"Harpists spend 90
percent of their lives tuning their harps and 10 percent playing out of
tune."
—Igor Stravinsky (Russian,
1882-1971)
Word for the day
Embonpoint (n)
Excessive plumpness;
stoutness.
Malice towards none
The politics over Yoga is
unfortunate.
No surprises if it becomes a
domain of foreigners, while our politicians bicker over it and Yog Gurus sell
cosmetics.
First random thought this morning
I believed in the stories about how investment bankers manipulated
markets, States, Central Bankers, Investors and politicians to rake in billions
of dollars in trading gains during the global financial crisis 2008-09, but
with a pinch of doubt.
I had been at a loss in understanding how come all these could be
fooled so easily by a bunch of scrupulous bankers. This all sounded like
commonplace stories of crooks looting jewellery from gullible women on the
pretext doubling it.
But the clamoring of many "reputable" bankers and
investment managers in the matter of Rexit and Brexit, which is clearly aimed
at manipulating markets, makes things much more clear.
Playing Ostrich
"Ostrich" appears to be most popular global game at this
point in time. Everyone appears to be closing their eyes or burying their heads
in sand to obviate the need to address the real issues; some of which could be
listed as follows:
·
Trillions of dollars of debt is yielding negative
returns, thus jeopardizing decades of future growth and exacerbating
socio-economic disparities.
·
Regional, economic, and social inequalities are
rising at unsustainable pace -bringing back the specter of extreme nationalism
(fascism) and communism, not seen since fall of the Berlin Wall.
·
Rising demographic imbalances are challenging
the current global strategic equilibrium. The resistance to the process of
repositioning of the strategic equilibrium is igniting conflicts that may have
lasting impact on global economic sphere.
·
Ecological degradation is accelerating as many
developing nations are beginning to industrialize at a meaningful rate.
·
Conventional and non-conventional monetary
policy tools used by the large global central bankers are becoming increasingly
redundant. Consequently, many leading currencies are presently valued far from
their economic value - a state of affair that may not sustain for long.
Brexit in global context is a fistful of sand; Trump is another.
The global financial and political communities are burying their head in them
just to avoid the real problems facing the global economy.
Gold has traditionally been a large bowl of sand, often used by
investors and traders to stick their neck in, during the period of crisis. The
current situation is no different.
In USD terms, the prices of yellow metal is up over 21% YTD. The
consensus suggests that a "leave" vote in tomorrows' referendum may
send it much higher.
My readers are well aware that I have never considered gold as an
investment worthy product. Still many of my readers have been asking about my
views on the trajectory of Gold prices in future.
Well I can only reiterate my consistent position. Gold as a
commodity has very limited application. At household level, It is owned mostly
for the reason of vanity and religious sentiments. However, as a medium of
storing and exchanging economic value, gold has been in currency since time
immemorial. Before demise of Breton Wood in 1970s', on many occasions it has
served as the reserve currency for global trade & commerce; and unlike
other reserve currencies it has stood the test of time.
But as all good things have to end someday, the importance of gold
will inevitably recede too. In my view the process had started with the end of
Breton Wood and might get completed in next couple of decade.........to
continue
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