“Obviously, no. A gives something to B in exchange for something else and both get what they bargained for. No deficit is possible.”

“So how is it that when the farmer, or the migrant worker, or the Chinese shirt maker trade their goods and services for money, that suddenly the deficit problem pops up?”

“Because when individuals trade real goods, the exchange is complete. But when one half of an exchange is for money, the government enters the picture. Individuals create real goods and services with labor and capital, while governments create the money by “fiat” (i.e., by law), simply pushing computer keys and running printing presses. The newly created money, which cost next to zero to print, buys up real goods and services. And as the money percolates through the economy, it leaves a swath of destructive imbalances, including such things as inflation and trade deficits. Governments then step in with more laws and restrictions that purport to solve the economic problems that their fiat money policies spawned.”

“Money creation is a form of theft (and, as my friend Richard Maybury once said, theft is just a nice word for taxation), albeit so subtle that the public never seems to catch on. In a world where individuals and not governments were sovereign, the marketplace couldn’t have trade deficits or inflation, as the marketplace has feedback mechanisms to deal with anyone who creates irredeemable money. But when governments usurp the freedom of individuals by passing laws defining legal money as the money printed by the government, all manner of economic evils follow.”

“What can a sovereign individual do? Forget futile efforts to influence the politicians, and assume everything they do to ‘solve’ the trade deficit will reduce your freedoms even more. Go to the root of the problem, which is fiat money. Historically, gold and silver have been the free-market’s choice for trade, and the ultimate refuge from fiat monies. You can regain some sovereignty in the monetary arena by holding and dealing in real money whenever possible. Gold and silver, whether held as assets to defend against depreciating currencies, or as mechanisms for trade through free-market exchanges like GoldMoney.com, or LibertyDollar.org, are real money. Hold and use real, free-market money whenever you can.”

Source: Trade Deficit = Freedom Deficit

This from Sovereign Society:

“Lenin said the day would come when gold would serve to coat the walls and floors of public toilets.” -Premier Nikita S. Khrushchev

Ancient, mysterious gold is being pushed to the forefront of investors’ minds these days, as the inflationary policies of the worlds’ central banks meet uneasily with the deflationary pressures of the housing industry’s collapse. Most expected this year’s air of uncertainty to push gold prices into the stratosphere, and all seem to be relatively shocked by the yellow metal’s lackluster performance thus far.

But for me it’s all just déjà vu…perhaps for you too. We’ve been here before. Not just during the great gold bull market of the 1970s, but way back in the 1920s, and the 1860s, and the…well, let’s not go back to Ancient Rome.

Since gold and freedom have had a long, torrid, and often clandestine affair, the market’s current attraction to the yellow metal makes it apropos that gold looms large in our discussions here at The Sovereign Society.

We hear predictions of US$1,000 or even US$2,000 an ounce. Well…before you or I are swept along in the excitement, let us analyze this euphoria through the lens of economic principles, and ponder the lessons of history.

You may have profited, as I did, in the tumultuous gold bull market of the 1970s. It was heralded in advance by my late friend Harry Browne, who saw it coming and showed investors how to get rich in his prophetic best-seller, How to Profit From the Coming Devaluation. I, too, joined the ranks of “gold-bugs,” writing enthusiastically about the metal’s glory…along with Jim Dines, Doug Casey, Howard Ruff, and many others.

With hindsight, and with gold prices currently stagnating, can we learn anything from history? Tracking the ‘real’ price of gold offers some clues.

In 1915, the dollar was defined as one-twentieth of an ounce of gold. Paper currency consisted of gold certificates that could be exchanged for gold on demand. The ‘double eagle,’ the US$20 gold piece, was one ounce of gold.

In 1915, US$20 would buy a lot. Wages were 35 to 75 cents an hour, or US$500 to US$1,000 per year. A man’s tailor-made suit cost US$25-$30 (with two pairs of trousers), while a Sears & Roebuck ready-made, but stylish pure-wool worsted suit sold for US$16.50. A movie ticket cost 15 cents (10 cents for kids).

Adjusted by the CPI, what cost US$20 in 1915 would hypothetically cost over US$450 today. Meanwhile, an ounce of gold that equaled US$20 in 1915 would cost US$726 as of this writing.

What happened? It’s known as fiat money creation.

What Happens When Paper IOUs Replace Solid Metal Currency

The prices of goods and gold diverged because the newly created Federal Reserve gave banks free reign to expand loans, massively inflating the quantities of gold certificates in circulation, with no increase in the banks’ gold reserves. As the gold IOUs flowed into the economy, boom times arrived. Prices rose and stocks and real estate soared.

Sadly, as the masses discovered, the “roaring twenties” were fueled by paper promises. In 1929, the stock market crashed, unemployment rose, people became fearful of banks, and the public began turning in their bank notes for the gold they had deposited. Of course, most banks didn’t have enough gold to cover the outstanding notes, one by one they failed, and the economy plunged into the Great Depression.

The bankers and politicians were quick to blame the free market, greed, and gold itself. Roosevelt, elected in 1933, closed the banks to stem a rising wave of bank failures, abruptly revalued gold to US$35 ounce (depreciating everyone’s dollars by 75%), and outlawed ownership of gold by U.S. citizens.

It was easy to rob American citizens at gunpoint by confiscating their gold, but what about foreigners? They could still choose between U.S. dollars and gold. The answer was to play the same game the Fed had played 30 years earlier: promise to redeem dollars in gold. In 1944, at the historic United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, every participating country pledged to keep its currency within a percentage point or two of an agreed dollar value providing the U.S. indemnified foreign central banks against a depreciating U.S. dollar by backing the dollar with Treasury gold. The dollar became the world’s reserve currency.

Credit Swells and Gold Freezes

The credit expansion began again, and the price of gold remained frozen at US$35 an ounce for another 27 years. Again, as happened in the 1920s, consumer prices began to rise. But just as worried Americans had begun to run to the banks in the 1930s, the rest of the world began a run on U.S. Treasury gold. In 1971, with Treasury holdings perilously low, Nixon abrogated the Bretton Woods agreement and gold, free of government chains at last, soared to US$800 an ounce in 1980.

At that price, it was wildly above its historic exchange value with other goods, so it was inevitable that the lines would converge again, and they did.

Politicians depend on fiat currency to fund wars and giveaway programs, and therefore always disparage gold. In 1924, in the euphoria of the Federal Reserve money bubble, John Maynard Keyes denigrated sound-money advocates by calling the gold standard a “barbaric relic.” Even after a half century of turmoil caused by fiat money, in 1975, Secretary of the Treasury William Simon continued to argue against gold due to its “destabilizing effects” on the world monetary system. The IMF formally sought ways to “insure that the role of gold in the international monetary system is gradually reduced.” Gold sales by both the IMF and the Treasury were undertaken to suppress the price and discourage investors.

Gold is a commodity…a tangible, useful mineral extracted from ore and refined for use. The very fact of its unique properties (divisibility, durability, scarcity, and its recognizable luster) make it an unmatched medium of exchange, and also a safe haven for citizens. Thus, it will always be a threat to the creators of fiat money.

What’s Next for Gold?

History teaches that gold will hold its value relative to other goods. In terms of inflating currencies, all goods, including gold, will hold their relative value to each other, and rise relative to currency. Right now, for the last 6 years the price of gold has risen more rapidly than other prices, and is now higher than the norm.

Since 1980, consumer prices have risen by almost 150%. Many analysts today assume that gold will repeat the price pattern that occurred in the decade of the 1970s, and argue that gold could go as high as US$2,000…or higher.

Warren Buffett once said that what we learn from history is that people don’t learn from history. Thus, it’s probable that the current bull market in gold is not over in spite of the fact that gold’s dollar price relative to goods is higher than the historical norm. The public has yet to discover just how much world currencies, and particularly the U.S. dollar, have been inflated in recent months and years. As this becomes apparent, dollar holders will, as they did in the 1930s, and again in the 1970s, try to redeem those dollars for tangible goods. Price inflation will return with a vengeance, and probably soon.

What are the best ways to own gold?

For myself, owning physical gold in the form of coins and bullion for conservation of purchasing power, and seeking out the shares of undervalued and overlooked gold mining companies for investment and speculative growth are the best choices.

In addition, to promote a return to sound money and to enjoy its benefits to every extent possible in the meanwhile, you should begin using “electronic” gold. The most reliable and safest purveyor of this new technology is Goldmoney. Check them out at www.goldmoney.com/?gmrefcode=sovsoc.

I opened this essay with a quote by Lenin, who argued that gold should be assigned to the toilet. Not only was Lenin an economic ignoramus, he was the ultimate enemy of individual sovereignty. Ancient, mysterious gold is the ultimate antidote to fiat money, and we can be certain that mankind’s love affair with this lustrous commodity will never end.

Source: Gold and The Lessons of History

This from the Sovereign Society:

Lunacy dominates world stock markets, as a tug of war ensues between fear and greed. For two wildly fluctuating months, stock and real estate markets bounced down the stairway that easy credit built. Then on Tuesday, greed was king for a day. The market exploded into one of its biggest rallies in half a century, with the Dow Jones industrial average closing up 10.9%.

Does the rally signal a bottom in this schizophrenic market? Well, unfortunately there’s no way to know except in hindsight.

Sowing the Wind & Reaping the Whirlwind

We don’t need hindsight to know that the current meltdown was inevitable. It is the consequence of events that began a century ago with the birth of the engine of 20th century boom and bust: the Federal Reserve. Nor were the effects of the new central bank immediately apparent.

The effects of credit expansion didn’t show up the next day or the next month. It took more than a decade for the credit creation to result in the Roaring Twenties and the Crash of 1929. Again, the famous October 29 market selloff didn’t cause an economic catastrophe the next day…or the day after that, or even the year after that.

It took three years for the Great Depression to truly grip the nation, triggering more government action – the abandonment of the gold standard and massive federal bailouts. Again, the results weren’t instantaneous. It took decades to inflate another boom, and reach the monetary crises of the 1970s.

Economic theory can predict the consequences of credit expansion, but only in hindsight can we see the timing as the consequences unfold. Today’s economic storms are the consequences of seeds first planted a century ago. And once again – as the credit bubble collapses – new seeds are being sown.

The official budget deficit for the fiscal year that ended September 30, 2008, was $455 billion, but most private analysts say the current fiscal year will end with a gap of one trillion dollars. How are the presidential contenders planning to deal with rising deficits?

Both John McCain and Barak Obama promise tax cuts and increases in government spending. It won’t show up tomorrow, but vast government deficits ahead guarantee that price inflation will demolish the purchasing power of the dollars that fearful investors are so eager to lend to the U.S. government.

When will the market bottom, and when will price inflation roar? We won’t know that except in hindsight, but both will happen.

Buy When Blood is Running in the Streets

But how deep should the blood be? Only value investing can provide the clue.
As markets are gripped by fear or euphoria – plunging one day and soaring the next – it’s clear that very few are following the advice of the most successful long-term investors of the past century. Money masters like John Templeton, Benjamin Graham, Peter Lynch and Warren Buffett piled up enormous profits throughout one of the most tumultuous centuries in history, and their advice is there for all to follow.

Benjamin Graham, said it clearly in The Intelligent Investor, “Don’t get carried away by enthusiasm. Don’t get carried away by despondency. …Know in advance that you are going to have to live through bear markets.”

Let me re-tell Graham’s parable from his book, The Intelligent Investor.

Imagine owning shares of a small business that cost $1,000, and every day your partner named Mr. Market knocks at your door and announces what he thinks those shares are worth that day. He offers either to buy your shares or sell you more at that price. Even though the business is trudging along without significant change, each day his opinion is wildly different. Frequently Mr. Market’s enthusiasm or his fear seems completely divorced from anything happening in the business and his valuation seems ridiculous. One day he offers to buy or sell you shares for $2,000 each, and a week later he makes the same offer for $500. Should you let Mr. Market’s wild enthusiasm or shaking fear determine your view of the intrinsic value of the business?

That’s obviously irrational. As Graham puts it:

The investor with a portfolio of sound stocks should expect their prices to fluctuate and should neither be concerned by sizable declines nor become excited by sizable advances. He should always remember that market quotations are there for his convenience, either to be taken advantage of or to be ignored. He would not be far wrong if this motto read more simply: “Never buy a stock immediately after a substantial rise or sell one immediately after a substantial drop.”

Since we can never know in advance whether shares will be higher or lower tomorrow, the only rule to follow is to accumulate them when they are significantly underpriced by value analysis. Mr. Market is definitely letting his fear override his reason, and is making us offers that become increasingly difficult to refuse. As was the case after 1929, there are great opportunities being born out of the chaos. Don’t let Mr. Market’s trembling hands cause you to lose sight of the outstanding values he’s offering.

A sound and lasting investment strategy requires searching for assets that have true value and will retain it – those include all types of commodities that will rise in price as money falls in value, currencies that are not being debased, and ownership of profit-making companies that have not fallen into the trap of trying to leverage profits through debt.

Source: Blood in the Streets: How to Profit from Stock Market Schizophrenia