U.S. should sell assets like gold to get out of debt, economists say

[alp227]

Source: The Washington Post

With the United States poised to slam into its debt limit Monday, conservative economists are eyeballing all that gold in Fort Knox. There’s about 147 million ounces of gold parked in the legendary vault. Gold is selling at nearly $1,500 an ounce. That’s many billions of dollars in bullion.

“It’s just sort of sitting there,” said Ron Utt, a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation. “Given the high price it is now, and the tremendous debt problem we now have, by all means, sell at the peak.”

But that’s cockamamie, declares the Obama administration. Mary J. Miller, Treasury’s assistant secretary for financial markets, said the U.S. should sell assets in an orderly, “well-telegraphed” manner, not in a “fire sale” atmosphere with a debt limit deadline accelerating the process.

“It would be bad for the taxpayers. It would be bad for the markets,” Miller said.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/economy/us-should-sell-assets-like-gold-to-get-out-of-debt-economists-say/2011/05/12/AFIvmI4G_singlePage.html

[kickysnana]

1. No they should raise taxes on the rich and corporations. n/t

[Demeter]

15. +15 Trillion BRAZILLIAN!

[valerief]

16. A duh, you got that right! nt

[xchrom]

42. Indeed. Nt

[onehandle]

2. The Heritage Foundation want us to hand our assets overseas even faster?

What a surprise.

[freshwest]

40. Exactly! How many will fall for the con instead of taxing the bastids who did this? Millions...

[Stuttgart77]

45. That gold was probably gone long ago.

They won't let anyone audit it. Wonder why?

[Vincardog]

3. Does anyone doubt that this is what the Greedy Old Pigs had in mind when they let duhBya bankrupt

the country with RayGuns voodoo tax cuts for the Uber Rich, unpaid for gifts to the pharmacy industry and illegal military mis-adventures?

[plumbob]

4. You don't sell assets to pay current accounts. Assets produce income

in perpetuity.

Heritage Foundation needs to be taxed triple for every stupid, self-serving, greedy, asinine idea they come up with. 105% rate.

It's like selling your business to pay this month's electric bill. There's going to be a reckoning one of these days.

[customerserviceguy]

34. A bunch of gold sitting around in a vault

is not my definition of working capital. They should sell off oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve when the price gets pretty high, too.

[plumbob]

35. So if it's worthless, why would anyone buy it?

Yes, do sell off that sludge and close the Increased Demand for Oil Even When There's Not Government Welfare Program for Big Oil. It's antique and filthy technology. The only purpose is to drive prices up while filling it.

[customerserviceguy]

37. I didn't say it was worthless

All I contended was that it was not an investable asset. One that costs a lot of money to protect, by the way.

But if you think that gold is the only real money, then I can see your point. I just disagree.

[indepat]

5. U.S. should increase tax revenues sufficiently to pay the cost of its operations and meet its

obligations which will be impossible until those with most of the income and wealth are asked to share the burden: billionaire hedge-fund managers paying just a bit over 15% of their gross income in income and payroll taxes just ain't gonna hack it. :patriot:

[Iliyah]

7. Well they rich have

been obtaining "gold" like crazy. India and China and probably many other governments. Paper per se is on it's way out. Kinda reminds me of Hercules times. People who don't have gold have to sell other things.

I hear the commericals all the time about buying gold, like how many can do that. Gold is rock from the earth, like diamonds. Oh well.

[Curmudgeoness]

6. We have the money to pay the debt off entirely

within ten years or so. But we have to tax the people and corporations who are sitting on all the money.

Selling off all the gold wouldn't bring nearly the price he is suggesting. All we have to do is announce that we will be selling our gold, and the price of gold will plummet before the first ingot comes out of Ft. Knox. It would go straight to a glut market in gold without releasing any.

[sasha031]

8. The Peoples Budget

[freshwest]

46. Never gets any air time, instead we get this freeper crap. Here's the link to it:

http://cpc.grijalva.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=70

The GOP is trying to force one poisoned pill after another on us. They just change the brand name, to their Tea Party/libertarian crap.

[Iliyah]

9. Corporations and

some of the rich don't won't to be taxed or pay their portion of being American.

[Curmudgeoness]

13. They "won't be taxed". Since when

has any one of us been asked what we "will" or "will not" do? I swear to god I don't understand why I just have to bend over and take it, and they get to dictate what they will do. Grrrrr. :mad:

[Warpy]

10. Republican economists, no doubt.

That's one of the stupidest things I've ever heard them say.

The way to tackle our present problems is to bring back the progressive income tax structure and tie it to the median wage, this time.

Then we need to tackle the Pentagon budget. It's time to start giving up our Empire because we can't afford it, largely because the wealthy have bought enough of the government to avoid paying for it over the last 30 years.

Unless those two things are done, nothing will work, not even this scam to unload something that's owned by all of us to make some of the numbers look better temporarily. They will continue to worsen if revenues aren't raised and Imperial expenditures slashed.

[Name removed]

11. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[peace13]

12. US should stop the frickin wars and reverse the * tax cuts....

and get over it!

[daleo]

14. That would be worth about 100 billion, once.

Then what? Sell off the navy?

[webDude]

17. there has not been an audit since they put it in there, from many i've heard.

first see what's in there?

[Yon_Yonson]

18. Sounds like a plan ... where can I get some for cheap?

[jtuck004]

19. Do these people watch the 1865 channel on cable 24/7? 'Cause their ideas seem to start

with the premise that the 150 years or so since never happened, and we need to sell off the salt pork that is drying in the cellar for winter.

This should provoke gales of laughter from anyone that hears them, yet it doesn't. That's probably not good...

[DeSwiss]

20. Tax the rich, then jail the rich. Problems solved. - K&R

[Lasher]

21. Boner says tax hikes are off the table.

And Obama agrees with him. We are screwed.

[jwirr]

22. Somewhere in this scenario is disaster capital but I am nor sure where. nt

[citizen477]

29. You might be on to Something...

You might be on to something, jwirr. There is this conservative journalist who writes for the "National Review" who is working on a book where the premise is that America is actually going to be a much freer place because the current systems of government will collapse under the weight of debt, making way for the private sector to move in. His name is Kevin Williamson, I think.

[freshwest]

41. National Review? Letting corporatists take over makes us freer?

[Javaman]

44. It's the new right wing meme.

they are trying to further the concept of "it's stupid to tax the rich corporations", but instead it's better to sell all assets to make up the debt.

What they then don't say is, corporations will be buying up those same assets at mafia prices.

"oh sure we'll buy the dept of interior as a favor, but remember, there may come a time, where I will need a favor from you".

I have never felt that if the corporations took over we would become a corporatist nation, I have always thought we would become an organized crime nation. I don't give corporations enough credit to still act even like corporations when they eventually own everything.

[freshwest]

47. What's pissing me off are the alleged Democrats pushing this line here. The corporations are taxing

The hell out of us, they're just the proper brand name to make people think it's better than government. The actions of government pale by comparison, the government was there to protect us from this mafia. Thanks for the post Javaman.

[jwirr]

49. I am reading Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine right now and whenever

there is rethug thinking they are furthering Milton Friedman's model of disaster capital. Until we catch on and figure out how to counter them they will win. Their theory has turned to world upside down and nothing is as it seems. I hope at the end of the book Naomi has an answer.

[On the Road]

23. So the Total Value Right Now

is 147,000,000 oz * $1,500/oz, or $220B. Certainly something to be considered, but not enough to make a substantial dent in the national debt.

[jmowreader]

58. That's not even enough to cover the deficit

According to http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42588564/ns/politics-capitol_hill/t/budget-pact-barely-touches-current-year-deficit/ the projected 2011 deficit is $1.6 trillion.

[digonswine]

24. Economists(barring some) are the cheapest industry whores. Money well spent.

N/T

[nobodyspecial]

25. That's what Mitch Daniels would do

He sold the toll road right out from under the people who paid for it. They really can't stand anything that is publicly held and belonging to all.

[Donnachaidh]

26. the vulture capitalists are circling fort Knox, eh?

Not satisfied with the slow dance of death required to raid SS and Medicare, they are going to start throwing tantrums to get at the gold reserve?

FUCK them all!

[cambie]

27. How about making in into coins

and pay workers with it. You know, people who actually make and build things. The bankers can print themselves more fake money.

[RC]

28. The Heritage Foundation is a domestic terrorist organization.

I wonder who would get a commission if the US sold all that gold? You know they'd privatize the sale, as governments can't do anything as efficiently as the private mega-corporations can.

[CubicleGuy]

30. Ha!

As if there's any gold there. Goldfinger got it all.

[thelordofhell]

31. I heard real estate is expensive too, we're sitting on a lot of it

Sell Texas to Mexico, Alaska to Canada, Hawaii to Japan. Debt solved.

:sarcasm:

Ron Utt should be fired for incompetence. He obviously knows shit about absolutely nothing.

[Corruption Winz]

32. Or.. or.... here's an idea...

Tax the rich and big business and keep the gold. And every time they tax them, give them half an ounce of gold. Like a trophy for being a decent person and paying their taxes. Two birds.....

[bhikkhu]

33. Sell the gold, then the national forests, then the monuments, etc...

its not like a new idea, and the reasons its a bad idea are about the same.

[freshwest]

48. Next, by getting rid of labor and environmental laws, education and housing, create the caste system

The GOP loves so much. After all the other stuff is gone, guess who'll be paying them still?

[humblebum]

36. Better idea. Keep the gold ( it really is good as gold) and

raise tariffs on Chinese goods into the US, which would ensure fair trade and more capital coming back into the US. It would also spur American industrial production.

[Art_from_Ark]

38. The US has been selling gold since at least 1980

American Arts gold medallions-- 1/2- and 1-ounce gold medals that Uncle Sam created for collectors and investors and marketed from 1980 to 1984
Gold commemorative coins-- issued in 1984 for the Los Angeles Olympics, then in most years since 1986
American Eagle gold bullion coins-- issued yearly since 1986 in units of 1/10, 1/4, 1/2 and 1 ounce
American Buffalo gold bullion coins-- issued since 2006

[jonthebru]

39. No! No! No!

Nononononono.

[Javaman]

43. Right, flood the market with gold. Make the price plunge

kill a few economies in the process.

Brilliant!

:sarcasm:

[formercia]

51. Then buy it back on the cheap

It's what the Banksters do to manipulate the market.

[GeorgeGist]

50. But then the pony ...

won't be able to shit rainbows anymore.

[jmowreader]

52. Is Ron Utt selling gold calls?

If this guy is actually an economist he knows commodity prices are set by the law of supply and demand. Hence, if the US dumps even a million ounces of gold onto the market, the price will go down because it can't do otherwise.

Then again, he works for the Heritage Foundation, so who knows what his qualifications really are?

I'm thinkin' Mr. Utt is selling naked calls on gold exchange-traded funds as fast as his little fingers can fly over his keyboard, and he really, really needs the price of gold to plummet.

[Art_from_Ark]

53. Why should the US "dump a million ounces"

when the Mint can make bullion and collector coins from that gold and earn more money in the process?

[jmowreader]

56. That's the right way to look at it...

This character in the Heritage Foundation is running around "sell, sell, sell!!!" about the people's gold. The notion that he's not strictly on the up-and-up comes to mind here.

If the US sells a significant number of ounces, the price of gold WILL go down--there's no way it couldn't; gold is just a commodity and commodities do that--which would make Ott really rich if he is gaming the system.

[Art_from_Ark]

57. The bullion and collector coins enter the market a little at a time

so their impact on the market is minimal. Dumping large amounts of strictly bullion on the market would drive prices down for a while.
I wouldn't be surprised if the author had a short position in gold.

[Kablooie]

54. Good god. They are trying to plunder the whole nation until there's nothing left.

These aren't republican conservatives. They are radical anarchists.

[JVS]

55. These guys want to short gold as 147.000.000 oz. head to the market.

[newspeak]

59. I believe this concept was an Onion piece

Let's look at the future of the "freer" America the deregulating right wing has in store for us. All national public treasures up for sale to the highest bidder. A ME foreign corporation buys Mt. Rushmore, and since it has graven images defaces it. A huge lumber corporation buys the redwood forest in California, closing the park and proceeds to cut every damn tree for a buck. All public roads are now privately owned, where drivers must pay a toll fee every five miles--since they must make a profit, most roads are now in disrepair. All government regulatory departments no longer exist, the corporations now sell drinking water, since the ground water has been polluted beyond drinkability. Food is to be eaten at your own risk, since there no longer is any guide lines-and corporations no longer have to state ingredients on food. If a family member dies of eating contaminated food, there is no recourse since suing the ever growing corporate entity has been outlawed.

All public lands in Utah are sold off to the highest foreign bidder-the natural wonders, near Moab, are nothing but oil drills and mountains of rubble from mining. Because of industry, the Colorado flowing down to Nevada, Arizona, California is so contaminated that swimming, fishing and drinking is at your own risk. Nuclear corporate power plants flourish across the country with no regulation. More and more smaller corporations die off, leaving big mega corporations competing with each other; thus prices skyrocket for the consumer; however, wages become smaller and smaller until most are barely subsisting. Because there are no regulations, more and more workers die from unsafe conditions or exposure.

Since the corporations become so powerful (and those with the moolah), people no longer have the right to vote and there is no need for government or politicians--all laws passed are for and by the corporations (mostly foreign).

Only the elite need go to school--most who are still literate, are taught at home. Of course, schools are run by the corporations-any ideology going against corporate thought are outlawed. Compassion and caring are seen as weakness-only the strong, the sociopathic are considered of value by the corporate state.

Yeah, seems like a "freer" corporate America to me.