From Reuters:

NEW YORK, Oct 20 (Reuters) – The New York Federal Reserve said on Tuesday it will buy agency coupon securities maturing between July 2016 and July 2032 in an open market operation on Wednesday.

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Ben Bernanke has counterfeited trillions of dollars since taking office. For the $1,200 the man in Wyoming counterfeited, he could face up to 20 years in prison, the story says.  At that rate, Bernanke should still be sitting in prison when the second coming of Christ takes place.

When you stop laughing, think about how closely this story resembles a microcosm of America’s monetary policy.  The man counterfeited to pay for a stripper. How is that any different than the Congress asking the Fed to counterfeit so that the political elites can have their luxuries?

The story:

CHEYENNE — A local man has been charged in federal court with counterfeiting money, allegedly to pay an exotic dancer for a private session at a motel.

Rickey A. Kempter, 50, of Cheyenne faces up to 20 years in prison on charges of making and possessing counterfeit U.S, currency.

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From Bloomberg News:

Aug. 25 (Bloomberg) — The Federal Reserve must make records about emergency lending to financial institutions public within five days because it failed to convince a judge the documents should be exempt from the Freedom of Information Act.

Manhattan Chief U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska rejected the central bank’s argument that the records aren’t covered by the law because their disclosure would harm borrowers’ competitive positions. The collateral lists “are central to understanding and assessing the government’s response to the most cataclysmic financial crisis in America since the Great Depression,” according to the lawsuit that led to yesterday’s ruling.

For the rest of the story, CLICK HERE!

]]> http://inflationblog.marketimplode.com/?feed=rss2&p=190 0 http://inflationblog.marketimplode.com/?p=188 http://inflationblog.marketimplode.com/?p=188#comments Fri, 27 Mar 2009 16:46:55 +0000 Sean Mangieri http://inflationblog.marketimplode.com/?p=188 The yield has actually managed to decrease on Treasuries. This should completely flabbergast the market, but considering that today’s market participants know little or nothing about economics, their folly remains predictable.

The Federal Reserve Note will surely undergo hyperinflation in the future, but for now, investors continue flocking to this intrinsically valueless piece of paper. 

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Treasury prices extended earlier gains Thursday afternoon after the U.S. government received decent demand for a record large sale of 7-year notes, temporarily putting to rest fears that the government may have trouble finding buyers for its massive debt plans this year.

Read the full article here.

Long-term mortgage rates fell to new all-time lows this week following a move by the Federal Reserve to buy up more than $1 trillion dollars in assets, according to Freddie Mac’s (FRE: 0.8063, -0.0237, -2.86%) weekly mortgage-rate survey released Thursday.

Read the full article here.

Coming just a day after the first failure of a government gilts auction for seven years, and a warning from the Governor of the Bank of England over the weakness of public finances, the news highlighted the potential challenge for the Chancellor in securing the buyers needed for billions more gilts, with borrowing set to soar in the next two years.

Translation of “borrowing set to soar in the next two years:” the government is going to print a whole lot of money to cover bonds nobody else will buy.

Read the full article here.

SAO PAULO, March 27 (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, dismissing talk of a rift between him and Bank of England Governor Mervyn King over fiscal stimulus, said that Britain must not rule out taking action needed to boost growth.

Read the full article here.

This post is republished from jessebickel.com. Please visit Jesse’s website as well. He is responsible for this terrific write up. From Jesse:

Constitutional Tender Act testimony before the banking subcommittees of the Georgia House
Today was exciting. Between the hours of 10 am and 12 pm, several Citizens stood up and spoke in favor of the Constitutional Tender Act (full text). The first was Representative Bobby Franklin, then Dr. Bill Greene, Aaron Krowne, me, Sean Mangieri, and Franklin Sanders. Hopefully the video will go up soon and I will be able to edit this post to include it. The most encouraging part was the sincere and honest thought and questions coming from the subcommittees. “Here’s my understanding of wealth…” and “will there be enough money?”
Also, the banking lobby had some good questions about mechanics, while their arguments against the bill were always preceded with “I’m not a Constitutional lawyer.” And their arguments against it were pretty weak too. In the end, it doesn’t matter how weak their arguments before the committee are, it matters how much money they give to the legislators, so the bill might go nowhere. But I could see the wheels turning in the subcommittees. Today was a victory.

My testimony included tangible coins. I introduced the gold eagle coin, the silver eagle coin, silver quarters, and silver dimes to the subcommittee (covering all the accounts in the bill), then I proceeded with the following testimony:

There are no fancy letters after my name so allow me to introduce myself. I am a software developer. I have lived and worked in Atlanta for nearly four years. While my coworkers were taking out five year loans to get brand new Nissans, I bought a 1994 Saturn with 1600 dollars cash. While my friends were taking out 30 year Adjustable Rate Mortgages with payments they could barely afford, I rented a room in a house with other people. While others were living off their credit cards, I was paying off any credit card debt I had and I was building an emergency fund. In other words, I was always a little uncomfortable with the debt-based, faith-based economy. Now we have all seen some consequences of too much spending and borrowing, and not enough saving. When I was laid off from my job several weeks ago, my decisions to save and live frugally paid off. My point is to offer myself some credibility before making a statement in support of the Constitutional Tender Act.

I encourage the committee to support the Constitutional Tender Act for two reasons. The first is respect for the Constitution of the United States. The second is concern for the future of Georgia and her banking institutions.

The Constitution of the United States recognizes sovereignty of the states in article ten of the Bill of Rights. However, the states are forbidden to make “any Thing but gold or silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts” in Article I section 10. The central government is given no power to make a tender at all. Furthermore, on August 16, 1787 a motion to strike out the power of Congress to “emit bills on the credit of the U. States” carried nine to two. All the discussion regarded “bills of credit” to be “paper money.” Article I section 8 of the Constitution allows Congress the power to “Coin money” which obviously concerns coins and not paper. Indeed, why would the founders grant the Congress the power to create money that the States would be forbidden from making a tender? Despite Washington DC’s ignorance and hostility to the Constitution of the United States, we in Georgia have an obligation to do our best to follow it. The Constitutional Tender Act is a good start at compliance with the Constitution.

I am worried that the banks of Georgia may protest the Constitutional Tender Act on the grounds that it creates compliance costs. My hope is that they will see the wisdom in the act, as it will allow banks in Georgia to continue operating under dire circumstances. In the short term, compliance will require some work. In the long term, I urge the banking sector to consider the case of wholesale dollar rejection. If foreign creditors, the Federal Reserve, and the Congress allow the US dollar to collapse, people will probably not deposit their paper money into banks. This act does nothing to stop the current business of dealing with paper money, but it offers a future benefit for banks who comply with it. Banks already offering an alternative to dollar-only accounts will be ahead of the curve in what is shaping up to be a currency crisis. It should be noted that the act offers no prohibition on fees to open or hold an account denominated in Constitutional money. Obviously the banks must maintain profitability, so I would not expect them to offer safekeeping of money for free.
In conclusion, it is in the interest of the people of Georgia and the banks in Georgia to support the Constitutional Tender Act.

State Representative Bobby Franklin’s quick summary:

Representative Bobby Franklin’s introduction and Q&A:

Dr. Bill Greene’s testimony:

Aaron Krowne’s testimony:

Jesse Bickel’s testimony:

Sean Mangieri’s testimony:

Franklin Sanders’ testimony:

Yesterday, I gave testimony regarding Georgia House Bill 430, The Constitutional Tender Act.

Please leave your comments.

Sincerely,

Sean Mangieri

While many are standing around wondering why Iceland has taken such a horrible turn for the worst, I have an answer. You can call it central banking, fiat money, unsound economics, socialism, or whatever name you may choose. 

The AP reports:

REYKJAVIK, Iceland – Iceland’s coalition government collapsed Monday, leaving the island nation in political turmoil amid a financial crisis that has pummeled its economy and required an international bailout to keep the country afloat.

Read the full article here.