Surprisingly candid interview on CNBC

This is a surprisingly candid interview with a smart player from the world of finance, on CNBC.

Notice how the hosts are quiet and actually listening to the guest for a change, not butting in with some smart-alec comment or put-down every few seconds. This is highly unusual at any time, but especially when the guest is talking down the almighty dollar or, horror of horrors, suggesting gold might significantly appreciate. Normally this kind of talk would invite a cat's chorus of derision from the hosts.

Notice also how the topic is matter-of-factly discussing the cutting in half of the dollar's value over the next few years, and how this is unavoidably necessary in order to stand any chance of meeting the US' massive current and future debt obligations, and that this is not disputed because the case presented as to why is copper-bottomed and indisputable based on clear and easily verified facts. For sterling-based readers in the UK, think also about the UK's current and future debt obligations, in the face of rapidly declining tax revenues, and you can see that we are in a similarly precarious position right now, and the only answer is the same as for the US: print more pounds and thereby cut the value of each pound in half so the public debts are more manageable.

You'd better hope the authorities in both countries can manage to keep the confidence of the rest of the world up, so they don't get a lot more depreciation than they wanted, and it gets really out of control. To my mind, that is a very, very big ask indeed.

Very interesting to see this on mainstream media.

Straight talk on economists and why they are liars

It's not their fault, it is what they have been taught that is wrong. As usual, if you follow the money trail you can understand who teaches them it, and why.

Howard Katz talks a lot of sense, but occasionally he strays into religion which is most definitely not my cup of tea. However, often he writes good-sense articles on economics -- if you can focus only on this stuff and tune out the other, it's very useful I think.

Here is a recent article describing why mainstream establishment economists have things upside down, and they always will. It's by design.

Currently, we are in the early part of a depression. Some of you will be losing your jobs, but most of you won't. You will not get a great payrise for some time unless you get a promotion or switch jobs, maybe you will take a pay cut and perhaps even quite a chunky one -- but look in the shops and you'll see more and more things are half what they cost before, so you can still buy the things you need no problem. More of them in fact. So you have less money, but you have more wealth. Read the article and this will make more sense to you I'm sure.

Bank of England calls a 'crisis meeting' of all City analysts

There is much surprise and speculation about the reason that every single analyst in the City has been summoned to attend a crisis meeting at the Bank. Rightly so, given that this is something that just never happens!

If you ask me, if something smells like a rotten fish stuck behind the cooker, it's probably a rotten fish stuck behind the cooker. Calling in every single analyst, to schmooze them and try to ensure they all toe the Party line that "Quantative Easing is NOT money printing just the same as Zimbabwe was doing not so long ago, and none of you should say that in public again please -- now, enjoy some more of this lovely champagne and simply gorgeous blinis won't you chaps?", just won't change the fact that Quantative Easing is exactly that. I mean you don't need to think about it too hard to realise the name could not be much more explicit, what else could they possible have meant by that name than adjusting the quantity of money in the system? And that my friends, is just what Gideon Gono was doing in Zimbabwe, and the Germans were forced to do in the Weimar Republic a few decades back -- these are just a couple of high-profile examples, but there are many other examples throughout the course of fiat money history.

Only a massive confidence trick can now prevent the same results occuring here in due course. I truly hope they can keep the wool pulled over enough people's eyes, because things will be nasty if/when push comes to shove. But I don't count on it.