Great Depression Online Archive Issue:

A Blowhard and the Printing Press

Great Depression Online
Long Beach, CA
January 15, 2010

Inside This Issue You Will Discover…

*** Imbecilic Blowhards
*** Engaging in Imbecilic Blowhardery
*** A Blowhard and the Printing Press
*** And More

Imbecilic Blowhards

Here at the GDO we’re astonished by the abundance of blowhards huffing and puffing their way around in this world.  They’re everywhere…

Around every corner.  On top of every hill.  Inside our email inbox.  Waiting to blowup on us.

What’s more, we seem to be encountering more and more of them.  Nearly everyday some thundering chest beater is in our face…waving their arms…ranting and raving about something irrelevant and unimportant.

We can’t seem to comprehend the excitement or urgency of their demands.  Nonetheless, we’re part of it…for the professional world requires it.  Each day we stiffen our upper lip, grab our spear gun, dive head first into the icy shark tank, and harpoon great whites.

~~~~~~Never Trust a Banker~~~~~~

Where does money come from?  Where does it go?  Who makes it?  The money magicians’ secrets are unveiled.  Get a close look at their mirrors and smoke machines, their pulleys, cogs, and wheels that create the grand illusion called money.

You’ll never trust a politician again — or a banker.

The Creature from Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sometimes we’re successful at it.  Other times we’re not.  Even so, we try to earn our scrapes and take our lumps with as much gratitude and grace as we can muster.  And from our exploits we’ve come away with several observations…

1.  While imbeciles are not always, and everywhere, blowhards…blowhards are always, and everywhere, imbeciles.

2.  Most blowhards are mostly harmless, most of the time.

3.  Occasionally blowhards are not harmless; they’re dangerous.  Particularly, when they wield massive power and use massive force, to make a massive mess of the lives of millions.

One such blowhard – and imbecile – is the President of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez.

Engaging in Imbecilic Blowhardery

Just last Friday, for example, Chavez engaged in some imbecilic blowhardery.

He halved the value of his nation’s currency to lighten the public debt load.  It’s a neat way to stiff your foreign creditors, except for the fact that the price of imports double over night. 

Predictably, stores began raising prices to make up for the financial hocus pocus.  That’s when Chavez sent in armed soldiers to close them down.  Next, wouldn’t you know it, shoppers began buying up as many goods as possible before the impending price increases.  One enterprising lady even bought 23 tubes of toothpaste for what will soon be half price.

Dow Jones Newswires reports…

“Some businesses in Venezuela have started to raise prices after President Hugo Chavez devalued the currency by half, setting the stage for confrontations with authorities following presidential orders to shut down retailers that hike prices.

“A shopping spree that started after Chavez unveiled the devaluation late Friday has given few signs of waning.  Venezuelans continued to swarm shopping malls and lined up to buy home appliances and electronics, which are seen as a hedge against expected price increases.

“‘People are right to be afraid and there’s still a lot of uncertainty right now,’ said Roberto Leon Parilli, head of the consumer protection association Anauco.

“This sentiment was echoed by Amelia Soto, a 52-year-old housewife, who bought 23 toothpaste tubes in a drugstore in a middle-class Caracas neighborhood.  ‘Everywhere I hear that prices are going to skyrocket, so I want to buy as much as I can now,’ she said.”

A Blowhard and the Printing Press

Regrettably, for the citizens of Venezuela, they’ve been living with the ramifications of this blowhard for over 10 years.  Yet they love Chavez for he promises something for nothing.

His visions of a socialist utopia have brought electrical shortages, food shortages, water shortages, increased crime, and an annual inflation rate of 27 percent.  Soon, however, with his latest currency scheme, inflation could top 60 percent.

“There’s no doubt inflation will double,” said former central bank director Domingo Maza Zavala.

That’s what happens when blowhards attain power.  By attempting to control the economy they make a mess of things.  Then they make things worse.

By spending money they don’t have government blowhards manufacture inflation.  Then, when prices inevitably rise, they institute price controls.  When that doesn’t work they devalue their currency.  They add zeros…they subtract zeros…until everyone but the ruling elites is equally poor.

Of course, there’s a lesson to be learned in this that’s both pragmatic and scientific.  In fact, it has been observed and repeated throughout history…

The bankrupting of the middle class always starts with a blowhard and the printing press.  It always ends in tears.

Sincerely,

M.N. Gordon
Great Depression Online

P.S.  This book is about the most blatant scam of all history.  It’s all here: the cause of wars, boom-bust cycles, inflation, depression, prosperity.  Creature from Jekyll Island will change the way you view the world, politics, and money.  

Your world view will definitely change.

 

FREE 7-Day Course and Three Bonus Reports When You Subscribe to the Great Depression Online E-Newsletter Today Simply Enter You E-mail Address Below...
Email:

We Respect Your Privacy
We Will Not Share Your Email
With Anyone Else