Mormon Bloggers

Everything at Disneyland is expensive.  They don’t make their money from the admission price.  They make their money on the food and the souvenirs.  I should know.  I bought some food there, and way too many souvenirs.  Including glass ornaments for the Christmas tree so we remember our trip.  They were so cute! When we went on our trip to Disneyland, we were introduced to the PhotoPass card.  There are photographers everywhere and when they take your picture, they scan the bar code on your PhotoPass card.  We were trying to pass on letting them take our pictures, and we told them it’s because the pictures are so expensive.  He told us that you can buy a CD with all the pictures on it for $60.  Honestly, I thought that was a pretty good deal because I knew they charged around $15 for an 8×10.  So we just let them take whatever pictures they wanted. When we got home, one of the first things I did was get on the internet and... Read the rest of this entry »

I hold a 500 billion dinara banknote, worth $6 when first issued Millions of U.S. citizens are concerned about deficit spending and the possibility of high inflation and even hyperinflation. To illustrate how easily fiat money can become hyperinflated, I have been highlighting the top four countries that have had hyperinflation. They are: Hungary, 207% daily inflation rate in July 1946 Zimbabwe, 98% daily inflation rate in November 2008 Yugoslavia, 65% daily inflation rate in January 1994 Germany, 21% daily inflation rate in October 1923 Note that the inflation rates cited are daily. O my, I am glad I didn’t have to live through hyperinflation. Also observe that these countries are not confined to Europe. China is not listed but if they were they would come in at number 6. Any where fiat currencies are used (that’s basically everywhere) the danger of hyperinflation is forever present. To complete the gang of four, today I am discussing Yugoslavia. The 500 billion dinar... Read the rest of this entry »

Weimar Republic 100 million mark banknote The 100 million mark banknote I am holding was mere pocket change compared to the value of the banknotes yet to be issued in 1923. In early 1921 German currency was trading at 60 marks to the U.S. dollar. By November 1921 there were 330 marks to the dollar. A year later a dollar bought 8,000 marks. In December 1923 the exchange rate was 4,200,000,000,000 marks to the U.S. dollar. The Wiemar Republic did not have the worst hyperinflation in history — Hungary holds that “honor”. Zimbabwe was the second worst offender, followed by Yugoslavia, and then Germany. Greece and China round up the top six hyperinflators of all time. The highest denomination in Germany was a 100,000,000,000,000 mark banknote issued in 1923. Workers were paid three times a day and wives would meet them to rush to the store to pay 200 billion marks for a loaf of bread. The hyperinflation was caused by the government issuing massive amounts of new money. This... Read the rest of this entry »

Hungarian 100,000 Milpengo banknote I recently wrote that I was concerned about the increased deficit spending by the Obama Administration. I showed what happened to Zimbabwe when the government failed to control their currency and their spending. Although hyperinflation destroyed their currency and their citizens lives, the worst offender of all time was Hungary. Above is a 100,000 Milpengo banknote if I am reading it correctly. A Milpego is a million pengos. So this note is a 100 billion pengo banknote. However this is small change. The largest denomination banknote in history was in circulation in Hungary in 1946. It was for 100 quintillion pengo or 100,000,000,000,000,000,000 pengo. Hungary had the highest monthly inflation rate ever — 41,900,000,000,000,000% in July, 1946. Prices doubled every 13.5 hours. When I show friends this banknote and the Zimbabwe note, handling them brings home the fragility of our own Federal Reserve Notes. They know that our printing presses are... Read the rest of this entry »

When announced, the note I hold was worth 30 US dollars but would quickly lose value Recently I have been concerned about the increased deficit spending by the Obama Administration. The risk of inflation, even hyperinflation, seems to be in our future. With a little study I was surprised to learn scores of countries have experienced hyperinflation. In November 2008, Zimbabwe had a monthly inflation rate of 79,600,000,000% and an annual rate of 89,700,000,000,000,000,000,000%. The daily inflation rate was 98% and prices doubled every 24.7 hours. Even these horrendous numbers do not equal those of Hungary in 1946 that had an daily inflation rate of 195% with prices doubling every 15.6 hours. Other notable hyperinflators were Yugoslavia in 1994 with prices doubling every 1.4 days, Germany in 1923 doubling prices every 3.7 days, Greece every 4.5 days (1944), and China every 5.6 days (1949). One would hope that we are not headed for the same fate as Zimbabwe. Perhaps this November, by voting... Read the rest of this entry »

Read the rest of this post here: Save Money for Tough Times. My guest writer is Sharon Smith of the Oak View Law Group. Start saving for the "rainy day" There is a crunch in the American economy and times are hard now. How is it possible to survive in this financial crisis? It is about time that you start saving for the “rainy day”. Every family has an individual lifestyle to maintain. Here are a few tips, which can help you to save money, without compromising on the living standards. Do not waste food. Serve leftovers the next day. This will help in resisting the temptations of eating out. Tired of wearing the same old clothes? Instead of buying new ones, swap your wardrobe with close friends. This will freshen up your wardrobe to an extent. In case of errands, plan an efficient route so that all your tasks are done and you save money on gas too. Looking for some entertainment? Swap DVDs with friends or rent a movie. You can also go for a bargain matinee show. Prioritize... Read the rest of this entry »

I’m not confident that this World War II poster and advertising slogan can persuade me to cheerfully suffer through much more of the effects of this recession. But it is good for a laugh to see how American women were encouraged to support the war effort by making do with the rationing of some consumer [...] All Content Copyright (C) 2007-2009 TJ Hirst. No content may be reproduced without the copyright owner’s express written consent. Used Up, Worn Out and Tired of Making Doing Without  Read More →

I have truly felt and learned the Lord gives us all things.  When you learn that everything you have is from God, and everything you receive in excess is just so you can be put into a position to give it to someone else, when that happens then you truly understand the role of money in the world. And you understand that God just wants you to take care of His children. Even as a starving college student. I’m so grateful I’ve learned this lesson today. “God gave me my money. I believe the power to make money is a gift from God to be developed and used to the best of our ability for the good of mankind. Having been endowed with the gift I possess, I believe it is my duty to make money and still more money and to use the money I make for the good of my fellow man according to the dictates of my conscience.”   – John D. Rockefeller Mosiah 18:27 “And again Alma commanded that the people of the church should impart of their substance, every one according to that which... Read the rest of this entry »

The Top Twelve Central Banks Gold Reserve Holdings With China and India acquiring gold it is interesting to see that the United States still holds almost eight times the gold that China does and more than fourteen times India’s reserves. Of note is that the United States has 78% of its foreign reserves in gold. Of the countries listed below only Greece (91.6%), Portugal (90.3%), and the Slovak Republic (83.3) have higher rates. However, China has only 1.8% of its foreign reserves in gold. India is looking a little better at 6%. Only the top 50 countries by gold reserves are listed below. Of course the IMF and a few others are not countries but they do own substantial holdings. Click on the column headers to sort. Country Tons1 Percent2 $ Billion3 United States 8,966 78.3 313.80 Germany 3,762 69.5 131.66 IMF 3,546 N/A 124.13 Italy 2,703 66.1 94.59 France 2,701 73.0 94.55 China 1,162 1.8 40.66 Switzerland 1,147 37.1 40.13 Japan 843 2.1 29.52 Netherlands 675 61.4 23.63 Russia 592 4.0 20.71 India 615 6.0 21.52 ECB 553 18.3 19.34 Taiwan 467 3.8 16.34 Portugal 422 90.3 14.76 Venezuela 393 36.5 13.75 United... Read the rest of this entry »