Dec 17, 2011
Those who do not learn from the past (and lets face it that's most of us) are condemned to repeat it. When I was 15 years old my parents made me read the biography of Charles Ponzi. They felt that if I learned about this scammer it would help protect me in the future, when I would hopefully make my fortune. What I learned from that book, is that if something is too good to be true, it generally is. While I can't say that I've never been scammed, I will say that I haven't been scammed too badly, other than by Wall Street.
And this ties in perfectly with our current economic and social state of affairs. An article I read is calling the Treasury Market The Last Ponzi Scheme. The US Treasury Market is booming largely because of the financial turmoil in Europe. This has led to a rush to buy Treasury Securities as a so-called "safe haven." While this formula seems to be working right now, driving prices up and interest rates down, it won't last forever. The US Dollar is the best looking horse in the glue factory. When Europe is resolved, and it eventually will be, attention will turn back to the Buck and everything it stands for. And when people see there's nothing behind the curtain but a printing press, it will be game over.