Finding Financial Inspiration In A New Decade
I have read many articles on the economy as I am sure you have about what the weaknesses and the strengths are. I do not want to get lost in platitudes reminiscent of Chauncey Gardner, however, none quite so well comes forward by taking on the issue of cutting through the bull as shadowstats.com. I found this site by reading Roger Wiegand at kitco.com, and I am going to put them on the blogroll here at webtaxcpa.com.
Even though we are not an investment web site, we nevertheless urge you to visit these two sites because their goal is to cut through the media hype and bring you the unvarnished truth. By analyzing these charts below, one does in fact come away with the impression that at least there is often a gap between the government’s statistics as they really are and what they say they are. This type of suspicion is rampant today, which is fueling the growth of sites which proclaim to have all the answers.
However, I admit that I have often thought of what it must feel like to have a crystal ball. I would imagine the first thing one would do if they had one is not to tell a soul about it, which is how I view the financial world. With government tax policy all over the map nowadays, and the results of which are at best are questionable if not downright unbelievable, some of the best the world has to offer in financial minds have turned up on the Internet. If they cannot tell the future, then they certainly come across as believable when discussing past economic results and drawing parallels from them.
The best minds always seem to be those who are able to look back and examine the past and draw conclusions quickly about the times in which we live today. This is the greatness of wisdom that everyone cherishes – if only they possessed it. Sometimes just giving in to the hard cold reality is all it takes. Those who are on the forefront of the trends take on a tremendous risk, which is why the reward is so great for those whose wisdom is justified.
Financial inspiration is basically derived from a combination of pursuits: Fed policy, tax laws, which are then woven into accounting rules, and the results of which are economic reporting. When one is speaking with a financial professional, it is no less similar in the dimension of ethics than of seeing a doctor or an attorney. Those who pursue the truth of the economy and how it works are by definition professionals, and they owe their clients an honest point of view without a personal bias. One has to be able to understand economic policy and how that connects with tax policies because both are working in tandem to drive the economy. If one leaves out one part of the equation then quite simply put there isn’t a leg to stand on in the realm of credibility.
In a decidedly tempestuous financial environment, these pillars of support are under attack. People are questioning economists and financial professionals as never before. There is a lot of suspicion of the financial world, much of which is fueled by a lack of balanced financial information in the mainstream media and is largely justifiable. Other “structural” problems have occurred as evidenced by the mortgage fiasco, involving the banks, whose threshold for pain depends upon the size. “Too big to fail” is perhaps the financial catchphrase of the past decade. A less catchy yet nonetheless understood financial term “structural” will haunt us for years to come, well into the 2010′s. The economy is showing that size does matter, and there cannot be sustained blows in increased rapidity and intensity without “structural” problems occurring. Names like Enron and Worldcom pale in comparison to the direct hits to the economy at the close of the first decade of the new millennium.
There is no doubt, however, that the economy will survive. The question is, who will survive with it. There will always be an information gap between those who profess to have the proverbial financial crystal ball and those who doubt them. Both sides are locked into battle as gold takes center stage. The gold standard is arguably now in place in the stock market. Equities are being discussed in terms of their gold value. Is this a harbinger of things to come? You can see what Peter Schiff has to say about it in the video that appears aside the charts below from shadowstats.com ["SGS"].
Finding inspiration in terms of knowing which way the economy is headed is often merely a matter of simple listening. A doctor can only tell you what he thinks about ones state of health at that precise moment or what it was before by looking on a patient’s chart. However, if the patient smokes, does not exercise or eat right, doesn’t get enough sleep, and is simply indulging themselves in things which they shouldn’t then there is usually a price to pay for that behavior. A good doctor is allowed to say things, which serve to caution a patient with respect to known dangers. Having an open mind and engaging in critical thinking are important factors to consider when finding where your financial compass points.
(And take a quick look at M1 according to the Federal Reserve – in blue – which confirms the SGS forecasts that M1 is rising rapidly and fueling inflationary fears – even hyperinflation.)
