by sjn » Sun 07 Dec 2008, 06:37:22
$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('shortonoil', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Patience', 'M')aybe I'm just dense, but I see the current economic problems as Peak Credit, with PO and Peak resources following behind it with a very big club.
Oil prices below cost won't last long, or the whole works will come to a SCREECHING halt. I don't know anyone in business to lose money. What I think I'm seeing is the results of market and money manipulations, along with Peak Debt.
The world mostly uses a debt based monetary system. Money comes into existence when a debt is assumed. That means to create the money to pay the interest on existing debt, new debt must be constantly assumed. With the present credit crunch there is not now enough new debt coming into existence in the US to cover the interest due on its $54 trillion in government and corporate bonds.
The FED can compensate by "printing" money. That is creating money that is not secured by debt. This will soon produce a "bond dislocation", where bond buyers refuse to purchase the Treasury's products because they know that the money it is supposed to represent is essentially counterfeit.
This week the FED announced that they would be buying GSE debt. Since the GSE are owned by the government, the government is buying its own debt. They are printing. This is direct evidence of "manipulation".
The shadow banking system has been intervening in the markets for some time. Recently we have seen them in commodities; oil does not go from $147 to $45 in four months; short of some earth changing event. Of course some people are gullible enough to believe that a $13.5 trillion economy can re-oriented in 120 days.
The recent manipulations of the CB and its dealer banks has put the economy into a chaotic state. Perhaps they feel that it is possible to control this situation, but experience with any chaotic state shows that is a big "
if"!
Even "if" the credit crisis can be resolved it will take growth to put the system back together again. The damage to this point has been gigantic. It is doubtful that Peak Oil will allow that to happen!
I agree with everything you just wrote. The only thing we ever really differed on is whether the unbacked money printing route would be taken. I always felt it was inevitable.
, don't worry about your bet, the only way you can lose is if the dollar has been completely destroyed by then. They honestly believe that if they can counter the deflationary
of PO then all will be well and the economy will grow again. It is counter productive though, and just further mis-allocates resources.
Monetary deflation is desirable in a contracting economy, we all just need to come to terms with the fact that it's happening and governments make policy decisions to ease the transition