Last weekend, Ben Bernanke took an unprecedented gamble for a sitting Fed Chairman: he granted a long-form interview to 60 Minutes, America’s most watched news program. There can be no doubt that the interview came about as the result of a coordinated strategy between the Obama Administration and the Federal Reserve. But was the decision to offer the public a rare look at the inner workings of the central bank an act of resolution or desperation? FULL ARTICLE

So far, American citizens have been forced to provide financial institutions with nearly $2 trillion in additional bailouts. This brings the total of current U.S. banking capital to some $3.6 trillion, still less than half of the potential problem, leaving a massive $4.4 trillion shortfall. In light of this, even noted bearish economist Nouriel Roubini’s estimate of a $3.6 trillion shortfall appears to be too optimistic. FULL ARTICLE

For the foreseeable future, deficits will be measured in trillions, not billions. To put these vast sums into perspective, consider just one billion, or one thousandth of a trillion. A billion minutes ago, Jesus was alive. A billion hours ago, humankind was in the Stone Age. But in just the past eight hours and twenty minutes, even before Obama’s budget clicks in, the Government has spent $1 billion! FULL ARTICLE

After ignoring and downplaying the inflating credit bubble for much of his first two years in office, this week Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke emphasized, in testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, that no economic recovery would occur unless the financial system was restored. He was quite correct in his belated diagnosis. His prescriptions, on the other hand, are much more dubious. FULL ARTICLE

Make no mistake, the economy will not turn around soon. When the recovery fails to materialize, look for governments around the world, and especially in the U.S., to send another massive wave of liquidity downriver. When it does, the value of nearly everything, except for gold , will diminish. Don’t be intimidated by the recent spike in gold. Buy now while you still can. FULL ARTICLE

Washington is choosing to pursue the policy of continued and ever-increasing false prosperity, financed eventually by hyper-taxation, hyper-debt and hyper-inflation accompanied by a gradually eroded standard of living. The jobs created by the Bill are by and large non-productive, and will divert resources from the private sector and rob consumers of their power to make free choices in the marketplace. FULL ARTICLE

The Government TARP and stimulus packages now add up to some $3 trillion. Already, they have caused political consternation and pose serious challenges to America’s credit rating and ability to extend further its towering debts, without crowding out viable corporate borrowing. What will happen when all of the private bank liabilities get thrown on top? FULL ARTICLE

For the past 30 years, an increasingly socialist U.S. Congress has drastically overspent in its errant attempt to ‘help’ everyone. In so doing, it has depleted the wealth of a hugely productive economy by consistently encouraging citizens to consume more than they produce. Today, America’s standard of living is financed largely by depreciation of the U.S. dollar, high taxation and by massive borrowing, from citizens, foreigners and from future generations. FULL ARTICLE

Despite the powerful attempts of governments to eradicate gold’s role in monetary affairs, the free market price has risen continuously.  Today, although the possibility of global depression act as a head wind, the existence of an “above market” premium for fabricated gold, may foretell a major threat to the credibility of paper currencies, a major U.S. dollar devaluation and a consequent strong rise in the price of gold in the months ahead.  FULL ARTICLE

One of the few things more troubling for an economy than government intervention is government intervention driven by panic. Time and again, history has shown that when governments rush to engineer solutions to pressing problems, unintended difficulties arise.  FULL ARTICLE