Daily Digest - March 9

• Proposal for European Monetary Fund Wins EU Support
• King World News - Jim Sinclair
• King World News - Harry M. Markopolos
• Gold Is Decade's Best Performing Investment
• It Will Be Far Worse Than The Great Depression
• Germany Considers The Creation of a European Monetary Fund, IMF Model
• Europe Bars Wall Street Banks From Government Bond Sales
• China's Zombie Growth
• Officials: Stimulus helped NH retain jobs
• Fed Audit Bitterly Opposed By Treasury
• More School Districts Trying to Save Money by Shutting Down 1 Extra Week Day
• Diesel Shortage Paralyzes Egypt's Highways
• How Food And Water Are Driving A 21st-Century African Land Grab
• Growing Low-Oxygen Zones In Oceans Worry Scientists

Economy

Proposal for European Monetary Fund Wins EU Support (Ben Johnson)

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble has suggested setting up a European monetary fund to enable the euro zone to tackle debt crises such as that seen in Greece without resorting to the IMF. EU Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn has welcomed the idea.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble has won support from EU Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn for a proposal to set up a European monetary fund to tackle debt crises such as the one in Greece

King World News - Jim Sinclair (Davos)

In this interview JIm discusses the loss of confidence in paper, the 24 hours the Dollar was in doubt, gold, negative interest rates, the liquidation for the Hunts, what the Hunts believed and what their mistake was, another individual/entity with a large position in silver, the final pillar in the gold bull market, attacks on currencies and much more.

King World News - Harry M. Markopolos (Davos)

In this interview Harry discusses the SEC’s failure, goes after the SEC for what he terms their incompetence, how he, his family and his team’s lives were threatened, the fact that Bernie Madoff was a mob boss, Greenspan’s failure as Fed Chairman, he knew Madoff was a fraud, criminal banking syndicates, how ruthless Madoff was, the devastation and heartbreak in the wake of the fraud and much more.

Gold Is Decade's Best Performing Investment (joemanc)

The price of the precious metal rose 277 per cent during the past decade, with investors particularly attracted to gold during the recession as they sought a safe haven for their money.

Overall, gold, silver and platinum increased in value by 242 per cent between December 1999 and December 2009, the equivalent of an average annual return of 13.1 per cent. It means precious metals outpaced inflation which has increased by 30 per cent during the decade or by an average 2.7 per cent a year.

It Will Be Far Worse Than The Great Depression (pinecarr)

If the economy was a person, then the producing sector (agriculture, manufacturing, mining, etc) would be its “income”. If the service sector is much smaller than the producing sector (like China today or the US one hundred years ago), then a country is living below its means (net saver). If the service sector is much larger than the producing sector (like China today or the US one hundred years ago), then a country is living above its means (depleting savings and going into debt).

Germany Considers The Creation of a European Monetary Fund, IMF Model (Christian W.)

"We're not planning an institution that would compete with the IMF, but for the internal stability of the eurozone, we need an institution that has the experience and power of the IMF," Mr. Schaeuble told the paper on Sunday

Europe Bars Wall Street Banks From Government Bond Sales (Christian W.)

For the first time in five years, no big US investment bank appears among the top nine sovereign bond bookrunners in Europe, according to Dealogic data compiled for the Guardian. Only Morgan Stanley ranks at number 10.

Goldman Sachs doesn't make the table. Goldman made it to number five last year and in 2006, and number eight in 2007, the data shows. JP Morgan was in the top ten last year and in 2007 and 2006 but doesn't appear this year.

China's Zombie Growth (Christian W.)

Stimulus spending is a net negative in the US; what about in China? The China story is largely a stimulus story too. China’s stimulus, compared to GDP, is the world’s largest ever – four times the size of America’s stimulus program.

Officials: Stimulus helped NH retain jobs (woodman)

The stimulus was a boon for his company last year, but Charbonneau said he is worried about the next few years. The federal funding came just as private sector work in the paving industry dried up.

Unless the state boosts spending on road projects, these businesses will likely struggle once the stimulus money is gone, he said.

Fed Audit Bitterly Opposed By Treasury (Ben Johnson)

The Treasury Department is vigorously opposed to a House-passed measure that would open the Federal Reserve to an audit by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), a senior Treasury official said Monday. Instead, the official said, the Treasury prefers a substitute offered by Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.), and would like to see it enacted as part of the Senate bill. The Watt measure, however, while claiming to increase transparency, actually puts new restrictions on the GAO's ability to perform an audit.

More School Districts Trying to Save Money by Shutting Down 1 Extra Week Day (Ben Johnson)

More and more school districts are saving money by shutting down for one extra day each week. It's a controversial move. What will be the impact on children? There is no research that tells us that," noted the National School Boards Associations' Anne Bryant.

Energy

Diesel Shortage Paralyzes Egypt's Highways (Christian W.)

Diesel fuel shortages continued throughout Egypt on Sunday, causing cars and buses to form 500- meter-long queues at some gas stations, as supply quantities were cut by half in many areas of Cairo and the provinces. Several fights between drivers over limited supplies of diesel fuel were reported, with police having to intervene in some cases.

Environment

How Food And Water Are Driving A 21st-Century African Land Grab (Christian W.)

Ethiopia is only one of 20 or more African countries where land is being bought or leased for intensive agriculture on an immense scale in what may be the greatest change of ownership since the colonial era.

Growing Low-Oxygen Zones In Oceans Worry Scientists (Donald S.)

Areas of hypoxia, or low oxygen, have long existed in the deep ocean. These areas — in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans — appear to be spreading, however, covering more square miles, creeping toward the surface and in some places, such as the Pacific Northwest , encroaching on the continental shelf within sight of the coastline.

Please send article submissions to: dd@chrismartenson.com