As most of you know, I'm not a huge Ron Paul fan. Although I do like that he challenges the status quo and I think he brings a lot of valid discussions to the table, I probably won't vote for him in the primary. That's merely a disclosure before the actual point of this post.
I was reading through a Yahoo! post this morning about the wealth of the presidential candidates and was shocked when I saw what was reported for Ron Paul. Obviously he isn't anywhere near as wealthy as Romney or Gingrich...or Obama for that matter, but it stuck me as odd when I read that he...
...holds $100,000 to $250,000 in Barrick Gold Corporation and $500,000 to $1,000,000 in Goldcorp Inc., two publicly traded mining companies.In all, the congressman is invested in more than 20 separate companies that have the words "mining," "mines," "gold" or "silver" in their name.
I'm not sure what the process is with his investments and whether or not they would have to be divested before entering office (assuming he won the nomination) but does it strike anyone as odd that he is such an advocate of abolishing the Fed and wants to eliminate legal tender while holding somewhat sizable investments in mining companies? From my understanding, he doesn't even want to revert to the gold standard...but wants to remove the tax from the sale of gold and silver...which would sort of position it to become the most likely used form of currency.
Is there merely coincidental or does he have a huge conflict of interest? Is he long in mining and metals because the economy is shitty and he feels it's a safe place to park his money or does he have an ulterior motive?
Again, I'm not here to bash him...just asking a legitimate question. Maybe some of the members here can shed some light on the situation. Maybe it's nothing at all, which would explain why I've never heard it brought up...or maybe it's been overlooked. Thoughts? Opinions?
Here's the article...
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/election-2012--how-rich-are-these-guys.ht…
Regards
I hear what you're saying and it seems odd to me. But one could also say that he's putting his money where his mouth is, that he believes the USD is on its way to collapse. If you truly believe that then gold and mineral mining companies are the right way to go.
On a separate point, I think Washington politicians ought to be forced into blind trusts for investing so that they can avoid any appearances of impropriety and insider trading (which is actually perfectly legal for Congressmen and Senators).
He has been a gold bug forever so his portfolio doesn't surprise me. He also believes that the fed has utterly failed to maintain the purchasing power of the dollar (which they have). I think this is simply another case of him putting his money where his mouth is.
It's been brought up a couple times before, but this basically just shows that he means what is saying about supporting a hard-asset backed currency and that he does not trust the dollar as the Fed continues to order its devaluation. RP is likely the least hypocritical candidate to be taken seriously in the race for the GOP nomination.
Longer thread: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/ron-pauls-portfolio
[quote=EPS]It's been brought up a couple times before, but this basically just shows that he means what is saying about supporting a hard-asset backed currency and that he does not trust the dollar as the Fed continues to order its devaluation. RP is likely the least hypocritical candidate to be taken seriously in the race for the GOP nomination.
Longer thread: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/ron-pauls-portfolio[/quote]
Thanks for the link. I actually missed that thread.
Regards
Why? Because he understood economics and knew it would lead to inflation and huge gov debt (wich he've been proving right).
So what would someone do to protect himself and his family from a desaster?
Ron Paul have been buying gold back when it was $35/oz.
If Ron Paul goals of ending the fed and cut spending become reality, Gold and other commodities will come crashing back down to earth.
How does that work if the dollar becomes non-existent and gold and silver become our currency?
Regards
Gold Standard doesn't mean you'll be walking around with gold in your pockets. It means the paper money you're using is backed by gold to restrain politicians of destroying it for short term political gains.
Since money cannot be printed, no inflation = gold prices will drop
Apparently, people on WSO don't understand the definition of the word hypocrite.
I feel just as bad for them as those that fail at reading comprehension and can't grasp the concept of context.
Regards
this.
Come on, really? Do you REALLY think that the guy wants to abolish the federal reserve and revert back to the gold standard to make his paltry 1-2 million dollar investment increase in value? That would be the smallest case of insider trading in the history of the world relatively speaking.
No doubt Ron Paul is running for president out of self-interest, but I think it's clear his goal is greatness, not profit.
Come on Bravo, I've seen your posts.
You're better than that.
I wasn't necessarily implying he's doing something wrong...I just was surprised I hadn't heard anything about it up until now. Maybe that's because the mainstream media has largely ignored Paul, maybe it's because it's a non-issue.
It's human nature to make decisions in our own self-interest, so it would stand to reason that it could happen to RP. Case in point, there was a study recently released that outlined a ton on potential insider trading issues in Congress. Again, some of this is pure human nature...most people that know something negative is going to happen to a stock aren't going to hand on to it and lose money just because it's the moral thing to do.
At any rate, I think my question as to whether or not it's a conflict of interest is still legit even if the one about it being malicious/intentional isn't.
Regards
That's not a conflict of interest and it's definitely not hypocritical. He's putting his money where his mouth is. If you believed gold was the only real store of money, why wouldn't you be invested in it? Hardly 'insider trading' compared to some of the stuff that goes on in Congress all the time.
I'll admit that the hypocritical title was meant to grab attention. The conflict of interest still seems real though. If you own a bunch of stock and you intend to pass or support laws that would increase the value of that stock...isn't that problematic?
Regards
It seems pretty ideologically consistent. He thinks the Fed will continue to devalue the USD, and that gold is a more stable currency. It doesn't surprise me at all that he owns mining company stock. I wouldn't even be surprised if he has gold sitting in a vault in his house.
I was going to respond but then I realized how stupid this post is. Not worth it.
Thanks for taking the time to tell us how you don't want to waste your time responding.
Regards
No problem.
He's been in those plays for longer than any of us have been alive.
He has been investing in gold, silver and related equity positions for far longer then he has been in government. I would love to get elected to congress and then slip in a 2 term limit amendment to a bill that everyone wants and no one reads just to limit their power.
How the hell would the dollar soar? In order to support the current monetary base the price of gold would have to skyrocket. What's 40% of M0? How many oz of gold are there in the world? These are the questions one should be asking regarding a return to the gold standard.
The book Currency Wars has be far the clearest and most compelling analysis I've read on these and issues. I would encourage everyone here to give it a look
2012 Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul will receive a consequential endorsement related to the South Carolina primary at a special event in Myrtle Beach.
Great book. Rickards is a genius, watch his CNBC interviews if you haven't yet.
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