Addicted to Heroism

In January 2007, Conn Iggulden made publishing history by becoming the first author to hold the number one position on both the fiction and non-fiction hardback bestsellers charts in Britain. On the non-fiction chart was Iggulden's book, The Dangerous Book for Boys, a collection of practical ideas on how young men can develop true masculinity. On the fiction chart was the first of a series of books about Genghis Khan, Wolf of the Plains.

The first book, I regard as one of the best books on true masculinity since Aubrey Andelin's Man of Steel and Velvet.

The second book, I regard as one of the most engaging works of historical fiction ever.

"I do think the Mongol Empire is criminally overlooked by history," Iggulden explains. "But the fact that it hasn't been as thoroughly picked over as some of the other major empires means it remains a goldmine for storytellers."

For more information on what this book is about, listen to Iggulden himself:

I am currently working my way through the fourth book in Iggulden's Conquerer Series: Empire of Silver. If you like historical fiction, and/or the traits of heroism, I recommend it.

The Day After Greece Defaults

The fate of Europe may well have been determined by a glossed-over accounting detail that occurined in 1998. The European Monetary Institute (EMI) once carried almost $27 billion in gold reserves. In 1998, however the EMI was replaced by the European Central Bank (ECB). No financial data was published that year, while Europe's  elites "rebalance" the  financial system. When published financial records resumed in 1999, $20 billion in gold had "gone missing." No official explaination was ever given. It is interesting to note, however, that in that same year, the German Central Bank reported a $20 billion increase in their national gold reserves.

In other words, the ECB lost $20 billion in gold, while the Bundesbank gained the exact same amount. Germany now owned 3,400 tons of gold--enouph to back an entire currency, if it wanted to!

This onimous fact is made all the more interesting by statements recently made by a senior Bundesbank official. When asked what Germany would do if a Greek default forced the ECB into insolvency, he responded that Bundesbank officials had already discussed how to deal with such a situation. “We have 3,400 tons of gold,” he said. “We are the only country that has not sold its original allotment from the [late 1940s]. So we are covered to some extent.”

Read this insightful Vanity Fair article entitled It's the Economy, Dummkopf! for more detailed reporting. http://www.vanityfair.com/business/features/2011/09/europe-201109

Is it possible that the Germans could use their masive gold reserves to establish a gold-backed Deutsche Mark in the advent that the Euro goes bankrupt? A former adviser to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher seems to think so! Here is what Christopher Story wrote in the March 2000 edition of the Economic Intelligence Review:

If Berlin were to decide that the progressive collapse of the Euro, which is already well advanced, had ceased to be tolerable, it has already amassed the necessary reserves of gold to be able to float a 'New Deutschemark' unilaterally--leaving the rest of Europe at Germany's mercy and prospectively left with no practical choice, under the circumstances, but to accept the New Deutschemark in lieu of the degraded Euro...

The implications of all this for the United States, the dollar and the world, are staggering. For, whereas the US dollar ceased to be backed by gold in 1971, the New Deutschemark will be backed by gold. Therefore, the dollar will be 'dislodged' from its global primacy not by the Euro, which will continue to be degraded either immediately or over time, but by the New Deutschemark.

Only time will tell how the future will play out. If the Bundesbank does have plans on introducing a gold-backed Deutschemark, however, it could well be that the day Greece defaults is the day that Germany replaces America as the world's most powerful nation.