After asserting on many occasions that he would not pardon his son, Hunter, President Biden has in fact pardoned Hunter. There’s an old joke that goes, Q: “How do you know a politician’s lying?” A: “His (or her) lips are moving.” Yes, it’s cynical. Yes, it overstates things. But not by a lot.
Both Hunter and Joe have asserted that the prosecutions of Hunter were politically motivated. After the lawfare waged by the Biden Administration against President Trump and his associates, such a contention takes a lot of brass. But Biden has never been short on brass. He is often wrong, but never in doubt.
As noted in this blog before, President Trump is not averse to stretching the truth when it suits him. Sometimes he does it for votes, sometimes he does it for dramatic effect, and sometimes he does it because the situation all but (or absolutely) demands it.
The latter case does happen. Though media personalities constantly assert that the people have a right to know, and though representative government does require inquiry into the personal conduct and policy specifics of its elected officials, effective government often requires secrets to be kept.
Sometimes the truth would cause panic, sometimes it would undermine a peacetime or wartime action by the government that relies on surprise—or at least no prior notice before a meeting or conference.
But it’s hard to separate politicians who lie because they’re inveterate liars and those who lie as a reluctant concession to the exigencies of the job. In the end, a lie is a lie. It never looks good on the one who wears it. And the one who lies in the interest of a selfless and virtuous cause will inevitably be accused of being a liar by nature. It’s often hard to prove otherwise, especially to political adversaries. And even those who lie in the service of what they regard as good often err—perhaps because their idea of good is warped or perhaps because they make a serious error in judgment.
This writer anticipates a very large difference in truthful content issuing from government sources over the next four years—particularly when contrasted with the unending stream of prevarications and misrepresentations that have characterized the Biden regime. The past interviews of Trump and his associates have been notable for a level of logic, truthfulness, frankness, and comprehensiveness that has been missing over the past four years. One can hope that that trend continues.
Still, the social acceptability of a far higher level of lying than has been okay in the past characterizes the US and most nations around the world. The same is true of theft and many other offenses. But when it comes to lying, one of the biggest lies of the past 111 years is that the Fed has had success in its mandate to maintain stable US dollar prices for goods.
A dollar now buys from 1–3% of what it bought in 1913 when the Federal Reserve System was established. There’s nothing stable about that. If one of the Fed’s mandates is to safeguard the value of the dollar—well, let’s just say that “colossal failure” is too kind an assessment.
You can—and most of us will—continue to pursue investments that earn us a return adequate to overcome the dollar’s depreciation and add something to the positive side of the ledger. But it also makes sense to rely on something that is what it has been for thousands of years—solid, valuable, unchanging. There’s no lie here; gold is valuable and stable. It’s the best foundation for your portfolio. As we go into very exciting but very uncertain times—got gold?
Key Takeaways:
- When panic punctuates boredom
- A week for the record books
- Jobs and wages data compilers seem far higher than the numbers they provide
The McAlvany Weekly Commentary: Calculating The Madness Of Crowds
David and Kevin take a look at the tendency of markets to move slowly for a long time, then move very quickly. The phenomenon catches generation after generation of investors flat-footed. Only those who learn from the past by going through it or by learning from others seem to be prepared when the acceleration hits. The hosts note a few anecdotes of people who were mindful of risk even as they participated in raging bull markets. Their wisdom is instructive. The hosts also mention a few mentors who have given helpful advice on this topic, including an author whose book receives a very strong recommendation. David then likens current investor behavior to the ancient art of taurokathapsia. If that 25-cent word isn’t in your vocabulary (don’t feel lonely on that account), you’ll definitely want to listen to or read this week’s Commentary. You’ll also want to hear or read the hosts’ comments on geopolitical events and the worldwide ramp-up in interest in gold.
Credit Bubble Bulletin: Historic November
“November 2024. Future historians will look back in utter amazement.” So begins Doug’s month-ending weekly wrap-up. He follows this summary with the data to back it up, and the numbers are jaw-dropping. If you haven’t seen the data in broad scope and specific detail, you won’t want to miss it here. He notes that higher equities have been accompanied by lower bond yields in Europe—a development he calls “curious.” He puts this situation in further perspective by moving on to the analysis of what he calls the “GLOBAL government finance Bubble.” France, Japan, and Brazil come in for extended analysis, along with lesser focus on Mexico, India, Turkey, and Russia. As always, Doug summarizes key economic and financial numbers. He outlines the course China might take to mitigate damage to Chinese commerce caused by new tariffs imposed by Trump. And he gives specifics regarding several nations that are in the process of buying much more gold. As Bloomberg puts it, “Central banks around the world are stocking their gold arsenals as a shield against external shocks…”
Hard Asset Insights: Hurrah for Thanksgiving Day!
Morgan offers a shortened holiday letter this week, but includes hard-hitting analysis as always. He provides information on the recent massive overestimation of both jobs and wages provided by key governmental agencies. Of this information, he notes that, “While Wall Street initially trades the headline data releases, Main Street reality is the accurate revised data. Of course, reality eventually tends to catch up even to Wall Street.” Ah, reality. Morgan insists on continually raining on the rainbows and roses crowd by bringing up reality. It’s as if he doesn’t know how to lie about things to make investors feel good about tenuous things in dangerous times. Well, actually, there’s plenty of good news if you’re willing to look at solid value in less popular places. Morgan gives the lowdown.
The hosts of GRR took a break for the holiday this past week. All of us here at the McAlvany companies hope you had a wonderful holiday!
