Bastian Hayek

Probably a basket of Yen, Euro, Renminbi. But expect inflation in these currencies, too. Gold and silver to some. Regarding the US returning to a gold standard: I am not sure what the federal government will do in such a situation, but I can see nullification issues emerge. There are already people fighting legal tender laws: http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/nullif...utional-tender/

You were able to export all the inflation to China. Hyperinflation is higher than 50% a month, which Schiff considers possible in 5 to 10 years if policy is not changed. Now, if policy is not changed in 2010 I am sure it will be changed in 2012. So maybe the US will avoid that fate. You can't leave interest rates at 0% while printing trillions of dollars for stimulus plans and bailouts without eventually seeing price inflation. It's a sure thing and those who don't prepare for it now with silver will see a dramatic decrease in living standards, that I think, will cause policy change before it gets hyperinflationary.

Peter Schiff, http://www.europac.net/archives.asp?year=2009&qtr=3#

A dollar collapse this year.. but Schiff says it is more likely 2011 or 12.

Because he was specifically running against Dodd's predictions and his part in creating this economic crisis.

I remember in "John Adams" (HBO) someone exclaiming "Long live the American states!"

I love it, and I am 24.

The Capitalist Manifesto by Andrew Bernstein

That is kind of off-topic, but I found it under the video posted here: If I look at the comments on YouTube I am always frightened in how many people make Jews responsible for the FED. Did you encounter that too?

Ah okay, sorry. Then you are already following him. I just read the first statement in which you said that you were surprised. Following Schiff's comments since I first heard about him in October 2008 I am just surprised when I wake up and Gold didn't go up.

True. Schiff writes in 'The Little Book of Bull Moves in Bear Markets' that "mining stocks offer the prospect of income and capital gains magnified by leverage, and are potentially the most profitable way to play gold and silver." He also says: "And in 5 or 10 years, look for a mania that makes the NASDAQ-bubble seem like a warm-up." Consider these stock suggestions: http://inflation.us/stocks.html Regarding the real stuff: I bought physical silver, I can't spare enough to buy physical gold.

You should consider hearing what Peter Schiff has to say about gold and the dollar. He expects gold to be well about 4000 in a few years, as far as I heard. The Chinese government is encouraging their citizens to buy gold and silver, they probably will dump the dollar one day. Regarding investments, I am not really rich, but I bought some Barrick Gold in May. I also followed Schiff's advice to invest in Hong Kong's Skyworth Digital. This stock is up 186% since May.

That's outrageous.. Would you please write in an appropriate way!! He is already participating in the discussion.

I became a huge fan of Ray Kurzweil and think his forecasts are based on facts. And I see a lot of Objectivists that think he is right. However, I was challenged and am not currently able to repudiate the claim by friend of mine on Facebook that following statement by Kurzweil is nothing but determinism. I would say that it is not determinism but rather making forecasts on the basis of facts and patterns that are visible right now. What do you think? "An analysis of the history of technology shows that technological change is exponential, contrary to the common-sense "intuitive linear" view. So we won't experience 100 years of progress in the 21st century -- it will be more like 20,000 years of progress (at today's rate). The "returns," such as chip speed and cost-effectiveness, also increase ... Read Moreexponentially. There's even exponential growth in the rate of exponential growth. Within a few decades, machine intelligence will surpass human intelligence, leading to The Singularity -- technological change so rapid and profound it represents a rupture in the fabric of human history. The implications include the merger of biological and nonbiological intelligence, immortal software-based humans, and ultra-high levels of intelligence that expand outward in the universe at the speed of light." - Ray Kurzweil Determinism?

I would rather say his definition of force is wrong. I wrote back that I can't see where someone who profits from infrastructure and education entered a contract that says government is allow to tax him.

I am currently in a discussion with a Green about "Freedom from...". He says that establishing such freedom from need, hunger etc. would not necessitate force as everybody profited from government infrastructure and other ressources. Does one first have to advocate for the dissolution of government infrastructure programs and education etc. before one can go further to argue against such "freedom from"?

Did you take moste of the songs offline? When will there be a CD?

Depends on what you mean with laissez-faire. If you want to restore a system of laissez-faire capitalism you do not sit and watch while the FED is destroying your economy. If it is true that they made interest rates incredibly low and thus helped to destroy the economy it is even worse.

Sometimes I wonder.. I post something and the thread is dead

In Germany you are allowed to buy and drink beer with 16. But you are allowed to drive a car with 18. I always found it interesting to see that in America you drive with 16 and drink with 21. What is the justification of this magical numbers?

That is because they are bad quality now, right?

I like Coolidge, too. But then I think about the bubble in the 1920s. One might argue that he should have seen it coming. Or did he? Maybe this is the reason he did not run a second time. But then he is guilty of not doing anything to prevent the bubble from further inflation. Hoover was President when it finally burst. But to Mises the bubble was visible much earlier. So how would you evaluate Coolidge given your knowledge of the bubble? EDIT: I forgot to mention that Rothbard in "America's Great Depression" says that Harding and Coolidge had a policy of low interest rates which helped the bubble to inflate.

The OSCE will send a delegation to Germany to monitor the elections in September. This is due to the fact that the election commission did not allow "Die Partei" ("The Party", a fun-party who wants to rebuild the Berlin Wall) and "Die Grauen" ("The Grays", a party that only cares for people who are on state pension) to participate in the elections. Obviously there are no reasons given by the commission why this parties are not allowed to run. Stupid parties they are, but not suited for a republic to throw them out... http://www.osce.org/odihr-elections/39219.html Polls say the Christian Democrats (CDU) are likely able to end their "Grand Coalition" with the Social Democrats (SPD) and can enter a coalition with Free Democrats (FDP, social liberal, fiscal conservative). Greens finish fourth with the former-East German-Socialists also above the 5% border that allows entry into parliament here. CDU 36% SPD 23% GREENS 12% FDP 14% THE LEFT 9% OTHERS 6%

It is an official site. Maybe he will have an issues page once the exploratory commitee transforms into an actual campaign. He might also just run on his economic knowledge.

The Futurist has some pretty cool predictions for the future of technology. I found a two-part series on entertainment technology especially interesting: Source: http://www.singularity2050.com/2006/04/the_next_big_th.html Source: http://futurist.typepad.com/my_weblog/2006...t_big_th_1.html This lead me to think about the possibilities for Objectivists to create their own movies. It would certainly be great to be a part of this trend and to use it. If nobody will do "Atlas Shrugged", what about a machinima adaptation? Or what about Objectivists who wrote a novel themselves or want to write one to do a machinima instead... These are just random thoughts, but if the trend is as clear as The Futurist predicts it might make sense to think about it even right now.