Diamond News Archives

There is evidence that US Treasury bond yields may continue to rise, exposing the debt trap in which the US government finds itself. Market participants don’t realise it yet, but the dollar-based monetary system is spinning out of control. This will become obvious as the crisis stage of the credit cycle, which we now appear to be entering, becomes evident.

You’ve got to hand it to these people– Congress really knows how to bring out the holiday cheer.

They have some sort of pathological need to pass the most absurd legislation at the VERY END OF THE YEAR giving people very little time to react.

Two years ago, for example, they passed comprehensive tax reform in late December 2017… and the new tax code went into effect only a few days later.

Taxpayers had no time to even understand the new law, let alone plan around it.

That’s the funny thing about taxes– people plan their entire lives around the tax code.

They set up special structures, invest in particular assets, and go through all sorts of legal and accounting work, to make sure they’re following the tax code while they take care of their families.

And then, poof, Congress changes the rules overnight.

Well they just did it again.

A few days ago they passed a 643-page spending bill. And, buried deep within that legislation are provisions that were originally part of the SECURE Act.

I told you about this a few months ago– the SECURE Act was intended to ‘help’ Americans save for retirement. And there are certain sections which are great.

For example, they removed the age limit for contributing to an IRA. It used to be that you could no longer contribute to your retirement after the age of 70 ½.

That limit has been lifted… which should prove useful for many people.

They also increased the age for Required Minimum Distributions to age 72, up from age 70 ½. So you have an additional 18-months before you’ll be required to start taking distributions from your retirement account.

On the other...

There is currently a popular debate on how to stimulate economies that are stuck with low productivity, low real interest rates, and a large amount of public debt. Proponents of an old idea in new clothes – modern monetary theory (MMT) – argue that central banks can solve these problems by buying large amounts of government debt and increasing the money supply. Advocates argue that the stimulus to demand would cause firms to unleash investment and produce a long sustainable economic expansion. This can only be described as a classic free lunch.

Free lunches have a long tradition in policy debates. They are politically popular and have recurred many times in the twentieth century and before. The experience with all economies that have swallowed the particular free lunch proposed by MMT enthusiasts is that it is very costly, and it can take a long time before unsustainable pressures eventually cause a disastrous outcome. The evidence on approaches like those proposed by advocates of MMT is that it always results in hyperinflation, massive social and economic destruction, and a crisis, followed by the imposition of more conventional economic policies. All existing experience– Venezuela today; Zimbabwe in 2008; Yugoslavia in 1994; Hungary in 1946; Greece in 1944; Wiemar Germany in 1923 — demonstrates the large costs.

Is it possible that traditional economics has missed something? Is it possible that this time MMT will perform differently?

When a government spends more than the revenue it generates, it usually finances its budget deficits by issuing government debt. Debt is a promise to repay lenders at some time in the future, for example...

(IDEX Online) - Alorsa and Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) have signed a number of agreements to finalize the creation of a joint venture for prospecting and exploration works for primary diamond deposits in the Republic of Zimbabwe.

According to the agreements, Alrosa owns 70 percent of Alrosa (Zimbabwe) Limited JV, with state-owned ZCDC getting 30 percent. 

The Russian mining company established  Alrosa (Zimbabwe) Limited in December 2018. In July 2019, ALROSA and ZCDC signed a memorandum of agreement to transform it into a JV for prospecting, exploration and, in case of success, mining of primary diamond deposits in Zimbabwe.

"We are focused toward productive prospecting and exploration for primary diamond deposits in the Republic of Zimbabwe," said Alrosa CEO Sergey Ivanov. "Signing current agreements allows us to form the company's administration and to initiate procedures required to get necessary permissions and licenses."...