The following link will give you more on Chairman Bernanke's lecture series. Helicopter Ben 'splains the Fed to the next generation at George Washington University.

This is the first in a series of four lectures by Ben Bernanke.

Interesting to note that he begins by telling the students a prevarication (it wouldn't be kosher to call such an august man a liar - oh hell, if it walks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, chances are ... it's probably a bloody duck!).

Anyway, here for your elucidation ... and amusement ... are the erudite ramblings of "Helicopter" Ben!

Being all a-twitter with anticipation here, without further ado is: Bernanke, the Lecturer, Part One 

Enjoy!

Has "Hat Pin" Charlie Sizemore put the hex on precious metals?

When the US Dollar gets stronger, it takes fewer dollars to buy any commodity that is priced in $USD. When the US Dollar gets weaker it takes more dollars to purchase the same commodity.

We don’t need no stinkin’ gold! (Or silver either.) It’s just a barbarous relic of a by-gone era, right? Well, consider this – we’re spending nearly 12% of GDP in borrowed money that we don’t have. In just one month (May) in 2010 we borrowed and spent $333 billion – that is 28% of GDP!

The CBO (Congressional Budget Office) stated in a report: “In actuality, the economic effects of rapidly growing debt would probably be much more disorderly as investors’ confidence in the nation’s fiscal solvency began to erode. …..All in all, the U.S. economy could contract sharply for a long period.” (end quote). This is an 82 page document that is well worth your reading – unless you don’t give a damn! Hey! It’s your money Mr. and Mrs. John Q! If you don’t care, I can assure you your elected officials sure as hell don’t!

Is it any wonder then that Cramer, CNBC, the Wall Street Journal (including MarketWatch), Geithner, the Oracle of Omaha and all the government flacks are fighting so hard to maintain an illusion of control over the economy?

The U.S. government has printed so much money that the monetary base has swelled from $800 billion to $1.7 trillion. That means the US government has created 2.1.dollars for every 1 dollar there was in America just one year ago.

Gold: The same policies that are sinking the dollar have pushed gold up more than 350% in the last eight years. The Washington Times sums it up this way: “Dollar slides, investors hedge, gold soars”