sailingaway
05-02-2013, 04:01 PM
“Who would have predicted that the world would keep taking our money?” Ron Paul asked rhetorically. Certainly not Paul.
In a long interview last March, Paul noted that trust and confidence in U.S. Treasury securities was extremely low back in 1979-1982. The problem was inflation, not the federal deficits, although red ink started bleeding badly in the double-dip recession that characterized that era.
To tame double-digit inflation, Fed chairman Paul Volcker tightened the money supply and raised interest rates to levels never seen before or since in the U.S. Many citizens in those days complained about a runaway Fed acting as an unaccountable law unto itself.
Today, they are registering the same complaints of our central bank, albeit for diametrically opposite reasons—namely the Fed single-handedly is financing runaway budget deficits. “The bubble is much bigger today and it’s a worldwide phenomenon,” Paul remarked. “Who is buying 30-year Treasurys?”
A good question, indeed. Insurance companies typically favor long-term bonds, to match liabilities against assets. However, one suspects they might be tilting their portfolios towards long-term corporate bonds with more generous yields than the puny coupons offered by the Treasury Department.
When one meets Ron Paul, two characteristics are immediately evident. The first is that he is a gentleman. The second is that he is a skilled politician, however unorthodox he may be.
One doesn’t get elected to Congress 15 times without political skills and genuine warmth for others. What differentiates Paul from virtually all other long-term members of Congress, including his son, is his refusal to let political expedience silence him.
more: http://www.fa-mag.com/news/a-talk-with-ron-paul-14171.html
In a long interview last March, Paul noted that trust and confidence in U.S. Treasury securities was extremely low back in 1979-1982. The problem was inflation, not the federal deficits, although red ink started bleeding badly in the double-dip recession that characterized that era.
To tame double-digit inflation, Fed chairman Paul Volcker tightened the money supply and raised interest rates to levels never seen before or since in the U.S. Many citizens in those days complained about a runaway Fed acting as an unaccountable law unto itself.
Today, they are registering the same complaints of our central bank, albeit for diametrically opposite reasons—namely the Fed single-handedly is financing runaway budget deficits. “The bubble is much bigger today and it’s a worldwide phenomenon,” Paul remarked. “Who is buying 30-year Treasurys?”
A good question, indeed. Insurance companies typically favor long-term bonds, to match liabilities against assets. However, one suspects they might be tilting their portfolios towards long-term corporate bonds with more generous yields than the puny coupons offered by the Treasury Department.
When one meets Ron Paul, two characteristics are immediately evident. The first is that he is a gentleman. The second is that he is a skilled politician, however unorthodox he may be.
One doesn’t get elected to Congress 15 times without political skills and genuine warmth for others. What differentiates Paul from virtually all other long-term members of Congress, including his son, is his refusal to let political expedience silence him.
more: http://www.fa-mag.com/news/a-talk-with-ron-paul-14171.html