USD devaluation

Jim Sinclair’s Commentary
The following is a note from CIGA Richard that speaks to the buying power of gold, and silliness that deflation today can be described as an increase in buying power for the dollar.

Jim,
As I type this and look on the wall at my $100 Trillion Zimbabwe Dollar note, I’m struck again by how few people understand the difference between ‘nominal’ and ‘real.’ I will not use Webster’s definitions, because with the advent of Google, even fewer folks now posses a dictionary.

Using my definitions then: - Nominal: the ‘face’ value printed on a paper fiat note. - Real: what you can really buy with that note, or these days, a whole lotta fiat notes.

While the buying power of fiat money has fallen by 96% under America’s greatest failure (the Fed), the buying power of Gold has increased ~700%. This equals the ‘invisible’ robbing of the Poor and Middle Class by the Fed. Let me give you an example of the difference between average wages in paper fiat over time, compared with equivalent ounces of Gold:

- Average wages in 1959 were $5,016 or 143oz of Gold
- Average wages in 1977 were $15,000 or 120oz of Gold
- Average wages in 1999 were $28,970 or 104oz of Gold
- Average wages in 2008 were $41,335 or 53oz of Gold

This is not exactly rocket science, yet most folks consider that they are ‘doing better’ because their nominal wages have increased over time, when in fact it takes increasing nominal amounts of debauched fiat to buy the same ounce of Gold (in effect making Gold more valuable over time in terms of buying power, as the Dollar slides into bongo-buck territory… my Zimbabwe note ref’d infra germane).

Hmmm… which would I rather have? A wheelbarrow stuffed with $100 bills that won’t buy me a loaf of bread, or 100 ounces of Gold? Gee, tough one. Too bad the Fed and our politicians (excepting Ron Paul) aren’t making any efforts to help me choose.

Meanwhile, I’m completely ignoring the very short-term white noise in the heavily manipulated bullion markets, and hanging tough until the ‘invisible hand’ has inflicted maximum pain and this temporary swoon turns around.

http://www.jsmineset.com/2012/05/14/jims-mailbox-931/