Shadowstats.com calculates Key U.S. Statistics the way they were calculated in the 1980s and 1990s before Official Data Manipulation began in earnest. Consider
Bogus Official Numbers vs. Real Numbers (per Shadowstats.com)
Annual U.S. Consumer Price Inflation reported April 15, 2011
2.68% / 10.2% (annualized March, 2011 Rate)
U.S. Unemployment reported April 1, 2011
8.8% / 22%
U.S. GDP Annual Growth/Decline reported March 25, 2011
2.78% / - 2.21%
U.S. M3 reported April 17, 2011 (Month of March, Y.O.Y.)Reviewing the Aforementioned Figures (Note: CPI is rising up to 10.2% annualized from 9.6% in February) makes it easy to understand why Gold and Silver Prices have been skyrocketing lately.
No Official Report / - 0.87%
Gold and Silver are Real Money, and as increasing numbers of Investor-Citizens around the World become aware that the Purchasing Power of their Fiat Currencies is diminishing (10.2%/yr. in the USA!), the more they flock to purchase these Precious Metals.
Of course, thus Trend greatly concerns the Mega-Bankers because it tends to delegitimize and degrade the value of their Paper/Digital Treasury Securities and Fiat Currencies (as well it should!).