The Swiss roll over!

[cjppjc]

Re: The Swiss roll over!

Your post made me hungry, Mike.

I swear I was eating a pack as I scrolled down, and saw this. 12 for $1.59. Used to be on sale for $1.19

That's dis disinflation:mad:

[jimmygu3]

Re: The Swiss roll over!

I only love it when people compare the Swiss & The British. They had 900 years of peace......& only invented the Cuc Cuc Clock...........The British have had 900 years of War & Bloodshed & Invented....EVERYTHING!

Mike

Sorry, Mega. According to Encyclopędia Britannica's Great Inventions, England/Scotland/Wales/UK created about 40 of the 350+ greatest inventions of all time while the US invented 200 of them. Your point about the UK/Swiss comparison valid, as they only have 4.

You guys did invent digestive biscuits and Earl Grey tea, so for that alone I am humbly grateful.

Jimmy

[santafe2]

Re: The Swiss roll over!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2...-evasion-fight
Mike

Seems like more evidence that the Swiss' game is up. As I pointed out in an earlier post in the "Ask EJ" forum, their two largest banks are about 7X the Swiss GDP. My assumption is that both these banks are bankrupt. Learning here that they intend to squeal like pigs, is instructive. Anyone who's spent some time in Switzerland will understand that these actions are very uncomfortable for the Swiss, they thought they were an important social/economic group. Hopefully EJ will find the time to answer my question. I think they're done but I'd like more perspective on this. And if they are, how long before they join Euroland?

[GRG55]

Re: The Swiss roll over!

Seems like more evidence that the Swiss' game is up. As I pointed out in an earlier post in the "Ask EJ" forum, their two largest banks are about 7X the Swiss GDP. My assumption is that both these banks are bankrupt. Learning here that they intend to squeal like pigs, is instructive. Anyone who's spent some time in Switzerland will understand that these actions are very uncomfortable for the Swiss, they thought they were an important social/economic group. Hopefully EJ will find the time to answer my question. I think they're done but I'd like more perspective on this. And if they are, how long before they join Euroland?

I might have been inclined to agree with you. Until I read the opening paragraph of the article...

Gordon Brown last night hailed the beginning of the end for tax havens, as Switzerland opened up its legendary system of bank secrecy and agreed to hand over information on wealthy clients suspected of tax evasion.

If Gordon Brown is so convinced, I'd be willing to take the other side of that bet :cool:

btw: For all you one world order conspiracy buffs, I happened to spend the afternoon yesterday with a regular attendee of the Davos confabs. He said that he deliberately avoided going this year, and was not sure he would ever go back. He told me that over the years the event has changed from one where participants were more or less locked up for the week to thrash out and debate issues and policy options, to one where it is just another marketing and advertizing festival, with most people dropping in for one or two days, making their pitch, grabbing their sound-bite opportunity on a panel, and so forth. He said that letting the media have more and more access is the main reason it's a "waste of time", because everyone is playing to the cameras and microphones, and no serious discussion occurs any more.

What a shame...:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes::rolleyes:

[D-Mack]

Re: The Swiss roll over!

I only love it when people compare the Swiss & The British. They had 900 years of peace......& only invented the Cuc Cuc Clock...........The British have had 900 years of War & Bloodshed & Invented....EVERYTHING!

Mike

chronometer 1762 John Harrison England
http://corporate.britannica.com/press/inventions.html

This was important for the Empire (navigation on the sea)



It's like Hudson said on Keisers show, they want to be safe haven for dirty money. And as John D. Rockefeller said "Competition is s a sin"


http://itulip.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8628

[Sharky]

Re: The Swiss roll over!

Then all you do is a little gardening. You don't tell people what to do. You breed it. No one needs to tell a tomato plant to grow bigger or more plump. You just select it. If you want a Stalin just fund him. He will do what a Stalin will do. If I put a dog in the back room of a butcher, I gamble a dog will be a dog. Putin, Bush and all the rest don't need to be told anything. They just pick people they like for this and that and fund them. Thats how a small oligarchy can do what they do.

+1.

Another trick they've used is to heavily fund both sides in wars and other conflicts. Whichever one wins owes you a favor. That has been used with success many times, including in American politics.

To become (and stay) dominant, they don't need total control -- all they need is a few select favors at the right times. Compound interest takes care of the rest.

[karim0028]

Re: The Swiss roll over!

btw: For all you one world order conspiracy buffs, I happened to spend the afternoon yesterday with a regular attendee of the Davos confabs. He said that he deliberately avoided going this year, and was not sure he would ever go back. He told me that over the years the event has changed from one where participants were more or less locked up for the week to thrash out and debate issues and policy options, to one where it is just another marketing and advertizing festival, with most people dropping in for one or two days, making their pitch, grabbing their sound-bite opportunity on a panel, and so forth. He said that letting the media have more and more access is the main reason it's a "waste of time", because everyone is playing to the cameras and microphones, and no serious discussion occurs any more.

What a shame...:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes::rolleyes:

I personally don't consider myself a one world conspiracy theorist ;) I believe there will always be competing interests, were not all robots; but as mentioned earlier you dont need a one world order, you just simply need enough people to owe you favors or be indebted to you... I do believe that money can be used as a weapon and can be more devastating than conventional weapons or warfare... It has been used for centuries... You can destroy entire countries w/o using a single bomb or killing/maiming a single individual, its more efficient, clean and leaves an entire country that can for all intents and purposes can be exploited/bought on the cheap (assets) and a populace destitute and available as cheap labor.

On a microscale look at the homeowners getting evicted and all the financiers that made ALOT of money, that money came from somewhere...... On a macro scale look at argentina and the countless other countries that have been given crushing debt for the benefit of that countries bond holders.. You leave a person penniless and his life is ruined; he will sell everything to survive... Now just expand that on an international scale..

[GRG55]

Re: The Swiss roll over!

I personally don't consider myself a one world conspiracy theorist ;) I believe there will always be competing interests, were not all robots; but as mentioned earlier you dont need a one world order, you just simply need enough people to owe you favors or be indebted to you... I do believe that money can be used as a weapon and can be more devastating than conventional weapons or warfare... It has been used for centuries... You can destroy entire countries w/o using a single bomb or killing/maiming a single individual, its more efficient, clean and leaves an entire country that can for all intents and purposes can be exploited/bought on the cheap (assets) and a populace destitute and available as cheap labor.

On a microscale look at the homeowners getting evicted and all the financiers that made ALOT of money, that money came from somewhere...... On a macro scale look at argentina and the countless other countries that have been given crushing debt for the benefit of that countries bond holders.. You leave a person penniless and his life is ruined; he will sell everything to survive... Now just expand that on an international scale..

My point is that I don't think there is any organized conspiracy to create some new order. Hell, I don't even think there is a dis-organized conspiracy to do that , although the G7 can sometimes look like it.

Just like all the people that made out like bandits floating worthless internet stocks, I think the benefits and incentives simply aligned so that over time more and more people behaved more and more in ways that resulted in personal gain for themselves. SImple human nature. The longer the dynamic survived without blowing up [or for those like Madoff the longer it went without getting caught] the more brazen the behaviour and the larger the cohort engaged in the behaviours becomes. How many students entering college deliberately went into Commerce or Business faculties, instead of any of the others, simply because the potential rewards coming out of school and entering the FIRE economy were so lucrative compared to anything else they could devote their lives to?

The whole stupid affair was epitomized by Chuck Prince's "We're still dancing" comment just before the dominos started falling.

Davos is often characterized as some sort of forum created by some organized elite, specifically to plot how they will reform the world order for their benefit at the expense of the unwashed masses. I just thought it interesting that my own long held suspicions that Davos is nothing more than just another puffed up shrimpfest were verfied by someone with direct experience.

[D-Mack]

Re: The Swiss roll over!

Davos is often characterized as some sort of forum created by some organized elite, specifically to plot how they will reform the world order for their benefit at the expense of the unwashed masses. I just thought it interesting that my own long held suspicions that Davos is nothing more than just another puffed up shrimpfest were verfied by someone with direct experience.

No wonder they don't like it anymore

Putin was, if anything, more blunt. He attacked the concept of a "unipolar world," called for an end to the privileged position of the US dollar as the world's major reserve currency, and noted that "just a year ago, American delegates speaking from this rostrum emphasized the US economy's fundamental stability and its cloudless prospects." He continued, "Today, investment banks, the pride of Wall Street, have virtually ceased to exist. In just 12 months, they have posted losses exceeding the profits they made in the last 25 years."

Alan Blinder, the Princeton economist and former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, responded, "The sad thing is that we might have scoffed at this a while ago. But we really dragged the world down."

http://tribes.tribe.net/coolearth/th...c-6b6339cd7c2a

[santafe2]

Re: The Swiss roll over!

I might have been inclined to agree with you. Until I read the opening paragraph of the article...

Gordon Brown last night hailed the *beginning of the end for tax havens, as Switzerland opened up its *legendary system of bank secrecy and agreed to hand over information on wealthy clients suspected of tax evasion.

If Gordon Brown is so convinced, I'd be willing to take the other side of that bet :cool:

I was reading this comment in the opposite way. If Switzerland is not in imminent danger of going down, why on earth would they be cooperating and turning in their base of tax cheats and other frauds? As Warren Buffett said, you don't know who's swimming naked until the tide goes out. It appears to me the tide is going out for Switzerland.

[jimmygu3]

Re: The Swiss roll over!

I was reading this comment in the opposite way. If Switzerland is not in imminent danger of going down, why on earth would they be cooperating and turning in their base of tax cheats and other frauds? As Warren Buffett said, you don't know who's swimming naked until the tide goes out. It appears to me the tide is going out for Switzerland.

What implications might this have for Bullionvault? If you're an honest US citizen, reporting your account there, does it matter? Or do these questions about Switzerland and their biggest banks' solvency cast doubt on BV's status as a safe inflation hedge?

Jimmy

[karim0028]

Re: The Swiss roll over!

My point is that I don't think there is any organized conspiracy to create some new order. Hell, I don't even think there is a dis-organized conspiracy to do that , although the G7 can sometimes look like it.

Just like all the people that made out like bandits floating worthless internet stocks, I think the benefits and incentives simply aligned so that over time more and more people behaved more and more in ways that resulted in personal gain for themselves. SImple human nature. The longer the dynamic survived without blowing up [or for those like Madoff the longer it went without getting caught] the more brazen the behaviour and the larger the cohort engaged in the behaviours becomes. How many students entering college deliberately went into Commerce or Business faculties, instead of any of the others, simply because the potential rewards coming out of school and entering the FIRE economy were so lucrative compared to anything else they could devote their lives to?

The whole stupid affair was epitomized by Chuck Prince's "We're still dancing" comment just before the dominos started falling.

Davos is often characterized as some sort of forum created by some organized elite, specifically to plot how they will reform the world order for their benefit at the expense of the unwashed masses. I just thought it interesting that my own long held suspicions that Davos is nothing more than just another puffed up shrimpfest were verfied by someone with direct experience.

Organized or not; would you agree that people with interests will go out and protect their interest? I feel that is simple human nature, each and everyone of us on this forum is out to protect and grow his/her interests. Countries will protect their interests, people will protect their interests..

I dont think Davos is some elite forum... You can hardly get 3 people in a closed room to agree let alone a room full of people all with competing interests and loyalties... Like you say, I think Davos is more like a formality; in good times everyone will go in, nod and smile and give a sound bite or two, times turn sour though and its no more than a fancy dinner and a media sounding board...

I personally believe though that private business, wealth and money know no loyalties aside from wealth accumulation thus can align better than politicians. I believe that human greed drives the premise that people in power will do whatever they can to stay in power and people with wealth will do what ever they can to keep it and grow it (not a bad thing, simply stating fact)...

I dont believe in conspiracies, but it is kind of difficult to align the fact that 1% of the population has 80-90% of the wealth...

[Sharky]

Re: The Swiss roll over!

What implications might this have for Bullionvault? If you're an honest US citizen, reporting your account there, does it matter? Or do these questions about Switzerland and their biggest banks' solvency cast doubt on BV's status as a safe inflation hedge?

I recently asked myself the same question. To me, the waning government backing on privacy casts doubt on BV's ability to withstand efforts at seizure or control, along the lines of what happened with e-gold.

In fact, it concerns me enough that I closed my account. Given the speed with which the economic and political situations change these days, better to be a few months or years too early than one day too late.

[jimmygu3]

Re: The Swiss roll over!

I recently asked myself the same question. To me, the waning government backing on privacy casts doubt on BV's ability to withstand efforts at seizure or control, along the lines of what happened with e-gold.

In fact, it concerns me enough that I closed my account. Given the speed with which the economic and political situations change these days, better to be a few months or years too early than one day too late.

Care to share where you invested instead?

[santafe2]

Re: The Swiss roll over!

What implications might this have for Bullionvault? If you're an honest US citizen, reporting your account there, does it matter? Or do these questions about Switzerland and their biggest banks' solvency cast doubt on BV's status as a safe inflation hedge?

I own no PM through Bullionvault. I think I've said it here before, I now see PM as a hedge against the worst scenario. Although I started with it as an investment in late 2000, I've come to see it more as a hedge in 2009. Like all investments, the real gains were made early on, gains from here will most likely be due to issues outside the intrinsic value of PM. So the answer is, if it languishes in value and the next decade provides avenues of growth while debt subsides, Bullionvault should be fine. If the path is less smooth or very rocky, you'll likely wish you had made more local provisions for holding your gold. Just my opinion of course.