* On the prospect for inflation due to increased velocity [your point #32] ... I am persuaded by the arguments put forward by Steve Keen that the private sector debt is at the heart of the reduced velocity atm. That level of debt is likely to continue to be the reason the US economy is not recovering as was intended. Although this money printing carries the risk for later high inflation, I think, it is the debt burden which will be the real problem. It still means though that gold is a safe haven.
* Greece really does look like it is heading to default. Who knows what the fallout will be?
* China is proceeding down the QE path [in its own sweet way]. I find this very interesting. My take on it is .... it means they are willing to play the same games as everyone else .... and see what happens. That means [to my way of thinking] that gold, actually, is not front and centre in their strategic planning .... instead it is a fallback option. Doesn't mean they will not resort to gold as a stabilizer/backing for the Yuan but I have my doubts that is the main plan ... as some speculate.
* The end of US QE .... the Fed is already withdrawing from the process. Their intended method for doing so is to stop rolling over their previous asset purchases and instead let them mature. They do however also intend to combine that process with an overnight reverse repo buying program ... in which they buy assets from a bank and then sell back to them the next day but for less. This will in effect give banks a higher return and so it is a back door way to raise the effective interest rate but leave the official rate unchanged. Will it work? I dunno... I do not believe the Fed is going to risk everything with a QE4 option. They are in too deep already and I believe they understand that.
* One factor which seems to slip through the net is Global warming. The US is about to be hit with an El Nino in the context of 2014 being the hottest year so far. Their wheat belt is going to be hit very hard. Forget oil .... it is agriculture which is the prime underpinning for a society and its economy ... always has been, always will be. Global warming, as a factor, is not only not going to go away but it will increase in importance every year.
