Economics is a dirty word

Ben Bernanke

I've been farming for thirty years, but before that I was a finance journalist and it was interesting uncovering the greed of our leading corporate citizens and the stupidty of people involved in running our economic systems.

Every day it seems to be increasingly clear that world economies are facing collapse. The current unrest in arab countries is just one example – and there are serious implications for us all.

Once the major economies went off the gold standard (effectively rejecting the notion that a nation's currency should be underpinned by gold reserves), the rot set in.

The helter-skelter of boom and bust was inevitable with each crash likely to be bigger than the last. Governments tried to maintain growth by fiddling with taxes, introducing crocks like compulsory superannuation and diverting the population by the old trick of starting wars whenever they felt like it, but the costs were always greater than the benefits which were achieved (leaving aside the human pain and suffering).

The recent 'Global Financial Meltdown' caused by corporate greed and government inaction will pale into insignificance when the next crunch happens – and it could be anytime.

When the United States dollar loses its status as the world's reserve currency, its frantic printing of dollar bills and its overwhelming debt levels will lead to an ugly exchange rate. The result will be hyper-inflation on commodities such as food and there are likely to be yet more revolutions in the world!

Going back through thousands of years of economic history there is clearly one fact: No country has ever printed its way to prosperity, all who have tried have wound up with hyperinflation, war or have simply slipped into oblivion (sometimes all three).

With someone like Ben Bernanke pulling the financial strings in the US, the outcome is inevitable and unfortunately the US collapse will take the rest of the world with it.

It will probably take 20 years for some kind of order to be re-established and unquestionably it will be a very different world to the one we know.

Things like tax-effective accounting, margin loans, derivative debt, tax havens, market mechanisms, the economic imperative, negative gearing, futures trading, deficit spending and corporate greed will be seen as some of the evils which brought the empire down.

The only economy which has succeded long term is the village economy. Happy to talk to you anytime if you'd like more info..