What is the International Monetery Fund (IMF), how does it work and who does it benefit? These are the questons discussed in this podcast. Additionally we will investigate another type of currency called “Special Drawing Rights” and how they work.
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When you think “World Bank” you might envision a bank so large that is can provide service to the entire world, the bank of all banks so to speak. In a matter of speaking this may in fact be true of the World Bank as it serves as a bank intent on servicing loans to developing nations. Established in 1945 as part of the Bretton Woods Agreement, the World Bank is in fact the Bank to the World, and a part of the World Bank Group WBG. Like all things, however, there is much, much more to the story.
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The World Trade Organization is in charge of regulating trade and tariffs on a worldwide basis. As the replacement for the earlier General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) it regulates the economies of the world. Unlike the earlier GATT agreement however it is very much focused on Free Trade and the increased power of multi-nationals. The real question is, Is this good or bad? The real answer…it depends on who you are.
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If you were to listen to your nightly business newscast, you would think that the whole world was invested in derivatives. What exactly are they and how do they work? The short answer is that derivatives are contracts that are bought and sold against an item that has a concrete known value, but is not directly redeemable for that item. Instead it is redeemable for the gain or loss of that item over time. Think of it as playing the over/under dice at your local community festival, with the base value being set by some tangible object. Confusing? Sometimes. Complicated? Certainly.
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We get a lot of questions around here asking us to define the terms heard on various news reports and business shows. This is certainly one of the more common requests, What is a Hedge Fund? Simply stated, a hedge fund is no more than an investment vehicle that is designed to be highly risky, with potentially high returns on a very low probability investment. Why would anyone want to invest money in something that has a low potential of providing a return? Who invests in these types of instruments and what type of qualifications do you need to have to do so? Find out all this and more from our podcast.
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In the 1970’s we found ourselves in long gas lines, with oil product prices soaring to the sky. We had hit an oil production peak for the United States. Never since have we managed to sqeak as much oil from American soil as we did back then. Even with advancing technooligy, old wells go dry faster than we open new ones in this country. Are we approaching the same point with World oil production? If so, what will it do to us and the world?
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When you put your money into a bank, How is it used, what do banks do with it? What can they do with it? Thanks to the magic of Fractional Reserve Banking the answer is…almost anything that they want. What exactly is Fractional Reserve Banking? Well, the short answer is keeping only a fraction of the money on hand that they take in, the remainder is lent out. Thanks to the power of borrowing, sweeping and other financial techniques however Tractional Reserves get interesting very quickly.
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In the world of Economics, one thing is certain, Gold is Money. So how about that piece of paper you have in your wallet, that one that we all call “Money”, is it really a valid Currency? The answer to this question leads us to one of the best kept secrets in the world of money, which is that a currenct is only as good as whatever it is backed with. Money can be created of Gold and therefore backed by the content of the coin itself. Money may be backed by Gold and be fully convertible to Gold. Money can be asset-backed, or fully convertible to some underlying asset or lastly, Fiat based.
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I will, of course, fill in the answer in great detail here at some point in the near future, but for now, I ask you to refer to my audio lesson at www.tenminutelessons.com for the podcast version of the answer.
This is one of my favorite questions in the entire world of economics. What makes it my favorite is not the answer, but peoples reaction to the answer, or sometimes, the questions. You see, if the person I am talking about know the answer it always leads into a long and hot debate along with a bit of a history lesson. The answer to this question you see will lead you to a whole world of questions as well as an economic history of taxes, central banks, governments and perhaps even a little bit of deception.
You can hear the answer right here:
I will, of course, fill in the answer in great detail here at some point in the near future, but for now, I ask you to refer to my audio lesson at www.tenminutelessons.com for the podcast version of the answer.
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