You are here
''Moscow on the Hudson'' at Financial Sense, Turk''s new analysis at GoldMoney
Journal Inquirer
Manchester, Connecticut
Saturday, January 8, 2005
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?
newsid=13709916&BRD=985&PAG=461&dept_id=161559&rfi=6
Whether the United States is doing enough financially to
help the victims of the Asian earthquake and tidal wave
is the subject of much debate around the world and at
home.
President Bush's initial pledge of $15 million from the
U.S. government was recognized as puny, and he
quickly raised it to $350 million while asking his
father, the former president, and former President Bill
Clinton to help raise relief money from the public. This
week relief money being raised by U.S. charities was
estimated to be nearing $200 million. And then there
is the enormous contribution of the U.S. military ships,
helicopters, transport planes, and soldiers sent to the
disaster area to rescue survivors and deliver relief.
That will bring U.S. contributions to more than a
billion dollars.
While this might seem pretty respectable and while
the empathy of Americans cannot be doubted, U.S.
financial efforts in Asian disaster relief are an
illusion.
For the United States has been for years now the
biggest international debtor, borrowing for mere
consumption, rather than capital growth, what is
estimated at 80 percent of the world's annual savings.
Indeed, just during the week of the Asian disaster,
the Federal Reserve reported that foreign central
banks purchased another $5.6 billion of U.S.
government debt.
That is, in just one week the United States took from
the rest of the world more than five times as much as
the country is likely to provide for Asian disaster
relief.
It might be different if this debt was going to be
repaid soon, but it will not be. U.S. debt has risen
beyond any chance of repayment because the U.S.
government and Americans generally have discovered
that the world's reliance on the U.S. dollar as the only
international reserve currency -- the currency in which
most trade is conducted -- allows the United States to
levy a huge tribute on the world. Foreign central banks
have been buying U.S. government debt only to keep
trade going and to avoid devaluation of their dollar
reserves.
Even so, the rest of the world seems to be realizing
that it may be possible to conduct international trade
without paying such a heavy tax to the Americans. The
European Union has issued its own currency, the euro,
whose role in international trade is increasing, while
there is talk of creating Asian and Islamic currency
blocs. As the rest of the world starts moving away
from the dollar, Americans will have to start pulling
their own weight again.
In any case, the only mathematically correct answer
to how much the United States is contributing to
Asian disaster relief is: nothing, really. For
everything the United States is giving has been
borrowed from foreigners.
----------------------------------------------------
To subscribe to GATA's dispatches, send an e-mail to:
gata-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to:
gata-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
----------------------------------------------------
RECOMMENDED INTERNET SITES
FOR DAILY MONITORING OF GOLD
AND PRECIOUS METALS
NEWS AND ANALYSIS
Free sites:
http://www.cbs.marketwatch.com
http://www.capitalupdates.com/
http://www.silver-investor.com
http://www.thebulliondesk.com/
http://www.goldismoney.info/index.html
http://www.minersmanual.com/minernews.html
http://www.a1-guide-to-gold-investments.com/euro-vs-dollar.html
http://www.investmentrarities.com
http://www.kereport.com
(Korelin Business Report -- audio)
http://www.plata.com.mx/plata/home.htm
(In Spanish)
http://www.plata.com.mx/plata/plata/english.htm
(In English)
http://www.resourceinvestor.com
Subscription sites:
http://www.lemetropolecafe.com/
http://www.interventionalanalysis.com
http://www.investmentindicators.com/
Eagle Ranch discussion site:
http://os2eagle.net/checksum.htm
Ted Butler silver commentary archive:
http://www.investmentrarities.com/
----------------------------------------------------
COIN AND PRECIOUS METALS DEALERS
WHO HAVE SUPPORTED GATA
AND BEEN RECOMMENDED
BY OUR MEMBERS
Blanchard & Co. Inc.
909 Poydras St., Suite 1900
New Orleans, Louisiana 70112
888-413-4653
http://www.blanchardonline.com
Centennial Precious Metals
3033 East First Ave., Suite 807
Denver, Colorado 80206
1-800-869-5115
http://www.USAGOLD.com
Michael Kosares, Proprietor
cpm@usagold.com
Colorado Gold
222 South 5th St.
Montrose, Colorado 81401
http://www.ColoradoGold.com
Don Stott, Proprietor
1-888-786-8822
Gold@gwe.net
El Dorado Discount Gold
Box 11296
Glendale, Arizona 85316
http://www.eldoradogold.net
Harvey Gordin, President
Office: 623-434-3322
Mobile: 602-228-8203
harvey@eldoradogold.net
Gold & Silver Investments Ltd.
Mespil House
37 Adelaide Rd
Dublin 2
Ireland
+353 1 2315260/6
Fax: +353 1 2315202
http://www.goldinvestments.org
info@gold.ie
Investment Rarities Inc.
7850 Metro Parkway
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55425
http://www.gloomdoom.com
Greg Westgaard, Sales Manager
1-800-328-1860, Ext. 8889
gwestgaard@investmentrarities.com
Kitco
178 West Service Road
Champlain, N.Y. 12919
Toll Free:1-877-775-4826
Fax: 518-298-3457
and
620 Cathcart, Suite 900
Montreal, Quebec H3B 1M1
Canada
Toll-free:1-800-363-7053
Fax: 514-875-6484
http://www.kitco.com
Lee Certified Coins
P.O. Box 1045
454 Daniel Webster Highway
Merrimack, New Hampshire 03054
http://www.certifiedcoins.com
Ed Lee, Proprietor
1-800-835-6000
leecoins@aol.com
Miles Franklin Ltd.
3015 Ottawa Ave. South
St. Louis Park, Minn. 55416
1-800-822-8080 / 952-929-1129
fax: 952-925-0143
http://www.milesfranklin.com
Contacts: David Schectman,
Andy Schectman, and Bob Sichel
Missouri Coin Co.
11742 Manchester Road
St. Louis, MO 63131-4614
info@mocoin.com
314-965-9797
1-800-280-9797
http://www.mocoin.com
Resource Consultants Inc.
6139 South Rural Road
Suite 103
Tempe, Arizona 85283-2929
Pat Gorman, Proprietor
1-800-494-4149, 480-820-5877
Metalguys@aol.com
Swiss America Trading Corp.
15018 North Tatum Blvd.
Phoenix, Arizona 85032
http://www.swissamerica.com
Dr. Fred I. Goldstein, Senior Broker
1-800-BUY-COIN
FiGoldstein@swissamerica.com
The Moneychanger
Box 178
Westpoint, Tennessee 38486
http://www.the-moneychanger.com
Franklin Sanders
1-888-218-9226, 931-766-6066
----------------------------------------------------
HOW TO HELP GATA
If you benefit from GATA's dispatches, please
consider making a financial contribution to
GATA. We welcome contributions as follows.
By check:
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
c/o Chris Powell, Secretary/Treasurer
7 Villa Louisa Road
Manchester, CT 06043-7541
USA
By credit card (MasterCard, Visa, and
Discover) over the Internet:
http://www.gata.org/creditcard.html
By GoldMoney:
http://www.GoldMoney.com
Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee Inc.
Holding number 50-08-58-L
Donors of $1,000 or more will, upon request,
be sent a print of Alain Despert's colorful
painting symbolizing our cause, titled GATA.
Donors of $200 or more will receive a copy
of The ABCs of Gold Investing by Michael
Kosares, proprietor of Centennial Precious
Metals in Denver, Colorado.
GATA is a civil rights and educational
organization under the U.S. Internal Revenue
Code and contributions to it are tax-deductible
in the United States.
