My Profile

I tried to write about myself in "My Profile" but google would not allow me so say more than 1200 words. As you can see by now, I'm quite talkative & that's way too little. S0, I decided to write a post about me instead.

I'm a mundane housewife and a mother of 2 monsters, Horrid A and Horrid B, and a lovely supportive hubby, who doesn't question much about my binging spending habits or try to restrict my interest. Though an occasional gentle reminder helps since I tend to go over board at times.

We just repatriated back to Singapore after a decade (yes, 10 solid years!)in Taipei and have much to learn to resettle in our home country. Ridiculous but true!

Singapore is clean, and orderly, just like before, but something is a missed. I was "silenced" by a fellow obasan for reminding her (very gently lei) of jumping into my queue. She tried to "choop queue" by leaving her basket in the counter in front of me while continued her shopping elsewhere! So,

Lesson 1 – “Shopping baskets can be used to CHOOP yr queue”

Then I got chased by a neighbour’s dog while its owners yelled against each other behind closed fence, pointing fingers as to who should get out to help me during my house-hunting exercise in the East Coast.

Lesson 2 - “Dogs are not as nasty as neighbours”.

Not too long after the F1 Race, I was almost knocked down by a car that sped through the traffic junction though the green man had appeared. So,

Lesson 3 “F1 drivers are aplenty in Singapore” &

Lesson 4 “Never trust the traffic light”.

But the string of bad luck didn’t stop there.

Yesterday, I accidentally stepped onto a pile of “Golden Droppings” from one my neighbours’ beloved dog. I only had myself to blame since I should know better not to step onto the green pavement (or even get close it). Usually I do, but it was pouring, & my poor umbrella was badly battered in the storm. I overlooked as I tried to dash home as fast as I could. The only word I had is “yaks”!!!! Uggh,

Lesson 5 – “Always lookout for dog’s pooh-pooh”

Perhaps we should open a debate, titled “Are Dogs’ Faeces Solid Waste or Fertilizer?” since so many dog lovers like to retain their pets' faeces at wherever they like. If they are fertilizer, shouldn't the authority pay them for their contribution? Otherwise, shouldn't they be charged for littering and soiling Singapore's “CLEAN GARDEN CITY” image?

The Return of THe Gold Standard Mentality (Part 1)

I found this piece of article written by Paul Krugman (2008 Nobel Prize winner in Economics) published in Business Times on Oct 13, 2009 disturbing. Undoubtedly, The Return of Gold Standard will be a menace to the Americans, as it will severely curtail their power to print more paper money to spur their internal economic activity. But that’s about the interest of the Americans and the recovery of US economy, how about the rest of us residing in this world? We too are suffering from the Great Recession exported from US? What would happen if US government continues to print more money and sinks deeper into debt to finance its own economic recovery? Would its debt spiral out of control? Would the green back collapse like all other fiat currencies did before? And how would such a disaster affect little people like you and me?

The current global monetary system relies on the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency, allowing her to enjoy a unique “prestige” position for a number of decades. Being the most powerful nation in an increasingly globalized world, US dollar is highly sought as a store of value. Foreign investors and central banks want to hold dollars as alternatives to their own, presumably less stable currencies. This insatiable demand for dollars ends up giving U.S. consumers and governments a virtually unlimited credit card.

According to the Bureau of the Public Debt, an agency within the Department of the US Treasury, the total of the nation’s accumulated annual budget deficits as of Oct. 14 2009 now stands at US$11,895,799,292,208.46. That is almost US$1.2 trillion!!! And this figure only provides a one-year slice of bookkeeping and ignores previous indebtedness that is still outstanding!

Today, the total U.S. debt stands at about $40 trillion, or $600,000 per family of four, or an average of $3.89 billion increase per day since September 28, 2007! Indeed a frightening figure. How could the World Single Superpower evolved into the World Largest Debtor Nation?! Simple - decades of borrowing binge from the rest of the world to finance its economic expansion.

Is it really a good idea to open the monetary floodgates, printing as many paper dollars as necessary to combat economic contraction? Wouldn't this send the value of the dollar through the floor? In fact, the process has already begun and demand for US dollars is falling. Take a look at the following extract I found in various articles:

1. The value of the dollar is down by about one-third in the past three years.

2. Overseas Central Banks holding of US Treasuries reaches new low; The combined holdings of Treasuries and agency securities by foreign central banks at the Fed fell by $123 million to total $2.856 trillion in the week ended October 7, 2009. Treasuries held by overseas central banks at the Fed also fell $634 million to total $2.093 trillion.

3. United Nations called for a new global reserve currency to end dollar supremacy, which had allowed the United States the "privilege" of building up a huge trade deficit. Rumours of a new unified currency such as "a basket of currencies including the Japanese yen and Chinese yuan, the euro, gold”, to end US$ supremacy are gaining momentum.

US dollar is a fiat currency that has no intrinsic value. The U.S. Federal Reserve creates new dollars simply by printing them or injecting electronic “reserves” into the banking system. The supply of dollars depends on the decisions of the elected officials and their appointed administrators like the governors of the Fed. EVERY fiat currency since the Romans first began the practice in the first century has ended in devaluation and eventual collapse, of not only the currency, but of the economy that housed the fiat currency as well. The history of fiat money, to put it kindly, has been one of failure.

So, what’s next? What should we do to protect our savings?


Reference:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7645743.stm
http://www.straitstimes.com/Overcoming+The+Storm/Latest+Stories/Story/STIStory_419140.html
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np
http://www.dollarcollapse.com/faq/default.asp?CATE=0
http://www.rapidtrends.com/dollar-collapse-faqs/
http://jeflin.net/2008/11/13/spend-our-way-out-of-recession/
http://dailyreckoning.com/juicy-details-on-the-us-gold-reserves/
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20091011/tbs-dollar-facing-power-shift-analysts-5268574.html