Halal Money

2011-07-06T22:22:00.002+04:00

Stewart Thomson: "Gold is the main thermometer of the world’s financial health. When the price of gold rises, the gold thermometer is telling you that something is wrong with the financial health of the world."

http://www.321gold.com/editorials/thomson_s/thomson_s_070511.html

2011-05-21T01:53:00.001+04:00

"...stock markets dominate sentiment in commodities. The entire risk-on, risk-off dynamic that defines commodities price action these days is the direct result of stock-market action. Rallying stock markets create optimism which drives capital into commodities and buoys their prices. Falling stock markets do the opposite."

Adam Hamilton

2010-12-22T02:16:00.000+04:00

A significant portion of the U.S. Treasury debt is represented by short-duration paper, which makes the U.S. far more sensitive to rollover risk, and also makes the value of the debt less sensitive to inflation. See, if you borrow funds for 30 years, you can turn around and create a massive inflation to diminish the real value of that debt. But if you've borrowed funds for a year and then create a massive inflation, you'll find that investors will require a higher interest rate on the debt next year, which prevents the obligation from being diminished over time.

- John P. Hussman, Ph.D.
http://www.hussmanfunds.com/wmc/wmc101220.htm

Gold/Bonds ratio

2010-12-21T21:55:00.001+04:00

http://jsmineset.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Gold-Bond-ratio-chart-12-17-2010.pdf

2010-12-18T02:28:00.000+04:00

Fiat currency is the crown jewel of socialism.

http://www.321gold.com/editorials/sfs/hubbartt121710.html

2010-12-17T13:30:00.000+04:00

"The Icelanders recognized that their right hand—their banking sector—was gangrenous: So they cut it off. A lot of tears, a lot of short term agony—but the rot was cut off.

The Irish? They tried to save their gangrenous hand back in 2008—so then over the next two years, their whole arm has now turned gangrenous."

http://gonzalolira.blogspot.com/2010/12/want-to-ruin-your-own-country-assume.html

2010-12-17T02:41:00.001+04:00

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2010/12/14_KWN_Source_-_When_That_Happens,_The_Game_is_Over.html

2010-12-17T02:05:00.000+04:00

"Perhaps the more ‘notable’ stories of 2011 might just come from sectors such as the two commodities that were in the “dog house” in 2010: natural gas and cocoa. It’s all about upside potential in undervalued niches versus chasing incremental gains (following 20, 30, and/or 50 percent gains already under the belt in certain commodities) at the risk of a trend reversal when least expected (with one possible exception: that to be allowed for certain items that we must all actually consume (or else): food and energy."

Jon Nadler

http://www.kitco.com/ind/nadler/dec162010.html

2010-11-30T22:54:00.000+04:00

"Once gold-denominated trade paper comes into existence, it will form the nucleus of a short-term money market, in the same way as the eurodollar market for assets and liabilities outside the United States arose in Europe after 1957 or so. Within a few years, gold bonds will be issued—once a company has gold-denominated receivables, it will have a natural hedge for such financing, which will remain cheap in interest terms even after conventional currency interest rates rise. It has happened before, in the formation of the eurodollar and eurobond markets in 1957-65. This time, once gold invoicing happens, the gold money and bond markets are likely to spring up quite quickly..."

Renaissance of the Gold Standard?
by Martin Hutchinson

http://www.prudentbear.com/index.php/thebearslairview?art_id=10471

2010-11-16T21:34:00.001+04:00

"Look at how the media is working it. The USA is fine. States of the USA are fine. The euro zone is bad.

This looks like a cover to me."

Jim Sinclair, http://jsmineset.com/ , 16 November 2010

2010-10-31T21:45:00.000+04:00

"What we need is a theory of hoarding to supplement the theory of marketability. The theory of interest describes how gold is exempted in part from serving as a medium for saving. There is a complementary theory: that of discount, describing how gold is exempted in part from serving as a medium of exchange. That economy is best where gold is hoarded least. In such an economy gold is not needed in the cash balances of traders and, for that reason, is widely available to serve as the ultimate extinguisher of debt."

- Antal Fekete
http://www.safehaven.com/article/18694/is-there-life-after-sudden-death

2010-10-28T23:45:00.002+04:00

"A libertarian on paper, Greenspan was a monetary socialist in practice...

...Nowadays, it’s hard to figure out where the Fed’s balance sheet ends and the credit markets begin."

Source: Bloomberg, 25/10/10

Greenspan’s Bubbles to Lose Air in Frothy China: William Pesek

"“Nobody understands QE,” says Fred Goodwin, a strategist at Nomura International in London. “We have no idea how inflationary it really is. A patient juiced up on QE wants to party and it does not matter what anyone says. Don’t worry about what central banks are worried about; worry about unintended consequences.”"

Source: Bloomberg: 28/10/10

Insane Fed Should Beware Unquantifiable Outcomes: Mark Gilbert

2010-08-31T19:04:00.000+04:00

An interesting prediction:

Nadeem Walayat:

"The Bank of England WILL RAISE INTEREST RATES AND PRINT MONEY - This is contrary to anything you will hear anywhere else as the consensus view is that QE and Zero interest rates are complimentary, they will NOT be as we move forward! Because the Bank of England Will have no choice but to attempt to DEFLATE PRICES whilst INFLATING the Economy to achieve this it MUST RAISE Short-term Interest rates WHILST KEEPING LONG-TERM interest rates low. To achieve this the Bank of England needs to BUY Bonds and Stocks whilst forcing demand for consumption and wage increases lower."

http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article22199.html

2010-08-31T11:42:00.002+04:00

Even though the fundamentals for the Japanese Yen and US dollar may not look good, the depth of their associated bond markets offers considerable support.

"Global debt markets are hanging in the balance as China shifts its wealth around. The advantage here goes to those nations that built the deepest bond markets over the past decade. The last thing China wants is money locked up in a market it can’t exit if things go awry in the global economy."

Source: Bloomberg, Bill Gross Takes Backseat to Real Big Money: William Pesek, 22 August 2010

2010-06-20T22:20:00.000+04:00

Cliff Droke: Is There Really a Debt Crisis?

2010-06-20T22:17:00.001+04:00

Dylan Grice:

Asset markets (e.g. real estate, equities, etc.) are as prone to inflationist policy as product markets (indeed, in recent decades they have been far more prone to inflation than product markets), so one way of buying inflation - at least in its early stages - is to buy risk assets.

Of course, buying expensive risk assets on the view that they're going to become more expensive is a dangerous game to play, but since government funding crises hammer risk assets while printing money inflates them, such funding crises should present decent value opportunities to buy into beaten up assets before the inflation ride.

Source: http://www.safehaven.com/article/17148/print-baby-print--emerging-value-and-the-quest-to-buy-inflation

2010-05-31T23:36:00.001+04:00

The New Market Jingle

The currency bazaar could soon outpace the equity derivatives, says SHANTANU GUHA RAY

QUOTE:

The figures for the first three months of this year alone are revealing. On an average, daily volumes in currency futures surged nearly 40 percent on both the Multi Commodities Exchange (MCX-SX) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE)— both fierce competitors. But compare this with the equity derivatives, and it would look like a joke. Volumes in equity derivatives on the NSE declined around 5 percent between January and March.

And the figures will only grow bigger for a nation where only 2.3 percent invest in the bourses. In fact, senior market analyst Hemen Kapadia says he is supremely confident that the currency market will overtake the equity market in one year flat. “India is following a global trend where trading in currencies dominates commodities and equities,” says Kapadia.

- From Tehelka Magazine, Vol 7, Issue 19, Dated May 15, 2010

2010-05-15T21:39:00.002+04:00

Rob Kirby:

"...That Bear Stearns and LTCM should be mentioned in the same breath should also come as no surprise for another reason; Bear Stearns was the only major player invited by the NY Fed / Treasury to participate in the “then bail-out of LTCM” who refused to participate. Not participating, or bearing a portion of the financial burden, in the suppression of the gold price effectively made Bear Stearns “an enemy of the State”.

So, it's an ironic twist of fate that while LTCM's demise was cloaked because they were secretively and nefariously “short gold”; Bear Stearns was brought to heel [assassinated, more likely] because they were “long” – at a minimum - roughly 12 billion dollars worth of gold derivatives [futures]."

Source: http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article6724.html

Hat tip: Golden Jackass, http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_08/willie051310.html

2010-02-28T01:39:00.000+04:00

" Lines in the technical chart sand tend to cause investors to act in greater size, to risk more, the more important those lines seem. This is a key point: While it’s TRUE that a breakout over a “key technical price point” is more likely to be lead to a big move than other technical events, it’s also true that because investors have more money on the line, they cannot stand as much movement against them in price, so in the real world their odds of making money remain very LOW."

Stewart Thomson

2010-02-22T01:29:00.001+04:00

"If it won’t matter by tomorrow morning that these eggs are undercooked, why does it matter now?"

2010-02-18T22:02:00.002+04:00

"The time to "get" the banksters is during good times, not bad times."

Stewart Thomson

2010-02-09T22:54:00.000+04:00

"The banksters love pushing one side of a trade in the media, while they buy the other side." Stewart Thomson

2010-01-27T01:31:00.002+04:00

"Many studies have been done showing the majority of any market's rise or fall comes often in very short bursts of price. You can't predict those bursts of up and down price action consistently, but you can respond to them...

...Where many of you get caught is trying to build Rome in 24 hrs. Nothing is really what it appears in markets. Including opportunity. Opportunity presents itself all the time. But it wears a mask. And the banksters pride themselves in maintaining control of that mask...."

Stewart Thomson

2010-01-24T22:09:00.001+04:00

Fiqh Issues in Short Selling as Implemented in the

Islamic Capital Market in Malaysia

Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki and Abdelazeem Abozaid

2009-11-18T21:06:00.003+04:00

"...it is too bad that investors do not carry their real-world attitudes to the world of stocks, bonds and commodities. If they did, we would experience fewer, if any, bubbles no matter how much liquidity fills the financial system. And fewer investors would be buying high and selling low.”

Irwin Kellner quoted by Jon Nadler. I think that Nadler is one of the few analysts whose views are worth reading regularly - together with Stewart Thomson (Graceland Updates) and William Pesek (Bloomberg).

2009-11-18T20:33:00.000+04:00

Gold to Natural Gas Ratio and what it could Potentially Mean

- Sol Palha

2009-11-11T22:51:00.000+04:00

"Gold is a "dumb rock" that attains value from even dumber government policies."

Source:

The Real Deal
by LeBaron / Deemer / Ungewitter

2009-11-11T00:10:00.000+04:00

Simon Ward: "Strong inflows to US and UK equity and bond mutual funds are one sign of reduced money demand."

http://www.moneymovesmarkets.com/journal/2009/11/9/us-m2-weakness-not-signalling-economic-relapse.html

2009-11-05T22:07:00.000+04:00

"Anyone who wants to try “quantitative easing” in the gold market has to dig a mine."

India's gold purchase

Adornment and investment

Nov 5th 2009 | DELHI
From The Economist print edition

2009-11-04T22:29:00.001+04:00

Stewart Thomson:

"Tactically, if it's "too much" mentally to sell gold now* into this strength, look at items like agricultural commodities and natural gas. The banksters understand that the closer a commodity is to a price of zero, the less risk the investor has. That's the last thing on the planet the public understands."

*i.e. lock in profits over and above your core position in gold.

Inflation is like a tax on the poor

2009-10-28T23:12:00.001+04:00

“It’s absolutely critical that the monetary stimulus is withdrawn in an orderly way to curb inflation without upsetting economic growth” in India, said D. H. Pai Panandiker, president of RPG Foundation, an economic policy group in New Delhi. “Inflation is like a tax on the poor.”

Source:

India Sets Stage for Rate Increase as Focus Shifts to Inflation

By Cherian Thomas

28 Oct. 2009 (Bloomberg)

2009-10-27T23:11:00.001+04:00

Ned Schmidt:

"While the dollars being injected are large in absolute terms, in percentage terms the increments are getting smaller. That development when combined with an extremely over sold condition of the U.S. dollar suggests that further immediate weakness in the value of the U.S. dollar is unlikely."

2009-10-26T01:04:00.000+04:00

Global economy has no substitute for falling dollar

Irwin Stelzer

2009-10-25T20:19:00.001+04:00

The War Over the Dollar Versus Gold
by Clif Droke

My Investment Methodology

2009-10-10T14:39:00.000+04:00

My Investment Methodology

The list below is what I have gleaned from the writings of Stewart Thomson whose articles you can find at http://www.321gold.com/

1. Think big, act small; the size of each trade should not be too big.

2. Buy into weakness, sell into strength.

After you have carefully selected the assets you want to hold for the long-term you should be willing to buy more as the price falls. If you find this difficult to do you probably didn't act in accordance with 1. in placing your initial investments. When the price turns upward you should lock-in profits while maintaining your core investment. You should be ready to gradually reduce your core investment when prices go to extreme levels.

3. React to price, don't predict it.

Stewart Thomson:

"The gold community outnumbers the bankers. No amount of money satisfies the bankers. They always want more. Because they only buy weakness and only sell strength, and are prepared to buy to zero, they cannot be defeated, except by those who do the same thing, and do it for hundreds of years as a group. "

2009-10-03T15:34:00.002+04:00

Alice Schroeder:

"In all the talk of inflation because the Treasury is printing so much money versus deflation because it may not print enough, there is one type of inflation that is rarely discussed. This is the mega-inflation caused by a sudden currency devaluation. Currency is like any financial innovation, an obligation secured by assets. When the obligation is perceived to have increased far beyond the level justifiable by the assets, which in this case make up a country’s economy, a bubble has formed.

As in any bubble, those who recognize this need to act well in advance. Historically, governments have taken action to prevent currency flight when the owners of a severely overvalued medium of exchange start selling so much that it adds to the pressure on its price. They make private purchases of gold illegal, or tax the exchange of currency."

Source:

1 October 2009, Bloomberg, "Gold Tells You U.S. Bubble Hasn’t Popped Yet"

2009-10-03T15:32:00.001+04:00

Golden Jackass:

"Monetization is a vast undermine to the validity, value, and very authenticity of a currency."

2009-10-01T20:35:00.001+04:00

Jack Chan:

"Shanghai* is on major buy signal.

This is a very difficult market for most investors.

Prices went parabolic beginning in late 2005 for two full years, then collapsed for one full year, and then spiked up for nine months. There has been no major pullback/correction/consolidation during this entire four year period of roller coaster ride. Therefore, it will be most constructive if this market can somehow go sideways for a few months."

* Shanghai Stock Exchange Composite Index

2009-09-27T13:43:00.000+04:00

Anas ibn Maalik (may Allah be pleased with him) said: The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said:

“Whoever prays Fajr in congregation then sits remembering Allah until the sun rises, then prays two rak’ahs, will have a reward like that of Hajj and ‘Umrah.” He said: The Messenger of Allah (pbuh) said: “In full, in full, in full.”

This hadeeth was classed as hasan by al-Albaani in Saheeh al-Tirmidhi.

2009-09-19T12:10:00.001+04:00

William Pesek:

"The dollar-carry trade says nothing good about confidence in the U.S. economy. It’s also a reminder that the side effects of this crisis may be setting us up for a bigger one."

Source:

Hedge Funds’ ATM Moves From Tokyo to Washington

Sept. 18 (Bloomberg)

2009-09-13T10:16:00.001+04:00

Gideon Rachman:

"Politicians... know that voters will punish them if fuel prices soar, or if there are electricity shortages. But they also know that if they openly put the search for oil at the heart of their foreign policies, they are liable to be denounced as cynical and immoral. When it comes to energy security, western politicians treat their voters like children – and behave like adults in private."

Source:

The crude realities of diplomacy

By Gideon Rachman, The Financial Times

Published: September 7 2009

2009-09-10T01:41:00.002+04:00

Alan Greenspan:

"What is fascinating is the extent to which gold still holds reign over the financial system as the ultimate source of payment."

Source:

Gold Rally Signals Move Away From Currencies, Greenspan Says

By Millie Munshi and Veronica Navarro Espinosa, September 9 2009 (Bloomberg)

2009-09-07T21:03:00.001+04:00

UK was hours from bank shutdown

FSA ready to close cash machines during crisis

2009-08-31T13:54:00.003+04:00

Antal Fekete:

Gold price: "open to manipulation."

Gold basis: "a pristine indicator telling you about the willingness of gold holders to carry on in playing the game of musical chairs and putting their gold at stake" by selling it for cash and then buying back at a lower price.

2009-08-25T12:27:00.001+04:00

Stewart Thomson:

2009-08-15T18:43:00.001+04:00

http://www.kitco.com/ind/rosen/aug142009.html

2009-08-15T15:54:00.001+04:00

Niall Ferguson, An Evolutionary Approach to Financial History, Gresham Special Lecture, June 2, 2009

http://www.gresham.ac.uk/uploads/gresham_college_financial_evolution.ppt

2009-08-14T19:34:00.001+04:00

Senor Cuidado:

"...it is possible to take a massive hit to the currency yet still have deflation within the rules of our system…because of the collapse in credit."

2009-08-10T17:55:00.000+04:00

Argentina & Zimbabwe: experiments?

2009-08-08T19:37:00.000+04:00

Stewart Thomson:

"The otc derivatives superskeleton could crush the gold head and shoulders pattern like a popsicle stick."

2009-08-08T19:33:00.001+04:00

Stewart Thomson:

"The bankers said to the govt, "Doctor the books, hand us trillions, or we shut it ALL down. You decide. We own a monster pile of physical gold, so if the show shuts down, we couldn't care less, how about you Mr. Gman, I wonder what the general population will say when ALL the banks are closed tomorrow morning and ALL the money in them is GONE when we announce hundreds of trillions in losses. YOU will be target number one. Not us." The Gman knew the bankers weren't bluffing. So he handed over the first of many blackmail payments. These payments will go on for many years. The bankers then told the Gman to get ready to start printing money so the market price of the otc derivatives starts to rise."

2009-07-20T11:48:00.000+04:00

Shell

2009-07-09T10:39:00.000+04:00

Bernanke on the Great Depression
by Clif Droke

2009-03-03T02:31:00.000+04:00

That Was Then, This Is Now

Excerpts from CPM Group’s “2008 Gold Yearbook”

Condensed and Edited by

Jon Nadler, Senior Analyst

Kitco.com

2009-02-08T23:31:00.000+04:00

Conspiracy theory antidote

2009-02-08T23:23:00.000+04:00

GOLD: THE PROTECTOR AND CREATOR OF JOBS
by Hugo Salinas Price

2009-02-04T11:28:00.000+04:00

TAMAS

2009-02-04T11:18:00.002+04:00

Gary Dorsch:

Putin scolded Western capitalists for dragging the global economy into a death spiral. “A year ago, American delegates emphasized the US economy’s fundamental stability and its cloudless prospects. Today, investment banks, the pride of Wall Street, have virtually ceased to exist. The entire economic growth system, where one regional center prints money without respite and consumes material wealth, while another regional center manufactures inexpensive goods and saves money printed by other governments, has suffered a major setback,” Putin declared.

...

“Nations are not ruined by one act of violence, but quite often, gradually, and almost imperceptibly, by the depreciation of their currency, through excessive quantity,” said Nicolas Copernicus, in 1525.

2009-02-03T12:05:00.001+04:00

Revealed: Day the banks were just three hours from collapse

2009-01-28T12:41:00.000+04:00

Global Currency and Gold

2009-01-14T15:25:00.001+04:00

Gaza

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=LU8DDYz68kM

2009-01-12T13:32:00.000+04:00

Canada, private minting

http://www.safehaven.com/article-12291.htm

Dollar sequestration, market catalysis and gold.

2008-12-11T15:33:00.001+04:00

The Manipulation of Gold Prices, 4 December 2008, James Conrad

http://seekingalpha.com/article/109210-the-manipulation-of-gold-prices?source=front_page_most_popular_articles

Above article mentioned by Antal Fekete: http://news.goldseek.com/GoldSeek/1228935840.php

2008-12-02T23:02:00.000+04:00

Gold tactics

COT

http://www.321gold.com/editorials/thomson_s/thomson_s_120208.html

2008-11-25T22:11:00.000+04:00

2008-11-16T22:18:00.000+04:00

What does the $3.5bn Saudi gold rush in two weeks mean?

By: Peter Cooper, Arabian Money

2008-10-27T02:00:00.000+04:00

Fekete:

"The Federal Reserve Act (as amended) explicitly forbids the Treasury from participating in the earnings of the Fed. The purpose of this provision is to retain the undivided surplus in the Federal Reserve System to meet emergencies precisely like the present crises. The conspiracy of the Treasury and the Fed ignores this provision of the law. Year in and year out the Fed remits about 90 percent of its earnings to the Treasury under false pretences, calling it the “franchise tax on Federal Reserve notes”. No sooner had the Treasury received the remittance than it spent the proceeds, and more, on consumption. As a result, the Fed is left with no undivided surpluses and no cushion to fall back on in hard times."

2008-10-27T01:09:00.000+04:00

Kaletsky:

"The core problem in every banking crisis is that all financial systems throughout history have ultimately been based, literally, on a confidence trick. No bank in history has ever had enough money immediately available to repay all its depositors: once confidence in the banking system starts to falter, it can collapse instantly and completely."

2008-10-15T23:18:00.000+04:00

If Gold Hits $5K, Would You Sell?

Rick Akerman

2008-06-03T21:08:00.000+04:00

Nassim Nicholas Taleb: the prophet of boom and doom

When this man said the world’s economy was heading for disaster, he was scorned. Now traders, economists, even Nasa, are clamouring to hear him speak

2008-03-29T00:19:00.000+04:00

Names:

Raymond Tallis

----------------

The dollar versus gold? No contest
Why China and India have always been heavy-metal fans
William Rees-Mogg

2008-03-22T12:29:00.000+04:00

Names:

Noah Feldman

Quintan Wiktorowicz

2008-02-06T23:04:00.000+04:00

Peter Lupu on Education and Academic Philosophy

2007-11-26T22:15:00.000+04:00

Where death by water is part of daily life

Drive to improve sanitation is the key to educational and economic progress

Larry Elliott, economics editor

The Guardian, Monday November 26 2007

2007-11-25T20:44:00.001+04:00

The battle for the soul of Chechnya

2007-11-17T01:55:00.000+04:00

China Leads Weather Control Race

2007-08-17T19:42:00.000+04:00

Keeping Our Eyes Peeled for the Silver and Gold Basis - Antal Fekete

Key quote:

"How could central banks work the miracle of making interest rates fall in the face of running the printing presses overtime, and keep them from rising again? That’s just the best part of it. They have let the genie of the derivatives monster out of the bottle. The genie is mushrooming over the world economy, growing at a clip of 40 percent per annum. Right now it is half-a-quadrillion dollar strong, doubling in about every second year. It is the derivative monster that keeps interest rates low, and makes them fall further. Remember, derivatives are just tickets to riskless profits in bond speculation on the long side. It is as simple as that."

2007-08-12T13:51:00.000+04:00

Freeman Dyson on Climate Change

2007-08-12T00:26:00.000+04:00

Partitioning India over lunch

2007-08-03T00:34:00.000+04:00

Reasons for Staying Home - Vallicella

Turn back the clock (Making Time, Steve Taylor)

Jakarta's Story #11

2007-06-17T19:11:00.000+04:00

Soon after his appointment as leader people had started gathering outside the presidential palace wanting to speak to Jakarta personally. So far, he had spoken to about fifty people for no more than a couple of minutes each. The live broadcast of such meetings had, it seemed, put quite a lot of people off, but the crowd of people waiting to speak with Jakarta steadily grew.

"We need to have some sort of system," said Falkland, "so that people can have access to you but at the same time not waste too much of their time waiting without knowing if they'll get to meet you or not."

"I agree," said Jakarta. "Any ideas?" he asked.

"Here's what I propose. Any person waiting outside the palace will be issued a ticket stating a time slot in which the bearer of the ticket is entitled to speak with you. If you are unable to attend they will be entitled to some compensation. The ticket will be fully transferable so someone who is unable to attend can give or sell the ticket to someone else."

"That sounds good. It will, I think, reduce the number of people wanting to see me in order to ask for small sums of money."

"Yes. And we can roll out the distribution of such tickets across SA so that people outside of the capital need only make one journey here in order to speak with you."

"Thank you, Falkand. Can I leave it to you to organise the ticket system and an associated web site?"

"Of course," said Falkand.

"Wait a minute," said Jakarta. "Let's not waste money on issuing tickets. Just give out existing low-denomination bank notes and use the serial numbers as the link between specific appointment slots."

Jakarta's Story #10

2007-06-17T19:08:00.000+04:00

Jakarta had been thinking about the importance of shura and was wondering how best to create an environment and process in which such consultation could take place.

He decided to share some thoughts on his blog.

All ministers of state would automatically become members of the Council of Advisors which would discuss issues and policies with the leader of SA on a regular basis. All proceedings of the Council would be broadcast live. All briefing material made available to the Advisors would be made freely available on the internet.

On a weekly basis an auction process would determine who would be an additional member of the Council. Each appointee would have security of tenure for ten years. Each appointee would have to fully disclose the source of the funds behind winning the auction. But wouldn't this be an open form of corruption and undermine the 'moral authority' of the Council? For a start, as its title suggests the Council's ultimate remit was only one of advice; the auction process would simply be a mechanism for lobbyists, pressure groups, NGOs etc to put across their views in a public forum. Furthermore, if the proceedings of the Council were deemed to be of genuine transparency and value it would take up a significant amount of Jakarta and his ministers' time and in so doing would limit the opportunity for corruption through private channels. After each such appointment, the leader of SA would be entitled to propose a further appointee (based on merit and perceived utility to SA) which would then be openly discussed by the existing members of the Council. Jakarta thought that these two different routes of appointment would bring a diverse and talented group of people into the Council.

Jakarta's Story #9

2007-06-17T19:05:00.000+04:00

Jakarta requested that a three-dimensional map be constructed of SA's capital. The space twenty metres above any pre-existing structures would be available for sale – through an auction process – with net proceeds to go directly to the bait-ul-maal. Jakarta thought that this would be a practical way of addressing the complaints relating to the noise from air traffic from the main airport. Jakarta felt that this would provide a practical way of addressing air pollution by creating clear ownership rights that would make litigation and/or injunctions increasingly useful.

Jakarta’s Story #8

2007-06-17T19:02:00.000+04:00

The format for the discussion about immigration was different to that of the live call-in. It was to be an open-air meeting within the grounds of the presidential palace. The timing and location of the meeting was announced on Channel 11 and all were welcome to attend subject to security and safety-related restraints.

Beaurharnais said that it was too early to adopt a pro-immigration policy. He said that Jakarta’s administration was very young and needed time to settle before encouraging people to live in SA. Jakarta said that he felt that SA was under populated given its size and wealth. Further privatizations would create plenty of funds to help deal with any problems associated with the mass immigration that he hoped to see. Anglesey suggested that immigration should be subject to immigrants taking out an appropriate form of health insurance (takaful) in order to avoid undue strain on SA’s tax funded hospitals and clinics. Lubang agreed and said that the bait-ul-maal could offer loans to pay for such insurance.

“Where will the immigrants live?” queried Beauharnais.

Falkland said that, “People who are living well elsewhere will not come here without arranging acceptable accommodation first. As for those who are escaping from miserable lives then we can help them.”

“But how?” asked Beauharnais.

“For a start we could call off the demolition of the old military housing unit in this city,” said Falkland.

“We can also remove all planning restrictions on building/re-building of properties so long as it entails no violation of anyone’s pre-existing rights,” said Jakarta.

“We can also sell off government owned land,” said Lubang. “This will make available both space and funds and will demonstrate a genuine commitment to immigration.”

After further discussion and input from the attendees Beauharnais’ concerns were allayed and he set off to implement the new immigration policies.”

2007-06-05T00:10:00.000+04:00

The Dollar: An Agonizing Reappraizal - Gold Vanishing Into Private Hoards

by Antal Fekete

Jakarta's Story #7

2007-05-31T16:04:00.000+04:00

Falkland reported that the auction process for the presidential palace was going well; the current price was almost twice the reserve.

“What shall we do with the proceeds?” asked Falkland.

“I think we should avoid any grandiose projects. Perhaps we can offer small scale loans,” said Jakarta.

Falkland attended to a few phone call after which he suggested that there should be a live call-in sessions that would be broadcast on Channel 11 to discuss what should be done with funds in the bait-ul-maal that were over and above governmental running costs and contingency funds. Jakarta approved of Falkland’s idea as did Lubang who had just been put in charge of administering the bait-ul-maal.

Within half an hour the live call-in had commenced. The idea of offering small scale loans was well received. Another idea was that some funds should be used to facilitate migration to SA.

Lubang said that all loans issued would be noted on the bait-ul-maal blog together with regular data regarding all flows of money to and from the bait-ul-maal.

One caller said that large-scale loans should be given to the governments of poor countries. Lubang did not think this was a good idea; he thought that the operations of the bait-ul-maal should remain of a modest nature until processes had been observed for quite some time in order to cut off routes for corruption and waste.

Jakarta agreed. He suggested that a better way to help poor people in other countries would be to make migration to SA both attractive and easy. Falkland suggested that upon the conclusion of the call-in there needed to be a discussion about SA’s immigration policies. Beauharnais, the minister responsible for immigration, was summoned. Jakarta also requested the presence of Anglessey, the minister in charge of SA’s ministry of health.

Jakarta's Story #6

2007-05-29T17:53:00.000+04:00

As per Jakarta’s request, Falkland had organised a conference call with all human rights action groups that had contacted the new regime. Despite advice to the contrary, Jakarta had insisted that the call would be broadcast live on Channel 11. Five different organisations were represented on the call and each was given ten minutes each to present their views and concerns regarding human rights within SA. All five representatives mentioned many cases of people who had been imprisoned (prior to Jakarta’s appointment as leader) without due process and/or a fair trial. Jakarta said that he did not have unlimited funds to investigate every such allegation. He proposed that any organisation or individual could take up the case for one such specific individual currently in jail. There would then be an auction process to determine whose situation would be revisited first. Half of the proceeds would cover the government’s costs for revisiting the particular case (with shortfalls covered in the form of a loan from the bait-ul-maal) and the rest of the money would be set aside for the next case to be re-examined after a similar auction process. Furthermore, the case would be recorded and broadcast live (in the absence of a very strong reason not to do so). One of the human rights activists said that the process could be abused by the government taking control of an organisation, winning the auction process but then represent a very weak case in order to suggest that the original trial had been fair. Jakarta conceded the legitimate concern that had been expressed but said that if that scenario occurred then genuine organisations could then boycott future auctions.

Jakarta also said that he would be willing to sell the right to record and distribute what happens in SA’s jails. And for the right price (again, to be determined by auction) an organisation could obtain the right to covertly monitor the prisoner of its choice.

2007-05-21T23:35:00.000+04:00

THE GOLDEN THORN IN THE FLESH
PART 2 OF 2
by Antal E. Fekete

2007-05-19T08:41:00.000+04:00

The Decoy of The Falling Dollar Revisited - Fekete

2007-04-27T22:45:00.001+04:00

"Under normal conditions, everybody is more or less good, or at least ordinary. But tempt them, and they may suddenly change. That is what is so frightening about men. One must always be on one's guard."

"No matter how full one's head might be with the image of greatness, one was useless, I found out, unless one was a worthy man first."

Source: 'Kokoro' by Natsume Soseki

2007-04-08T10:10:00.000+04:00

THE GOLDEN THORN IN THE FLESH
PART 1 OF 2
by Antal Fekete

Jakarta's Story #5

2007-04-02T21:26:00.000+04:00

The Finance Minister was excused from the new leader’s first meeting with his key ministers. After all, he had been given his instructions and had begun buying gold bullion a few hours ago.

Jakarta thanked his ministers for attending the meeting. He told them not to feel uncomfortable due to the live broadcast of the gathering. “This scrutiny will give us a taste of accountability before Allah,” he said. “Anything that you want to say to me in private can wait until later. I want to make it clear that I have no intention of removing any of you from your posts today. The task which each of us had to do is very difficult, but if we do our best to please Allah then we can hope for a pleasing final outcome.”

Jakarta asked each minister to describe his daily routine, to list the key tasks and aims that he had for his respective ministry and staff, to give details of the main obstacles that he currently faced and predicted for the future. Jakarta told his ministers of his plan for a blog and instructed them to go about establishing the same for themselves. Each minister’s blog would have to note all monies received and all monies spent by his ministry. Furthermore, each key decision and initiative would have to be noted and advice should be openly sought as and when appropriate and necessary.

Jakarta reminded all ministers to be free of bribery and corruption. He asked the rhetorical question of how someone can cheat the people of their wealth and rights and still expect entry into Paradise.

Fully aware of the live broadcast, Jakarta said that, “Tomorrow, insha’Allah, preparations shall begin to open the mint of SA to gold and silver.” This caused, or seemed to cause, a large jump in the spot price of gold. SA’s newly acquired position in gold was already showing a healthy profit.

After the meeting, Jakarta met with several estate agents who spent the last hour inspecting the presidential palace. Jakarta asked them how much they thought it could be sold for if there were no use or planning restrictions on the entire site. Various estimates were given. Jakarta instructed that extensive details of the palace should be made available on the internet. Furthermore, the palace was to be made available to buy through a well-known auction site with what seemed to be a sensible reserve price. Given the substantial acreage of the palace’s grounds and the novelty of the sale Jakarta had strong hope for a good price.

“Where will we operate from if the palace is sold?” asked Falkland.

“We can purchase suitable properties in the city. If that proves too costly we can stay with the army’s base in the city,” Jakarta said as he jotted down some points that he wanted to make in his first blog entry.

“With which media company would you like to give your first interview to?” asked Falkland.

“To the highest bidder of course!”

Falkland arranged for the auction process to begin and ensured that a suitable announcement was made on Channel 11. Falkland was informed of the money that had been received for advertising slots on Channel 11. It was certainly an impressive sum. “What else will Jakarta sell?” wondered Falkland.

In his first blog entry, Jakarta mentioned the importance of living by the Quran and the Sunnah. He asked people both for their patience and for their supplications for the success of his administration regardless of how long it would last. In terms of practical assistance Jakarta requested – of those who were able to do so – to purchase gold bullion on a modest but regular basis. Jakarta stressed the importance of the circulation of gold (as opposed to its mere hoarding) in order to challenge the global dominance of fiat money over other forms of money. He encouraged people to read the work of Antal Fekete.

Jakarta's Story #4

2007-04-02T20:50:00.000+04:00

On the way back to the presidential palace Jakarta spoke with the Finance Minister and the head of SA’s central bank by phone. He asked the latter about the rate of growth in SA’s money supply and about the robustness of the country’s main commercial banks. Jakarta ordered that no further ‘open market operations’ could occur without his consent.

“How will we set interest rates?”

“We won’t,” said Jakarta.

The central banker expressed the concern that such a measure could cause a liquidity crisis. Jakarta said that other measures would, insha’Allah, prevent or at least contain such a crisis. Jakarta also instructed the central banker to switch all of SA’s reserves out of sovereign bonds of other countries and switch three-fifths into gold bullion (held within the territory of SA) and put the remainder into shares of unhedged gold mining companies. The central banker said he would get this done within twenty-four hours. He said that he would do this as discreetly as possible but it would be almost impossible to prevent this development from becoming public knowledge.

“However hard we might try we cannot foresee every development,” said Jakarta. “We’ve got to do what’s right.”

After the call Jakarta asked Falkland about preparations for his blog. Falkland said that he had found a suitable company that would ensure adequate bandwidth and site reliability in exchange for 3% of all advertising revenue derived from the site. Jakarta said he wanted the blog to charge two euros per comment posted (with an additional auction process that would give people the opportunity to place their comment higher up the display of comments). Hopefully, this would reduce the amount of abusive and spurious comments posted to the site.

2007-03-19T21:46:00.000+04:00

Gold, Interest, Basis by Antal E. Fekete

2007-03-01T00:18:00.001+04:00

Rorty (Contingency, irony, and solidarity):

"All that is required to act well is to do what artists are good at – noticing things that most people do not notice, being curious about what others take for granted, seeing the momentary iridescence and not just the underlying formal structure."

"We are more likely to notice the joys and sufferings of one person if our attention is directed to it by the surprising indifference of another person."

"…Only what is relevant to our sense of what we should do we with ourselves, or for others, is aesthetically useful."

"But O'Brien*, the well-informed, well-placed, well-adjusted, intelligent, sensitive, educated member of the Inner Party, is more than just alarming… Orwell managed… to convince us that O'Brien is a plausible character of a possible future society…"

* a character in Orwell's 1984 who tortures Winston and who says: 'The object of torture is torture'

2007-02-21T01:30:00.000+04:00

We’re great again. Thanks, Tony

It is time we woke up to the Prime Minister’s legacy

Tim Hames

2007-02-16T23:36:00.000+04:00

Nicolas Cage:

"...Picasso said art is a lie that tells the truth. What if you just want to tell the truth and not lie about it?"

2007-02-16T00:39:00.000+04:00

Silk Road Or Silver Road? - David Bond

An experiment that hints we are wrong on climate change - Nigel Calder

Struggle for the soul of British Islam hots up - Dean Godson

2007-02-13T02:23:00.000+04:00

Richard Rorty (Contingency, irony, and solidarity):

"Ironists are afraid that they will get stuck in the vocabulary in which they were brought up if they only know the people in their own neighbourhood, so they try to get acquainted with strange people (Alcibiades, Julien Sorel), strange families (the Karamazovs, the Casaubons), and strange communities (the Teutonic Knights, the Nuer, the mandarins of the Sung)."

"The liberal ironist just wants our chances of being kind, of avoiding the humiliation of others, to be expanded by redescription."

"What matters for the liberal ironist is… making sure she notices suffering when it occurs."

2007-02-09T23:52:00.000+04:00

Why Maintain a Journal?