NGDP Targeting and the Permanent Portfolio I thought it would be fun to think about how the permanent portfolio might behave in an economy where the central bank (CB) is targeting NGDP. I've heard it advertised as being "essentially the gold standard" depending on the NGDP level being targ...

AgAuMoney wrote:
You are simply making sh*t up.

It certainly does feel like that at times!

Gold has been the preferred currency in the past because of the abuses government engaged in with fiat money because it was perceived as a store of value, originating in the market out of barter, and one reason it was codified in the constitution was because of the abuses past governments engaged in...

I don't think a fiat currency failing is the same thing as a gold standard ending due to government force. If people have chosen to voluntarily trade in gold and the government uses violence to put a stop to that, that sounds like interference, not an inherent failing of the gold standard. And if yo...

To MediumTex: In regards to the deflationary spiral, this is a point that trips me up because Rothbard is possibly inconsistent in his views. In "Man, Economy, & State" and "America's Great Depression" he suggests that as long as prices and wages can adjust to the new money s...

I found that Mosler presented arguments that begged for further questions. He seemed to touch on the fact that real goods and services are wealth and that money is not. That money is a claim on real goods. And when government spends more money, it is claiming resources that otherwise could have gone...

I read the two linked papers above, and there are a lot of assumptions in there the Austrians would have a problem with.  I have to agree with the sentiment that the Austrians describe the "world that should be" but MMT describes the world "as it is". But I feel the Austrian stor...

Ok, I'll read the paper - it's only 40 pages. if I find some issues or insights I'll admit that. I don't want to be dogmatic about it.

I'll check out those links above, but honestly I've read so many books by Rothbard, Hayek, and Mises that I think I'm immune to the assumptions in modern monetary theory!

Thank you, doodle, I do understand that the US can't default in nominal terms. As clacy and others have said, she is referring to "real value default" as one of the options. Other options being more overt confiscation. I think one of her main points is that future obligations can't be repa...

That is scary that the special assistent to the president for evonomic policy has no idea how the monetary system works. We might have a captain, but he is blind in both eyes. Could you elaborate further if you have the time? The things she was saying in the interview somewhat confirm how I underst...

Saw this today on economicpolicyjournal.com: "Philippa "Pippa" Malmgren is an insider's insider. She was Special Assistant to the President for Economic Policy on the National Economic Council. She was also a member of the President's Working Group on Financial Markets, aka, the Plung...

Here is Rothbard on technological unemployment: http://mises.org/rothbard/mes/chap9b.asp Basically, he says that machines are capital investments that improve the marginal productivity of workers. We can have increased output with cheaper prices and greater leisure. If prices and wages float proper...

Here is Rothbard on technological unemployment: http://mises.org/rothbard/mes/chap9b.asp Basically, he says that machines are capital investments that improve the marginal productivity of workers. We can have increased output with cheaper prices and greater leisure. If prices and wages float properl...

I thought I'd post in this thread even though it is old. I recently read that Marc Faber has 25% stocks, 25% corporate bonds - a change from his 25% in real estate. Considering his affinity for gold - he probably still has 25% in gold and 25% in cash as stated earlier. Very PPish! http://www.busines...

It seems like PRPFX has lost a lot of love with members here but I thought I'd point out that it seems to have lowered it's expense ratio to 0.71 according to it's own prospectus. http://www.permanentportfoliofunds.com/pdfs/perm/PRPFX.pdf "Expense Ratio:   Gross (before fee waiver) .76%   Net (...

Here are two articles I found interesting today. Bloomberg reports that Central Banks around the world are buying equities. I sure wish they would invest that new money in shares of me! http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-24/central-banks-load-up-on-equities-as-low-rates-kill-bond-yields.html NPR ...

I've also noticed that all assets were moving up at the same time. It's really strange because these things should be moving up or down for different reasons. I'm leaning to the opinion that the reason is because of massive support from the Fed. The gold sell off makes me worried that we are headed ...

All of the replies here are excellent and I want to 2nd them. I consider myself extremely libertarian and it sort of disgusts me to buy government debt. But the reality is that they have the power to print and guarantee their debt which makes those long term treasuries a good bet when people are loo...

I also decided against doing a single fund thanks to advice here. I guess I just don't understand how the underlying assets are reflected in the stock value. Isn't the stock subject to it's own supply and demand in addition to the value of the underlying assets? If one is willing to own a single st...

I also decided against doing a single fund thanks to advice here. I guess I just don't understand how the underlying assets are reflected in the stock value. Isn't the stock subject to it's own supply and demand in addition to the value of the underlying assets? If one is willing to own a single sto...

I'm willing to bet that this talk of going after wealthy IRA's is way to get the conversation started. There aren't that many wealthy people to make a big enough dent in the debt and they will want to change the rules and grab middle income savings.

I see there are not very many fans of Mises or Rothbard in this thread :). They would claim that the proper definition of inflation is an increase in the money supply, but that increases in productivity could keep price inflation low. This definition helps perceive how malinvestments can occur and a...

I don't think describing capitalism as survival of the fittest is entirely accurate. The fittest companies thrive by (hopefully) providing something more useful and push out less successful ones - but those who benefit are the whole society who suddenly have access to things that were once unattaina...

Thank you for the great advice. The strategy that I think will work best for me, considering my low starting point, will be to contribute to our Roth's on a monthly basis and max those out using a 4 ETF strategy in each. For the time being, I'll consider my taxable account a separate permanent portf...