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It would be nice if the markets reflected the health of the economy but the stock exchange is being fueled by the Fed’s “easy money” policy. Brokers can borrow money at almost 0 % interest, buy short term securities, derivatives, and other financial instruments, make 2 to 5 percent profit, sell them and repay the Fed. Add to that the Fed is buying back 75% of the treasuries they issue to pump money into the economy and the markets are just gushing cash. Bernake keeps assuring congress that this isn’t an inflationary policy and if the markets are healthy and thriving it will keep interest rates low and stimulate housing and supposedly hiring. Unfortunately it isn’t doing much for unemployment and borrowing by small business is still restricted.
Amen. I use daily closings of the DOW Industrials to track the “economic health” of the USA….but I have suspected that this recent “rise” might be a “bubble” of inflated value due to the pumping of “new money” at $85 Billion a month….and today I find several articles saying just that! - USA TODAY’s 3/4 editorial and NYT’s 3/5 article “As Fears Recede, Dow Industrials Hit a Milestone”…and CNN Money had charts on Sunday or Monday showing the 2007 HIGH, just before the Recession hit…! Not a good omen, IMO. - Also IMO it is dishonest to print “dollars” without solid metal (gold, silver) backing….isn’t it only the “bubble” of fools accepting worhless paper on the connivance of spendthrift governments? Bailing out failed businesses just because they are “too big to fail” is not honest, either. Our “economy” is pure deception due to the Fed and silly presidents who get talked into actions that are unwise, IMO.
Precious metals are no more valuable than what people say they are worth, too. Gold, silver, platinum, and diamonds are all excellent industrial materials, but are so expensive because they’re shiny.
I believe it was Nixon who “officially” took us off the gold standard, even though we haven’t been tethered to it for a while. William Jennings Bryan ran on the “Gold Standard” and got beat, twice.
Gold hasn’t really increased its value in several thousand years. In ancient Rome, an ounce of gold would get you a really nice toga. Today, an ounce of gold will get you a really nice suit.
Unfortunately, our governor has decided to give us an income tax break by expanding sales taxes to services, and prohibit municipalities, (which have been hard hit by his previous tax changes) from adding to their tax base by freezing total sales tax percentages. When he gets done, the next governor will have a Bush-size mess to clean up, because the state may do well, but the cities will be desperate to just keep up with inflation.
Your Individual Results May Vary! Mileage figures are an Estimate! Objects in Mirror Are Closer Then They Appear! No User Serviceable Parts Inside! Void where Prohibited By Law! Contest Void in Rhode Island!
JFK was the president that cut the paper dollar free from gold.The government artificially kept the price of 1 ounce of gold at $35 for a long time. When freed, it rose and is now over $1575 an ounce….showing the worthlessness of the paper dollar….value of both is shown by the gap in prices…. - @neocon….the DOW is inflated by the “independent” Federal Reserve..which has been pouring $85 Billion each and every month into bonds….and doesn’t plan to stop!…. Monday the Fed Vice Chair Janet Yellen said the Fed must continue it aggressive purchasing of bonds “to stimulate the US economy and spur employment”…“since Feb. the Fed has more than tripled the size of its portfolio of assets to $2.861 Trillion….”The Fed is slated to continue until unemployment drops from the current 7.9% to 6.5%." (from Reuters, Wall St. Journal, and Washington Post sources in www.breitbart.com article by Wnton Hall 3/5/13)
Actually it was a long deterioration that severed the dollar from the “gold” standards. The paper dollar vs gold standard was another tool of global finance to find currency parody. Good paper on this topic. http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41887.pdf
More to the point of this toon is the current realization that Wall Street and the economy are not working in conjunction with each other. We now have an environment of counter purposes Wall Street profiteers taking Velocity Of Capital from the actual product/job markets instead of injecting capital into our real time markets. Real capital is taken out of our day to day marketplace to offshore accounts and overseas investments especially by big banks derivative trading (228.7 trillion and counting) that drives up prices for base goods futures creating inflation and forcing the fed to print money to maintain a stable VOC for the rest of us to utilize to maintain our day to day expenditures. Fact is the Congressional fo-pas are just a distraction to keep open the avenues for profiteering by our puppet-masters. Want more on this suggest researching Disaster Capitalism and Milton Friedman and the Chicago Boys in Chili in the late 50’s and 60’s under Pinochet’s dictatorial reign it became what we are now seeing here the same profit first people last economics here in America.
What’s wrong with this picture? We were given the impression that States with State Income Taxes did not need the ‘regressive’ Sales Tax. So, in your State, your taxed 3 ways form Sunday, and your State needs to increase your Taxes to cover the deficit your State should not have because you have so many taxes.
Joe Heller has been the staff editorial cartoonist for the Green Bay Press-Gazette since 1985. His cartoons appear in more than 350 publications, making him the most self-syndicated cartoonist in the nation.
Walt Handelsman by Walt Handelsman
Jerry Holbert by Jerry Holbert
Comments (22) (Please sign in to comment)
mickey1339
said, 3 months ago
It would be nice if the markets reflected the health of the economy but the stock exchange is being fueled by the Fed’s “easy money” policy. Brokers can borrow money at almost 0 % interest, buy short term securities, derivatives, and other financial instruments, make 2 to 5 percent profit, sell them and repay the Fed. Add to that the Fed is buying back 75% of the treasuries they issue to pump money into the economy and the markets are just gushing cash.
Bernake keeps assuring congress that this isn’t an inflationary policy and if the markets are healthy and thriving it will keep interest rates low and stimulate housing and supposedly hiring. Unfortunately it isn’t doing much for unemployment and borrowing by small business is still restricted.
disgustedtaxpayer said, 3 months ago
Amen.
I use daily closings of the DOW Industrials to track the “economic health” of the USA….but I have suspected that this recent “rise” might be a “bubble” of inflated value due to the pumping of “new money” at $85 Billion a month….and today I find several articles saying just that!
-
USA TODAY’s 3/4 editorial and NYT’s 3/5 article “As Fears Recede, Dow Industrials Hit a Milestone”…and CNN Money had charts on Sunday or Monday showing the 2007 HIGH, just before the Recession hit…! Not a good omen, IMO.
-
Also IMO it is dishonest to print “dollars” without solid metal (gold, silver) backing….isn’t it only the “bubble” of fools accepting worhless paper on the connivance of spendthrift governments? Bailing out failed businesses just because they are “too big to fail” is not honest, either. Our “economy” is pure deception due to the Fed and silly presidents who get talked into actions that are unwise, IMO.
Kylie2112 said, 3 months ago
@disgustedtaxpayer
Precious metals are no more valuable than what people say they are worth, too. Gold, silver, platinum, and diamonds are all excellent industrial materials, but are so expensive because they’re shiny.
edinbaltimore said, 3 months ago
I believe it was Nixon who “officially” took us off the gold standard, even though we haven’t been tethered to it for a while. William Jennings Bryan ran on the “Gold Standard” and got beat, twice.
NebulousRikulau
said, 3 months ago
Gold hasn’t really increased its value in several thousand years.
In ancient Rome, an ounce of gold would get you a really nice toga.
Today, an ounce of gold will get you a really nice suit.
Rockngolfer said, 3 months ago
The stock market does’t take inflation into account, but the current rise is still impressive.
edinbaltimore said, 3 months ago
King: Best post I’ve read in quite a while. I’ll be laughing all morning!
edinbaltimore said, 3 months ago
Unfortunately, our governor has decided to give us an income tax break by expanding sales taxes to services, and prohibit municipalities, (which have been hard hit by his previous tax changes) from adding to their tax base by freezing total sales tax percentages. When he gets done, the next governor will have a Bush-size mess to clean up, because the state may do well, but the cities will be desperate to just keep up with inflation.
masterskrain said, 3 months ago
@Mr. King
Your Individual Results May Vary!
Mileage figures are an Estimate!
Objects in Mirror Are Closer Then They Appear!
No User Serviceable Parts Inside!
Void where Prohibited By Law!
Contest Void in Rhode Island!
NeoconMan said, 3 months ago
Obama has nothing to do with the rising DOW.
But the high unemployment is entirely his fault.
disgustedtaxpayer said, 3 months ago
JFK was the president that cut the paper dollar free from gold.The government artificially kept the price of 1 ounce of gold at $35 for a long time. When freed, it rose and is now over $1575 an ounce….showing the worthlessness of the paper dollar….value of both is shown by the gap in prices….
-
@neocon….the DOW is inflated by the “independent” Federal Reserve..which has been pouring $85 Billion each and every month into bonds….and doesn’t plan to stop!…. Monday the Fed Vice Chair Janet Yellen said the Fed must continue it aggressive purchasing of bonds “to stimulate the US economy and spur employment”…“since Feb. the Fed has more than tripled the size of its portfolio of assets to $2.861 Trillion….”The Fed is slated to continue until unemployment drops from the current 7.9% to 6.5%."
(from Reuters, Wall St. Journal, and Washington Post sources in www.breitbart.com article by Wnton Hall 3/5/13)
Dycel
said, 3 months ago
@disgustedtaxpayer
Actually it was a long deterioration that severed the dollar from the “gold” standards.
The paper dollar vs gold standard was another tool of global finance to find currency parody.
Good paper on this topic.
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41887.pdf
Dycel
said, 3 months ago
More to the point of this toon is the current realization that Wall Street and the economy are not working in conjunction with each other.
We now have an environment of counter purposes Wall Street profiteers taking Velocity Of Capital from the actual product/job markets instead of injecting capital into our real time markets.
Real capital is taken out of our day to day marketplace to offshore accounts and overseas investments especially by big banks derivative trading (228.7 trillion and counting) that drives up prices for base goods futures creating inflation and forcing the fed to print money to maintain a stable VOC for the rest of us to utilize to maintain our day to day expenditures.
Fact is the Congressional fo-pas are just a distraction to keep open the avenues for profiteering by our puppet-masters.
Want more on this suggest researching Disaster Capitalism and Milton Friedman and the Chicago Boys in Chili in the late 50’s and 60’s under Pinochet’s dictatorial reign it became what we are now seeing here the same profit first people last economics here in America.
Tigger
said, 3 months ago
@edinbaltimore
You would be Wrong! It was Democrat FDR as part of his ‘New Deal’
Link:http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/fdr-takes-united-states-off-gold-standard
Tigger
said, 3 months ago
@edinbaltimore
What’s wrong with this picture? We were given the impression that States with State Income Taxes did not need the ‘regressive’ Sales Tax. So, in your State, your taxed 3 ways form Sunday, and your State needs to increase your Taxes to cover the deficit your State should not have because you have so many taxes.