Monday, November 7, 2011

Build a Central Bank in Your Kitchen

Do-it-yourself projects can save a lot of money. By this criterion, building your own central bank (CB) is the ultimate money saver, regardless of your skill set, with readily available ingredients in your own home. Key concepts of money presented previously in Independent articles are summarized, providing background and step-by-step instructions to build your own CB. Fig. 1 lists some CB attributes and indicates that CBs come in two types: evil and good.

Fig. 1: Central Bank Types

The first evil CB type already exists in the national, sovereign CBs of nations (e.g., Bank of England, the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank, the Bundesbank). This type requires a special privileged relationship with the respective governments, via various laws and/or regulations. The evil CBs maintain relationships with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which prohibits use of real money -- gold and silver -- as national currencies. Assuming your household has no desire or ability to literally take over its national government, the only practical alternative is to build a good CB.

This do-it-yourself project can be done by individuals, families, communities, organizations of all sorts including corporations, non-profits, religious groups and even national governments, presently trapped under the heavy oppressive foot of the IMF. For each, building a good CB offers the opportunity to experience life in a way that may not be otherwise possible.

Step 1: Choose Freedom
Interest in building your CB may assume one has already chosen freedom over debt slavery. However, the majority of the population still prefers economic slavery or the addiction to conventional, but false, economic theories, which favor theft of savings by inflation created by the evil CBs. Much like Alcoholics Anonymous, Step 1 is to resolve to kick this addiction in order to attain personal freedom from repression by the banking cartel.

The owners of the evil CBs are major banks some of which may be headquartered in foreign countries. Thus, these CBs serve the interests of the banking cartel rather than the purported goals of serving the best interests of the economies and people of their respective nations. In short, they were established with the sole true objective of enriching the few at the expense of the people.

Their true goal is supported by laws and regulations establishing legal tender, fractional-reserve banking and the evil CBs themselves with their license to counterfeit fiat currency, all protected by government force. These laws should be repealed in favor of freedom to choose media of exchange (money) and banking services based on free competition. Before revolutionary changes may allow for repeal of such oppressive laws, building good CBs (Fig. 1) is an important survival priority.

The evil CBs induce inflation as a device to diminish the wealth of people stored in fiat currency units (dollars, pounds, euros, yen, etc). For this reason, they cannot allow free markets. Instead, price fixing of interest rates (the cost of money) is routine.

Step 2: Establish Security Procedures
Secrecy is central to both evil and good CBs. Since most if not all transactions of evil CBs are contrary to the best interests of the people supposedly served, these transactions must be hidden, secret, or if not, misrepresented in public statements regarding their true purpose. These secrets are guarded more than military and national security details. This fortress of secrecy is greatest for their dealings with the only real money on earth for over 2,000 years -- gold and silver. For example, investigators like GATA have worked for decades to slowly discover some of this closely guarded information.

In particular, regarding U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) transactions which in effect bail out European banks indirectly obligating the U.S. tax payer to back up the loans, the Fed has made every effort to keep them hidden from the public.

Secrecy is also paramount in building a good CB. While the public knows the evil CBs exist, nobody should know that a good CB even exists, much less any of its operational details. This is especially true for individuals and other small entities which may not have the resources to effectively protect its reserves (gold, silver and other precious metal bullion).

Some analysts suggest that one other trusted and trustworthy person should know about a good CB project. If a single person is the builder and operator of a good CB and nobody else knows about it, then the person might write down key details, in the event of incapacitation or death. This information might be in a will and testament or similar document.

Secrecy is key regarding the location(s) of CB reserves. Multiple locations are preferable, including multiple countries, if possible. CB reserve security is discussed further below.

Step 3: Rescue Wealth
Wealth is created by labor and adding value to products (manufacturing, processing, assembling, etc) or acquired by conquest (war plunder, theft, etc). Most people have never known any form of money other than "paper" fiat currencies and therefore measure wealth by amount of fiat -- how many dollars, pounds, euros, yen, etc, does a person have. However, rising fiat prices of real money -- gold and silver -- indicate that fiat currencies are rapidly loosing value (purchasing power) in a process commonly called inflation where more currency is required to purchase the same goods. Other common descriptors for wealth include savings and net worth. In these economically unstable times, wealth is best measured in ounces of gold or in other tangible assets (land, mining properties, etc).

Thus, although paper currencies may be required by legal tender laws for use in daily purchases and other transactions, they are a terrible vehicle for the "store of value" function of money. In fact, most if not all holdings denominated in fiat currency are probably guaranteed to loose value (wealth), since evil CBs are very proficient in inflating fiat currency supply. Do not be fooled by the apparent complete incompetence of evil CBs and respective governments to improve economic conditions for their national populations. Printing fiat "money" is something they can do.

Indeed, it appears that gold and silver may be the "last man standing" as a "safe haven" for wealth -- the currencies "of last resort". This devaluation of fiat currency appears to be accelerating and hence high priority is appropriate to rescue wealth presently in serious peril if stored as fiat currency and certain other financial assets denominated in fiat currency units. Several examples may be considered.

Bank deposits. Funds deposited in banks are all at risk, including checking and money market accounts and certificates of deposit (CD). In these cases, the depositor is a creditor. That is, one has essentially loaned money to a financial institution -- a bank -- hoping you will be repaid. However, most banks are in fact insolvent, not exactly trustworthy to maintain an account and to pay the depositor back. In short, the bank is in debt to the depositor.

The total amount of debt of all kinds has reached historic highs. The world is in new unexplored economic territory. Nobody can predict exactly what will happen with the exception that all this debt will never be repaid. Also, experiments with fiat currencies have always failed after about two generations in the past. This fiat life-time is presently expiring since U.S. President Nixon closed the gold window in 1971.

For banks, many have loaned deposits to uncreditworthy parties. Can you say, "Italy" and "Greece"? Can you say, "United States"? Those banks will not be repaid, at least in full, so how are they going to repay depositors? Simple answer: depositors will not be repaid.

Some countries guarantee bank deposits up to a specified amount, should the bank fail. For example, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) does this in the U.S. However, evil CB currency printing is the final mechanism for such payments. In other words, depositors will never recover the purchasing power of their deposits in banks at anything near full value.

In summary, all bank deposits should be cashed out. For CDs, pay the penalty for early withdrawal and rescue those funds as soon as possible. Via a currency conversion, this cash should immediately be converted to gold and silver bullion. The only fiat currency that should remain in banks or credit unions is a small amount to cover from one to three months of expenses that require fiat for payment (electric bills, groceries, business expenses, etc).

Thus, both evil and good CBs have some fiat currency available for daily expenses. The difference is that the good CB has the minimum required in fiat currency. In fact, if the CB-maker has current income (e.g., a pay check) which can cover current expenses, those funds may be used for this fiat transactions account with any surplus converted to bullion CB reserves.

Corporate bonds should also be sold immediately to rescue wealth. Corporations are not immune to incompetent money management. Heard of the trillions of dollars held off-shore by U.S. corporations? Or the multi-billions in Microsoft's cash hoard? One guess where those funds are: deposited in banks. Readers here know that 50 to 90 percent, if not all, of these funds might be lost essentially over night at virtually any time going forward. Clearly, even large corporations and entire nations should build their own good CB as soon as possible. Iceland may be on that path right now. Similarly a few countries are moving toward gold as legal tender.

Government Paper. Almost all countries have been chronically unable to balance their national budgets and therefore need to borrow money from investors. This is called sovereign debt. The U.S. sells Treasure Bills and Bonds where the purchaser is loaning funds to the government. All of these should be sold immediately, as with any other debt instruments sold by states or municipalities.

In summary, all forms of debt that will never be repaid should be sold to recover cash (whether at profit or loss) as soon as possible. By inflating the fiat currency, these government debtors hope to pay investors with paper money that is worth less and, in the endgame, worthless. That is, the preferred default method is to print fiat to pay these debts, which is equivalent to theft of investor wealth via a counterfeiting operation. Investors (creditors) loose since their fiat currency holdings are diluted loosing value.

Pensions and Annuities. Wealth may be rescued by cashing out of pensions and annuities that allow it. This means that one gets a lump sum of fiat and will no longer receive the associated monthly payments. Those who fail to cash out and protect this wealth may find that their monthly pension check may stop arriving given the established fact that pension fund assets are nowhere near sufficient to support their obligations to pensioners. Or, with possible hyperinflation, a monthly pension check might not even buy a single cup of coffee, having become worthless.

Stocks. Many analysts estimate that about 30 percent of wealth invested in the general stock market (e.g., the S&P500) has been lost in the last decade. These stocks should be sold per the above instructions to fund a good CB.

Other Assets. For the less wealthy, look around you at all the junk you have acquired. Sell it. Garage sale. Newspaper ads. Ebay. Whatever. Keep a few items that are deemed to be necessities.

Most appliances are not necessities by any measure. Refrigerators, freezers, washing machines, dryers, etc, are all in play. I sold a refrigerator realizing it is not needed. Even certain perishables like eggs and cheese survive up to one week or more without refrigeration. In short, with two trips to a grocery store a week, refrigerators are simply not needed in most households, period.

Funds Not Spent. Money not spent is like money earned. Note how electric bills decrease when refrigerators, freezers, washing machines and the like are simply unplugged. Any food grown results in funds not spent in a food store. At the author's property, there is a grafted mango tree, an orange tree, two cherry trees and dozens of banana plants and sweet and hot pepper trees. Over a dozen coffee trees were recently planted. Tomatoes, cucumber, cantaloupe, swash and watermelon are also grown, given freely to neighbors or sold as organic-grown foods. Is the reader growing any food at all?

The particulars of the "Other Assets" and "Funds Not Spent" categories will vary widely among individuals. Hundreds of other suggestions may be applicable. Think for yourself.

To highlight the risk of fiat currency deposits in financial institutions in Step 3, the author recently applied the multiple location rule by opening an additional trading account to distribute funds. This additional account was to be for futures at MF Global. Before the account setup papers even arrived in the mail, MF Global had gone bankrupt. If that account had been opened and funds deposited, who knows when and if those funds could have been recovered.

The big picture regarding this Wealth Rescue step includes the possibility that a financial crisis greater than the 2008 episode might occur. If so, governments might declare bank holidays during which depositors have no access to their funds.

Step 4: Establish Reserves
Rescued fiat currency is like the hot potato game -- last one holding it looses. Converting fiat money to real money for good CB reserves is a currency exchange, similar to exchanging pounds for euros. In this case, gold and silver coins or bullion is purchased in what is currently the last free lunch where both small and large good CB-builders can get something for nothing.

Per security requirements in Step 2, good CB reserves should be stored in multiple locations and preferably in multiple countries. For most or all of these reserves, the good CB-builder should take physical possession of gold and silver and personally select and construct, if necessary, storage locations.

Here is what not to do. One owner of some $50,000 in silver bullion hired a contractor to build a secret compartment in his garage. Not long thereafter, the contractor stole all the silver. Two mistakes here. The secrecy rule was violated. Thieves generally strive to steal items that they know exist. Second, the owner did not store the silver reserves in multiple locations.

For random burglaries, a decoy may prove useful. Have a safe or locked metal tool box filled with heavy scrap metal (e.g., old car parts, lead fishing weights) which are relatively easy to find and easy to cart away for opening at the thieves' place. Alternatively, you might put some gold or silver in the decoy safe or tool box, so a thief might well think the robbery was a 100 percent success.

Internet search for "hiding places" will list locations in a residence. Thieves can do the same internet search, so use these suggestions with caution.

The age-old, tried-and-true method of burying bullion reserves is simple, cheap and effective. Again, use multiple locations in your own yard, if applicable, or even in distant locations in parks or undeveloped land (e.g., nearby woods). A decoy method may also be used to frustrate metal detector searches. Bury pieces of scrap iron at random locations. If scrap iron is found, the searcher might stop there concluding that a metal detector is not effective at the location.

Although some or most bullion reserves should be under the direct control and possession of the good CB builder, additional alternatives are consistent with the multiple locations rule. CEF, PHYS and SGOL are bullion funds which may be purchased by CB-makers with access to U.S. and other Western markets. Indeed, several of these funds are physically located in Canada. Physical delivery of the stock/fund certificates may be considered. For example, with these physical certificates, one could show up at the CEF fund site in Canada and take delivery of physical bullion.

After thorough internet research, one or more "gold money" accounts might be considered as well. For example, your own research may support the integrity of GoldMoney.

Finally, cash for gold purchases may suit certain persons, where scrap gold and silver are acquired. This is similar to other recycling operations for scrap metals.

The secrecy rule suggests that most or all bullion purchases be fiat cash transactions -- no checks or credit or debit cards or any other mechanism which identifies the CB-maker as the buyer. This procedure limits the number of persons who can identify the CB-maker as a bullion owner. In larger cities, look for coin or bullion dealers that accept cash payments. There are also coin shows and auctions which may be easily located through local coin clubs.

Even the big players who purchase bullion in size observe the secrecy rule. For example, for years Chinese banking authorities or representatives were buying tons of gold for their reserves and then suddenly surprised the world by announcing a huge percentage increase in their reserves.

In summary, the secrecy rule seeks to limit the number of persons who have any information, any paper trail, regarding good-CB reserves. The importance of this rule favors private transactions where fiat cash is exchanged for bullion cash, often at a premium over spot price and without any publicity.

If a person owns bullion, even a single gold or silver coin, he or she has completed at least one step in good CB-making. Since this action enhances personal freedom and economic welfare, governments, almost by definition, are not happy to the extent that personal and economic freedom decrease government control of the population. In brief, a scene that a good CB-maker does not want to see is a government bureaucrat at the door with papers indicating that one purchased such-and-such bullion. Avoid paper trails whenever possible.

Step 5: Control Fiat Currency Supply
A major function of both types of CB (Fig. 1) is to control the fiat currency "money supply". For the evil CBs, one measure of money supply is the amount of their fiat currency in circulation in the country or in the world. This supply can be decreased if the CB sells securities such as sovereign debt (e.g., U.S. Treasury Bills or Bonds) or conversely increased by buying such securities with money printed "out of thin air".

Given unjust legal tender laws, the owner of a good CB will need to control his or her fiat money supply. As suggested above, this money supply should be sufficient to cover one to three months of routine expenses. If the CB-owner has fiat currency income, this may contribute to, or even completely cover, his or her required fiat money supply. If not, the good CB cannot issue fiat currency in the same manner as the evil ones -- counterfeiting, since this is illegal for mere humans. Hence, the money supply to meet current expenses may be increased by sale of good CB reserves -- bullion.

Summary and Conclusions
This article details five easy steps to build a good CB in your kitchen.

A major difference between evil and good CBs is that the owners of a good CB are one and the same as the person(s) the good CB serves. This identity of owners and people served removes conflict of interest between two parties. On the other hand, conflict of interest is intrinsic to evil CBs since the owners and their objectives to accumulate wealth at the expense of others are incompatible with their cover story as a servant of a nation and its people. Hence, evil CB statements must necessarily utilize lies and deception while good CBs make no statements as such (Fig. 1).

This difference also accounts for the need for evil CBs to engage in price fixing of interest rates. There is no similar need for good CBs since their fiat currency increase by sale of some bullion reserves as described above is a sort of loan to oneself, where a conflict of interest is not possible.

Another noteworthy difference is that evil CB reserves may be mostly fiat currencies of other nations while good CB reserves consist of real money only -- bullion. Evil CBs using foreign fiat currencies as reserves are clearly at risk, given the general insolvency endemic in both nations and their banking cartels. Good CBs are completely free of this risk, since nobody can "print" gold and silver to arbitarily increase the supply of real money.

A further consequence is that inflation is assumed to be normal and people expect that prices of basic goods will rise over time, as long as evil CBs control monetary affairs. In contrast, when good CBs become the norm in some distant or nearby future, decreasing prices will become the normal expection, since the money supply of gold and silver will probably not grow (from mining, etc) as fast as productivity gains. That is, real money will naturally and gradually be more scarce than the goods people want to purchase. The combination of less money and more goods dictates falling prices as normal in a healthy economy.

In other words, the relative scarcity of gold and silver does not impede their use as universal currencies. Indeed, the resulting falling prices will stimulate a boom of economic activity and prosperity. For one thing, savers will be rewarded by gradually increasing purchasing power of their savings. Also, personal and economic freedom for individuals will be enhanced as government ability to manipulate the money supply and money markets is disabled.
© 2011 James J Keene

1 comment:

  1. Well done. Much thought and well organized!

    ReplyDelete