Topic: Fashion & Leasure
Fashion and Economics here in Argentina,……. Looks like the way the American Economy is going is a straight Argentinization of America, a Argentine Style Economic Bust, so as you see we are a unique country and it seems the world is about to follow us, I am sure it will make, at least, our politicians here very happy, ………. Economics like fashion, is that "the latest cultural trend is to be unique. to be part of the exquisite VIP section of society lays on the fact that those who belong are not mass manufactured, not mass consumers, but elite consumers, one of a kind people. The outside appearance of a celebrity cannot be now purchased at a department store, for they customize their look, their style, themselves. Nowadays clothing and fashion are approaching this conception of production. Each item, each shirt, skirt, sock, shoe are kind of unique but not in a couture way, but in a more casual way."-- bob frassinetti The "Argentinization" of America
By Chris Mayer Every morning, I descend on my bevy of newspapers, which I cheerfully digest over a hot mug of tea. Yesterday, the headlines of all the newspapers carried the same story: the U.S. government's takeover of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Does this really promise big change in the course of U.S. financial markets?Both companies trade on the New York Stock Exchange. So both companies supposedly belong to shareholders. But Fannie and Freddie were never really private companies. Congress created the mortgage giants by charter (hence, they are called government-sponsored enterprises, or GSEs). Therefore, Fannie and Freddie have long operated in a sort of limbo as a result, neither fish nor fowl. Both carry the implicit guarantee that if something went truly wrong, the government would come along and make it right. And so it has. Bondholders are happy today. Stockholders are not. Fannie Mae dropped 90% yesterday. Freddie Mac tumbled 83%. I have no flag in either camp, but I certainly have no sympathy for the stockholders. Anyone who gave them a fair look could see that both GSEs were ticking time bombs. In fact, I wrote an essay for the Mises Institute titled "Mortgage Market Socialism" way back in 2002. I pointed out the dangers of the growth of these GSEs far outpacing that of the mortgage market. If I may quote: "The longer the GSEs are able to expand as they have, the more certain it becomes that someday taxpayers will have to bear the cost of such excess." This is one of those times when I am not happy to have gotten it right. Taxpayers -- of which I am one -- will now pay for these mistakes. Yet despite all of the hubbub in the papers, this is nothing new. This action by the U.S. government does not really signify any sea change in financial markets. It's just another step in a long journey on the same path. If you read financial history, you come to appreciate this overwhelmingly powerful trend. As Freeman Tilden wrote in his 1935 book A World in Debt:
"The whole progress of the legislative attitude toward the debtor, from the Roman Republic to the present day, has been steadily, though with occasional backward lapses, toward making debt easier to incur, lightening the burden of carrying and softening the consequences of default." The fancy modern words for this process are the "democratization of credit" and the "socialization of risk." Another excellent historical study of this process is James Grant's Money of the Mind: Borrowing and Lending in America From the Civil War to Michael Milken. It is beautifully written, for one thing. And it will show you this process has been going on for a long, long time. I don't usually comment much about big picture events. But the bailout of Fannie and Freddie deserves some sort of comment -- mainly because I fear that yesterday's bailout speeds the United States down a perilous path.I fear that we might be going the way of Argentina. One day, we'll have some major Argentine-style financial crisis. We'll have Argentine inflation and a similar loss of faith in the banking system and the currency. The government will chew away and destroy a lot of wealth in the process. Hopefully, I won't quote myself on that someday soon. In the meantime, though, I think one of the best things an investor can do is focus on buying useful and tangible assets that ought to hold their value against a depreciating paper currency. These assets include oil and gas, metals and minerals and land and water rights. The shares of the companies that own or find these assets ought to do well. Commodities will have their day in the sun once again. [Joel's Note: As it so happens, Chris has spent the last few years amassing a portfolio chock full of just these kind of companies - that is, a bundle of royalty investments in the ultra-profitable resource sector. As a special offer for Rude readers, Chris has compiled a special report he calls the "Chaffee Royalty Program." We'd urge anyone interested in protecting their future wealth (and earning some along the way) to check it out. Right now you can grab this report, along with six (6) FREE months of his most valuable research, for half price. Give it a read right here P.S. This offer is available until midnight tomorrow, OR (and this is very important) until the available 2,000 spots are filled Oh, and a quick heads-up: Chris has the best reader retention rate of all of Agora's newsletters. Put simply, when people sign up with Chris, they stick with him. The waiting list to get in on this deal is sure to long and slow, so if you wish to avoid disappointment, act now
Posted by bob frassinetti
at 11:56 AM
Art & Antique Dealer Bob Frassinetti
