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Gold/Mining/Energy : Gold Price Monitor -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Hawkmoon who wrote (35846)	6/24/1999 9:17:00 PM
From: Mark Bartlett	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 116770

Ron, <<Japan is not exactly the most mineral rich nation on earth. Yet look at the progress they made in just a little under 40 years after being devastated in WWII.>> To a large degree it depends upon where any particular country is, in its evolution. No doubt the Japanese are very hard working and smart. They have been able to produce products that have been in very high demand around the world - and that has served them well. But lets look at the Japan of the last 15-20 years. What they have essentially done is hide the fundamental problem with their economy - excessive, unrelenting expansion, built upon a banking system that is fraught with liquidity problems, bad debt and only God knows what else. If Japan were truly healthy right now, they would be in a much better position to assist the US in keeping the world's economy together. I would not call the strategy of Japan, especially over the last 15-20 years, particularly smart. They created an asset bubble - for a time it looked great - but the reality is, it may be a large part of the reason the world's economy becomes unclued. If there ever was a case where a little "gold standard" restraint may have been useful, IMO this is it. The bottom line - the world and the goods it produces and consume, can only be produced and consumed effectively in a state of homeostasis. Clearly there is far too much capacity in today's world - we have become too good at making too much .... for too few that can afford it. So - deflation seems to be the direction we are going ... and that is likely going to be worse than inflation .... which is why I believe that sooner or later the printing presses are going to be going at warp speed ...... because AG knows it. As far as the gold goes - the IMF sales are so clearly going to hurt the countries they are supposed to help, it borders on being a crime IMHO ..... and one must wonder what is really behind them - because I doubt that altruism has much to do with it. MB