entered into a digital accounting system.

 

Just over thirty years ago I became one of the earliest members [#121] of the first LETS to be formed in France, the SEL [Système d'Echange Locale] des Pyrénées, where we traded in "graines de sel" [grains of salt].  Such a system works on a local basis, owing to the trust that can develop between people who can get to know one another.  SEL markets were held from time to time in different towns.

 

The SEL covered mostly the Ariège and, at that time, part of the Aude Deparments.  Later the Aude developed its own SEL.

 

When last in France, in 2019, a local currency was being developed for the Haute Vallée of the Aude.  But I was not involved so can tell you nothing about that.  A local currency was already in use in Toulouse.

 

[MarkyM3]

Lots of posts about the rise of BRICS in this thread. My view on the countries involved...

 

Brazil - stock market has gone nowhere for the last 10+ years. Currently run by someone previously in jail for corruption. Say no more.

 

Russia - run by a despot and can't even win a war in Ukraine. The sanctioned economy is overheating due to shortages of skills and resources. 

 

China - in the middle of a major housing and financial crisis that's been dragging on for several years, with no coherent plan on how to exit it. Again, look at the market returns. Hang Seng Index until recently was trading lower than in 1997! Factor in inflation and it's even worse. They don't get on with India. 

 

India - the real challenger with favourable demographics but infrastructure is still under developed, education system is poor with blatant cheating an accepted feature. But, English speaking and relatively open, this is the real challenger to Western economies. They don't get on with China.

 

South Africa - a basket case, look at Eskom for example - rolling power cuts. They have a coalition govt for now which has seen an upturn but talk to most white South Africans and they've either left or want to if they can. 

 

The new BRICS joiners are mainly a rag tag of competing interests. India itself wants to keep on the right side of the West considering its export markets while gaining advantage from cheap Russian oil and arms. China currently rely heavily on exporting to the West too, while trying to advance its interests globally. 

 

I've invested in emerging markets and follow what goes on pretty closely. To me, the reality is the majority of BRICS countries have not performed well at all over a prolonged period, except for India. So, imo it's wishful thinking to believe BRICS is going to supersede the West with a new global reserve currency or alternative to SWIFT anytime soon. They simply aren't a cohesive entity, as compared to the G7 for example.

 

It's also worth considering where the real talent in countries like India want to work, as well - generally not in their own country with wages a fraction of what they can earn in the West as software developers or the like. 

Edited 10 minutes ago by MarkyM3