By: Antonia Oprita
Web Producer, CNBC.com
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The US supremacy as the top world economy will end sooner than many people believe, so gold is a better investment than the dollar despite it hitting a new record, Tom Winnifrith, CEO at financial services firm Rivington Street Holdings, told CNBC.com Monday.
Gold [XAU=X 1315.55 6.75 (+0.52%) ] hit a new record high Monday and silver [XAG=X 22.03 0.16 (+0.73%) ] rose to another 30-year peak as investors were worried about the dollar weakening further after the Federal Reserve hinted at more quantitative easing last week.
The US trade deficit and debt continue to grow and the authorities are reluctant to address the problem, preferring to print money, Winnifrith said.
"America is practically owned by China," he said.
He reminded of the fact that in 1900, sterling was the world's reserve currency but by 1948, that was no longer the case as the British Empire collapsed.
"America is doing what Britain did," Winnifrith said. "America spends much more than it can afford and it's not addressing the issue."
In 1832, China and India were the world's two largest economies and by 2032, they will regain that status, he predicted.
"The 200 years when Britain and the US were the top two economies were an aberration and that will change," Winnifrith said.
"The decline of empires has happened much faster than folks think. I believe that gold will be a far better bet in 20 years than the dollar," he added.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
John Kerry - Who is Really Out of Touch
It’s the electorate, stupid!
By Hillary Chabot
Saturday, September 25, 2010 - Updated 18 hours ago
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E-mail Print (849) Comments Text size Share Buzz up!A testy U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry yesterday blamed clueless voters with short attention spans for the uphill battle beleaguered Democrats are facing against Republicans across the nation.
“We have an electorate that doesn’t always pay that much attention to what’s going on so people are influenced by a simple slogan rather than the facts or the truth or what’s happening,” Kerry told reporters after touring the Boston Medical Center yesterday.
Conservative political blogger William Jacobson, who writes Legal Insurrection, immediately pounced on Kerry’s comments, saying that attitude is why voters are looking to shake up Capitol Hill by electing upstart candidates such as U.S. Sen. Scott Brown.
“It just continues the Democrats’ theme that the reason people are upset is because they don’t understand. They’re not smart enough. That sort of rhetoric just gets people even more upset,” said Jacobson.
Democratic consultant Phil Johnston, former chairman of the state party, jumped to Kerry’s defense, saying, “That’s absurd. He’s just making the point that people have real lives to lead and most people are not spending a lot of time worrying about politics, particularly in a tough economy. I’ve known John Kerry for 35 years and he doesn’t look down on people.”
Kerry made the remarks on voters following questions about U.S. Rep Barney Frank’s re-election campaign and queries about securing federal funding for the Hub hospital.
“I think a lot of the anger today - while it’s appropriate because Washington is broken - is not directed at the right people,” said Kerry. “Barney is prepared, as others are, to explain what we’re doing. I think when people hear the facts and they see what we’re doing, it frankly makes sense.”
In the interview, Kerry added that voters should be mad at stonewalling Republicans and “big money” in politics instead, referring to a bill blocked by Republicans Thursday that would reveal corporate and union leaders who fund big-bucks political ads.
He went on to blame the legislative logjam in Washington, D.C., for fewer federal dollars sent to the state.
John Feehery, a Washington D.C.-based Republican consultant, said Kerry’s comments mark yet another embarrassing stumble for the gaffe-prone senior senator. In 2006, the former presidential candidate had to apologize for a statement he made at a California college that U.S. students who did not study hard and stay in school would end up “stuck in Iraq.”
“I think that arrogance sums up why John Kerry didn’t get elected president,” Feehery said. “He’s out of touch.”
By Hillary Chabot
Saturday, September 25, 2010 - Updated 18 hours ago
+ Recent Articles + Email
E-mail Print (849) Comments Text size Share Buzz up!A testy U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry yesterday blamed clueless voters with short attention spans for the uphill battle beleaguered Democrats are facing against Republicans across the nation.
“We have an electorate that doesn’t always pay that much attention to what’s going on so people are influenced by a simple slogan rather than the facts or the truth or what’s happening,” Kerry told reporters after touring the Boston Medical Center yesterday.
Conservative political blogger William Jacobson, who writes Legal Insurrection, immediately pounced on Kerry’s comments, saying that attitude is why voters are looking to shake up Capitol Hill by electing upstart candidates such as U.S. Sen. Scott Brown.
“It just continues the Democrats’ theme that the reason people are upset is because they don’t understand. They’re not smart enough. That sort of rhetoric just gets people even more upset,” said Jacobson.
Democratic consultant Phil Johnston, former chairman of the state party, jumped to Kerry’s defense, saying, “That’s absurd. He’s just making the point that people have real lives to lead and most people are not spending a lot of time worrying about politics, particularly in a tough economy. I’ve known John Kerry for 35 years and he doesn’t look down on people.”
Kerry made the remarks on voters following questions about U.S. Rep Barney Frank’s re-election campaign and queries about securing federal funding for the Hub hospital.
“I think a lot of the anger today - while it’s appropriate because Washington is broken - is not directed at the right people,” said Kerry. “Barney is prepared, as others are, to explain what we’re doing. I think when people hear the facts and they see what we’re doing, it frankly makes sense.”
In the interview, Kerry added that voters should be mad at stonewalling Republicans and “big money” in politics instead, referring to a bill blocked by Republicans Thursday that would reveal corporate and union leaders who fund big-bucks political ads.
He went on to blame the legislative logjam in Washington, D.C., for fewer federal dollars sent to the state.
John Feehery, a Washington D.C.-based Republican consultant, said Kerry’s comments mark yet another embarrassing stumble for the gaffe-prone senior senator. In 2006, the former presidential candidate had to apologize for a statement he made at a California college that U.S. students who did not study hard and stay in school would end up “stuck in Iraq.”
“I think that arrogance sums up why John Kerry didn’t get elected president,” Feehery said. “He’s out of touch.”
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Government Motors & UAW spend your money on elections
By JOSH MITCHELL
General Motors Co. has begun to once again contribute to political campaigns, lifting a self-imposed ban on political spending put in place during the auto maker's U.S.-financed bankruptcy restructuring last year.
The Detroit company gave $90,500 to candidates running in the current election cycle, Federal Election Commission records show.
Washington Wire
GM Resumes Campaign Contributions The beneficiaries include Midwestern lawmakers, mostly Democrats, who have traditionally supported the industry's legislative agenda on Capitol Hill, including Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D., Mich.), Sen. Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio) and Rep. John Dingell (D., Mich.).
The list also includes Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor, the House Republican Whip, who would likely assume a top leadership post if Republicans win control of the House in November.
It isn't unusual for big companies like GM to spend on political campaigns, but complicating GM's situation is that the company is majority-owned by the U.S. government. GM is planning to return to the public stock markets later this year, allowing the U.S. to begin to sell off its roughly 61% stake in the company.
GM spokesman Greg Martin said the company stopped making political contributions in spring 2009 to focus on its taxpayer-financed bankruptcy reorganization.
"As we've emerged as a new company, we're not going to sit on the sidelines as our competitors and other industries who have PACs are participating in the political process," Mr. Martin said. He called GM's political action committee is "an effective means for our employees to pool their resources and have their collective voice heard."
Mr. Martin added that the company has supported members of both parties who "approach issues thoughtfully" and "support a strong auto industry."
Write to Josh Mitchell at joshua.mitchell@dowjones.com
Copyright 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit
www.djreprints.com
More In Auto Industry
General Motors Co. has begun to once again contribute to political campaigns, lifting a self-imposed ban on political spending put in place during the auto maker's U.S.-financed bankruptcy restructuring last year.
The Detroit company gave $90,500 to candidates running in the current election cycle, Federal Election Commission records show.
Washington Wire
GM Resumes Campaign Contributions The beneficiaries include Midwestern lawmakers, mostly Democrats, who have traditionally supported the industry's legislative agenda on Capitol Hill, including Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D., Mich.), Sen. Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio) and Rep. John Dingell (D., Mich.).
The list also includes Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor, the House Republican Whip, who would likely assume a top leadership post if Republicans win control of the House in November.
It isn't unusual for big companies like GM to spend on political campaigns, but complicating GM's situation is that the company is majority-owned by the U.S. government. GM is planning to return to the public stock markets later this year, allowing the U.S. to begin to sell off its roughly 61% stake in the company.
GM spokesman Greg Martin said the company stopped making political contributions in spring 2009 to focus on its taxpayer-financed bankruptcy reorganization.
"As we've emerged as a new company, we're not going to sit on the sidelines as our competitors and other industries who have PACs are participating in the political process," Mr. Martin said. He called GM's political action committee is "an effective means for our employees to pool their resources and have their collective voice heard."
Mr. Martin added that the company has supported members of both parties who "approach issues thoughtfully" and "support a strong auto industry."
Write to Josh Mitchell at joshua.mitchell@dowjones.com
Copyright 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit
www.djreprints.com
More In Auto Industry
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
The Recovery Ruse
(Reuters) - U.S. household wealth fell by $1.5 trillion in the second quarter, according to Federal Reserve data on Friday that showed the strain a slow-paced recovery and high unemployment are putting on Americans.
Household net worth fell to $53.5 trillion, well below the $64.2 trillion it had reached at the end of 2007 when the recession officially began, according to the central bank's quarterly flow of funds report.
Declines in the value of financial assets -- especially in stocks and mutual funds -- accounted for much of the decline in second-quarter net worth. Stocks alone were down $1.9 trillion to $14.9 trillion, more than offsetting small gains in other areas like state and local government retirement funds.
Consumers pared debt at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.3 percent, the ninth consecutive quarter in which they did so. Home mortgage debt fell at an annual rate of 2-1/4 percent after a 4-1/4 percent drop in the first three months this year.
During the financial crisis that wracked the country from 2007 to 2009, trillions of dollars in housing and financial market wealth was wiped out and heavy household and financial sector indebtedness was exposed.
The government has stepped in with increased spending and stimulus programs to try to spur recovery but the unemployment rate in August edged up to 9.6 percent and housing markets are still in distress.
Federal government debt expanded during the second quarter at a hefty 24.4 percent annual rate after a 20.5 percent increase in the first quarter. By contrast, state and local government debt shrank 1.3 percent during the second quarter.
Business debt excluding financial companies was up a slim 0.1 percent following a 0.5 percent rise in the first quarter.
Data issued on Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau similarly underlined the extent to which the financial crisis and ensuing recession has hurt household incomes.
The Census Bureau's annual look at U.S. living standards -- once the envy of the world because of the upward mobility Americans could tap into -- found the poverty rate at a 15-year high of 14.3 percent in 2009, up from 13.2 percent in 2008.
(Reporting by Glenn Somerville; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
U.S.Personal Finance
Household net worth fell to $53.5 trillion, well below the $64.2 trillion it had reached at the end of 2007 when the recession officially began, according to the central bank's quarterly flow of funds report.
Declines in the value of financial assets -- especially in stocks and mutual funds -- accounted for much of the decline in second-quarter net worth. Stocks alone were down $1.9 trillion to $14.9 trillion, more than offsetting small gains in other areas like state and local government retirement funds.
Consumers pared debt at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2.3 percent, the ninth consecutive quarter in which they did so. Home mortgage debt fell at an annual rate of 2-1/4 percent after a 4-1/4 percent drop in the first three months this year.
During the financial crisis that wracked the country from 2007 to 2009, trillions of dollars in housing and financial market wealth was wiped out and heavy household and financial sector indebtedness was exposed.
The government has stepped in with increased spending and stimulus programs to try to spur recovery but the unemployment rate in August edged up to 9.6 percent and housing markets are still in distress.
Federal government debt expanded during the second quarter at a hefty 24.4 percent annual rate after a 20.5 percent increase in the first quarter. By contrast, state and local government debt shrank 1.3 percent during the second quarter.
Business debt excluding financial companies was up a slim 0.1 percent following a 0.5 percent rise in the first quarter.
Data issued on Thursday by the U.S. Census Bureau similarly underlined the extent to which the financial crisis and ensuing recession has hurt household incomes.
The Census Bureau's annual look at U.S. living standards -- once the envy of the world because of the upward mobility Americans could tap into -- found the poverty rate at a 15-year high of 14.3 percent in 2009, up from 13.2 percent in 2008.
(Reporting by Glenn Somerville; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
U.S.Personal Finance
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