During FY 2019, for example, these discretionary plunges into deficit finance include slashing revenue by $280 billion, while pumping up an already bloated baseline spending level of $4.375 trillion by another $200 billion for defense, disasters, border control, ObamaCare bailouts and domestic pork barrel of every shape and form.
These 11th hour fiscal maneuvers, in fact, are so asinine that the numbers have to be literally seen to be believed. To wit, an already weak-growth crippled revenue baseline will be cut to just $3.4 trillion, while the GOP spenders goose outlays toward the $4.6 trillion mark.
http://davidstockmanscontracorner.com/the-greatest-bubble-ever-why-you-better-believe-it-part-2/
And that is without factoring in the next recession, which will make the deficit soar even more. And a possible war with North Korea. And whatever "storm" Trump keeps hinting about. As 2017 comes to a close, everything seems pretty rosy. But things are going to get real interesting soon.
Happy New Year!
Sunday, December 31, 2017
Friday, December 29, 2017
Venezuela to launch new crypto-currency called the Petro
See https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/29/venezuela-oil-backed-cryptocurrency-to-launch-in-days.html
This sounds cool and I think it would work. Could the Fed blacklist it?
This sounds cool and I think it would work. Could the Fed blacklist it?
Thursday, December 21, 2017
Top Alternative Crypto-Currencies
What are the best crypto-currencies, besides BitCoin? I think the alternatives would have these characteristics: 1) be profitable to mine, according to CoinWarz.com or WhatToMine.com, where the profit is at least equal to the estimated electricity cost; 2) Use the SHA-256 or EquiHash algorithms, which are usually the most profitable; and 3) have a coin market cap of at least $10 million (according to coinmarketcap.com), so they have some user base.
Here is the list, sorted by market cap:
I'm not saying to buy these. I think the best way of getting started is to mine them and these would be the best to mine. There are also ones below the $10 million market cap that are worth watching, like Deutsche eMark (DEM), and TigerCoin (TGC). Also the CryptoNight algorithm is worth looking at.
I am leery of Ethereum because it keeps getting hacked, and they keep messing with the code to reverse the hacks. Litecoin showed a lot of promise a couple of years ago, and it is still one of the largest by market cap ($16 billion), but it is missing something or is way overpriced. It is not as profitable as the ones above.
There are over 1000 other alternatives, but these appear to have the best future, in my opinion. List subject to change by the day.
Update: Here is another one to add to the list.
Hush (HUSH) $18 million (equihash)
Here is the list, sorted by market cap:
- BitcoinCash (BCH) $56.3 billion
- Bitcoin Gold (BTG) $6.7 billion (equihash)
- ZCash (ZEC) $1.8 billion
- Digibyte (DGB-SHA) (DGB) $451 million
- Peercoin (PPC) $127 million
- ZenCash (ZEN) $123 million (equihash)
- Curecoin (CURE) $14 million
I'm not saying to buy these. I think the best way of getting started is to mine them and these would be the best to mine. There are also ones below the $10 million market cap that are worth watching, like Deutsche eMark (DEM), and TigerCoin (TGC). Also the CryptoNight algorithm is worth looking at.
I am leery of Ethereum because it keeps getting hacked, and they keep messing with the code to reverse the hacks. Litecoin showed a lot of promise a couple of years ago, and it is still one of the largest by market cap ($16 billion), but it is missing something or is way overpriced. It is not as profitable as the ones above.
There are over 1000 other alternatives, but these appear to have the best future, in my opinion. List subject to change by the day.
Update: Here is another one to add to the list.
Hush (HUSH) $18 million (equihash)
The hard life of bitcoin miners in Inner Mongolia
https://qz.com/1054805/what-its-like-working-at-a-sprawling-bitcoin-mine-in-inner-mongolia/
The noise—a constant drone from the small fans attached to each machine, as well as the huge fans built into the walls of the building—is loud and unceasing. Employees must wear ear mufflers to do their work.
Bitcoin miners, though they profit from the virtual world, can no more escape the materiality of their vocations than gold miners. The bitcoin mines that rely on cheap hydroelectricity must disrupt their operations in the winter, when waters ice up and there’s less precipitation. They pack up their entire operations, load them onto trucks, and, after an arduous drive, reassemble them elsewhere. That usually ends up being Inner Mongolia because of its stable source of coal-powered electricity, said Liu Tao, a Bitmain executive in charge of mining operations.
The noise—a constant drone from the small fans attached to each machine, as well as the huge fans built into the walls of the building—is loud and unceasing. Employees must wear ear mufflers to do their work.
Bitcoin miners, though they profit from the virtual world, can no more escape the materiality of their vocations than gold miners. The bitcoin mines that rely on cheap hydroelectricity must disrupt their operations in the winter, when waters ice up and there’s less precipitation. They pack up their entire operations, load them onto trucks, and, after an arduous drive, reassemble them elsewhere. That usually ends up being Inner Mongolia because of its stable source of coal-powered electricity, said Liu Tao, a Bitmain executive in charge of mining operations.
Sunday, December 17, 2017
Tuesday, December 12, 2017
Teavana must keep 77 store open
A socialist judge in Indiana ordered Teavana to keep 77 stores open that it was planning on closing, because of the pain it would inflict on the malls they are in. See
https://nypost.com/2017/12/01/judge-bars-starbucks-from-closing-77-failing-teavana-stores/
I find this very bizarre. I don't know how long the stores are forced to remain open, maybe if it is only 6 months then this isn't that big of a deal, but this is an incredibly stupid decision by an incredibly stupid judge. I don't know why Starbucks doesn't appeal it. How can you force a store to remain in business? This will encourage stores that are on the edge about remaining in business to close pre-emptively.
https://nypost.com/2017/12/01/judge-bars-starbucks-from-closing-77-failing-teavana-stores/
I find this very bizarre. I don't know how long the stores are forced to remain open, maybe if it is only 6 months then this isn't that big of a deal, but this is an incredibly stupid decision by an incredibly stupid judge. I don't know why Starbucks doesn't appeal it. How can you force a store to remain in business? This will encourage stores that are on the edge about remaining in business to close pre-emptively.
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