Job Discussion Forums

[cassava]

[johnslat]

Dear cassava,

My inference, admittedly - based on the fact that he did so darn much of it.

Of course, I suppose he might have just been severely masochistic.

Regards,
John

[cassava]

I suspect that Nostradamus was neither a masochist nor a cynical zealot. He apparently dabbled in alchemy and felt impelled to write about the images that appeared to him during his frequent rites.

However, the religious zeitgeist was such that he had to camouflage his quatrains in a variety of obscure ways in order to avoid the wrath of the Inquisition.

Because his prophecies were so numerous but so vague, people today tend to interpret his verses according to their own ideological disposition. Unfortunately, this approach has resulted in a great deal of confusion and misinterpretation.

[johnslat]

Dear cassava,

And apparently, from what I've read of his writings, those images didn't seem to include too much cheer and optimism.

Regards,
John

[Nevpraguetefl]

As far as I'm aware through the international media isn't the US$ going to take a dive pretty soon due to the huge bailout cash injection planned soon?

[johnslat]

You mean QE2? Yup, the dollar will likely be devalued - but it may well be China that gets hurt the most:

"Whatever the effects of QE2 on the US, its impact on China will be major. Because China has attached its renminbi to the dollar, the �dollar economy� consists of the US and China - the so-called �Chimerica�, though as an optimal currency area it might better be called Chimera.

In this dollar economy, China is heavily undervalued (though nobody can assess by how much) and the US is overvalued. The Fed�s newly created liquidity could in effect �flow downhill� to the undervalued portion of the dollar economy. Already overheated, inflationary China will get a much larger dose of cost-push inflation in food and energy than the US.

Food is one third of China�s CPI, versus 14 per cent in America. This makes the recent 20 per cent rise in food commodity prices more important. Meanwhile, China�s competitive leg-up vis-�-vis Japan, Korea, Germany and others will be exacerbated by a further 5 per cent trade-weighted devaluation (in line with the dollar) - a currency impact that is likely to take effect much more quickly than any benefit from devaluation to the US. So higher Chinese inflation arising from QE2 is a double-whammy: demand-pull as well as cost-push."

http://blogs.ft.com/beyond-brics/2010/11/05/guest-post-qe2-worsens-chinas-currency-dilemma/

But no one really knows what the global consequences might be:

"There is little consensus on how this game could play out. A voice within a global top 10 fund manager recently commented: �We have a full range of well-argued views internally from very bearish to very bullish. They all sound reasonable." All kinds of people, from school teachers to ski instructors are asking: �I have some spare cash � what shares should I buy?� When your hairdresser starts asking the question, run for the hills."

http://www.itweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=38183:welcome-to-qe2-and-competitive-currency-devaluation&catid=194&tmpl=component&print=1

[killthebuddha]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zI5hrcwU7Dk

[Kiwi303]

I wonder what would happen if the Chinese decided to peg the Yuan to the Aussie dollar instead of the US dollar, they buy enough Aussie raw materials from the mines there, what mines they haven't tried to buy up themselves. Should provide more price stability for their manufacturers than hedging