(#215) "Bitcoin" Explained (Part 2)

An alternative to the Dollar?

As posted at www.futuremoneytrends.com on 9/15/12

 

What is "Bitcoin"?

Back in The Profit Center Blog #177 from 6/6/11, we posted the clip above which provided a short introduction to "Bitcoin" . . .

 Understanding Bitcoin Security

In this 9/15/12 interview conducted by VisionVictory, Trace Mayer of Run To Gold & How To Vanish uses excellent analogies and explanations in order to help people grasp what "Bitcoin" is, what "bitcoins" are, how it works, and why you should care.

With the current global fiat money system coming to an end, why not invest 30 minutes to learn about this acceleratingly popular alternative currency known as "Bitcoin".

QUOTES

5:27: Regarding the Bitcoin code, "It's open source; so far there hasn't been anyone that's able to compromise the code" 

6:13: "It allows for capital to be accumulated and be saved and stored in a much better way I think than necessarily gold or silver" 

6:51: "Currently the Bitcoin network is secured by processing power. Approximately 250 petaFLOPS. The department of Energy just built a supercomputer for $1.2 Billion that has 15 petaFLOPs"

MORE INFORMATION 

To learn more about bitcoins, see:

http://FreeBitcoinGuide.com

http://www.weusecoins.com 

(#214) The Broken Window Fallacy

Is Hurricane Sandy good for the economy?

As posted at the LearningLiberty.org You Tube Channel on 6/23/11

 

Does destruction create jobs? After natural disasters, terrorist attacks, and wars, some people argue that these disasters are good for the economy, because they create jobs and prosperity. As Prof. Art Carden of Rhodes College explains, this is an example of the "Broken Window Fallacy", a term coined by Frederic Bastiat in his 1850 essay, "That Which is Seen, and That Which is Not Seen".

When a shopkeeper's window is broken, he will spend money on a new window, which gives income and jobs for glaziers. This activity is "seen", but the "unseen" is just as important: the money spend on a new window could have been spent on other things. Wealth has not increased, but only reallocated from some people to others, and society is worse off by one window.

(#213) Citizens from 29 States Petition to Secede from the USA

White House must respond if a petition gathers 25,000 signatures within 30 days

As posted at www.examiner.com on 11/11/12

 

Within days of the presidential election, citizens from 29 States have petitioned the Obama Administration for withdrawal from the United States of America in order to create their own respective governments.  Louisiana was the first State to file a petition, followed by Texas.  A complete list of states is as follows:

1. Louisiana
2. Texas
3. Montana
4. North Dakota
5. Indiana
6. Mississippi
7. Kentucky
8. North Carolina
9. Alabama
10. Florida
11. Georgia
12. New Jersey
13. Colorado
14. Oregon
15. New York
16. Arkansas
17. South Carolina
18. Missouri
19. Tennessee
20. Michigan
21. Oklahoma
22. Utah
23. Arizona
24. Pennsylvania
25. Nevada
26. Delaware
27. Ohio
28. California
29. Wyoming 

The federal government allows one month from the day the petition is submitted to obtain 25,000 signatures in order for the Obama administration to consider the request.  As of the time of this writing, Louisiana and Texas lead the pack, having collected 24,602 and 53,223 signatures, respectively.

The Texas petition reads as follows:

The US continues to suffer economic difficulties stemming from the federal government’s neglect to reform domestic and foreign spending. The citizens of the US suffer from blatant abuses of their rights such as the NDAA, the TSA, etc. Given that the state of Texas maintains a balanced budget and is the 15th largest economy in the world, it is practically feasible for Texas to withdraw from the union, and to do so would protect it’s citizens’ standard of living and re-secure their rights and liberties in accordance with the original ideas and beliefs of our founding fathers which are no longer being reflected by the federal government.  

The website for the petitions is:

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petitions

Dr. Paul on the Constitutional Principle of Secession

Although the clip immediately above is by no means new, nor was it filmed in response to the recent proliferation of succession petitions (it was originally posted on 4/19/09), it appears to fit into the discussion.  In it, U.S. Congressman Ron Paul discusses the Constitutional concept of secession.

Ron Paul, is an American physician, author, and politician.  He has served 12 terms in Congress, currently as the U.S. Representative for Texas' 14th congressional district since 1997.

(#212) Obama 2.0 & The Fiscal Cliff

Implications for America, the Markets, the Dollar and Gold

 As posted on the SchiffReport You Tube Channel on 11/8/12

 

Peter Schiff provides his analysis of what the economic future holds for the next four years.

Peter Schiff, is an American businessman, investment broker, author and financial commentator. Schiff is CEO and chief global strategist  of Euro Pacific Capital Inc., a broker-dealer based in Westport, Connecticut, and CEO of Euro Pacific Precious Metals, LLC, a gold and silver dealer based in New York City.

(#211) Quantitative Easing Explained

What the Federal Reserve is doing and how we got there

As posted on YouTube on 11/30/10

Film-maker uses computerized, monotone voices and anime-styled bears to explain the inexplicable: "The Ben Bernank's" rise to power and the Fed's collusion with Goldman Sachs to rob American taxpayers.

An earlier version of this clip previously appeared as The Profit Center's Blog #150 back in 11/17/10 right at the time QE2 was hatched.  I just came across it again and thought it was so spot-on that it deserved another airing to coincide with QE3.

Now, nearly two years since this clip was created, how is QE working for you?

(#210) Is this the End of the Petro-Dollar?

China actively working to end it

As appeared on Ben Swann's "Reality Check" on 10/9/12

 

Note: the above YouTube link has subsequently been taken down.  The clip may now be viewed here:

http://www.fox19.com/story/19779174/reality-check-what-is-the-petro-dollar-and-why-is-china-trying-to-destroy-it

Ben Swann explains what the "petro-dollar" is, it's importance to the U.S. Dollar retaining it's designation as the world's reserve currency, and how the national media isn't telling you that China is actively working to end it.

Ben Swann, is a television journalist with Fox19 in Cincinnati, Ohio and produces a fact-checking series entitled Reality Check.  He is the recipient of both an Edward R. Murrow Award and two Emmy Awards.

(#209) Inflation IS the Plan

a Bob Murphy double header

As posted to consultingbyRPM.com/blog on 9/19/12 and 9/25/12, respectively

QE3's Lack of Limits Spell the Death of the Dollar

 

QE3 . . . with no end date, no dollar amount cap - the potential negative impact on citizens' wealth and on the economy is immeasurable.

 Inflation IS the Plan

 

Dr. Murphy goes on to explain that price inflation IS the "plan", not a regrettable by-product of QE3. 

Robert P. Murphy, an Austrian School economist, is a senior fellow in business and economic studies at the Pacific Research Institute, and is an adjunct scholar and frequent speaker at the Ludwig von Mises Institute.  He writes a column for Townhall.com and has also written for LewRockwell.com.  He is an adjunct scholar at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and an economist for the Institute for Energy Research.

(#208) The Real Fiscal Cliff

How to spot the ledge

As posted to the Mises Institute Media You Tube Channel on 9/26/12

 

Archived from the live Mises.tv broadcast, this lecture delivered by Peter Schiff on the day after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke announced QE3, was presented at the Mises Circle in Manhattan: "Central Banking, Deposit Insurance, and Economic Decline." Includes an introduction by Lew Rockwell, founder of the Ludwig von Mises Institute.

Peter Schiff, is an American businessman, investment broker, author and financial commentator. Schiff is CEO and chief global strategist  of Euro Pacific Capital Inc., a broker-dealer based in Westport, Connecticut, and CEO of Euro Pacific Precious Metals, LLC, a gold and silver dealer based in New York City.

(#207) "The Fed will Destroy the World"

Marc Faber on the Federal Reserve's QE3 Announcement

As appeared on Bloomberg Television's "In the Loop" on 9/14/12

 

"Everything will collapse" is the consequence Gloom, Boom, & Doom's Marc Faber sees from the announcement of QE3, the Federal Reserve's latest 'stimulus' (and the fallacy and misconception of how money-printing can help employment). In a wondrously clarifying interview on Bloomberg TV on 9/14/12, Faber explained why he was 'happy', since "the asset values of his holdings will go up" but as a responsible citizen he is worried because "the monetary policies of the US will destroy the world." It truly is class warfare under a veil of 'its good for you' as he notes: "the fallacy of monetary policy in the U.S. is to believe this money will go to the man on the street. It won't. It goes to the Mayfair economy of the well-to-do people and boosts asset prices of Warhols."

Marc Faber, is a Swiss investor and publisher of the Gloom Boom & Doom Report newsletter and has also authored several books.  He is the director of Marc Faber Ltd which acts as an investment advisor and fund manager.

(#206) The Euro in One Lesson

A short, concise explanation of the tragedy of the Euro

As posted on the Tom Woods You Tube Channel on 8/27/12

 

Tom Woods explains, with reference to the work of Philipp Bagus, why the Euro crisis was predictable, and in fact the logical outcome of the incentives built into the system.

Thomas E. Woods, Jr., is an American historian, economist, political analyst, and New York Times-bestselling author.  He has written extensively on the subjects of American history, contemporary politics, and economic theory. He is the founder of Liberty Classroom, which provides online courses on history and economics.

 

(#205) The Phillips Curve

The relationship between inflation and unemployment

A component of Welker's Wikinomics Video Lecture Series posted on 1/10/12 and 1/11/12, respectively.

 

This video lesson introduces a basic Macroeconomic model showing the short-run tradeoff that exists between inflation and unemployment in nation's economy. By examining the effect that a shift in Aggregate Demand has on the average price level and the level of output and employment, we observe a simple tradeoff: lower unemployment generally comes at the cost of higher inflation, while lower inflation may require higher unemployment.

In the second lesson on the Phillips Curve model we will further explore the relationship between unemployment and inflation in an economy, this time examining what happens in the long-run, or the flexible-wage period, following a change in aggregate demand in an economy. Will the tradeoff between inflation and unemployment exist even once wages and prices have had time to adjust to the level of demand for a nation's output?

We will find that, in fact, as an economy self-corrects from changes to aggregate demand and output returns to its full employment level, the unemployment rate will always return to its natural rate, even as inflation rises and falls with demand in the economy.

What is important to note is that the author prefaces changes in his model resulting from changes in the economy with statements that are essentially saying "assuming no government intervention".  In other words, the point that is being made is that, assuming the government does not intervene in the economy, the free market is self-correcting.

(#204) A Primer on Gold

Independent vs Fiat

As posted to Dominic Frisby You Tube Channel on 7/21/11 

A short animation arguing for re-introduction of gold as money because of its independence.

(#203) Gold Market Manipulation Means Physical is Best

"If you can't hold it in your hands, you don't own it!"

As appeared on CNBC Commodities Corner on 6/21/12

 

Chris Powell, secretary and treasurer of the Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee (GATA) explains why it's important for investors to purchase physical gold and store it in allocated storage outside the banking system.

(#202) "What About Money Causes Economic Crises?"

Congressional Lecture Series on the Basic Principles of Money

(Part 3 of 3)

 As posted on the CongressmanRonPaul You Tube Channel on 12/19/11

 

We conclude our three part series on the basic principles of money originally created for Congressional staff.  So that it could also be used as a continuing educational tool this lecture was filmed and is provided to the public.

The lecture was delivered by Peter Schiff, CEO of Euro Pacific Capital and author of Crash Proof: How to Profit From the Coming Economic Collapse and How an Economy Grows and Why It Crashes. Mr. Schiff explains the fact that the interest rate is a price and that manipulation of that price results in real changes to the capital structure and structure of production within the economy, causing imbalances, booms, and eventually busts in the economy. His lecture also explores how government intervention through labor and employment policies results in diminished employment and an overall reduction in the standard of living.

(#201) "What is Constitutional Money"

Congressional Lecture Series on the Basic Principles of Money

(Part 2 of 3)

As posted on the CongressmanRonPaul You Tube Channel on 11/18/11

 

We continue with Part two of our three part series on the basic principles of money originally created for Congressional staff.  So that it could also be used as a continuing educational tool this lecture was filmed and is provided to the public.

The lecture was delivered by Edwin Vieira, Jr., J.D., Ph.D, the author of the definitive work on Constitutional money, Pieces of Eight: The Monetary Powers and Disabilities of the United States Constitution. Dr. Vieira's lecture explores the development of the American monetary system from colonial times through the creation of the Federal Reserve System, explaining the constitutional underpinnings of our money and the erosion of that legal framework over 200+ years of monetary history. He also explains his plan to return to sound money, outlining the grim ramifications of continuing on a fiat money standard.

Coming up: 

• Part 3 "What About Money Causes Economic Crises?"

(#200) "What is Money?"

Congressional Lecture Series on the Basic Principles of Money

(Part 1 of 3)

As posted on the CongressmanRonPaul You Tube Channel on 10/12/11

Texas Congressman Ron Paul sponsored this Congressional lecture on "What is Money?", part one of a three part series on the basic principles of money for Congressional staff. As a continuing educational tool this lecture was filmed and is provided to the public. Joseph T. Salerno, Ph.D., delivered the lecture. He is academic vice president of the Mises Institute, professor of economics at Pace University, and editor of the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics.

Coming up:

• Part 2: "What is Constitutional Money?"

• Part 3 "What About Money Causes Economic Crises?"