In a previous blog I talked about the Lew Archer series of detective
novels written by Ross Macdonald (Kenneth Millar). After rereading all of the Lew Archer novels in recent months,
I reread all six of Ross Macdonald's other novels, which I bought in paperback form in the 1970s. These novels
are:
The Dark Tunnel - 1944
Trouble Follows Me - 1946
Blue City - 1947
The Three
Roads - 1948
Meet Me at the Morgue - 1953
The Ferguson Affair - 1960
All of these novels are terrific reads. Each is a form of detective
story.
One of the most interesting
aspects of reading these novels, most published in the late 1940s, is the economics of the era. Salaries are mentioned
for a few jobs. Meal costs are mentioned in some of the books. Costs for a variety of consumer items are mentioned.
For the same salary today or the cost of the same item available today there is a difference of 10 to 15 times, reflecting
the inflation that has occurred during the past 70 years. The combination of the very long actions of the US government
and the Federal Reserve have destroyed the buying power of the US dollar. When was the last time you purchased breakfast
for less than one dollar.
The early novels
were written during or just after World War II. They reflect impacts of the war on the lives of individuals featured
in the novels. Very few people alive today were adults during the war and collectively we have very little appreciation
for magnitude of the impact of the war on everyday life. This is a very interesting side element of the novels.
Not everyone is interesting in reading old
detective novels. I enjoyed all of Ross Macdonald's work in the 1970s when I first discovered them and today
about 40 years later. Maybe you can find them in your local library, in a used book store, antique store
or on-line. They are worth the effort to find and read.
TPM
In 2010 I published my article The Case for Gold, http://thepurplemuse.com/id29.html. I completely updated my article in 2013. Last week
James Rickards' new book, The New Case for Gold, hit book stores. It is time for me to update my article again.
Some of the points Rickards makes in The New Case for Gold were previously made in his first two books,
Currency Wars and The Death of Money. However, in his new book Rickards' primary emphasis is on the
future role of gold in the world monetary system. Rickards also makes the case for a ten percent allocation of
a persons net worth to gold.
In this era of
electronic money and the attempt of governments to reduce or eliminate private currency transactions, how can gold possibly
be important to the global financial system? Rickards explains that gold is the bed rock behind the financial systems
of all major nations. Governments and central banks don't want to tell the public this is true because they want to
continue converting the world to electronic money they can control. It is very clear that without its gold stocks,
the Federal System is very close to being insolvent. Rickards clearly explains why this is the case.
In making the new case for gold Rickards discusses the US Federal
Reserve, global central banks, the International Monetary Fund, the Bank of International Settlements and the G20. He
explains the global economic competition between China, Russia, the United States and Europe and the role of gold in establishing
relative economic power now and in the future. Rickards continues his discussion from his first two books regarding
the inherent economic instability in the current global economy. Rickards explains why we will have another
global financial crisis that will be more difficult to deal with than the 2007/2008 financial crisis.
Rickards has written a book that everyone can read. It is not long.
It is direct and to the point. It is not written in an academic tone. It is written in everyday language that
most people can comprehend easily. I just watched Rickards appear on CNBC with Rick Santelli to promote the book.
If you care about preserving wealth over the long term I recommend you read The New Case for Gold.
TPM
