Open publication – Free publishing

Sessions that may be of interest:

• Safaricom detail how strategic partnerships will allow you to create a joined up and far reaching payments infrastructure
• Zain outline how they established their borderless mobile money infrastructure
• MTN compare mobile money experiences in East and West Africa
• Orange Money discuss the differences between launching in a competitive market compared to markets where you have first mover advantage
• Orascom highlight the mobile money opportunity in North Africa
• Vodacom will chart how they adapted the Kenyan M-PESA to suit the Tanzanian market

Download the MMT Africa brochure today for more information

With regulatory conditions a consistent barrier to entry in many regional markets, MMT Africa hands you a not-to-be-missed interactive panel containing policy makers and influencers from the Central Banks of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana and Zambia, who will define exactly how mobile money regulatory frameworks are drafted and exactly what you can do to aid the process.

Plus, in a world first, Safaricom are opening the doors to M-PESA with a unique site visit that will hand attendees the chance to see how mobile money has developed in Kenya. In addition, the Grameen Foundation will take you on visits to a selection of microfinance institutions that will offer you a tangible insight into the impact that mobile money can have on the lives of micro-entrepreneurs in rural Africa.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Vodacom to launch Kenya’s M-Pesa in SA (update 1) (techcentral.co.za)
• Mobile Money Round Up – MWC 2010 (teabreak.pk)

1) Is there any kind of signal to look out for that would indicate that hyperinflation is close, or will it just all of a sudden happen one day and catch everyone off guard?

We see many signals that hyperinflation is almost here already. The price of gold has been rising to record nominal highs. Stocks have been rising despite rapidly deteriorating fundamentals. College tuition and health care costs are surging to astronomical levels. Social security is now paying out more money than it takes in. Our budget deficits are reaching record highs. Our national debt growth is rapidly accelerating. China is diversifying out of their U.S. treasury holdings.

Hyperinflation can literally occur at any time now. It will catch most people off guard, but not NIA members because we see all of the signals that the mainstream media is ignoring. It is important for us to prepare as if hyperinflation will be here tomorrow.

2) What do you think about the recent appreciation in the U.S. dollar?

The U.S. dollar index has only been rising because it is heavily weighted against the Euro. With the debt crisis in Greece, many investors have been shorting the Euro, which has caused the U.S. dollar index to rise. However, the price of gold has held strong around $1,100 per ounce, which shows the U.S. dollar in reality hasn’t been appreciating in value at all.

3) What has happened in other countries when an ‘inflationary holocaust’ wreaks havoc on pricing? Will the (broke) government actually rescind the outrageous “gains” taxation and just print more money?

During historical instances of hyperinflation, the inflation took place so fast that governments funded over 99% of their spending with money printing and less than 1% through taxation.

Let’s say for example you had a car that you purchased new for $20,000 and you decided to scrap it for $50,000 worth of metal. The government might force you to pay taxes on the $30,000 fantasy profit. However, if you merely delayed paying that income tax for a few months, it’s possible inflation will be taking place so quickly that you will now be able to sell an old beat up pair of shoes for $50,000. Therefore, paying the tax, assuming there still was one, wouldn’t be a problem at all.

4) Can you please explain how NIA estimates the real rate of inflation to be approximately 3-4% higher than what is indicated by the CPI index?

The government purposely understates inflation through the CPI index because social security and other programs adjust to the CPI index, and they want to keep payment increases for these programs as low as possible.

The CPI used to account for inflation a lot more accurately, but many revisions have been made over the years. Through geometric weighting, the CPI index today gives a lower weighting to goods that are rising in price and a higher weighting to goods that are dropping in price. They justify this by saying that if the price of steak rises, Americans are more likely to eat something that is dropping in price like hamburgers.

The government also now uses hedonics to understate inflation. Hedonics account for the increased pleasure of using goods. For example, if an oven increased 25% in price but is now more “energy efficient” the government can say the price didn’t actually gain at all. Also, if the government mandates that new safety features get added to cars and car prices rise by 10%, they can say because the cars are now safer, the price didn’t rise at all.

Between the geometric weighting and hedonics changes, the CPI index understates inflation by approximately 7% compared to the way inflation used to be calculated. However, some respected economists believe the old way of calculating inflation slightly overstated inflation so NIA is being conservative with our estimates that real inflation is about 3-4% higher than what’s reported by the CPI index.

5) China needs the U.S. to purchase their products. Do you really think their economy will grow without selling their products overseas?

The only reason the U.S. can afford to purchase cheap products from China is because the U.S. is exporting inflation to China and China is allowing the U.S. to run huge trade deficits. When China stops artificially propping up the U.S. dollar and allows their currency to strengthen, the Chinese will be able to afford to consume their own goods that they produce. They don’t need Americans to consume goods that they are perfectly capable of consuming themselves.

6) Do the other countries have to buy our debt or face the wrath of our military?

We don’t believe this is true, because if other countries stop buying our debt we won’t be able to afford our military. Our military is bankrupting our country and one of the main reasons we have such large deficits that will eventually lead to massive price inflation. The world does not need our military to police it. Countries like China can afford their own militaries a lot more cost effectively.

7) With the current size of our national debt, is deflation even possible?

The U.S. is the most indebted nation in the history of the world with a national debt of $12.7 trillion, Fannie/Freddie debts of $6.3 trillion and unfunded liabilities of more than $60 trillion. Our real debts are now about 600% of GDP and it will be impossible to pay them back. The U.S. will either default on its debt or print its way out of it, creating massive inflation.

Because we believe the U.S. is unlikely to admit it can’t pay back its debts, inflation is clearly the solution. We don’t see any risk of deflation long-term.

The mainstream media talks about deflation because they see through a rear view mirror. They see some prices having fallen after the financial crisis of 2008, but they don’t realize there were temporary forces driving prices down due to artificial forced liquidations and excess inventories that needed to be worked off.

When the artificial pressures holding prices down are gone, all that will be left is the trillions of dollars of newly printed money in circulation that will chase goods and services all at once.

What good would it be to elect a few select people to the Senate like Rand Paul and Peter Schiff? Shouldn’t we focus our energy and efforts on changing the entire system?

We believe the system is corrupt because of the Federal Reserve and its ability to manipulate interest rates and create phantom money out of thin air. Before the creation of the Federal Reserve, the value of our currency was stable and we did not have the booms and busts that we do today.

In our opinion, the system our founding fathers created would work if we only followed the Constitution. The creation of the Federal Reserve and all of the actions of the Federal Reserve are unconstitutional.

We need to do more than elect a few select people to Washington. We need to replace everybody in Washington with people who will work to protect the Constitution. If everybody in Washington was like Ron Paul, our country would not be on the verge of a hyperinflationary crisis like it is today.

It is because of the mainstream media and how they brainwash Americans, that Congress is full of people who are clueless about the economy and the root cause of all our problems. With the Internet, the mainstream media is slowly losing its power and our hope is that an increasing percentage of Americans will see our documentaries and learn to think for themselves instead of electing politicians based on what the mainstream media tells them.

9) If no governments currently back their currency with gold then why do they still hoard it?

Even though there are no currencies that are still convertible into gold, gold is real money and it is important for central banks to hold gold in order to protect the value of their foreign exchange reserves.

The average country has about 10% of their foreign exchange reserves in gold. However, China currently only has 1.5% of their foreign exchange reserves in gold and they have most of their reserves in U.S. dollars. Due to the massive monetary inflation taking place in the U.S., China’s reserves are at risk and it is important for them to diversify out of their U.S. dollars and accumulate more gold.

Although the U.S. has the largest gold reserves at 8,133.5 tonnes, which makes up 68.7% of its foreign exchange reserves, the value of the U.S.’s gold and other reserves is nothing compared to its $12.7 trillion national debt plus Fannie/Freddie debt and unfunded liabilities.

10) Don’t you think the short U.S. dollar/long gold trade is too crowded for it to work?

In December when everybody was bearish on the U.S. dollar, we predicted a short-term really in the U.S. dollar index in early 2010 and we were right. Today, everybody is bullish on the U.S. dollar and bearish on the Euro. Soon traders will be forced to reverse their trades and the U.S. dollar will plummet. With interest rates at 0%, it will be impossible for gold prices to crash. There is simply way too much excess liquidity in the system. The average American is still more likely to be selling their gold than buying it. There are still more Americans looking to invest into Real Estate foreclosures, than precious metals. We have a dollar bubble, not a gold bubble.

The National Inflation Association
http://inflation.us

It is important to know that we are not investment or financial advisers. NIA’s web site and newsletter are meant for informational and educational purposes only and should not be used to make investment decisions

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• When to worry (economist.com)
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• US Economic Outlook: Default, Hyperinflation or Both (citizeneconomists.com)

The Hub Culture Pavilion with Sportmax is a partnership developed between the two companies for the benefit of YOU, and the global fashion and style community.

The Pavilion experience is open 13 February to 11 March, 2010, and arrives set against the backdrop of an invigorated and expanded 2010 Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, New York, now more widely distributed across the city.

Strategically located inside the Sportmax flagship at 450 West Broadway in Soho, the Pavilion offers a range of services for you, including work and meeting space, wifi, private briefings and events, evening receptions and critical support services – ranging from printing and reservations to high value services from curated partners.

Its open and available now for all http://www.facebook.com/l/02a92;HubCulture.com and Hub Culture Pavilion members.

Please stop by anytime between 11-7 daily, 12-6 Sundays, tell your friends, and help make it a success with your presence!

Save the date for events on the evenings of Feb. 27 and March 10th, celebrating Milan Fashion Week and Paris Fashion Week.

• Social network, virtual currency, real fashion
• First fashion label to feature ready to wear with a virtual currency
• Showroom focus on emerging local New York furniture designers from Voos Furniture and TRACE Furniture
• Groundbreaking collaboration to provide workspace, wifi, meetings and events for global fashion community

http://www.facebook.com/l/02a92;hub.vg/gonyc

http://www.facebook.com/l/02a92;hub.vg/findnyc

http://www.facebook.com/l/02a92;hubculture.com/press

http://www.facebook.com/l/02a92;hub.vg/globalfashion

photos: http://www.facebook.com/l/02a92;flickr.com/hubculture

The Winged Lion Awards are in honour of the ‘Winged Lion’ – which is the historical symbol of usuryfree money. The Winged Lion Awards are presented to the winners from the nominated usuryfree creatives on behalf of the UsuryFree Network during the Annual UsuryFree Week scheduled from November 13th, until November 19th, each year.

Nominations are commonly accepted from local, national and international usuryfree creatives.

The winners of the Winged Lion Awards are honoured at a special event each year during the celebration of UsuryFree Week.

Nominations are currently open for the following 15 categories:

1. A community that has launched new paper notes of usuryfree community currency during the current year. This community must have done something unique for their launch of paper notes of usuryfree community currency. Samples of the paper notes and details of this unique activity must be submitted with the nomination.

2. An individual usuryfree creative who has authored a unique article about the design flaw of usury during the current year. A copy of the article must be submitted with the nomination.

3. An individual usuryfree creative who has authored a unique article about the usuryfree community currency movement during the current year. A copy of the article must be submitted with the nomination.

4. An individual usuryfree creative who has authored a noteworthy quote about usuryfree living during the current year. A copy of the quote must be submitted with the nomination.

5. A newspaper or magazine that has published at least one article about the usuryfree community currency movement during the current year. A copy of the newspaper or magazine containing the article must be submitted with the nomination.

6. An individual usuryfree creative who has traded for more than $1000.00 worth of any usuryfree community currency or any combination of two or more usuryfree community currencies during the current year. Proof of amount of trading must be submitted with the nomination.

7. An internet company that is facilitating the completion of an online database of usuryfree creatives who are committed to advancing the mission of connecting the various usuryfree community currency groups – locally, nationally and internationally. Details of the project must be submitted with the nomination.

8. An individual usuryfree creative who is dedicated to the political application of usuryfree living at any level of politics – municipal, provincial/state or federal. Details of the political activity must be submitted with the nomination.

9. An individual usuryfree creative who has produced a DVD or video during the current year wherein the problems of usury and/or the solutions as offered by the usuryfree community currency movement are presented. A copy of the DVD must be submitted with the nomination.

10. An individual musician or a musical group that has written a song about usury-based economics or usuryfree economics during the current year. A copy of the song must be submitted with the nomination.

11. A duly registered political party that officially endorses the usuryfree community currency movement. Proof in writing from the duly registered political party must be submitted with the nomination. This duly registered political party may be provincial/state or federal.

12. An individual or group of usuryfree creatives who has/have planned and hosted a usuryfree community currency conference during the current year. A copy of the schedule of events for the conference complete with the location and date must be submitted with the nomination.

13. A charitable foundation/organization that openly supports the usuryfree community currency movement. Details of how this particular foundation/organization supports the usuryfree community currency movement must be submitted with the nomination.

14. A member of the clergy (from any denomination) who is actively speaking outagainst the design flaw of usury and its eveil effects on individuals and on society. Proof of his/her usuryfree mission must be submitted with the nomination.

15. An individual usuryfree creative who incessantly seeks justice in matters relating to taxes and usury in their JUST-US system of commerce where it is enforced by their judges. Details of how justice is sought by this individual usuryfree creative must be submitted with the nomination.

NOTE: Readers are invited to suggest additional categories that could be considered for a nomination for a Winged Lion Award. Send your suggestion to the The UsuryFree Network at the address below.

All nominations must be submitted in writing. All nominations must be signed by the nominee and the seconder and mailed to: The UsuryFree Network, P. O. Box 9333, Ottawa, Ontario K1G 3V1

All nominations for the Winged Lion Awards must be postmarked on or before November 1st, of the current year.

Definitions:
UsuryFree Creative: ‘One who is dedicated to living a usuryfree lifestyle.’
UsuryFree Network: ‘A private network of usuryfree creatives who are actively promoting the usuryfree lifestyle.’
Winged Lion: ‘The historical symbol of usuryfree money is re-born and is printed on various paper notes of usuryfree community currency in this 21st Century.’

For more information about the “Fifth Annual UsuryFree Day and Week” visit The UsuryFree Eye Opener regularly:
http://usuryfree.blogspot.com

This is a new one, buy, sell or exchange your extra virtual currency for “Bodega Bills” [another virtual currency] then sell those for cash. Hmmm.  I smell a big AML issue on the way.

Bodega, a new platform that’s looking to help users swap virtual goods and currencies across different games, and even across different social networks. Bodega lets users sell their virtual goods at auction in return for for Bodega’s own currency, the Bodega Bill. When you go to sell your virtual goods, you can either put it up as a ‘buy it now’ style purchase or an auction, with a minimum reserve if you want. Users looking to purchase virtual goods can obtain Bodega Bills by completing offers, buying them with their credit cards, or by selling their own virtual goods in the marketplace. You can also earn Bodega Bills by completing actions on the site, like adding another user as a friend or listing an item for sale.

http://www.bodegabid.com/

As widely discussed across the Net, any platform which integrates multiple digital or virtual currency exchanges and fits a cash exchange in there somewhere will be mighty popular.