I'd like to think that the US dollar will strengthen at some point but there just is not any evidence to support that at this time. Bernanke is clearly pursuing a weak dollar policy in order to reduce imports and increase exports. Unfortunately, this very same policy is doing serious damage to the savings of many Americans via inflation. The long run of very low interest rates has also financially damaged people who save and invest, rather than spend and consume. The income that they can get for their savings via bank savings accounts and CDs is pitiful these days.
We also have a spendthrift congress that has shown no money management skills whatever. They seem to think that going ever deeper into debt is OK and that paying off one credit card with another credit card is a viable way of running the financial business of the country.
The US economy was once a genuine powerhouse and the envy of the world. It produced high quality goods and services at an unparalleled pace and at reasonable prices. Over the past decade or so, however, the government has grown so large that it is literally consuming the nation. It's licenses, regulation, and taxes have stymied business to the point that many business people today do not believe that they can succeed here. This is why they are moving their businesses off-shore. They are going to other countries that welcome business and that treat it very well, indeed. As these people seek to capitalize on these opportunities, the US government seems incapable of understanding why they are going elsewhere and taking the jobs that they have with them.
None of this portends a bright future for the dollar, so PMs seem very much to be a viable way of protecting one's wealth from the inevitable inflation that all this fiat currency printing must cause at some point. While the government and the Fed consistently cook the books to show lower than actual unemployment and inflation, those of us who have to live in the real world are seeing the true results of government mismanagement in the market place each and every day.
The various websites that deal with these issues, such as
https://www.shadowstats.com, show that annual US inflation is in the area of 10-11% and unemployment is in the area of 17-18%. My own personal experience is admittedly limited to the area where I live but what I am seeing locally does not support the official contentions for either unemployment or inflation.
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Posted 07/31/2011 9:22 pm
