I saw that Ron Paul part too. Not sure about the "clown" part. He seems to be trying to explain to people something they are not used to thinking about. His "inflation is a tax" is not the way most people may look at inflation. It has the same affect though - lowers your ability to spend.
Here he answers questions, but the answers are just unacceptable to so many. It's ironic when truth is made out to be an unpatriotic form of expressing oneself. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/G7d_e9lrcZ8&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/G7d_e9lrcZ8&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
Economists tend to look at inflation as a form of tax. Inflation = less real purchasing power so it would appear to be a tax on real purchasing power. Most people however are not economists nor know anything about the economy other than what they might see on CNN or FOX so yes, most people don't have a clue of what he talks about when RP talks.
Not unpatriotic, just not very concise. Believe me, I'd be thrilled if anyone would expand on the economic themes. Personally, I think that RP was shocked at how much traction he got during the primaries. He started out, if you remember, as a one-trick pony, and that was the Iraq war. As he got more attention, he had to expand his message, and that, sadly fell far too short. I'm hopeful that the future will bring someone with a better delivery, but in the meantime, I'm afraid that we're left with John Mccain as the candidate who will hurt us the least, and that is truly sad.
Respectfully noted. Maybe there isn't much that can be done right now, meaning that to solve problems a country has to go through bad times, before it starts getting better. Delaying the inevitable will just create a bigger storm. If small problems are not solved they normally lead to bigger ones. Nobody wants another WWIII, let's not forget why WWII started, in fact why did most wars start? OK, at the moment US citizens don't have enough 'bad factor' to support going to war, but look how quickly they agreed to going to Afghanistan & Iraq. I feel liberations=invasions of Iraq & Afghan were initiated just to test crowd sentiment, we are pawns, nothing more, until the time we haven't got enough to put food on the table, then all it needs is just a spark.
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/06awZjZTVlQ&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/06awZjZTVlQ&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
The dollar decline hasn't been caused by budget deficits. Read any of my recent posts on the subject. If fiscal policy was the culprit then the Yen would be worthless. The Euro too. U.S. budget deficits are running around 1.5% of GDP. Not exactly huge.At the end of the day the biggest cause of dollar weakness is the trade deficit. Period. The operative word in FX is exchange. Dollars leave in exchange for products but too few of our products are exported in exchange for other currencies. Thus the currency markets are making a revaluation based on the most important fundamental of all. Supply and demand. With a grossly negative trade balance monetary policy can move in either of two directions .Keep rates high and artificially attempt to keep dollars rare and hence valuable. Or Fed policy can cut rates and hope that a lower dollar stimulates export activity while in turn making imports less competitive to domestic producers. Since the latter isn't happening-we don't even make enough worth exporting any longer-an accomodative Fed policy is inflationary and ultimately dangerous. I can't emphasize enough that the world is finally tired of working on our plantation. On what planet do you all think a barista at Starbucks can continue to earn two gallons of gasoline in an hour of work while a nurse in Malaysia toils a couple of days to buy the same products/commodities? The allocation of global goods and services are not going to keep trending in such an unjust direction. We enjoyed a great scam for too many years. We make nothing, export nothing yet expect guys in China to manufacture everything under the sun for us- and get paid squat in return. All in exchange for a piece of paper issued by the U.S. Treasury. A welfare recipient in the States makes several times the average working wage in neighboring Mexico. Thank God the Mexicans aren't as smart or enterprising as Asia. We'd already be toast. I know my fellow Americans hate hearing this. They'd rather blame Bush, blame Bernanke, blame Congress, blame business, blame OPEC, blame whoever. Just as long as we don't blame ourselves. The blame though is in the mirror. The blame goes to those who sold out American workers for that cheaper suit made in Brazil. Or for that sporty car Detroit just couldn't build to our yuppie scum specifications. We were taught menial work was beneath us so we trade. Or write mortgages. Or whatever. Just as long as our fingers are clean and unbroken. For those who were forced to toil on the assembly line we demanded the wages of kings. Or at least the same wage as the mortgage broker or BMW salesman. How did our fellow consumers react? They told us to F off. They said Asia builds my dreams cheaper. The formally starving Chinaman didn't strike for higher wages and a comprehensive retirement package. He just performed the tedious work of a robot and now our dollars are fueling his dreams. A dream of a dinner other than rice. Of a ride less laborious than on a bicycle. All good in the moral minefield of global trade and wealth redistribution. Yet with all we STILL have, we whine. And blame. America is filled with bitching, whining, duplicitous losers. A nation literally of cock suckers. A place that cares more about homo marriage, abortion and keeping guns away from young black men who squander and drop out from $15,000 a year worth of education as if they don't need it. Some say we're like Rome. I say that's unfairly disparaging to the Romans.