Gold: FDR's Other "Day of Infamy"

The following was way before my time, but it should be recognized that it was one of the beginnings of the ruination of the U.S. dollar. It took place 90 years ago yesterday.

On April 5, 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an executive order forcing the American people to surrender their gold. This was illegal on the face of it as executive orders cannot be directly applied to citizens. But he did it anyway after congress passed an unconstitutional law, the Gold Reserve Act of 1934, that gave FDR dictatorial power. Like sheep, the American people complied.

The story of the "other day of infamy" of FDR has been posted at Money Metals Exchange.

It begins with:

Ninety years ago, Franklin Roosevelt told Americans they had less than a month to hand over their gold or face up to ten years in prison.

December 7, 1941 will forever be remembered as, in the words of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, "a date that will live in infamy." Another infamous date is April 5, 1933—the day that FDR ordered the seizure of the private gold holdings of the American people.

By attacking innocent citizens, Roosevelt bombed the country's gold standard just as surely as Japan bombed Pearl Harbor.

On this 90th anniversary of the seizure, it behooves us to recall the details of it, for multiple reasons: It ranks as one of the most notorious abuses of power in a decade when there were almost too many to count.

It's an example of bad policy imposed on the guiltless by the government that created the conditions it used to justify it. And the very fact of compliance, however minimal, is a scary testimony to how fragile freedom is in the middle of a crisis.

Suddenly on April 5, 1933, FDR told Americans—in the form of Executive Order 6102—that they had less than a month to hand over their gold coins, bullion and gold certificates or face up to ten years in prison or a fine of $10,000, or both. 

To read more, go here. 

Banks To Collapse Like Dominoes?

Will banks continue to collapse like dominoes? That is something that could happen, which nobody wants.

First, I saw a March 10 article in coin/bullion dealer Money Metals Exchange, speculating that this scenario may be beginning to happen.

They wrote (some snippets):

On Wednesday, March 8, 2023, Silvergate Capital announced it ended operations and liquidated its Silvergate Bank.

This announcement sent its stock price plummeting, following a months-long downward spiral for Silvergate Bank, which was over-exposed to cryptocurrencies.

One day later, Silicon Valley Bank informed some clients that wire transfers could be delayed.

The bank's support phone lines became inaccessible.

In addition, numerous customers stated having difficulty logging in to the company's website to view their account information and make transfers.

One of the prevailing themes is that the Fed has been trapped via its mandate to fight inflation and maintain high employment.

Rate hikes had never accelerated so high in such a short duration. Critics of this monetary policy stated, "The Fed will keep hiking until they break something."

Things have been breaking in the past two days:

• First Republic Bank based in San Francisco, saw its shares plummet 16.5% Thursday and 15% Friday to $80 a share, a new 52-week low.
• Phoenix-based Western Alliance Bancorp stock lost nearly 35% and trades at $49 a share.
• New York-based Signature Bank stock fell more than 21% to $82, a 52-week low.
• Salt Lake City-based Zions Bancorp stock fell more than 13% to a 52-week low of $40 a share.
• Pasadena-based East West Bancorp shares were down more than 12% to $64 a share.
• Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp stock lost 7% to close at $42.30 a share.

Second, this was posted today by Finbold:

The United States financial system has been rattled by the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SBV) and Silvergate Bank within 48 hours as economic uncertainty prevails. Therefore, some financial sector players project that the situation will likely worsen in the coming days. 

In particular, Robert Kiyosaki, the author of the best-selling personal finance book “Rich Dad Poor Dad,” has warned that a third lender will likely follow suit. He stressed that the situation would positively impact precious metals in a tweet on March 10.

According to Kiyosaki, his prediction aligns with a 2008 forecast of the collapse of the Lehman Brothers. Notably, the failure deepened the 2008 financial crisis, and the incident was considered a defining moment. 

“Two Major Banks have crashed. #3 set to go. BUY real gold and silver coins now. No ETFs. When Bank #3 goes gold & silver rocket up. 2008 I forecasted collapse of Lehman days before it crashed on CNN. If you want proof go to RICH DAD .com,” he said.

Well, silver's spot price did shoot up around $.50/toz yesterday following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

Remember, the domino effect of bank failures was a cause of the Great Depression.

I plan to contact my banker and review my retirement investments. Some adjustments may be in order.

By the way, while all this has been going on, His Fraudulency Joe Biden headed off for another vacation.

Joe Biden and the Stock Market Crash

Remember back in 2008 when then-Senator Joe Biden gave an interview with Katie Couric and got his facts all screwed up?

Here's a clip:




Biden said: “When the stock market crashed, Franklin D. Roosevelt got on the television and didn’t just talk about the, you know, the princes of greed. He said, ‘Look, here’s what happened.’”

When the stock market crashed in 1929, Herbert Hoover was president. Roosevelt didn't take office until 1933. And, he spoke on radio, not television.

The Story Behind The National Park Service Posters of the 1930s

Above, a NPS poster promoting Yellowstone National Park.

This year marks the centennial of the National Park Service.

Travel + Leisure has an article on promotional posters issued by the WPA (Works Progress Administration) in the 1930s. As a program to combat unemployment of the Great Depression, the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt started the WPA and the National Park Service was a major beneficiary of that program. Many of the WPA facilities in our national parks still remain in use to this day.

The article includes several of the silkscreened posters.

They wrote, in part:

Between 1938 and 1941, the WPA produced a series of 14 hand silkscreened promotional posters for the parks. Eight of them, from the collection of the Library of Congress, can be seen here.

To read the article, go here.