WHY SILVER- WHY NOW ?

John Williams - The US Government is Insolvent

With the US government reporting financials, it seemed important to turn to John Williams of ShadowStats for an honest breakdown.  

John had this to say, “For 2010, gross federal debt was 94% of GDP, and total federal obligations were 443% (official) or 529% (alternative) of GDP, depending on the number used.  The difference, though, is not material, as either ratio leaves the U.S. government insolvent over the long haul".

http://kingworldnews.com/kingworldnews/KWN_DailyWeb/Entries/2010/12/22_John_Williams_-_The_US_Government_is_Insolvent.html

Buying Gold: Why Are The Chinese Gobbling Up Gold Like There Is No Tomorrow?

Why are the Chinese buying so much gold?  In 2010 it has been demand out of China that has been one of the primary factors for the dramatic rise in the price of gold.  Gold is up approximately 26 percent this year, and most analysts expect it to go even higher in 2011.  So is China buying gold at a breathtaking pace because they view it as a good investment, or are there other factors at work here?  Do the Chinese view gold as a hedge against inflation?  Is China seeking to get out of U.S. Treasuries?  Has gold simply become much more attractive than paper currencies such as the euro and the U.S. dollar?  Or could China be preparing for the coming financial collapse that so many economists see coming?  It is always difficult to tell exactly what China is up to, but one thing is for sure - they are buying gold like there is no tomorrow.

http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/buying-gold-why-are-the-chinese-gobbling-up-gold-like-there-is-no-tomorrow

Nicole Foss on Canadian real estate: “We are in a massive bubble”

Ms. Foss writes under the name Stoneleigh over at The Automatic Earth (TAE). She and her writing partner have been chronicling and interpreting the on-going credit crunch as the most pressing aspect of our current multi-faceted predicament. The site integrates finance, energy, environment, psychology, population and real politics in order to explain why we find ourselves in a state of crisis and what we can do about it. Prior to the establishment of TAE, she was editor of The Oil Drum Canada, where she wrote on peak oil and finance.

Foss runs the Agri-Energy Producers’ Association of Ontario, where she has focused on farm-based biogas projects and grid connections for renewable energy. While living in the UK she was a Research Fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, where she specialized in nuclear safety in Eastern Europe and the Former Soviet Union, and conducted research into electricity policy at the EU level.

Here is the full clip. Fast forward to 13:40 for the bit on real estate.