Although flawed, isn’t the Kimberley process a step in the right direction? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimberley_Process_Certification_Scheme I wasn't making a value judgment, merely pointing out that increased regulation makes diamonds less fungible and more traceable, thus decreasing their mon...

What about diamonds? They are portable, with their weight-to-value ratio comparable if not superior to gold. They are easier to smuggle as they are not discoverable by metal detectors and such. Accordingly, they were used to finance many conflicts in Africa; I've read about Swiss bankers smuggling s...

I am curious if any on here have updated their personal narrative about what drives gold prices. Seems like the price of gold is responding to economic data more or less in lockstep with stocks. For example, a weaker jobs report gives people the hope that Fed rate cuts may happen sooner rather than...

But yeah, if we recognize that gold is a better store of value than silver, we should accept that there may be better stores of value than gold. And these reasons would be technical in nature, about the properties of the commodities in question. With stores of value there is also an issue of path d...

Smith1776 wrote: ↑Thu May 09, 2024 7:23 pm Yeah, like it was done to gold at one time... so if that's a criticism Craig has levied against Bitcoin, then how could gold be exempt from that?

It is much harder to do it to gold because gold is a physical item that does not rely on a centralized infrastructure for its continued existence.

Indeed, how many "deflationary depressions" were there in the United States since the end of gold standard? Is this even a real possibility in a fiat-based economy with a central bank that is determined to keep the economy "up" at any cost and that now is quickly traversing the r...

long term bonds and if short term bonds funds were used , them too, plus a negative year for equities in 2022. like i said years ago , rising rates would be kryptonite to the pp Aren't they a killer of any portfolio that heavily relies on nominal bonds? Many people over at the Bogleheads forum were...

mathjak107 wrote: ↑Wed May 01, 2024 7:52 am from 2021 it’s just about been flat

100k has gained about 1200 bucks from jan 2021 to april 30th 1 2024 . a .38% cagr


https://www.portfoliovisualizer.com/bac ... SUlrdyQOt3

It's mostly the long bonds' fault, isn't it?

As I've stated in the other thread, this is the human norm - working poor finance the idle owners. On the flip side, owners create firms that employ the working poor. The janitors at MSFT never had to incur the opportunity cost of studying information technology, but they benefit from Bill Gate's p...

As I've stated in the other thread, this is the human norm - working poor finance the idle owners. On the flip side, owners create firms that employ the working poor. The janitors at MSFT never had to incur the opportunity cost of studying information technology, but they benefit from Bill Gate's p...

Maybe this is a weird tangent that no one sane would associate with your initial post, but there's no forum rule against mental illness, so... There once was a civilization where: the ruler was considered a living god, whose daily activities controlled all social and natural phenomena, and whose goo...

As I've stated in the other thread, this is the human norm - working poor finance the idle owners. Moreover, modern economy could not function without it - when the issue of new debt stops for even a minute, the economy contracts and the poor suffer even more. Ancient societies used to either hold a...

dualstow wrote: ↑Tue Apr 30, 2024 11:54 am

ArthurPooh wrote: ↑Tue Apr 30, 2024 10:42 am Yes, exactly. Medieval peasants couldn't just frugal themselves into becoming knights,

But squires could “feudal” themselves into becoming knights

But I assume a passive squire would not get very far.

By ‘switch sides’ you mean graduate from a serf to a nobleman? Yes, exactly. Medieval peasants couldn't just frugal themselves into becoming knights, and actual slaves/serfs in many human societies had no chance of changing their situation at all. In contrast, in last several decades there were pro...

I still can’t get over the idea that one can generate wealth- ok, can generate income , from interest and dividends. Of course I understand the concept. You’re renting out your money, like a landlord rents out living space. But…I didn’t sweat for it. And I didn’t invent anything. I’m not complainin...

Thanks for the well-wishes, Hal. You always post the best links.

For anyone who might have been interested in my thoughts here and on the other thread : the final allocation we have decided on and are investing in right now is: 50% developed country stocks (in which 25% large and mid-cap and 25% small cap), 25% cash, 25% gold. Minor details still to be ironed out...

Pointedstick wrote: ↑Sat Apr 13, 2024 11:08 am So maybe this whole "we pay half of our money to the government!" meme is a bunch of baloney pushed by people trying to make you mad and turn off your brain so you'll make bad decisions that just so happen to serve their purposes.

What are some examples of these bad decisions?

Jack Jones wrote: ↑Tue Apr 09, 2024 4:36 am When born under such conditions, it seems like non-participation and retreating to the frontier is the best you can do.

And yet people still roll their eyes when I talk about colonizing Antarctica...

I can't believe I was vaguely aware of this song (as in I recognize the tune) yet I've never associated it with Australia or any political themes. "Give it back" is a quite creepy line. And it seems somewhat grotesque to me that such a song is sung by a guy who looks like elderly Reinhard...

Is it redeemable for USD and gold, or what? Apparently it's not redeemable for gold. It's supposedly "backed" by USD and gold. I think after the Zim dollar failed there have been two supposedly USD-pegged currency systems already and they did not stay pegged for too long. This seems like ...

But back to my main point. Looking for a reliable site for the "real" rate of inflation, not the official CPI-U rate (which I would be heartened to hear is actually accurate). An alternative explanation of the CPI not reflecting the true inflation rate is the suppression of purchasing pow...

Lets consider investments to be money we give to other people in the hope that it grows, and liquidity to be the money we set aside to ensure we can meet our day to day obligations “whatever the future brings”. From this lens, stocks are investments and bonds, cash, and gold are about liquidity, ri...

I can't believe I was vaguely aware of this song (as in I recognize the tune) yet I've never associated it with Australia or any political themes. "Give it back" is a quite creepy line. And it seems somewhat grotesque to me that such a song is sung by a guy who looks like elderly Reinhard...

When did acknowledging that your institution is on “Located on Occupied and Unceeded XYZ Ancestral Homelands” become a thing? Is it anything other than empty virtue signaling? I have yet to encounter this. What are examples of this? From Perth Mint's website: Acknowledgement of Country: We acknowle...