Pundits: Does anyone take Gary North seriously anymore?

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Oct 13, 2009
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First, he claimed Y2K was going to be the closest thing to Armageddon. Then he claimed gold and silver coins produced by the U.S. and Canadian Mints aren't money, and then he called a government-guaranteed gold standard a fool's gold standard, while proposing his own so-called free market gold standard that is also a fool's gold standard, in calling for government enforcement of contracts.

Today, as Apple stock hit $600 per share -- a 54% increase in the five months since North said Apple was going down like Newton's apple, my question is: does anyone take Gary North seriously anymore?

Source: http://fauxcapitalist.com/2012/03/15/shades-of-y2k-gary-norths-bogus-apple-prediction/

It’s now 12 years, 2 months and 15 days after Gary North’s apocalyptic Y2K predictions failed to materialize, and not many days after that since he scrubbed all references to it from his website, GaryNorth.com.

Thankfully, there is archive.org, which shows his Chicken Little fear-mongering in all its glory.

On October 11, 2011, North took the opportunity of Steve Jobs’ untimely passing to spout off on how Apple’s fortunes were tied to that of Newton’s apple, and that both were inevitably going down.

The closing price on Apple shares the day before his article was $388.81 USD per share.

As of March 15, 2012, in anticipation of the new iPad 3, Apple shares traded at over $600 per share — a 54% increase in just five months since his bogus prediction.

Indeed, Apple stock will eventually go down from its Steve Jobs-era high. North didn’t put a date to his prediction, but such a huge increase in such a short time effectively shatters his prediction.

Less than two full months after his article, he wrote another one, saying:

“I have always suspected it. Apple as a company is over-hyped. The company’s new iPad users’ support strategy proves it.“

He then went on to complain about his customer experience, and admits:

“Do I have a bad attitude? No doubt. But it is in response to what I regard as a customer-insulting company.“

Yes, they are such a customer-insulting company, that consumers continue to turn out in droves for Apple’s smartphones and tablets, instead of RIM’s, whose market share has massively tanked.

For more on Gary North, see my articles:

1) Gary North runs for cover as his fool’s gold standard gets ever wider exposure

2) In claiming the Bible is anti-socialist, Gary North overlooks a blatant example of its socialism

3) Gary North’s free market gold standard is also a fool’s gold standard

4) Gary North praises Wal-Mart’s low prices despite some of it coming at the expense of taxpayers

5) Gary North: Spokesman for a major Federal Reserve bankster smokescreen

6) Cheerleader for bankster economics

7) Gary North admits gold was a bad investment from 1980-2001

8) Gary North claims gold coins produced by U.S. and Canada aren’t money, despite being legal tender

9) 21 years a medium-term investment? If you’re a gold bug, it is
 
Eh, Gary is good in some things but bad in others. He is a great free market economist.


His position on theonomy is wrong. But his general position on Calvinism is right. Reconstructionists emphasize the social and political witness of Christianity far too much. Christianity has never been, nor will it be, primarily a political or social program.

Christianity is the story of how God saves His people by grace through faith. The centrality of history is Christ's sacrifice on the cross. The political or social implications of this are merely that...implications. The centrality of the gospel is not that God wants a political kingdom here on earth...that is the fallacy of Roman Catholicism.

There are certainly principles that we can glean from the Scriptures, but the Reconstructionists have gone off the deep end by saying that even the Mosaic civil law is still binding today.
 
Yeah, I don't think many people here are going to be convinced that you're a wiser economist than Gary North. Sorry.

I wonder if Lew Rockwell even realizes that North claimed gold and silver coins produced by the U.S. and Canadian Mints aren't money. If you or I wrote that in an article, I doubt Lew would publish it.
 
aside from his highly controversial views regarding christianity, I think North is a swell guy. And though he may hit and miss sometimes, for the most part he is on the money. His lectures at the Mises University are inspirational and he is a good asset to the liberty movement.
 
aside from his highly controversial views regarding christianity, I think North is a swell guy. And though he may hit and miss sometimes, for the most part he is on the money. His lectures at the Mises University are inspirational and he is a good asset to the liberty movement.

He can dish it out, but he can't take it. He called Ellen Brown Hitler's economics cheerleader, yet chickened out on a chance to debate her on Max Keiser's show.
 
He can dish it out, but he can't take it. He called Ellen Brown Hitler's economics cheerleader, yet chickened out on a chance to debate her on Max Keiser's show.

IIRC the "debate" had turned to lampooning North and accusing him of having a secret crush on Brown, at which point North determined that he wouldn't be "debating" because he had little guarantee that any debate would happen. I thought it was a wise move: he was basically saying "I'm not going on TV just to be the butt of your jokes".

And before you go there: there actually is an argument that Brown's and Hitler's economics are similar. There is no argument that North has a crush on Brown.
 
I like Gary North.

Full disclosure: I am not an expert on the Austrian School of Economics and I am not very well-versed w/ North's beliefs. But I do believe in sound money, I do believe the Fed is a ponzi scheme, and I do believe that printing money is bad for honest, hardworking people. I do believe in buying physical gold and silver as means to protect one's wealth.

I am, however, learning. I'm reading "The Essential Mises," Bastiat's "The Law," as well as a few books by Ron Paul and the classic "Our Enemy the State." I have a physical copy of "Human Action" as well as PDF formats thereof.

I do read North's articles, and I do believe he has much to offer. I do like what he says about gold. And I particularly enjoyed this article, written recently, about gold and Fort Knox. I learned a lot from it. And I sincerely believe he is on to something regarding how central banks treat and view gold.

As well, I ran into this older article a few days ago and read it right after I read the one above. I learned a lot from it.

I speculate most if not all of you knew what these articles state, which shows I would be wise to keep reading and researching, for after all, knowledge is power. But these two articles are, in my humble assessment, evidence that North should be taken seriously.
 
It was an honest invitation, and then, as I recall, North went quiet, and that's when Keiser made up the thing about him having a secret crush, which was intended to be humourous, and not a 100% serious allegation.

I saw North write in an article that he doesn't do interviews anyway (outside of his safe and controlled environs like LewRockwell.com).
 
It was an honest invitation, and then, as I recall, North went quiet, and that's when Keiser made up the thing about him having a secret crush, which was intended to be humourous, and not a 100% serious allegation.

I saw North write in an article that he doesn't do interviews anyway (outside of his safe and controlled environs like LewRockwell.com).

FauxCapitalist, I am not familiar with this incident, so I can't comment. But after seeing how that reporter treated Ron Paul to the extent Paul walked out, I don't necessarily blame North for refusing interviews. I do not hold North to be fallible, just as Paul isn't fallible. But, North and Paul have similar views on money and this means both are outside what the "mainstream" accepts. Witness the way Paul has been mocked by the media in this and the last election. If anything I respect North (and Paul, of course) for sticking to his convictions even though the vast majority of the "world out there" thinks he's nuts.
 
Dude, go after the people who are destroying your wealth, enslaving you to debt, and erecting a police state around you to control you. For as many things Gary is kind of weird on, you can't deny that he has been a stalwart defender of free markets and liberty. Dr. Paul chose Gary to work on his staff for many years. I think Ron knew he could depend on Gary's sound advice on free markets.
 
I speculate most if not all of you knew what these articles state, which shows I would be wise to keep reading and researching, for after all, knowledge is power. But these two articles are, in my humble assessment, evidence that North should be taken seriously.

He does say some good things, in my view. Like when he said gold has no intrinsic value (http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north952.html)

and that the Fed operates for the benefit of the largest banks. (http://fauxcapitalist.com/2011/03/1...perates-for-the-benefit-of-the-largest-banks/)

But it is the zany things he says like U.S. Eagles gold aren't money that make me wonder whether he is serious, trying to be deadpan funny, or injecting little bits of misinfo into his accurate statements.
 
Dude, go after the people who are destroying your wealth, enslaving you to debt, and erecting a police state around you to control you. For as many things Gary is kind if weird on, you can't deny that he has been a stalwart defender of free markets and liberty. Dr. Paul chose Gary to work on his staff for many years. I think Ron knew he could depend on Gary's sound advice on free markets.

Good point. If anything, the fact North has worked with Paul and spoken well of Paul's views is the major reason I was drawn to North's writings in the first place.
 
Dude, go after the people who are destroying your wealth, enslaving you to debt, and erecting a police state around you to control you. For as many things Gary is kind of weird on, you can't deny that he has been a stalwart defender of free markets and liberty. Dr. Paul chose Gary to work on his staff for many years. I think Ron knew he could depend on Gary's sound advice on free markets.

If you go to my blog, you'll see I do that. At least you admit he is weird on some things. :) (Like when he said governments lie, cheat and steal, and then called for government enforcement of contracts).
 
If you go to my blog, you'll see I do that. At least you admit he is weird on some things. :) (Like when he said governments lie, cheat and steal, and then called for government enforcement of contracts).

Governments do lie. Governments do cheat. Governments do steal. None of this is untrue.
 
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