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  • Debt & derivatives are the two arms of Zionist banking.

  • thanks Peter, its so nice to here the real truth. i have talk about this in denmark with my friends as early 2004, but i was lauft at, at the time. but nobody laughs today at me ;)

  • I think you said it best in Crashproof. People don't get the difference between the medium of exchange and real wealth. Thus, Peter Stark believes that because Congress can monetize debt, that the National Debt generates wealth. A dumb stance, but its naivete indicates the necessity for you to be elected to the Senate, if only to educate those buffoons. I mean, how many of them have actual economic training?

  • Thanks Peter, The U.S. must repair its manufacturing base. To think that just printing fiat currency's is helping is foolish. Real jobs that pay living wages must be available to the workers.

  • r u ppl all MAD? GUYS U WORK PRODUCE ALL U CAN but u trade in the money I print AT will ON FA RESERVES with NO one been able to tell me what i can do I can print all i want till u ALL OWE me u r eyebrows forget about bond Ssecurities n FA else THIS IS THE REALITY ANYTHING ELSE IS BS WHATEVER U PRODUCE HOW EVER HARD U WORK U WILL ALWAYS BE SKINT UNLESS THE MONEY U TRADE IN IS REAL PRINTED BY THE GOV BASED ON REAL RESERVES IS FA U CAN DO I just print few more trillions n hey presto u skint

  • Peter's blogg says you have to be invited to read it??

  • THERE ARE LOTS OF RAW GOLD IN THE PHILIPPINES......UNMINED

    JUST FLOWS ALONG THE RIVERS OF DAVAO.....lots of residents use old system of GOLD PANNING.....kids,young and old can do

    ALSO IN BENGUET,MT.PROVINCE ...............lots of MINING COMPANIES DIGGING GOLD AND OTHER MINERALS......

    BUY YOUR GOLD THERE....ITS CHEAP

  • amen

  • Well, offshore stock, that is

  • Thnaks for the tip on gold, I've been waiting a year and it's gone up 2%. Unfortunately I could have taken stock and gone up 50% in that same time frame.

  • He's telling you to prepare for shit hitting the fan very soon for FREE. Look at what he said in the past, he's been bullseye on everything. I'm too being bashed when I say the worst is ahead. All of you ignorant sheeps... Go get your swine flu shots...

  • all logical fallacies. if you think you have evidence and logic where he is wrong about economics; state it.

  • Black is white, up is down, right is wrong. Well GW Bush showed that theory the best. According to Hannity and the FOX news fools, the USA is better, more prosperous, safe and FREE than ever before. Wow talk about brainwahsed morons.

  • The free market can be a great catalyst for growth and innovation, and generally rewards efficiency and punishes waste.

    However, the private sector needs regulation because the fact is, workers, consumers, and shareholders must be protected from the excesses and abuses of the PEOPLE who comprise the market.

  • The people who commit the abuses are the ones who have the monopoly on power --- government!

    To protect workers, consumers, and shareholders requires power to be decentralized (free market), not centralized (socialism, fascism)

  • Sir, speculation is a capitalist enterprise. In one blanket statement, you have blamed every single wrongdoing in this mess on the government. According to you, business can do no wrong.

    If you would like to see the country return to the business and regulatory models of the 1890s, that is your right. However, your faith in the goodness of one group of people (Wall St. execs) rather than another group of people (the government) is quite arbitrary. I for one, don't put much faith in either.

  • No, investing is a capitalist enterprise. Speculation is only necessary or attractive when socialism distorts the markets.

    Business is its own regulation. Government is an intrusion that exceeds its rightful role when it acts as a player in the economy, rather than a referee.

  • You are the only person I have ever heard say that about speculation....probably because it is the stupidest thing I've ever heard said about markets. The partial repeal of Glass-Steagall deregulated the securities market, and we saw what happened there.

    And we've already established that you want a return to the 1890s, so good for you.

  • probably because you've limited yourself to left-wing government apologist propaganda. I feel sorry for you.

    Excessive government intrusion (Federal Reserve, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHLA, Community Reinvestment Act) caused the financial crisis. Government is the problem, not the solution.

  • Sir, with all due respect, you're a total ignoramus. It's not your fault, though. Limbaugh can be very persuasive.

  • The parasitic government of the US has greatly exceeds its constitutional authority. If you do not support reducing the power of the federal government, then you are worse than an ignoramus; you are a traitor.

  • Stop harassing, extremist. I might call people things like idiot and moron, but using the T word to describe people who view government's role differently from you is fascistic. Now stop bothering me and go play with your guns and Bible. Isn't Glenn Beck on?

  • If you side with the government elitists rather than the productive business sector, you are a traitor and should go to some Stalinist backwater like Cuba where you'd actually fit in.

  • Private business is moral. Government (and its corporate lobbyist cronies) are the evil socialist elitists.

    Your unprincipled sycophantic slavery to government is repulsive. And your dishonest smears of capitalism are Tokyo Rose propaganda and TREASON.

  • I remember when capitalism was a respected and noble idea in the united states. Boy did that change fast!

    Now everyone loves the Big Brother Nanny State. Guess what? Washington can't run a $1 trillion deficit forever! Our whole country is going to come crashing down in less than 5 years at this rate. Enjoy your US dollars now, because soon a gallon of milk will be over $25.

  • I agree 100% We need to stop spending and printing money. What I don't agree with, is the uneducated opinion that the speculation that helped get us into this mess is a socialist enterprise--an absurd proposition.

    What bothers me is that many people "learn" economics and other things from radio hosts who have no college education whatsoever. They don't think for themselves and they view policy in terms of "good" and "evil," spouting the same garbage as Limbaugh, Beck, Hannity, etc.

  • And if you use guns, Bible, Glenn Beck, or Rush as a pejorative you just prove how out of touch you really are.

  • Like I said, if you want to listen to people with only high school educations (like you) to analyze the news for you, go ahead. Just don't expect me to give your shallow remarks any weight. It's clear you just repeat dogmas you hear from others.

  • You egotistical thug, your hatred against the productive American people is treasonous. Get a real education instead of your Stalinist indoctrination from government apologists.

  • Quit bugging me. Don't you have a federal building to blow up?

  • I think you fail to differentiate between true free market principles and what passes for a free market in America, particular 20th century America. This is like people who say, look at America, it sucks, it is a capitalist nation, so capitalism sucks. American is not and arguably has never been a truly free market, capitalist nation, though the earlier you go the better, generally due to a closer adherence to the constitution.Bottom line: You say "Down with Capitalism." Well, which capitalism?

  • i bought my gold when it was $300 oz now i would be more in to buying a small mining clam

  • No. The US owes its greatness to free markets. Protectionism, coercion, and brute force have been a drag on America. America is great DESPITE its government; DESPITE government coercion, force, protectionism, and parasitism.

  • man you austrian lunatics need to get your head screwed on straight. People who try to tell you "protectionism" is bad and "free markets" are good are like Ted Bundy teaching a class on criminology and trying to argue that there would be no crime if there was no police. Haha, okay.

  • Free markets are effective because they are moral.

    Socialist regulation is ineffective because it is immoral.

  • You're alleging a correlation between effectiveness and morality?

    Yikes.

  • Free markets work because they are moral.

    Socialism fails because it is immoral.

    People are prosperous when their rights are respected (capitalism). And people have less incentive to work, save, and be honest when the system is corrupt and tyrannical (socialism).

  • Markets don't succeed or fail because they're moral or immoral.

    The US didn't need socialism to (1) not save, but rather spend and spend while being relatively unproductive. (2) dishonest. Transparency was often lacking on Wall St, and many investors suffered because of it, not to mention the rest of the country.

  • All of your gripes against the US economy are the product of SOCIALISM and capitalism is the solution.

    It was socialism (Federal Reserve, Income Tax) that encouraged Americans to spend rather than save. It was the corruption of big government that goes beyond constitutional limits that encourages big business to buy political favors.

    Capitalism has not failed. It has not even been tried for the past century. Don't embarrass yourself so much with your next lame argument.

  • Your dogmatic cant fits well with your metaphysical views

    I don't know what the housing bubble and burst had to do with socialism. In addition, we can trace much of this trouble to the repeal of Glass-Steagall in 1999, which basically told speculators to go hog wild, and they did.

    Your argument is the lame one. You just keep saying "Capitalism is good. Socialism is bad." Very convincing, you simpleton. Why don't you go pray to your invisible man in the sky for "socialism" to go away?

  • The socialist Central Bank (fractional reserve lending, fiat currency printed out of thin air), Community Reinvestment Act (FORCING banks to make improvident loans), and Fannie and Freddie (socialist slush funds that buy mortgages the free market knows better than to purchase) created the housing bust. Socialism is the problem and is always evil. Capitalism is the solution because only capitalism is moral.

    Do you have any principles at all if you can't recognize that socialism is evil?

  • Not this again. And I suppose the speculation was also also socialist-inspired?

    It is clear to me that you do not not have a college education, not because you advocate capitalism, but because you have an extremely black and white view of this. I seriously have to question the depth of a person's ability to think when he views economic systems in terms of good and evil.

    This sounds like something Limbaugh or Hannity would say, and they also don't have college educations. You have no depth.

  • Yes, capitalism inspires savings;

    socialism inspires speculation.

  • I don't see how you can figure that.

    In fact, that makes no sense, whatsoever.

  • Government intrusion has always been a drag on production and a cause of corruption. Capitalism has been the source of honest production, increased wealth and choices, and higher living standards.

  • Capitalism is the source of all progress. Everything that is good comes from capitalism. Capitalism is moral and will endure. It is the parasitic government that has ruined the economy. It is the parasites who will be brought down low.

  • wow, that is some nonsense. maybe you can say all that bad comes from parasitic oligarchism. You need regulations as well as dirigism.

  • Schiff, thanks for the economic oversight in the past months. Several months ago I bought into the Australian market based on your rational (ticker EWA).

    Over the past 6 months now, Australian market is up 90%, while the Dow is up a measly 39%!

    The more the dollar falls, the more gold silver and other minerals rise... the stronger the Australian dollar/economy become, and the richer I become!

  • I've been saying this since BO got in...it is going to get alot worse before it gets better. Save and don't buy sheet.

  • something stinks... and I think it's BO!

    Obama has gotta go!

  • I love how Peter explains the dynamic of the economic economy as a drug addict with fewer and fewer highs necessitating and requiring more and more stronger drug stimulus injections. Two-thumbs up!...on sound advice from Peter.

  • No shit the gov't is causing the problem. It's the 30's again. They had control then, they have control now. They saw Germany rearming and needed to impoverish the US so that people would be willing to fight. We have Iran and N. Korea to march into now, but the people have to be made ready to go.

    They'll never let you into the Senate. You talk too much for them.

  • I agree with you Peter 110%, I have been saying the same thing over and over again to my friends and no one seems to believe Today for the first time I watched your video and really impressed that American is thinking this way.. I'm from India and we learned that you become rich by savings (conserve) but here in America the rich is made out of Credit (leverage) I think America has had its 30-40 years of richness not wealth and its on the go to east now-Globezen

  • i am with you. one question. where do you see the american economy in the ten year , 20, and 30 year mark

  • 10 years - in the toilet

    20 years - reestablished manufacturing base, hope fully recovering

    30 years - too far to prognosticate

  • and the moral of the american people in those dark times?

  • Here is a great piece to educate people with about the historical realities of govt intervention.

    tinyurl . com /djvfzc

    And this for a 50 minute seminar on the topic.

    youtube . com /watch?v=czcUmnsprQI

  • how do these people on CNBC not understand the problems we are facing with the govt intervention and what not. did they not go to college and get an economics/business degree do they don't understand simple supply/demand free market? OR do they have a AGENDA

  • They have an agenda, to support their extreme liberal views blindly no matter what the facts are. They elected this administration and are completely invested in it to the point of their own destruction and ours unless we can educate ourselves, our families and our friends while there is still time left to save this country from Marxist shills & lemmings.

  • The good news is many patriots and people who know what's going on are getting into gold, while the goons who don't know what's going on are not, or are shifting back and forth from gold to the dollar. We must remember that when the inevitable collapse comes, the Patriots will rise and the goons will fall financially. This is very important and it provides us the chance to seize the moment and to put our financial power towards getting rid of the old system and offering a better system.

  • Peter: What makes you think senators will listen to you? What's more, what makes you think they don't already know they have destroyed the USA, and are well along towards destroying the USSA? They only thing these cretins value is having an organization with total power over humans, and over other countries.  They are fully aware the government of the USSA is nothing more than a cartel of absolute predators.

    I'm not saying "don't run" - I just say you are in for a big surprise if you win.

  • Peter does not need the the politicians to listen.....he needs the citizens to listen, and WE ARE

  • honestann - I agree with your assessment of DC, however if we never start electing real citizen leaders than we have no hope. We cannot give up and not even try. We owe it to too many who have given their lives. Yes, we are the underdog big time, up against a Goliath with the power structure these monsters have been building for years. But look at our Revolution.....a bunch of farmers up against the most powerful army of the time. We can topple this power structure and reclaim our government

  • Thanks peter!

  • Peter you are making me nervous. I can't believe there's a person with actual BRAINS running for the Senate. THANK You!

  • Thank you, Peter, for sharing insightful viewpoint.

  • prolly can't leave pro-choice/gay issues up to the states.. just as you couldn't leave slavery up to the states... these are human rights/equality issues.

  • Thanks Peter once again.

  • Like the drug addict analogy Peter! :) Very True!

  • ....ooh....I am coming down off my meth.......maybe the solution is to quit doing meth? naahh....need more meth!

  • Is silver the winner?

  • This guy moves markets.

  • If we took all the US Dollars in circulation and divided it by the gold in Fort Knox, then Au would be worth $40,000 per ounce. If there is any gold in Fort Knox. The vault might be empty. Has Obama gone to see for himself? I'll bet he never does.

  • Is this guy anti abortion? he seems conservative but I am trying to find out if he if against gay marriage and abortions.

    Thanks,

  • He is pro choice and I think like Ron Paul wants govt out of the mariage business. So in effect hes pro choice and for gay marriage.

    Some libertarians are pro choice and theres nothing you can do about that :(

  • @ uche007us....From what I remember He is neither pro choice nor pro life. He believes it is a "non-issue" for the Federal Government and should be decided by the States.

  • Why? So you can bash him! What he has to say is either right or wrong. Here shortly I doubt if it will matter much if you are for gay marriage and abortions it will be the least of our problems.

  • Most of the Country doesn't understand the nature of our problems, they're too busy trying to keep their jobs, and pay the Mortgage on their upside down homes.

  • money is debt. If america paid off all its debt it would have no money. Watch the documentary "money as debt" to understand this

  • I just watched that video with Stark and national debt being a good thing...

    It shows how the internet can perpetuate something that on TV is seen once or twice and it's forgotten.

    Mr. Stark's stupidity lives on.

  • Peter,

    Pete Stark is the rep for my district. Although he is a Dem, and is fairly liberal overall, he's changed and moved much more to the center over the years. This video interview is quite old, and he's definitely not taking that stance anymore. He Sign HR1207 way back in March and didn't support the auto and bank bailouts. But yeah, he was very wrong at that time as we know we have borrowed and spent MUCH more than a couple hundred billion.

  • all u dooms dayers waiting for the next lehman are as irrational as the people taping up their windows following the 911 attacks. relax!!!!

  • It's not doom saying, it's reasonable conclusions based on facts and known theory.

  • Geez what a blowhard.

  • I saw the second video he mentioned.

  • From what I've seen the US dollar is poised for a rally. If you look at the commercial interests in the past few commitment of traders reports you'll see that they are heavily short gold and long the dollar. It still doesn't rule out Gold making a new high but longer term i'm still looking for a correction in commodities in general.

  • gold about to hit 1000, damn wish I had enough money to invest in time

  • We are just entering the next phase of decline ? Ok show of hands.All those charged with a crime at AIG, Freddie,Fanny,Country Wide, realtors,surveyers,appraisers,­bankers..The full faith of the US what ? We are through.The world will leave us behind.We have NO integrity globally.

  • Gold & silver still climbing.

    Almost hoping it takes another rest so I can buy some more.

  • When people realize what's been happening with the dollar, all over the world, they will flee from it...

    The dollar probably won't exist within the next 10 years... But there are so many other problems besides the economy in the country... I don't know how it is possible to fix them all at this point... The government is prepared for civil unrest and at this point... I think it's pointless to look for solutions to a problem that can't be solved...

    All the dollar can do now is fail.

  • When people realize what's happening to the dollar, where will they flee to? Do you know of a foreign currency that isn't fiat paper debt? Most are pegged to the dollar, so they will collapse together.

  • Gold went up 3 dollars while I was watching this video. I'm going to watch it again!

  • Gold will double one day, perhaps overnight and maybe soon. And it will double only for gold in your hands, not for paper promises of gold in an ETF or vault certificates from another continent. Those are only debt instruments, just like currency. $3 this way or that out of $1000 isn't important. Gold under someone else's control in their vault in another country is as questionable as fiat currency since it relies on the integrity of others.

  • Great video.

  • haha .. I've seen "The government can" .. too funny

  • No, just reality groupies here.

  • Most importantly about the Stark interview; Stark personally attacks Helfeld, portraying him as a simpleton, and yet Stark himself is unable to explain his viewpoint on economics or educate Helfeld on why Helfeld is wrong.

  • Peter, from a technical analysis and an Elliott wave perspective, the $USD has bottomed. The money printing is being offset by all the defaults on loans which has resulted in less total dollars in the system allowing each dollar to be worth more. The FED is "done" with QE but defaults are increasing, so deflation will likely win out in the near term. I don't think the FED can fight it anymore. Not sure how gold will react but my guess is that it will fall and this breakout is a fake-out.

  • There's going to be a mountain of material for the future installment of "Peter Schiff Was Right" in the years ahead due to all of these vlogs. It's good that you're regularly banging out your thoughts online like this.

  • Peter Schiff for SENATE!

  • I did not see the Aussie dollar surge. It's been low 80s for some months. The Reserve bank of Australia gave notice that rates will go likely go up soon.

  • I watched that Jan vid. Neither of them were being clear. I think what Stark was trying to say is that debt is not bad if it's invested in productive things. Of course, he's assuming that government is productive. ;)

    Jan, on the other hand, was indeed making stupid irrelevant statements. "Doesn't more debt = more interest?" Well duh, but that's not the point... as long as it's invested productively.

    Consumer debt = bad.

    Gov't debt = usually bad.

    Investment in productivity = good.

  • By having to exist on CREDIT (borrowings) any individual, or in this case a country (the US), will inevitably become

    COMPLETELY DIS-CREDIT-ED.

    Why would anyone listen to an individual who is not even able to 'SAVE' for, and in so doing 'correctly manage' his own LIFE.

  • Schiff groupies.

  • Peter Schiff is god.

  • It is strange but I remember Dick Cheney appearing on Meet the Press once and he told Tim Russert that deficits don't matter. Russert looked puzzled and asked him to repeat it. He did. The conversation carried on and never returned to this point. I always thought it was a strange comment to make. How can deficits NOT matter?

  • tell me where to watch what you say!

  • Can't find what I remember on the Internet. Maybe it was the Paul O'Neil quote of Cheney I was thinking of. None the less, it seems to be a major principle of economics among the political class.

  • mabey one day we'll become a colony of china.

  • Great video as usual. I am growing dependent upon regular videos from you to help me keep my head straight while the rest of the country is losing theirs.

  • Ben Bernanke and any chairman of the Fed has been indoctrinated with this concept, that is, wealth is defined by debt capacity listen to

    Guns and Butter - Dress Rehearsal For Debt Peonage with economist Dr. Michael Hudson

    w w w . kpfa .o r g /archive/id/53994

    This audio archive will be available until Wednesday, September 9th 2009

  • Debt capacity is not the same as debt, the more debt the less capacity for borrowing and spending.

    In what way can higher debt be good for an economy? I guess you need to be a stupid politician!

  • I take it you didn't listen to the audio...

  • Only thing i disagree with Peter about is the spelling of defecit. lol Good Video!

  • Nice try buddy :)

  • Peter, please do us a favor and call out our buddy whose name I won't mention. This guy is in serious need of an intellectual beating. I know you don't want to give the guy any publicity but he's really gone off the deep end. He even has this crazed look in his eyes. He is good for a laugh though. take care

  • Government spending is actually is a part of GDP check wikipedia

    So in a way the guy was right

  • Lol, just so you know yesterday and today marked a new month and an end to summer vacation. It means all the professional and legitimate investors came back from holiday and absolutely pummeled the amateur investor listening to CNBS. The intelligent amateur investor also got his monthly statement and realized he was losing a ton listening to US mainstream media propaganda.

    It's bye bye USD hello gold.

    There's gold in them mountains, prospector!

  • Well, to be fair... he IS on the ways and means committee... I don't think they've done ANYTHING that's been beneficial to the country... not exactly the sharpest tools in the shed.

  • Everybody buy UGL

    It is a gold ETF that mimics gold prices 2x

  • you would do better if you bought GLD on margin if you expect to hold long term, but over the longer term counterparty risk increases. Schiff pimps GLD and the perth mint. I don't touch either. I think even if you have an allocated bar at the perth mint, they could say it will take 5 months to get it, cause they already melted it down and sold it, or it will take time to dig up or get it from the market and print serial numbers on it. You need physical gold you can see.

  • "The Government Can" is vey funny. It will help you lighten up in these HEAVY times.

  • You bailed-it, Peter.

    The reason so many people fail to grasp the realities of our economic problems is because they were brainwashed by the education system in the country.

  • My hope is that the 9/12 Washington protest will be seen on major news networks and that will wake many more people up. The elephant in the room will be too big not to notice. The Tea party Express has been covered by CNN already.

  • You are just sooo cute !!

  • Thanks for the update Peter!

  • I saw that video yesterday (the one Peter mentioned in this video).

    I coulsn't get through it because it was just too painful to watch - this guy talking about the more government debt the better?!?

    Anyway, thanks again Peter, appreciate these vids very much.

    Have a good day.

  • has anyone seen the Helfeld pelosi interview? she went berserk too!

    according to her, its ok for her to have unpaid interns so that they can have the privilege to learn about government, but its not ok for mcdonalds for instance, to have unpaid or below minimum wage interns. double standard.

  • yes, great interview too

  • awesome

  • Gold is always safe, but I have a feeling there will be an eruption in the price of silver.

  • Treasury just printed out a trillion, gold went up $50 so I figure the Obama government stole about $50 out of every Thousand I have.

    I figure he owes me about $2500 dollars at the moment.

    How much did he grab from your wallet.

  • Peter, I am an American working in Asia,and my income is in Japanese yen.

    I actually LOST money buying gold so far, as the yen performed stronger than gold over the past year.

    Do you think it's still worth it for people like me to trade in my yen to invest in gold?

    Also, the stock market may get pummeled this Fall. Don't you think mining shares will go down with the market,perhaps to rebound later?

  • Gold is not an investment to make money on, its one to maintain purchasing power. And yes, my opinion says you should get most but not all of your money out of the market, and then reinvest whenever the markets get hit badly.

    No point buying gold if your have a strong performing currency

  • What you need is to OWN physical Gold and not just trade it in the future's market where you can't even own it. Gold is not an investment tool, it's simply a hedge when the currency drops. What gold does is it preserves purchasing power instead of increasing your wealth, so even if the price drops in nominal terms, you can still buy the same amount of goods with that lowered price. Gold's function is to preserve purchasing power, it has never been used in increasing wealth..

  • i agree,

    if you want to make some money there is a good chance in buying phyisical silver. compared to the gold silver ratio of the last 100 years it is underated

  • boom!

    you got it.

  • LOL top video Peter.

  • I agree mr Schiff and mkloppel

    scrary stuff.

    How so many people in government do not understand economic prinicples is beyond me, but eh, perhaps they'll get around to collapsing the dollar and create a new one-world currency some time in the future.

    If/when governments run themselves bankrupt, they'll still want to hang on to power.

  • WATCH the govt can!

    FUNNEE!!!

  • Peter if the Senate run doesn't happen (and I hope it DOES) maybe you could start a real business school. The Peter Schiff Business School! - no legacy Harvard/Princeton legacy excepted, just common sense!

  • accepted*

  • I tend to think faster than I can type - I should proof read or just get a good OCR program! Kind of ironic given my comment! I guess I would expect an exception for my acceptence (hows that?)

  • lol, you are in!

  • do you think that oil will follow gold or keep losing ground with the economy?

  • That interview you mentioned at the end is INSANE

  • God damn Schiff. Your lucky I don't hero worship or else you would have a hell of a sycophant.

  • Why Not Both? Continued Deflationary Depression and Collapse of the Dollar? Hyperinflation of Imports, Deflation of American RE, Equities, etc. Or, is this what you're saying?

  • so much for 5 min or less eh Peter...hehe

  • I watched the video you're talking about, and it seems to me that Stark was more saying that debt can be an indication of wealth, rather than an attribute.

    As in, the more debt a person has, the more likely it is the person is wealthy, since the lender wants to have confidence in the person's ability to pay it back—although that concept seems to have become old-fashioned.

    But then, that argument contradicts some other things he said. Overall, Stark wasn't being very clear about his views.

  • Id say he din't know his ass from a hole in the ground. Debt is not an indication of wealth especially when that debt doesn't decrease over a long period of time. How do you think my credit rating would be if I had to borrow to pay my bills for 40 years? Individuals and national economies have more in common than Stark would have you believe.

  • Any amount of debt is bad. But if you owe $100, it's more likely that you're a low-income worker than someone who owes $100,000. Obviously, both situations are undesirable for anyone, but in this way, debt could be used as an indication of wealth.

    From the video quality, it looks like it could have taken place as early as the '80s, which is of course when Reagan was spiking our debt to record levels (a bad thing).

  • Debt... It's the acquirement of value today to be repaid tomorrow.

    But what if the debt is never paid? What if only more debt is increased. Who is the fool? The person in Debt that can't pay and enjoyed gratification today or the person who sacrificed and to provide the loan?

  • *Obviously*, more debt =/= more wealth. However, more debt = greater probability of more wealth.

    To put it another way, it's possible that Stark was saying that (again, this took place a good while ago) since we had considerable debt, we probably have considerable ability to pay it back too. Granted, this is becoming less and less true every day in this country.

    This is why the full context of this short clip is important to know.

  • Stark is right. More debt does equal more wealth. That is for the creditor.

  • Only when the creditor can get the money back.

  • I barely knew who Stark was before this video, but I did some googling and found some interesting things.

    For the record, Stark voted against the $700B bailout, founded (and was president of) a bank in '63 (Stark age 32) which became hugely profitable in less than a decade, and got an MBA from the Haas School of Business.

    I've known many well-educated morons, and Stark might be one of them, but this information gives me enough doubt to withhold judgment of him without the full context.

  • One other thing: what was the context? I can't imagine Stark brought that subject up himself. I wonder how they got into that subject, and how long the interview had already been going on.

    From the very beginning of the clip, Stark looked very agitated with Helfeld, which could say a lot.

    Again, regardless of all that, if his point was "the more debt, the better", he's obviously wrong. But without any context, it's hard to determine this. It's also possible he was being intentionally goaded.

  • Yes, Jan hanfield does an incredible job interviewing people. He has a website, albeit not a great one.

  • Peter is great. I'm glad common sense hasn't completely disappeared.

  • It is amazing to me how we elect such incompetent, foolish people to positions of power in this country and then blame terrorists and illegal immigrants for our problems. We cause the problems then blame everyone else.

  • Gold was gold today!

  • Haha, I've got to call my uncle. Just this weak he said buying gold wasn't smart, that it was overpriced and already falling.

    Got to buy some Eagles, hehe, Euro's don't seem to do much better.

  • I like my GOLD (and silver)

  • In the physical form [-_-] There is no gold in paper.

  • Great commentary as always, Peter. Thank you.

  • Gold and Silver rocked!