Jim,
Those that fail to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it.
– Winston Churchill
Study Weimar and remember Jim and Alf’s numbers!
CIGA "The Gordon"
Dear Bernie,
Amongst the greatest good fortune I have had, it was to find myself in Tanzania in the late 80s.
The deciding factor of what country will be the leader in gold production depends to a degree on enlightened leadership. Tanzania wins hands down.
I firmly believe the leadership of Tanzania will in time be the leadership of an economic union of viable African states similar to Euroland with a singular currency and central bank.
The rise of China has taken all the attention away from the up and coming continent of Africa with a leader that has the charisma of John F. Kennedy and the brains for leadership as Einstein had for science.
The West should be a fortunate.
Respectfully,
Jim
Hi Jim,
It appears it is going to be between Tanzania and Ghana for the #1 spot in Africa!!!
I’m betting on Tanzania!
Best,
CIGA Bernie
South African gold on final deathwatch as top grade scientist finds residual gold is more than 90% less than claimed
(Excerpt from article)
The apparent bottom line in a paper published in the South African Journal of Science is that South Africa’s gold industry is on final deathwatch, despite claims of massive existing below-ground reserves. Chris Hartnady, research and technical director of Cape Town earth sciences consultancy Umvoto Africa, has found that South Africa’s Witwatersrand goldfields are around 95% exhausted, and anticipates that production rates should fall permanently below 100 tonnes a year within the coming decade.
Jim,
A "pre-emptive" backstop to "solvent firms" with "sufficient collateral" – that sounds like an oxymoron to me.
If they really want to work to prevent future liquidity crises they should do exactly the opposite. Stop providing implicit taxpayer guarantees to preferential industries and increase system transparency.
CIGA Marc D
Fed Could Offer ‘Liquidity Backstop’ to Some Firms, Dudley Says
By Vivien Lou Chen and Sandrine Rastello
Nov. 14 (Bloomberg) — Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley said the central bank could curtail the risk of future liquidity crises by providing a “backstop” to solvent firms with sufficient collateral.
“The central bank could commit to being the lender of last resort” to such firms, Dudley said in a speech yesterday in Princeton, New Jersey. This would reduce “the risk of panics sparked by uncertainty among lenders about what other creditors think.”
Dudley said he’s confident regulators can create policies to reduce the risk of future liquidity runs like the ones that struck Bear Stearns Cos., Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and American International Group Inc. The international Basel Committee on Banking Supervision is reviewing ways to require banks to hold more and higher-quality capital, he said.
The New York Fed chief’s comments coincide with consideration by Fed officials of ways to withdraw a record $1 trillion of liquidity channeled into the financial system to avert a depression. The New York Fed said last month it’s working with market participants on using reverse repurchase agreements to drain cash from the banking system.
