By: Elizabeth Kraus

ONE DAY, people who were in doubt about what to do in this economy, asked a wise man. “You are a wise man; can you tell us what you consider to be most precious thing in the world?”
“Easily,” said the wise man, “I consider advice to be priceless.”
The people thought about this for some time, and then asked again: “Well, what do you consider to be worthless?”
“I would say advice is that.”
“Come now, wise man!” objected his audience. “How can something be priceless and then again worthless? You must be making a mistake!”

“No, my friends. An advice taken may be priceless, but consider how worthless it becomes when it goes unheeded.” Read More→

By: Elizabeth Kraus

While wiping his desk lamp the other day, a genie appeared, offering Allen S. Blinder (a professor of economics and public affairs at Princeton University and vice chairman of the Promontory Interfinancial Network, and a former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board,) you guessed it — three wishes. He first asked him to restore his portfolio to its former glory. But the Genie demurred: “No, I only grant wishes for the national economy. And, I only do things that real policy makers can do — no magic for this genie. But think big. We’re in a mess.” Read More→

By Elizabeth Kraus

Firstly, if you thought that English or Spanish are the first and second languages of the world, wrong! Chinese is spoken by large emigrant communities in Southeast Asia, North and South America, and the Hawaiian Islands. More people speak Chinese than any other language in the world…making it one of the oldest languages on Earth to still be used to such extent today…Until the 18th century, its been estimated, more that half of the world’s printed books were in Chinese… Read More→

By: Elizabeth Kraus

If you take a look at Gold prices today, it says a lot about the health of the U.S. economy. When gold prices are high, the economy is usually either in crisis or inflation. When gold prices are low, the economy and the stock market are healthy. When the greenback becomes worthless, investors are rushing into gold to hedge against the financial turmoil. As the dollar, the Euro is falling…the very reserve currency for many nations have dropped its value, which translates to a higher price for gold purchases made in Euros.

Both of these catalysts will continue to bolster gold prices until the underlying issues are resolved. But we have an upside down future, so how can it currency resolve it? As noted already, money is suffering. What’s more, many analysts believe the ill advised and poorly executed efforts by governments to “stimulate” the global economy out of recession will intimately debase all of the world’s paper currency. Read More→

By: Elizabeth Kraus

Everyone needs a little fairy tale once in a while, or stroll in Disneyland, if only to shake off the dredged economy, so this one is for you… Once upon a time, it was one of those days when Barack Obama met with the Queen of England, and he asked her, “Your Majesty, how do you run such an efficient government? Are there any tips you can give to me?”

“Well,” said the Queen, “the most important thing is to surround yourself with intelligent people.”

Obama frowned, and then asked, “But how do I know the people around me are really intelligent?” The Queen took a sip of tea. “Oh, that’s easy; you just ask them to answer an intelligent riddle.” The Queen pushed a button on her intercom. “Please send Tony Blair in here, would you?”

Tony Blair walked into the room and said, “Yes, my Queen?” The Queen smiled and said, “Answer me this please, Tony. Your mother and father have a child. It is not your brother and it is not your sister. Who is it?” Without pausing for a moment, Tony Blair answered, “That would be me.” “Yes! Very good,” said the Queen. Read More→

By: Elizabeth Kraus

While the leading winds of an impending economy storm is on the rise, with few having a clear view of the changes to come, each reporter telling their version of what may lie ahead, I’d like to shake things up and take you back to the Stone Age, where people gathered around the drinking hole to dish about who was clubbing the hottest babes and what to do about what belongs to whom. And if you weren’t happy, a big bang on the head took care of that. In ancient Rome, supposedly the ‘more civilized’, the economy flourished with shiny bling and baubles, and when they got bored throwing Christians to the lions, they sat around “kiki-ing” about Nero’s hairdo. Read More→