Pater Tenebrarum's Blog

Few markets are as widely misunderstood and subject to as many misconceptions as the gold market. Many of these misconceptions stem from gold’s dual characteristics as a commodity and money. Is it actually...

In the aftermath of the 2008 crisis, it has become clear that markets are locked in a battle with policymakers. In an unhampered free market the crisis would have been followed by a sizable deflation of uncovered money substitutes.

From his perch at the NYT, Paul Krugman informs us that he has detected a 'Plot Against France', because credit rating agency S&P has dared to downgrade the government's debt to 'AA' from 'AA+'.

Most stories about central banking and central bankers in the mainstream financial press follow a certain pattern. For instance, the idea that these central planning institutions may not only be superfluous but may be downright harmful is considered utterly beyond the pale of debate.

Readers may recall that we have reported on the toilet paper shortage in Venezuela before. At the time our suggestion to the Venezuelan authorities was to simply replace toilet paper with the country's currency...

Apparently the unresolved back and forth between House and Senate concerning the 'Obamacare' bill in the run-up to the debt ceiling cut-off date on October 17 will lead to what is breathlessly referred to as a 'government shutdown' in the media.

When exactly did Keynes' influence 'fade'? There was a brief moment when it appeared he might be pushed of his pedestal by the monetarists in the 1970s, but to argue that there is little left of his influence in academia is baffling, to say the least.

As our long time readers know, we regard the Financial Times' editorial line in monetary matters as terribly misguided. The paper is strongly in favor of Keynesian recipes and central economic planning.

First of all, the amount of foreign selling is really quite small compared to the size of the market, although it is undoubtedly the case that what used to be a tailwind has become a headwind.

We have come across many articles recently discussing the decline in COMEX inventories and/or the decline in inventories held by physical gold ETFs like GLD. Invariably the writers conclude that these inventory declines must be a bullish sign.