Home › Forums › Costa Rica Living Forum › Should Costa Rica “dollarize”?
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January 21, 2013 at 11:43 pm #163657Kwhite1Member
[quote=”VictoriaLST”]Kwhite has a good question. What is the colon tied to?[/quote]
I did a search and my computer did nada. Could not find any info it only exchange rates against the soon to be worthless USD.
January 22, 2013 at 10:46 pm #163658DavidCMurrayParticipant[quote=”kwhite1″][quote=”VictoriaLST”]Kwhite has a good question. What is the colon tied to?[/quote]
I did a search and my computer did nada. Could not find any info it only exchange rates against the soon to be worthless USD.[/quote]
How soon will the U.S. dollar be worthless? A month? Two? You seem pretty sure about this, so give us a date and we’ll see if you’re right. I’ll put it on my calendar.
January 23, 2013 at 12:29 am #163659Kwhite1Member[quote=”DavidCMurray”][quote=”kwhite1″][quote=”VictoriaLST”]Kwhite has a good question. What is the colon tied to?[/quote]
I did a search and my computer did nada. Could not find any info it only exchange rates against the soon to be worthless USD.[/quote]
How soon will the U.S. dollar be worthless? A month? Two? You seem pretty sure about this, so give us a date and we’ll see if you’re right. I’ll put it on my calendar.
[/quote]David, the USD index decline from 121.02 (2001) to 70.83 (2008), a 48% decline. In 2008 we had 10 trillion in debt compared to 16 trillion in debt today. Not a good ratio my friend. If you cannot see the path we are on then I am not sure you should be in charge of the money in your pocket.
If you ran a business this way you would soon find yourself on food stamps.
The USD has been the reserve currency for 65 years, that means all oil trade has been in USD. Iran, China, and Russia have begun trading outside of the USD for oil for about 12 months now. That is catastrophic to the USD. The USD did not become a true fiat currency until Nixon in 1971 separated gold from the USD. With a fiat currency and debt to GDP ratio at 10x debt to GDP, it doesn’t take a rocket engineer to figure that out. I guess we can just keep taxing big, bad corporations to pay for it? I doubt they will keep going, the stock holders and CEO’s will just bail out.
I’ll trade you every USD I have for silver/gold at spot price today, I’ll win that exchange soon. Want to take me up on that?
To answer your question, if I knew the exact date of the decline of the USD I would be a zillionaire, but I suspect that we will see a major decline in 3 years or less. Again, is the colon backed by anything or is it a fiat currency?
January 23, 2013 at 1:13 am #163660DavidCMurrayParticipantHmmm . . .
“. . . A major decline in three years or less” doesn’t sound like either “worthless” or “soon”.
The dollar has been very consistent against the colon (my primary concern) for a couple of years or longer. I’ll mark my calendar for January of 2016 and we’ll see if your doomsday scenario pays out.
January 23, 2013 at 1:38 am #163661Kwhite1Member[quote=”DavidCMurray”]Hmmm . . .
“. . . A major decline in three years or less” doesn’t sound like either “worthless” or “soon”.
The dollar has been very consistent against the colon (my primary concern) for a couple of years or longer. I’ll mark my calendar for January of 2016 and we’ll see if your doomsday scenario pays out.
[/quote]I guess it depends on your definition of soon, 3 years seems pretty soon to me, maybe not to you. I would rather prepare for the worst and hope (pray) for the best than prepare for the best and have the worst happen.
But everyone lives life differently.
I follow many financial guru’s, they have made a lot more $ than I will ever have, they gain nothing from warning about the pending financial crisis, but yet they do. I find it interesting that major governments around the world are buying gold at a record pace, AND greatly reduced buying of US bonds. I guess everyone else is wrong and the USD will be just hunky dory for all eternity.
To keep on topic, is the Colon backed by anything?
As an FYI, since 2010, the colon has gone from 589.645 colon/USD to 500.2/USD today, looks promising if you ask me! That’s only an 17% decline in the USD in 2 years against the colon, I think things are perfect, no worries my friend.
David, I get it, you try your hardest to keep people from invading beautiful Costa Rica, I don’t blame you.
January 23, 2013 at 1:19 pm #163662daviddMember[quote=”kwhite1″][quote=”DavidCMurray”][quote=”kwhite1″][quote=”VictoriaLST”]Kwhite has a good question. What is the colon tied to?[/quote]
I did a search and my computer did nada. Could not find any info it only exchange rates against the soon to be worthless USD.[/quote]
How soon will the U.S. dollar be worthless? A month? Two? You seem pretty sure about this, so give us a date and we’ll see if you’re right. I’ll put it on my calendar.
[/quote]David, the USD index decline from 121.02 (2001) to 70.83 (2008), a 48% decline. In 2008 we had 10 trillion in debt compared to 16 trillion in debt today. Not a good ratio my friend. If you cannot see the path we are on then I am not sure you should be in charge of the money in your pocket.
If you ran a business this way you would soon find yourself on food stamps.
The USD has been the reserve currency for 65 years, that means all oil trade has been in USD. Iran, China, and Russia have begun trading outside of the USD for oil for about 12 months now. That is catastrophic to the USD. The USD did not become a true fiat currency until Nixon in 1971 separated gold from the USD. With a fiat currency and debt to GDP ratio at 10x debt to GDP, it doesn’t take a rocket engineer to figure that out. I guess we can just keep taxing big, bad corporations to pay for it? I doubt they will keep going, the stock holders and CEO’s will just bail out.
I’ll trade you every USD I have for silver/gold at spot price today, I’ll win that exchange soon. Want to take me up on that?
To answer your question, if I knew the exact date of the decline of the USD I would be a zillionaire, but I suspect that we will see a major decline in 3 years or less. Again, is the colon backed by anything or is it a fiat currency?[/quote]
kwhite
no need to waste your energy on the ignorant masses my friend. 🙂
these kinds of conversations should be at a PM level with like minded individuals. and then strategies could be discussed and deployed to diversify risk.
I spoke with an attorney the other day and it seems that the colon is indeed another fiat currency.
but there are major differences.. like at least attempting fiscal responsibility. costa rica does not just print funny money at will.. weeeee!!!!!
the recent move with the new tax on spec dollars is a recent example of attempting to protect costa rica from the influx and outgoing of large spec investments.
I believe you will start to see more and more people like yourself kwhite that will be looking for outside investment opportunities and since this country is small its economy is much more delicate so a large influx or movement of Dollars can do some damage.
scott is better equipt to explain this since I am not an expert.. just a layman in observation.
anybody who has a mortgage here can also attest to how much more difficult the process here to get credit to buy a house compare this to the last years back in the U.S. which caused so many problems. costs rica fared pretty well in comparison.
and think about this.
the people of costa rica are still very much self reliant people (although this is changing for the next generation.)
they do NOT depend on government handouts or are there destructive social programs here. and this is only because they do NOT have the resources.
but think about this scary thought
can you imagine if social programs like welfare and food stamps were introduced here in costa rica. :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D
it would destroy this country because soon enough and at a quicker pace you would have the balance of takers vs producers change dramatically.
people here now need to be somewhat creative and need a social network friends and family, churches, etc that help each other. as the way it should be.
they dont go to the gov and expect them to support them.
also the people here have some very good basic skill sets.. like growing food, . etc.
food and fresh is still very abundant and cheap again this may change in the future.
now compare this to the U.S. and how its changing. heck I used to be part of that 15 years ago living in a city all my life.
I never knew how to do anything except just go out to the stores and buy solutions. moving here has been a very life changing but rewarding experience for me.
heck I am even building my very own underground well that will be powered by a solar pump.!!
building an aquaponics system and installing a windturbine solar hybrid system.
:D:D:D:D:D:D
anyway enough of my rant before the mods delete my posts again.:?:?:?:?:?:?
January 23, 2013 at 2:45 pm #163663costaricabillParticipant[quote=”davidd”]anyway enough of my rant before the mods delete my posts again.[/quote]
davidd – are you saying that you have had a post deleted by a “moderator”, or that you have had posts “deleted”?
There is a difference!January 23, 2013 at 10:46 pm #163664jmcbuilderParticipantI’ll go out on a limb and say, There are trillions of dollars of oil reserves in the US. Peak oil turns out to be false. I read an article about the oil reserves in Northern California, on par with Saudi Arabia. Even if my facts are off the dollar still has some support. The problem with the dollar is how it is used to control the people. Many of us have worked hard and in reality don’t even own our own cars, even if paid off. This also includes our homes. Shocking but true. The federal reserve is the true owner. I don’t buy into metals either. Other than self reliance and owning a mango tree what else is there?
January 23, 2013 at 10:51 pm #163665DavidCMurrayParticipantOkay, a little elaboration, please. In what sense of the term does the fed own my unencunbered Hyundai Terracan?
January 23, 2013 at 10:59 pm #163666Kwhite1Member[quote=”jmcbuilder”]I’ll go out on a limb and say, There are trillions of dollars of oil reserves in the US. Peak oil turns out to be false. I read an article about the oil reserves in Northern California, on par with Saudi Arabia. Even if my facts are off the dollar still has some support. The problem with the dollar is how it is used to control the people. Many of us have worked hard and in reality don’t even own our own cars, even if paid off. This also includes our homes. Shocking but true. The federal reserve is the true owner. I don’t buy into metals either. Other than self reliance and owning a mango tree what else is there?[/quote]
Valid comment JMC, what do you truly own? Any government can take away your land, take your finances, take everything you “own”. The one thing they cannot take away….faith. Kudos to you for breaking it down to a simple equation. Food for thought my friend.
January 23, 2013 at 11:19 pm #163667johnnyhMemberWe all know that Dollar bills flow in Costa Rica and are widely accepted just about everywhere. But not just every bill, as some of the wrinkled one’s are refused. Interesting, isn’t it?
My question is are silver coins accepted? I’m talking about the pre 1964 90% silver coins. Do they circulate at the value of silver. I recall my government stating that silver was too expensive to have in coins! Well hell, that’s what a coin is supposed to have: Value. Not the clad coins we use now, and even those are costing more than the value indicated.
If the United States returns to a gold standard, it would have to be at somewhere between $5000.00 to $10,000.00 an ounce. Silver at $500.00 to 1,000.00 an ounce. Yipee, this investing in metals sounds like fun. I sound like the Mogambo Guru.January 23, 2013 at 11:29 pm #163668jmcbuilderParticipantDavid, I was referring to US assets I don’t know about Costa Rica. If you purchase a car with greenbacks you don’t own that car. The car is used as collateral for the fed. You would own that car if you purchased it with gold, but you would need to get the origin of manufacture certificate from the dealer. I’m not talking about a title. I think that would be very difficult to do. Until the Fed is fully paid off all assets bought with dollars are indeed collateral.
January 24, 2013 at 12:05 am #163669Kwhite1Member[quote=”jmcbuilder”]David, I was referring to US assets I don’t know about Costa Rica. If you purchase a car with greenbacks you don’t own that car. The car is used as collateral for the fed. You would own that car if you purchased it with gold, but you would need to get the origin of manufacture certificate from the dealer. I’m not talking about a title. I think that would be very difficult to do. Until the Fed is fully paid off all assets bought with dollars are indeed collateral.[/quote]
JMC, that would work if you purchased that car with currency backed with gold, I am not sure of any currency that is backed with gold at this moment? If you know of any let me know, thats the one to be in!!
January 24, 2013 at 12:49 am #163670jmcbuilderParticipantKwhite, I don’t know of any currency backed by gold, maybe black gold (Norway). Sprite said something that makes sense about who is the owner of assets in banks. If a bank closes its doors with your money in it, I suppose you have to stand in line with the other creditors in court. The FDIC is on the hook for some of it if it is solvent and as long as the rules don’t change. I’m thinking about pension funds and the insurance provided by the US government which they are on the hook for only 30% of the full amount. I also think of what happened to GM bond holders that were supposed to be first in line according to our laws at the time. The government sure turned that around on them.
January 24, 2013 at 2:00 am #163671costaricabillParticipant[quote=”jmcbuilder”]David, I was referring to US assets I don’t know about Costa Rica. If you purchase a car with greenbacks you don’t own that car. The car is used as collateral for the fed. You would own that car if you purchased it with gold, but you would need to get the origin of manufacture certificate from the dealer. I’m not talking about a title. I think that would be very difficult to do. Until the Fed is fully paid off all assets bought with dollars are indeed collateral.[/quote]
In the States of Florida and Texas (and others I presume) when you buy a new boat and pay for it with cash, credit card, check or whatever, the buyer receives the “MSO” (Manufacturer’s Statement of Origin) from the dealer, but (most of the time) only after the dealer pays the manufacturer or importer (in cash, with credit card, check or funds transfer).
We owned a small boat company for 8 years, sold 100’s of boats per year, and never received or paid for anything with gold, so you can get the MSO without paying in gold!
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