Prabhupada

The members of such a government are described as dasyu, thieves. Their main activity will be to plunder the wealth of the people.

SB 5.26.27 P   A Description of the Hellish Planets  
In the Twelfth Canto of Srimad-Bhagavatam, it is said that in this age of Kali everyone will be extremely disturbed by three kinds of tribulations: scarcity of rain, famine, and heavy taxation by the government. Because human beings are becoming more and more sinful. there will be a scarcity of rain, and naturally no food grains will be produced. On the plea of relieving the suffering caused by the ensuing famine, the government will impose heavy taxes, especially on the wealthy mercantile community.In this verse, the members of such a government are described as dasyu, thieves. Their main activity will be to plunder the wealth of the people. Whether a highway robber or a government thief, such a man will be punished in his next life by being thrown into the hell known as Sarameyadana, where he will suffer greatly from the bites of ferocious dogs.

Dollar Optimism Drops to One-Year Low as Fed Dilutes Currency

By Ye Xie

April 15 (Bloomberg) -- Expectations for a weaker dollar increased to the highest level in a year after the Federal Reserve diluted the currency to lift the economy out of a recession, a

survey

 of Bloomberg users showed.

Participants turned bearish on the dollar over the next six months for the first time since January, according to 1,349 respondents from Paris to New York in the Bloomberg Professional Global Confidence Index. They were most bullish on Brazil’s

real

 since August and expected the Mexican peso to rally for the first time since January, as the Group of 20 nations pledged on April 2 to spend $1 trillion to revive global economic growth.

The Fed’s

broad dollar index

  has declined 4.7 percent against 26 of the U.S.’s major trading partners, since touching a 4 1/2-year high on March 3. Fed Chairman

Ben S. Bernanke

  joined central bankers in Japan, Switzerland and the U.K. on March 18 by printing money to buy debt assets after exhausting other monetary-policy tools. Bernanke said yesterday there are signs that the “sharp decline” in the U.S. economy is slowing.

“We are likely to see a gradual decline of the dollar,” said

Jack Spitz

, managing director of foreign exchange at National Bank of Canada in Toronto, a survey participant. “The economic stimulus will pay off. Optimism has fed into commodities and commodities currencies at the expense of the dollar.”

‘Limited Upside’

The dollar weakened against 15 of the 16 most traded currencies in the past month, falling as much as 11 percent against New Zealand’s dollar. Only the yen fared worse, losing 1 percent versus the U.S. currency. The greenback depreciated a record 3.4 percent versus the euro on March 18, when the Fed unexpectedly announced a plan to buy as much as $300 billion of Treasuries and increase purchases of mortgage securities.

The index of expectations for the dollar fell to 42.87, a level last seen in April 2008, from 53.41 in March. The measure is a diffusion index, meaning a reading above 50 indicates participants expect the currency to appreciate. Participants were last bearish on the dollar in January, when the index dropped to 45.53. Bloomberg began compiling the data in December 2007.

“There’s limited upside for the dollar,” said

Maxime Tessier

, head of foreign exchange in Montreal at Caisse de Depot et Placement, which has C$120 billion ($98.7 billion) under management. “Since the beginning of the year, we’ve been gradually reducing our exposure to the dollar.”

Fiscal Stimulus

Participants’ confidence in the global economy rebounded to 21.2, the highest level since May 2008, from 8.49 in March, according to the Bloomberg survey. Expectations for the yield on 10-year Treasury notes to rise increased to 59.66, from 56.83 a month earlier.

Economic sentiment improved after global governments and central banks beefed up efforts to combat the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. The U.S. government and the Fed have spent, lent or committed as much as $12.8 trillion to shore up the nation’s banking system and economy. In Japan, the government announced a record 15.4 trillion yen ($153 billion) stimulus package on April 10, bringing total spending to 25 trillion yen.

“I am fundamentally optimistic about our economy,” Bernanke said in Atlanta yesterday. “Today’s economic conditions are difficult, but the foundations of our economy are strong, and we face no problems that cannot be overcome with insight, patience, and persistence.”

Economists surveyed by Bloomberg News estimate the economy contracted 5 percent in the first quarter of this year, compared with an 6.3 percent annual rate in the final three months of 2008.

Brazil, Mexico

“We are fairly bearish on the dollar,” said

Jonathan Xiong

, who oversees $18 billion as vice president and senior portfolio manager at Mellon Capital Management Corp. in San Francisco. “Some of the risk aversion has decreased in the market place.”

Participants in Brazil turned upbeat on the real, with the index rising to 54.41, from 48.41 in March. The index for the Mexican peso climbed to 64.36 from 41.50.

The real gained 4.2 percent in the past month to 2.21 per dollar, while the peso advanced 10 percent to 13.24. The rally came after world leaders at the G-20 summit agreed to triple the amount the International Monetary Fund can lend to crisis- stricken countries and offered cash to revive trade. The peso also advanced as Mexico said on April 1 that it will seek a $47 billion credit line from the IMF to shore up its foreign reserves.

“I would see Brazil attractive if we do incorporate a strategy” of buying emerging-market assets, said Xiong.

VedicPerspective

750221mw.car            Prabhupada  Conversations
They are reducing into poverty. In our childhood we have seen gold coin currency, silver coin. And now there is no such thing. Plastic. Paper and plastic. This is their advancement. Yes, it is a nice garden.
Srutakirti: Yes. (break)
Hrdayananda: Things are very rapidly reducing.
Prabhupada:Yes.There will be no rice, no wheat, no sugar, no fruits, gradually. So much sinful activities, they must be punished like that.

Mock currency finds favor in tough times

ITHACA, N.Y., April 13 (UPI) -- Accountants, architects, carpenters and others in Ithaca, N.Y., have agreed to accept a mock local currency for goods and services, residents say.

Under the program, the non-profit Ithaca Hours Inc. is printing its own currency in which U.S. dollars are traded for "Ithaca Hours," which can be used at local businesses in an attempt to stimulate business for Ithaca's professional firms and mom-and-pop stores, the Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle reported Monday.

The newspaper said more than 900 Ithaca businesses have signed on to accept Ithaca Hours, which come in the form $10 notes designed to reflect the value of one hour of work. Some employees have even reportedly agreed to accept part of their wages in the notes.

"It was started in 1991 during a time of recession when upstate was getting bad," Ithaca Hours Inc. President Steve Burke told the Democrat and Chronicle. "Now in the last few months with the economic downturn, we're seeing a renewed interest."

He said the notes are just like cash in that individuals deriving income from them must report it to tax authorities, saying, "If people treat Hours the same way they treat cash, there are no tax problems." 

Vedic Perspective

710729AR.GAI              Prabhupada   Lectures
The secret is that we have not cheated people, we have not adulterated. If you put something for sale in the market which is very pure, automatically you'll get many customers. Automatic. Because the thing is pure. If you sell pure milk, just from the farm, there will be many hundreds of customers immediately, and if you sell adulterated, homogenized water mixed milk, the milk will be sold, but not very many customers ordinarily. So anything pure will attract. That is natural. Pure love, pure foodstuff, anything pure. Pure gold. In economics also. It is said, "Bad money drives away good money." If you put bad money, just like nowadays the currency is some paper, paper currency, so drives away good money. Good money means gold coins. They are not to be seen. That's economic law. As soon as you put bad money, the good money will vanish.
   So try to present Krsna as He is. People will be attracted, because everyone has got Krsna's intimate relationship. We are all part and parcel of Krsna. Krsna says, mamaivamso jiva bhuta, all living entities, not only human being, other than human being, everyone, all living entities. They have got different bodies only, according to their different desires and inclinations. Otherwise, every living entity from..., beginning from Brahma down to an insect, a small ant, they are all living entities, and they are all parts and parcel of Krsna, or God. We are all part and parcel of God. Therefore, just like you are part and parcel of your parent, so there is some intimate relationship with your parents. It cannot be broken, even if you are absent from home for many years. Still, when you go home, meet your parents, the old relationship--affectionate father, mother and son--immediately you'll revive. It does not take much time--because the son was long, long away from father, and he has come back, he takes another hundred years to establish the relation. No. As soon as the father and the son is together, the natural relationship immediately revives. Similarly, Krsna is the original father, God is the original father. We are all His sons. Somehow or other we have left home. We have tried to enjoy material sense gratification. Krsna has given us full facility. But we are not happy. That is not possible. Because we are separated from our original position, therefore we can not be happy. I give you one example. Just like this finger is the part and parcel of your body or my body, your body. If this finger is separated from this body it has no value, but if it is attached with this body, it has value. Similarly, we being part and parcel of God, Krsna, if we're detached from God then we cannot be happy. That is a fact. There are many examples. Just like a baby, the part and parcel of the mother, crying, so many people trying to pacify the baby, taking on the lap, but still it is crying. But as soon as the baby is on the breast of the mother, immediately happy. Naturally. The baby knows, "Now I have come to the right place." Although it cannot speak, it cannot express, but the natural position, as soon as realized.

Zimbabwe inflation falls, survival battle goes on

By ANGUS SHAW – 4/8/09

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Official inflation calculated in U.S. dollars, the nation's adopted currency, dipped slightly in March but an independent consumer group said Thursday overall living costs for an average family rose.

The Consumer Council said while food prices dropped there were increases in accommodation rentals, transportation as well as charges for water, power and fees for education and medical services that pushed up the cost of living for an average family by 5 percent.

The state Central Statistical Office, in its month-on-month official inflation report released Thursday, said prices lost a fraction of a percentage point in March, effectively reflecting no inflation and showing a 3 percent drop in consumer prices compared with a fall of 3.1 percent in February.

This means that an item that cost $100 in December, cost $97 in March.

The statistical office said the cost of housing, water and power charges remained constant in March, but the Consumer Council reported erratic increases in those charges.

"Major concern is the element of rentals as there appears to be no agreed standard on how rental space is charged. Landlords seem to be setting fees willy-nilly," the council said in a statement.

Inflation in Zimbabwe was about 231 million percent — the world's highest — before the local currency was scrapped.

The coalition government formed in February between President Robert Mugabe and longtime opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is faced with trying to revive the country's collapsed economy.

One of the new government's first moves was to make the U.S. currency the main legal tender, and it ended state-imposed price fixing that led to chronic shortages of goods. Duties on imported essential foodstuffs were also dropped.

The consumer council said food prices declined because of increased competition between importers and retail stores.

It said an average family of six needed $386 a month for a basic "basket" of goods that included food as well as rent and utilities. This figure is up 5 percent from $374 in February,

The council noted that though food prices in U.S. dollars fell, many basic goods were still far out of the reach of impoverished Zimbabweans.

Finance Minister Tendai Biti, a top Tsvangirai ally, acknowledged Wednesday that years of political and economic turmoil disrupted farming and industrial production and left just 5 percent of the population in formal jobs.

Others engage in informal trading and up to 7 million people, more than half the population, currently receive food aid.

Financial institutions, investors and foreign donors have demanded democratic reforms and the restoration of law and order as conditions for resuming funding and balance-of-payments support.

Biti told reporters Wednesday the new government receives revenues of about $20 million a month when it needs $100 million.

Zimbabwe has asked its neighbors for $2 billion — half to support retail and other sectors, and the rest to help schools and restore health and municipal services. It has said it needs billions more from other donors.

But regional leaders have made it clear that they have limited resources and have not made any specific financial pledges to Zimbabwe.

Vedic Perspective

751016mw.joh              Conversations
Prabhupada: Money is not required. You require things. Just like instead of money, you are getting papers. Money means gold. Where is gold? You are cheated. Money means gold. So instead of possessing gold, you are possessing some paper, written there, "hundred dollars." And you are such a fool, you are satisfied. You are being cheated. Bank's check and currency notes, you keep it in your..., "Oh, here is my money." Is that money? Just see.
Devotee (3): They only do that to make it easier for them, because they've got so much money that they can't carry it...
Prabhupada: That's all right, but actually it is not money. You are befooled. You are such a fool that you accept a piece of paper as money. Therefore I say you are rascal. That is my business. If I say "Government, give me gold," and government has passed law, "No, you cannot possess gold," that means cheating. How I shall keep gold, that is my business. First of all you give me gold. It is due to me. But you are giving me paper. That means cheating is begun from you.
Harikesa: How will the government decide what my gold is and what his gold is? How does the gold get distributed?
Prabhupada: Gold coins. Formerly there was gold coins. We have seen in our childhood gold coins, silver coins. There was no paper.
Harikesa: But you have to do something to get it.
Prabhupada: Yes. I will have to do something. That is another thing. But why you are cheating me? Instead of gold, you are giving me paper. Formerly... You have seen in Krsna book that one fruit man came, and Krsna was taking some grain. It was falling down. So that was the... A fruit man come, and you give him a packet of grain. Then whatever exchange is possible, the fruit man gives you fruit. That's all.
Pusta Krsna: That is called bartering.
Prabhupada: Bartering. So there is no need of money. Similarly, you go to another shop. You get. So you produce your food, and in exchange, in barter, you get all things, other things. Somebody is producing something, somebody is producing something. But it can be done. Suppose I am a blacksmith. You want some work from me. So you say that "I'll make this instrument for me." So I say, "You give me one kg paddy." So you give me one kg, I prepare you, so your necessity is fulfilled. Now I have got so much paddy. Now, I may go to purchase something else because I am blacksmith, so grains will be used for my eating, and for, say for ghee, I take the same grain somewhere. So where is the money need of?
Harikesa: It's very difficult to cheat in that system. It's very difficult to cheat.
Prabhupada: Cheat?
Harikesa: In a system of bartering it's very hard to cheat.
Prabhupada: Yes. There is no cheating. Everyone is simply simple, honest. And here the government begins cheating. He is engaging you to hard work day and night and paying you a piece of paper, where it is written "one hundred dollars." That's all. This is your society, cheating and cheater. That's all.
Harikesa: People have a hard time understanding that point, because with a hundred dollar note you can buy things.
Prabhupada: Therefore I say you are all rascals. You do not know. If I say, the government may arrest me that I am infusing people in a different way. But that is the fact.
Harikesa: So a government's duty would be to abolish this false standard of money, and then automatically...
Prabhupada: Yes. Government's only duty is that government gives me land and I pay tax: "Whatever I produce, take one fourth." Finish. All taxes. If I don't produce, there is no tax. That's all. That is the business between the government and the public. That's all.
Harikesa: If the public are giving like one quarter of a perishable item, what does the government do with that? Let's say they were growing some vegetables, so they give one quarter of that to the government. What would the government do with that? They've got so many tons of vegetables.
Prabhupada: Yes.
Harikesa: And everybody is taken care of, because they are growing it.
Prabhupada: After all, vegetable will be eaten by somebody. So let government distribute there. Vegetable, grains, fruits, milk, ghee, yogurt, natural produce--they will be used by somebody. The government may store and distribute, those who are in need. That's all.

New currency would curb volatility: Kremlin aide

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The introduction of a new international reserve currency could curb the volatility of foreign exchange markets, Kremlin's top economic aide Arkady Dvorkovich said on Wednesday.

Russia and China have proposed the introduction of a new reserve currency, possibly using the International Monetary Fund's Special Drawing Rights (SDRs).

"The volatility of foreign exchange rates can be even greater (without a new currency)," Dvorkovich said.

"The IMF could prepare a paper about it ... The potential for such a decision exists."

(Reporting by Yelena Fabrichnaya, writing by Toni Vorobyova)

Vedic Perspective

731231mw.la               Conversations
Prabhupada: ...theologician?
Prajapati: Here I am, Srila Prabhupada.
Prabhupada: No theory?
Prajapati: Actually, I was concerned this morning about inflation. The government and the newspapers, they say the biggest problem today is inflation. From our Krsna conscious standpoint, how can we cure this problem of inflation?
Prabhupada: It is very simple. Don't accept paper currency. It must be gold or some metal worth. Just like one dollar, it must be worth one dollar metal. Then it is solved. But they want to cheat. How it can be solved? Because if I pay you one dollar, I must pay you value for one dollar. But it is the cheating process is going on, "I pay you one dollar, a piece of paper. That's all." So you accept cheating, and I also cheat. Government allows. So how the problem can be solved? It is cheating. But the government allows it as law. And you accept, I accept. Then how they can be solved, solution? This is the solution.
Prajapati: In the economy itself there isn't actually enough money to, that's even in the banks...
Prabhupada: That is cheating. Therefore I say cheating. I have no money. I give you simply paper. I promise to pay hundred dollars. What is the use of that promise if I have no money? But you want to be cheated. I cheat you. That's all. You are satisfied of being cheated by me; so I take the advantage and I cheat you. I give you a paper. That's all.
Bahulasva: Real money is gold and silver.
Prabhupada: Any... It must be value. According to the market price, it must be value. Whatever it may be. Gold is taken, because gold is the most valuable metal. A small piece of gold, it can carry two hundred dollars. But if I give you iron, then you have to bring another, what is called, bus, to carry it. (laughter) So therefore gold standard is accepted everywhere. There is a standard price of gold, so when I pay you money, it must be, carry the value in gold. That's all. Then there is no inflation. The people want to be cheated, and people cheat. That's all.
Bahulasva: In the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Prabhupada, you say that Kali became gold standardized.
Prabhupada: That is another point. That one who has gold, he can purchase these four kinds of sinful activities: meat-eating, gambling, intoxication, illicit sex. If you have money, you can get illicit sex from big, big quarters. Is it not?
Karandhara: Yes.
Prabhupada: Yes. The sinful activities have increased because the world has produced too much wealth. Because they can purchase sinful activities. And that is being increased by inflation. False money I have got, and with that false money I can purchase all this illicit sex, wine, intoxication, and... It is just like nowadays, bank is giving you a card, "Americard..." What is that?
Karandhara: Charge card. Bank Americard.
Prabhupada: Ah. So you simply show the card, you get the goods. So to exchange, it has become very cheap. So cheaply you can purchase. Therefore cheaply you can purchase sinful things also. The people are becoming sinful. The modern economy is, "Engage people in hard working to produce, and by artificial cheating, secure the goods, commodities." This is modern economy. So a worker is getting three thousand dollar per month, but he is getting paper. But he is thinking that "I am getting money." He is giving his labor, and things are being produced. This is the policy. "Cheat him. Without giving money, give him paper, and get his labor, and produce goods." This is modern economy. Is it not? A laborer, a worker, is given high salary, high wages. So what he is getting? It is paper. And he is very enthusiastic to give his labor. So production is more. And when you go to purchase the products, then you have to pay again. Whatever you have earned, you have to pay everything, pay to the bank or pay to the man. Simply cheating process is going on. There is no solution. People are cheaters. They have been taught how to cheat. Everyone has got a cheating propensity. That is conditioned life. Four defects: to commit mistake, to become illusioned, to cheat and imperfectness of the senses. So cheating propensity everyone has got. So that cheating propensity is being encouraged more and more. Instead of minimizing it or stop it, it is being encouraged.
Bahulasva: So unless they become Krsna conscious, then there is no solution.
Prabhupada: No. Harav abhaktasya kuto mahad-gunah. There cannot be any good quality in human society unless accepts Krsna consciousness.

Communities print their own currency to keep cash flowing

By

Marisol Bello

USA TODAY

A small but growing number of cash-strapped communities are printing their own money.

Borrowing from a Depression-era idea, they are aiming to help consumers make ends meet and support struggling local businesses.

The systems generally work like this: Businesses and individuals form a network to print currency. Shoppers buy it at a discount — say, 95 cents for $1 value — and spend the full value at stores that accept the currency.

Workers with dwindling wages are paying for groceries, yoga classes and fuel with Detroit Cheers, Ithaca Hours in New York, Plenty in North Carolina or BerkShares in Massachusetts.

Ed Collom, a University of Southern Maine sociologist who has studied local currencies, says they encourage people to buy locally. Merchants, hurting because customers have cut back on spending, benefit as consumers spend the local cash.

"We wanted to make new options available," says Jackie Smith of South Bend, Ind., who is working to launch a local currency. "It reinforces the message that having more control of the economy in local hands can help you cushion yourself from the blows of the marketplace."

About a dozen communities have local currencies, says Susan Witt, founder of BerkShares in the Berkshires region of western Massachusetts. She expects more to do it.

Under the BerkShares system, a buyer goes to one of 12 banks and pays $95 for $100 worth of BerkShares, which can be spent in 370 local businesses. Since its start in 2006, the system, the largest of its kind in the country, has circulated $2.3 million worth of BerkShares. In Detroit, three business owners are printing $4,500 worth of Detroit Cheers, which they are handing out to customers to spend in one of 12 shops.

During the Depression, local governments, businesses and individuals issued currency, known as scrip, to keep commerce flowing when bank closings led to a cash shortage.

By law, local money may not resemble federal bills or be promoted as legal tender of the United States, says Claudia Dickens of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

"We print the real thing," she says.

The IRS gets its share. When someone pays for goods or services with local money, the income to the business is taxable, says Tom Ochsenschlager of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. "It's not a way to avoid income taxes, or we'd all be paying in Detroit dollars," he says.

Pittsboro, N.C., is reviving the Plenty, a defunct local currency created in 2002. It is being printed in denominations of $1, $5, $20 and $50. A local bank will exchange $9 for $10 worth of Plenty.

"We're a wiped-out small town in America," says Lyle Estill, president of Piedmont Biofuels, which accepts the Plenty. "This will strengthen the local economy. ... The nice thing about the Plenty is that it can't leave here."

Vedic Perspective

741208SB.BOM                Prabhupada Lectures
Formerly a man was considered to be wealthy--now also it is... Dhanyena dhanavan, gavaya dhanavan. If you have got many number of cows, then you are considered to be rich man, not papers. Nowadays, if you have got bunch of paper written "one thousand dollar," but they are paper only. You are dhanavan. Formerly, practical. Not dhanavan by the papers, by the currency notes, but by how many cows you possess, because that is life. You get milk. And dhanyena, if you have got food grains, then you are rich, not by possessing some paper. No. Therefore it it said here, rayah pasavo grhah. So these are the material possession.

China positioning its currency for a run at world supremacy

By Don Lee
April 3, 2009

Reporting from Shanghai -- Could the world's currency of choice have the face of Mao Tse-tung on it, not George Washington?

Quixotic or not, the Chinese are preparing for that day.

In a series of what might be called baby steps, Chinese officials recently have moved to globalize the yuan and promote its influence overseas, with Shanghai designated as command central.

Since last December, China has signed deals with six countries, including South Korea, Malaysia and most recently Argentina, for currency swaps that would inject Chinese money into foreign banking systems. That would allow foreign companies to pay for goods they import from China in yuan, bypassing the dollar -- the currency that dominates international trade and finance, including foreign exchange reserves.

Beijing is also taking initiatives to use the yuan, also known as the renminbi, to settle trade accounts between some Chinese provinces and neighboring states, starting with Hong Kong.

"The central bank has set promoting the renminbi for payment settlements as the main task for this year's work," said Shi Lei, an analyst in the global financial markets section at Bank of China in Beijing.

China is also spreading the yuan's influence in Asia by making loans and investments in other countries, as well as through its many tourists who carry loads of Chinese currency abroad. In Cambodia, where the dollar has long dominated, a tour guide in Angkor Wat recently asked visitors if they could pay him in yuan.

Meanwhile, Chinese officials have called attention to the risks of an international monetary system that relies on the dollar, which many analysts have begun to see as unstable because of heavy deficit spending embraced by Washington to combat the recession.

China's central banker last week called for the creation of a new global currency, although he didn't propose that the yuan replace the dollar. The idea was quickly dismissed by some U.S. and Western officials, and it didn't get much attention at the Group of 20 summit Thursday in London.

Still, Kirby Daley, a strategist in Hong Kong for brokerage Newedge Group, said: "I think these are very, very shrewd moves" by the Chinese. "The timing is really good."

Daley and other experts say it would take years for the yuan to supplant the dollar; the Chinese currency is currently tightly controlled and not even freely tradable in international markets. It will take time for the yuan to gain international acceptance and for China to reform its capital markets and diversify its economy, crucial preconditions before the Chinese can elevate their currency to rival the dollar.

But given the risk of inflation diminishing the value of the dollar, and neither the euro nor the Japanese yen viewed as attractive alternatives, Chinese and Western analysts say they can envision the yuan becoming the dominant global currency by 2020. That's when Beijing expects the yuan to have been fully liberalized, institutional arrangements and rules to have been set, and Shanghai to be firmly established as an international financial center.

"That's a reasonable timetable," said Tim Condon, chief Asia economist for ING Financial Markets in Singapore, adding that the outlooks for the U.S. and Chinese currencies go in opposite directions. "I see undesirable risk against the dollar and appreciation pressure on the Chinese yuan."

For the Chinese, that's not necessarily a good thing at the moment. China holds about $2 trillion in foreign exchange reserves, about half in U.S. Treasury bonds and other government-backed debt. A weakening dollar would erode the value of those investments. Yet any sudden or large move to shift those funds could destabilize the dollar and cause just such a scenario to unfold.

At the same time, the yuan is widely thought to be undervalued. American manufacturers and politicians have long complained that China manipulates its currency to boost exports. By keeping the yuan's value artificially low, critics say, China enables its manufacturers to sell their goods more cheaply in overseas markets. If the exchange rate -- currently pegged at 6.8 yuan to the dollar -- weren't tightly set by Beijing, even Chinese analysts figure the ratio could drop to 5 yuan to the dollar.

Given China's heavy reliance on trade and related investments for growth, Beijing can't afford to let the yuan appreciate too quickly. To reduce those risks, it needs time to continue to grow its economy and transfer more of its economic output to services and the domestic sector.

A shift from the dollar to the yuan as the global currency would have significant practical and symbolic consequences. The dominance of the dollar in trade, financing tools, commodity pricing and international payments has given the U.S. a big advantage in driving commerce and funding the running of the country, although that's also allowed Americans to spend more than they produce and save.

Psychologically, the unseating of the dollar would send a signal that the U.S. is losing its stature as the world's supreme economic power.

Yi Xianrong, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, cautions against getting too excited about the central government's recent moves, including the announcement last week that Shanghai would be built into an international finance hub. He says there's a long way to go before the yuan can become an international currency.

At the moment, the yuan is traded in the open market in only a few small countries such as Romania. "It's not so meaningful to talk about this right now, when the renminbi is not yet convertible," Yi said.

Vedic Perspective

760622gc.nv               Conversations
Prabhupada: But you are intelligent. Why you are putting the forefather's words (In God We Trust)? You avoid it. That means you are cheating people. You do not believe in, but you still write it. That means cheating. Why do you write such things in which you do not believe? That means cheating. Hmm? What do you think? If you write something which you do not believe in, are you not cheating? That means cheating. You take word, you are giving a piece of paper, and it is written there, "one thousand dollars." That means you are cheating, in the name of God, he will accept you, that's all. If you say, "No, I don't want paper. Give me gold dollar," then you are finished. Your currency will be finished. Immediately there will be revolution, that "The government is cheating us." Actually it is cheating. What is the proof, value, of this paper, little paper? Simply "I promise to pay, governor and this..." But it is on trust only: "Yes, government will pay me." They'll never pay, but so long the government goes on, it will go on, that's all, cheating will go on. And as soon government fails, you throw in the street, no one will care for it. It has been practically proved in the last war, in Germany. There was scarcity of food, and those who had bunch of currency notes, they went for one piece of bread, so many thousand marks, "Give me." Nobody supplied. So the paper has no value, but if we believe, it has value, that's all. Otherwise what is the meaning of this paper, one thousand dollars? So it is a kind of cheating, "We trust in God; we are very good men. You trust in me."

UK population must fall to 30m, says Porritt

by Jonathan Leake and Brendan Montague

JONATHON PORRITT, one of Gordon Brown’s leading green advisers, is to warn that Britain must drastically reduce its population if it is to build a sustainable society.

Porritt’s call will come at this week’s annual conference of the Optimum Population Trust (OPT), of which he is patron.

The trust will release research suggesting UK population must be cut to 30m if the country wants to feed itself sustainably.

Porritt said: “Population growth, plus economic growth, is putting the world under terrible pressure.

“Each person in Britain has far more impact on the environment than those in developing countries so cutting our population is one way to reduce that impact.”

Population growth is one of the most politically sensitive environmental problems. The issues it raises, including religion, culture and immigration policy, have proved too toxic for most green groups.

However, Porritt is winning scientific backing. Professor Chris Rapley, director of the Science Museum, will use the OPT conference, to be held at the Royal Statistical Society, to warn that population growth could help derail attempts to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

Rapley, who formerly ran the British Antarctic Survey, said humanity was emitting the equivalent of 50 billion tons of CO2 into the atmosphere each year.

“We have to cut this by 80%, and population growth is going to make that much harder,” he said.

Such views on population have split the green movement. George Monbiot, a prominent writer on green issues, has criticised population campaigners, arguing that “relentless” economic growth is a greater threat.

Many experts believe that, since Europeans and Americans have such a lopsided impact on the environment, the world would benefit more from reducing their populations than by making cuts in developing countries.

This is part of the thinking behind the OPT’s call for Britain to cut population to 30m — roughly what it was in late Victorian times.

Britain’s population is expected to grow from 61m now to 71m by 2031. Some politicians support a reduction.

Phil Woolas, the immigration minister, said: “You can’t have sustainability with an increase in population.”

The Tory leader, David Cameron, has also suggested Britain needs a “coherent strategy” on population growth.

Despite these comments, however, government and Conservative spokesmen this weekend both distanced themselves from any population policy. ”

Vedic Perspective

750705rc.chi     Prabhupada  Conversation
Everything is there. So people should be trained up. Economic question? That is explained in the Bhagavad-gita, annad bhavanti bhutani. You produce food grain, anna, sufficiently. So there is immense land still. Say, in America, so much land is without any utilization, in Africa, in Australia. They are not being properly utilized. People are complaining, "Overpopulation." Now countries which are overpopulated, they are not allowed to utilize the vacant land, neither people are being trained how to produce food grain. They are being trained up, technology, to produce motor tire. And nobody is interested to produce food grain. So without taking food grains, they are killing animals, and they are eating, short cut. They do not know killing of animals is sinful activity. This is the... Man is advanced; we can grow food. This killing of animals is for the non-civilized society. They cannot... They do not know how to grow food. They were killing animals. When man is advanced in his knowledge and education, why they should kill? Especially in America, we see so many nice foodstuffs. Fruits, grains, milk. And from milk, you can get hundreds of nice preparations, all nutritious. In our New Vrindaban we are doing that--rabri, pera, burfi. The other farmers are surprised that from milk such nice preparation can be prepared. So instead of teaching them--you Indian, you know how to utilize milk and prepare so many nice preparation,--you are learning how to eat meat. Why? So if you forget your culture and if you become victimized, that is your fault. You should teach them how to utilize milk. And if the cows are kept jubilant, they will deliver double milk. They know, "We shall be killed." They are always depressed. Therefore milk is not properly supplied. So that is stated in the Bhagavad..., er, Srimad-Bhagavatam, that during Maharaja Yudhisthira's time the cows were so jubilant that milk was dropping from the milkbags, so much so that the pasturing grounds became muddy with milk. So if you keep... Killing of cows means utilizing the blood in different form. The milk is also another transformation of the blood. So if you take milk sufficiently and prepare nice foodstuff, then it is equally beneficial like the meat from health point of view. But one must know the..., learn that keep the cow living; at the same time be benefited by the blood. Therefore in the Bhagavad-gita you will find this word krsi-go-raksya. Go-raksya. This animal has to be protected. Not other animals it is mentioned. And go, cow. So those who are meat-eaters, they can eat nonimportant animals. But cows should be given protection. This is the instruction. But in the western country the cows are specially being killed. Now the reaction is war, crime, and they are now repentant. And they will have to repent more and more.

Russia urges N.Korea to show restraint in rocket launch

MOSCOW, April 2 (RIA Novosti) - Russia urges North Korea to show restraint with its upcoming rocket launch and related activities, the Foreign Ministry's spokesman said on Friday.

The spokesman's comments came soon after reports emerged that the North had deployed fighter planes to fend off any attempts to intercept the rocket, which it says will be putting a satellite into orbit.

"Restraint in rocket activities would help allay the international community's concerns, and build trust in the context of the six-party talks on the Korean nuclear problem," Andrei Nesterenko said.

He urged

Pyongyang

to avoid "fanning the flames" and escalating tensions in the region.

Last month,

North Korea

announced its plans to launch what it says is a communications satellite April on 4-8 from its Musudan-ri launch site. The U.S., Japan and South Korea, who have condemned the plans, believe that the secretive state is planning to test its Taepodong-2 long-range missile.

North Korea

says its Kwangmyongsong-2 experimental satellite will be put into orbit for "peaceful purposes".

Russia and China have stopped short of condemning the launch.

Last Friday, Japan's Security Council gave its approval for the military to destroy the North Korean rocket should it pose a threat to Japanese security.

Japan's Kyodo reported that two Aegis guided-missile destroyers had set sail from Nagasaki en route to the Sea of Japan on Saturday to intercept the rocket if necessary.

On Tuesday the North's official news agency warned that if Japan intercepts the rocket, it will "consider this the start of Japan's war of re-invasion more than six decades after the Second World War, and mercilessly destroy all its interceptor means and citadels with the most powerful military means."

The Russian spokesman said: "We believe it is important not to make any rash conclusions" and to "refrain from making any evaluations until the incident occurs."

U.S. media quoted senior officials earlier on Thursday as saying the North had begun fuelling the rocket, suggesting that it will be ready for lift off in three or four days' time.

Vedic Perspective

Bhagavad-gita 16.9 Purport by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami        

The Divine And Demoniac Nature    TEXT 9

                                      TEXT

                      etam drstim avastabhya
                    nastatmano 'lpa-buddhayah
                    prabhavanty ugra-karmanah
                      ksayaya jagato 'hitah

                                SYNONYMS

   etam--thus; drstim--vision; avastabhya--accepting; nasta--lost; atmanah--self; alpa-buddhayah--less intelligent; prabhavanti--flourish; ugra-karmanah--in painful activities; ksayaya--for destruction; jagatah--of the world; ahitah--unbeneficial.

                           TRANSLATION

   Following such conclusions, the demoniac, who are lost to themselves and who have no intelligence, engage in unbeneficial, horrible works meant to destroy the world.

                             PURPORT

   The demoniac are engaged in activities that will lead the world to destruction. The Lord states here that they are less intelligent. The materialists, who have no concept of God, think that they are advancing. But, according to Bhagavad-gita, they are unintelligent and devoid of all sense. They try to enjoy this material world to the utmost limit and therefore always engage in inventing something for sense gratification. Such materialistic inventions are considered to be advancement of human civilization, but the result is that people grow more and more violent and more and more cruel, cruel to animals and cruel to other human beings. They have no idea how to behave toward one another. Animal killing is very prominent amongst demoniac people. Such people are considered the enemies of the world because ultimately they will invent or create something which will bring destruction to all. Indirectly, this verse anticipates the invention of nuclear weapons, of which the whole world today is very proud. At any moment war may take place, and these atomic weapons may create havoc. Such things are created solely for the destruction of the world, and this is indicated here. Due to godlessness, such weapons are invented in human society; they are not meant for the peace and prosperity of the world.

Russian analyst says Putin to become monarch of post-Soviet space

MOSCOW, April 1 (RIA Novosti) - An outspoken Russian political analyst, known for his apocalyptic predictions on the U.S., has said global events suggest that a new alliance could form in Eurasia, with Vladimir Putin at its helm.

Professor Igor Panarin,

who grabbed headlines last November with his prediction

that the United States would disintegrate, told the Izvestia newspaper that numerous factors, including last year's war with Georgia and the weakness of the global financial system, suggest that a new union will emerge around Russia.

The new bloc, a result of step-by-step economic integration, would "not be formed on the model of the Soviet Union, but on the model of the European Union... In describing the leader of such a union, I would use the word that Machiavelli liked to use - a prince," Panarin told the paper. 

"The prince of the post-Soviet space would be Vladimir Putin. His main asset is that, firstly, he has authority among the national elites of the post-Soviet republics, and secondly, has produced effective results in the eight years he has led Russia. Our country is centralized and stable, and last August passed a test of its strength."

He called the August conflict between Russia and Georgia a turning point in Eurasian integration, as "Russia was then seen by the eyes of the world." The Americans and the Chinese decided not to interfere in the conflict, with the result that they lost all influence in the Caucasus region, he said.

The conflict also had wider-reaching repercussions, he added. "We can see now that countries have essentially stopped hurling allegations at us, continual attacks. A few days ago the EU admitted that Georgia was wrong in its actions."

Russia did not only succeed in ending the genocide in South Ossetia, but also "signed deals on placing military bases," setting the right political and military conditions for "processes of integration in the post-Soviet space."

Under the world system envisaged by Panarin, there will be three centers of power - China, the European Union, and the Russia-led "EU-2."

The first to join Russia's union will be Belarus and Kazakhstan, whose president Nursultan Nazarbayev recently proposed a single currency for the region; the rest of the ex-Soviet republics, including eventually the Baltic States, will join later, he said.

He noted China's support for Russia's idea of a new global reserve currency.

"China should conduct integration in the Pacific region, and Russia in the post-Soviet space, based on their national currencies. The ruble and the yuan could become centers of gravity for the two countries, the basis of the new world super-currency."

Panarin said that with the challenges facing the world amid the financial crisis, the process of integration in Eurasia can already be seen.

"The global economic and political system is on the verge of colossal changes. Now is the right time to think about the future of the global architecture - and its contours can already be seen."

"A unique situation is developing. Until recently there were many factors holding back the integration process in the post-Soviet space, but today the logic of the financial crisis demands new actions, which must succeed. In literally the past few days, several breakthrough foreign policy meetings have been held. An agreement was signed in Moscow on integration between Moldova and Transdnestr - the first breakthrough in 10 years. The unprecedentedly long talks between the presidents of Russia and Belarus - this is also no coincidence."

He suggested 2012 as a likely date for the process of forming a new union to be complete, with Putin initially elected for a five-year term.

When asked about the current system of leadership in Russia, with Putin as prime minister and Dmitry Medvedev as president, he said it is bound to end soon.

"The 'president-premier' system is very unstable for Russia. Our entire history has shown that two centers of power cannot strategically exist for long," he said.

Panarin, 50, heads the international relations department at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and has authored several books on information warfare.

Vedic Perspective

720927SB.LA                  Lectures
Sometimes great demons and atheists like Ravana and Hiranyakasipu and many others become very famous due to advancing material civilization by the help of material science and other activities with a spirit of challenging the established order of the Lord. For example, the attempt to fly to other planets by material means is a challenge to the established order. The conditions of each and every plane are different, and different classes of human beings are accommodated there for particular purposes mentioned in the codes of the Lord. But puffed up by tiny success in material advancement, sometimes the godless materialist challenges the existence of God.