{"id":72193,"date":"2022-04-09T02:15:02","date_gmt":"2022-04-09T09:15:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=72193"},"modified":"2022-04-11T17:49:59","modified_gmt":"2022-04-12T00:49:59","slug":"black-coffee-9-apr-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id72193-black-coffee-9-apr-2022.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: Off to the Races"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"It’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe …<\/em><\/p>\n

Welcome to another rousing edition of Black Coffee, your off-beat weekly round-up of what’s been going on in the world of money and personal finance.<\/p>\n

I hope everybody had an enjoyable week. Without further ado, let’s get right to this week’s commentary …<\/p>\n

I’ve read a lot of history, and I know that once upon a time, a coin was worth $5 if it had $5 worth of gold in it. Now we have paper that is just backed by fiat.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

— Lloyd Blankfein<\/strong><\/p>\n

The desire of gold is not for gold. It is for the means of freedom and benefit.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

— Ralph Waldo Emerson<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

— Vladimir Lenin<\/strong><\/p>\n

Credits and Debits<\/strong><\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Did you see this? Last week $622 million in cryptocurrency was stolen from Ronin, which is a blockchain-based gaming network; in all, 173,000 etherium and more than 25 million “USDC” crypto coins were pilfered<\/a>. I know what you’re thinking: But, Len … I was told that cryptocurrencies are totally secure!<\/em> Nope. In this case, the attacker used hacked private keys (think: passwords) in order to forge fake withdrawals. Oh … and this just happens to be on the heels of a $611 million hacker theft from another<\/em><\/strong> network last August. Imagine that.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> In other news, a recent study found that one in three adults have less than $5000 in retirement savings<\/a> and nearly half (46%) have taken no steps to prepare for the likelihood that they could outlive their savings. Then again, if inflation continues to get worse, the only people who will have a chance at not outliving their nest egg will be those who lined their nest with at least a small amount of precious metals. No matter where<\/strong><\/em> they currently live …<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Yes, the latest Euro Zone Producer Price Index is 31.4% higher than the year before. But, hey … there’s no need to worry; the higher prices will be transitory.<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Meanwhile, this week the blogger known as Capitalist Eric observed that, America’s “on-book debt is $30 trillion; not quite double what it was is 2013. We can reasonably assume the total debt according to generally accepted accounting principles is similarly doubled<\/a>, at $450 trillion. How<\/strong><\/em> does one mentally conceive<\/em><\/strong> of such numbers? I’ll put it in simple terms: If you printed 450 trillion $1 bills, they would create a layer of paper covering the entire planet that’s one-half inch thick.” I think that puts things in perspective for even the most ardent Keynesian economists. I know … but I said, “I think<\/strong><\/em>.”<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Anyway … it turns out that Eric was just getting warmed up, as we went on to note that “the rest of the world loaned us such vast sums because the dollar was the worlds’ reserve currency. And that worked, when the USA produced things of inherent value (like) oil and gas, manufactured goods, electronics, software, infrastructure products, and textiles. But these days we manufacture dollar bills and shoot anyone who rejects them<\/a>.” He can say that again – because, when it comes to the US dollar, the honeymoon is most definitely<\/strong><\/em> over …<\/p>\n