Asylums

I almost never watch TV, and certainly never watch any of the popular
financial commentary (I have only seen Jim Cramer, Larry Kudlow very
briefly on airport televisions). Mostly I think they are blowing
smoke, trying to encourage people to trade more so brokerages can
earn more commissions. Popular commentary is generally fashioned for
the petit beourgois who are in a race to get fleeced. These
commentators are basically actors who do a great job convincing the
lumpeninvestoriat (nod to Bill Bonner), that they are privy to
special information. Of course they are not.

However, a friend of mine just sent me a video clip from November
2008 from someone known as Marc Faber, who I understand appears on
Bloomberg from time to time.

It's the best quotation I've heard in quite awhile from any of these
commentators. I especially like the part about becoming your own
central bank.

"I think that precious metals are attractive because every
responsible individual in this world must know— central banks have
become asylums for economists that have turned insane. And in their
insanity, they became money printers. And so you have to be your own
central bank. You cannot trust the central banks of our governments
anymore…"