On 7/2/2011 10:17 PM, Ed Huntress wrote:
"John wrote in message
...
On 7/2/2011 8:43 PM, Ed Huntress wrote:
wrote in message
...
On 7/2/2011 8:08 PM, John Smith wrote:
On 7/2/2011 4:35 PM, Ed Huntress wrote:

...
No, it means going down to the mall with a 50 and seeing what you can
bring
home.


Cheap chinese goods, yeah, done by slave labor.

If you can cause people to think dog turds have value, you'd never
stumble
across one again, in your lifetime!

True enough. But I've never tried to convince people of such things.
It may
be dull, but I tend to stick to the evidence.


I think you live in a fantasy world where you attempt to down play
reality itself, whether you are one who does that just to make idiots
of
others, or are, in fact, an idiot yourself might be debatable ... I
suspect the latter ... you are not joking, you really do live in la-la
land.


If people knew just what value was in those little pieces of green
paper
you can't even wipe your arse with, properly, there would be a run on
the
banks ... wholesale bedlam would follow.

Hmmm...something like realizing what "value" is in those little pieces
of
gold? They'd be Ok for fishing sinkers, but you'd have to paint them
with
flat paint to knock down the shine. Otherwise, not much.


As, I have pointed out, gold has NEVER been worthless, since the dawn
of
mankind. If you have a tribe, a village, a society, you have gold with
a
value. In a technological society, its' value is much increased.

The term, "Good as gold" exists for a good reason ... in my whole
lifetime it has only increased in value ... a dollar, when I was a kid
would buy 20 candy bars, today it buys one ... a dollar, by candy bar
index, is worth 1/20 of what it was then. Back then 1/50th of an ounce
of gold was worth a dollar, today 1/1487th of an ounce is worth a
dollar
... blows all your stupidity right out in the open!


Most people are stupid, they simply "believe" and, therefore, it is
so ...
again, akin to that leap of faith which allows one to believe in god.


I'd find it easier to take you seriously, John, if you showed any
evidence
of having studied any of this stuff. It sounds like you make it up as
you go
along.


I don't see any possibility of ever taking you seriously ... you are
either a liar or a nut case, you just can't take those seriously.

Regards,
JS


well, js, you have definitely proved you are unable to understand simple
arithmetic, much less understand any factual data. Let us believe that
when you were a kid a dollar would buy 20 candy bars - and that it buys
one now (though I do wonder what candy you are eating) - what was the
price of gold when you were a kid? what is it now? what was the price
of
bread, of a car, of a hammer? your data is 100% irrelevant, it does not
account for any economic factors, even something so simple as "buying
power" - tell me - actually, tell all of us, just how many candy bars
you
could have bought with a gram of gold when you were a kid - and please,
specify the date.

On the presumption that you are too stupid to figure this out for
yourself, here is some real data - please avail yourself of this data
when
you answer the question

The Hershey Company was kind enough to supply us with price/weight data
for their famous Hershey Bar from 1908-1986:


[1908] 9/16 oz.....2 cents
[1918] 16/16 oz.....3 cents
[1920] 9/16 oz.....3 cents
[1921] 1 oz.....5 cents
[1924] 1 3/8 oz.....5 cents
[1930] 2 oz.....5 cents
[1933] 1 7/8 oz.....5 cents
[1936] 1 1/2 oz.....5 cents
[1937] 1 5/8 oz.....5 cents
[1938] 1 3/8 oz.....5 cents
[1939] 1 5/8 oz.....5 cents
[1941] 1 1/4 oz.....5 cents
[1944] 1 5/8 oz.....5 cents
[1946] 1 1/2 oz.....5 cents
[1947] 1 oz.....5 cents
[1954] 7/8 oz.....5 cents
[1955] 1 oz.....5 cents
[1958] 7/8 oz.....5 cents
[1960] 1 oz.....5 cents
[1963] 7/8 oz......5 cents
[1965] 1 oz.....5 cents
[1966] 7/8 oz.....5 cents
[1968] 3/4 oz.....5 cents
[1969] 1 1/2 oz.....10 cents
[1970] 1 3/8 oz.....10 cents
[1973] 1.26 oz......10 cents
[1974] 1.4 oz.....15 cents
[1976] 1.2 oz.....15 cents
[1977] 1.2 oz......20 cents
[1978] 1.2 oz.....25 cents
[1980] 1.05 oz.....25 cents
[1982] 1.45 oz.....30 cents
[1983] 1.45 oz.....35 cents
[1986] 1.45 oz.....40 cents
[1986] 1.65 oz.....40 cents


Hey, that's interesting. It got cheaper in some years. If you want a
simple
tool to compare prices by year, this handy one will let you compare
prices
with inflation for any two years back to 1913:

http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm


Actually, there were price controls, put on in the 30's - 40's that were
torn off in the 1970's.

The price controls were dropped after the Korean War. Nixon re-imposed
controls from '71 into '74.

This was the very beginning of the runaway inflation we are now caught in
...

Inflation rates (headline CPI -- all items) have hardly budged since 1975.
They actually went DOWN for about four months the year before last:

http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2...CPIAUCSL?cid=9

eventually, if we survive, price controls will need to be instituted
again.

Not unless the economy really takes off, and inflation with it.

After stability is regained, let us hope the lesson has been finally
learned, and they remain in place from there on ...

Wage and price controls are an emergency measure. They distort markets and
create pent-up demand that eventually finds a leak and escapes. Let's hope
the lessons we've gained from price controls in the past keeps us from ever
having to implement them again.

There must be some really crazy stuff going on between your ears.


You seem to have great faith in those false government figures, like the
COLA ... we will see how they fair in a real world test ...

Obviously, people like enron employees never thought it would happen to
them, now they are with out pensions and their investments, obviously
the people in GM thought it could never happen to them, and where are
they now, etc., etc.

I was just thinking, I was heir to physical gold because my ancestors
lived though a depression and a world war, or two, and learned a harsh
lesson ... now that has happened again, the same, wars and depression,
and now my children and family will, once again, be heir to some
physical gold ... it is very circular, kinda' like history repeating
itself ... it frankly makes me happy, I am lucky to be able to repay the
sacrifices that those before me made, and the things of value they gave
to me are passed on down the line -- I should think they must be pleased ...

Regards,
JS