Are diamonds rare?

[denverappraiser]

I did not say in US.

I didn't say US either. I just gave examples of US real estate because more readers here (including me) are familiar with US real estate values than with those overseas. Property values in Ginza and suburban Chernobyl have plumetted while values in Mumbai have skyrocketted in the last few decades. These would be equally acceptable examples. In every case these trends are subject to change without notice and without making of new land. The assumption that a particular piece of land is destined to increase in value because the supply is limited is simply false.

if you do not pay property tax they will throw you out of your property and sell it in a public auction even if you pay in full and you have the deed cleared from any lien holder.

Although it's true that property is subject to seizure if you don't pay your taxes, this is not an accurate summary of how the process works in the US. If the original taxpayer pays the back taxes, penalties and interest, the title is cleared. The taxpayer is given a period of time, usually 3-5 years to settle the debt, and any previous lienholder can pay it off in order to preserve their own rights (and increase the amount that's owed to them). I'm confident that tax cheats in other countries are subject to seizure as well although I'm sure the rules on exactly how it's done are different from one place to the next. Actually, I'ld be very interested to learn more about how this works elsewhere if you know.

 

[sphenequeen]

It is all about demand and accessibility.

 

[Doc_1]

I did not say in US.

I didn't say US either. I just gave examples of US real estate because more readers here (including me) are familiar with US real estate values than with those overseas. Property values in Ginza and suburban Chernobyl have plumetted while values in Mumbai have skyrocketted in the last few decades. These would be equally acceptable examples. In every case these trends are subject to change without notice and without making of new land. The assumption that a particular piece of land is destined to increase in value because the supply is limited is simply false.

Population is growing and the land is limited and actually shrinking, from supply demand angle it is true and not false

if you do not pay property tax they will throw you out of your property and sell it in a public auction even if you pay in full and you have the deed cleared from any lien holder.

Although it's true that property is subject to seizure if you don't pay your taxes, this is not an accurate summary of how the process works in the US. If the original taxpayer pays the back taxes, penalties and interest, the title is cleared. The taxpayer is given a period of time, usually 3-5 years to settle the debt, and any previous lienholder can pay it off in order to preserve their own rights (and increase the amount that's owed to them). I'm confident that tax cheats in other countries are subject to seizure as well although I'm sure the rules on exactly how it's done are different from one place to the next. Actually, I'ld be very interested to learn more about how this works elsewhere if you know.

simply you do not own, you are using you can sell and buy and make money on it or lose money on it but you do not own.
in the example i drew if you do not pay property taxes for more than 5 years lats say, they take your property and sell it. if you own it they cannot take it and sell it, same with cars, you pay in full your car and you have the "certificate of title" you do not have the "title". you do not own that car, you have the privilege of using it, selling it, but you never own it, that is how they shove the insurance down our throat, and that is why we cannot drive without a driver license.
you never own the dollar in your pocket.
it is a debt from the moment it was born.
you have to know how the dollar is born to the time it gets to your pocket to realize it is a debt and what ever purchased with it is a debt to the federal reserve private bank.
It is written on it.....lol...... in "fine print".

 

[denverappraiser]

I agree that the Federal Reserve is a scam but that’s well beyond the scope of this discussion. The right of the government to tax is not, I presume, being debated either, nor is their right to sieze your property if you don’t pay up. This applies equally to real estate, cars, gold, diamonds and anything else that you can buy that’s possible for them to grab. If they could think up a way to reposess a college education or a knee replacement I’m sure they would do it. This applies whether we’re talking about property taxes, income taxes, sales taxes or anything else within their purvue. Ownership is not an absolute. Any discussion like this needs to be within the scope of the legal system. Their rights trump yours within the limits of the courts (which are lame as well) and this issue is not limited to the US. EVERY government out there has the right to tax and every one of them has the right and ability to enforce that with siezure, jail and, in some cases worse. Welcome to the world.

Actually, you DO have the right to drive a car without a license. You just don’t have the right to drive it on a public street. THAT’S where they get their ability to limit how you can operate your car regardless of who ‘owns’ it.

Lets go back to land. The vast majority of land in the world is either unoccupied or occupied very sparsly. The problem is that people seem to prefer to live in dense cities and are willing to pay a huge amount more for land there in order to do it. Is there room to build more cities? Lots of it, and if people build cities there the prices tend to go up. It happens all the time. 100 years ago, Las Vegas has a population of less than 100 people. Does that mean it stays up forever? Of course not. This too happens all the time. The total value of the Detroit metropolitan area is down drastically in the last decade and my home state of Colorado is full of ghost towns that were abandoned when the mining business went bust. People who wanted to live there and pay for the privilige now choose, for whatever reason, to live elsewhere. That’s just the way it goes. Individual parcels of land can and do go up and down and predicting which way it’ll go in the future is a huge issue for nearly everyone. It even affects renters because renting an expensive property costs more than renting a cheap one. Psychic power would be very helpful but, unfortunately, I’m not blessed with this and I doubt you are either.

 

[Doc_1]

I agree that the Federal Reserve is a scam but that’s well beyond the scope of this discussion. The right of the government to tax is not, I presume, being debated either, nor is their right to sieze your property if you don’t pay up. This applies equally to real estate, cars, gold, diamonds and anything else that you can buy that’s possible for them to grab. If they could think up a way to reposess a college education or a knee replacement I’m sure they would do it. This applies whether we’re talking about property taxes, income taxes, sales taxes or anything else within their purvue. Ownership is not an absolute. Any discussion like this needs to be within the scope of the legal system. Their rights trump yours within the limits of the courts (which are lame as well) and this issue is not limited to the US. EVERY government out there has the right to tax and every one of them has the right and ability to enforce that with siezure, jail and, in some cases worse. Welcome to the world.

Actually, you DO have the right to drive a car without a license. You just don’t have the right to drive it on a public street. THAT’S where they get their ability to limit how you can operate your car regardless of who ‘owns’ it.

Lets go back to land. The vast majority of land in the world is either unoccupied or occupied very sparsly. The problem is that people seem to prefer to live in dense cities and are willing to pay a huge amount more for land there in order to do it. Is there room to build more cities? Lots of it, and if people build cities there the prices tend to go up. It happens all the time. 100 years ago, Las Vegas has a population of less than 100 people. Does that mean it stays up forever? Of course not. This too happens all the time. The total value of the Detroit metropolitan area is down drastically in the last decade and my home state of Colorado is full of ghost towns that were abandoned when the mining business went bust. People who wanted to live there and pay for the privilige now choose, for whatever reason, to live elsewhere. That’s just the way it goes. Individual parcels of land can and do go up and down and predicting which way it’ll go in the future is a huge issue for nearly everyone. It even affects renters because renting an expensive property costs more than renting a cheap one. Psychic power would be very helpful but, unfortunately, I’m not blessed with this and I doubt you are either.

At least we agree on one thing....back to topic!

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Ya right. So you are saying the US dollar devalued over 5 times since 2000?

So you paid a quarter for a hamburger in 2000? I don't remember that.

How many dollars have been printed since 2000, and how much debt we accumulated since then, how much your gas, heating, electricity, medical bills, insurance, groceries .........etc had went up since then.
Looking at burgers as an indicator for inflation is a guarantee to lose wealth...lol
as i said redo the math.

I have been folllowing this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Mac_Index for about a decade and Doc, quit seriously, it is a pretty accurate guage.

 

[Paul-Antwerp]

Hey all, sort of new here. I was speaking with a gemologist friend of mine last week and he was telling me that diamonds are not really that rare. He said they are actually one of the more common gemstones but they withhold them or something to make them seem rare. Is this true? He said many other gemstones are in fact much more rare. I was always under the impression diamonds were rare thats why they cost so much. He said the russian vaults held mountains of diamonds just vast amounts and the places in South Africa and London also have more diamonds than you can imagine. Was wondering if this was true or not? I don't really know squat about cut diamonds but know a decent amount about colored stones and minerals. Thanks
BillI

Going back to the original post, it clearly shows the limitations of knowledge of a gemologist.

In essence, the study of gemology teaches you to identify various gemstones and their treatments. Some courses may emphasize diamonds somewhat more and will pay some extra attention on establishing mostly colour- and clarity-grades of diamonds. But that is basically where the buck stops.

Being a gemologist does not qualify anyone to make any statements about the demand and supply of certain gemstones, and value-assessment is generally not part of the curriculum either.

Live long,

 

[Garry H (Cut Nut)]

Hey all, sort of new here. I was speaking with a gemologist friend of mine last week and he was telling me that diamonds are not really that rare. He said they are actually one of the more common gemstones but they withhold them or something to make them seem rare. Is this true? He said many other gemstones are in fact much more rare. I was always under the impression diamonds were rare thats why they cost so much. He said the russian vaults held mountains of diamonds just vast amounts and the places in South Africa and London also have more diamonds than you can imagine. Was wondering if this was true or not? I don't really know squat about cut diamonds but know a decent amount about colored stones and minerals. Thanks
BillI

Going back to the original post, it clearly shows the limitations of knowledge of a gemologist.

In essence, the study of gemology teaches you to identify various gemstones and their treatments. Some courses may emphasize diamonds somewhat more and will pay some extra attention on establishing mostly colour- and clarity-grades of diamonds. But that is basically where the buck stops.

Being a gemologist does not qualify anyone to make any statements about the demand and supply of certain gemstones, and value-assessment is generally not part of the curriculum either.

Live long,

True.

Having ben involved in GAA gemmo courses and Valuers courses downunder - we never let the Gemmo's kow about values (we would have to kill them!)

 

[Doc_1]

Ya right. So you are saying the US dollar devalued over 5 times since 2000?

So you paid a quarter for a hamburger in 2000? I don't remember that.

How many dollars have been printed since 2000, and how much debt we accumulated since then, how much your gas, heating, electricity, medical bills, insurance, groceries .........etc had went up since then.
Looking at burgers as an indicator for inflation is a guarantee to lose wealth...lol
as i said redo the math.

I have been folllowing this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Mac_Index for about a decade and Doc, quit seriously, it is a pretty accurate guage.

The flaw in that index is....... it is comparing a falling currency to another faster or slower falling currency, all central banks across the globe are devaluing their currencies to catch up with helicopter Ben. I will advice you to look at how many "stimulus packages" are passed around to get a better gauge of inflation.
if you keep looking at "big macs" your wealth may end up "eaten"

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Ya right. So you are saying the US dollar devalued over 5 times since 2000?

So you paid a quarter for a hamburger in 2000? I don't remember that.

How many dollars have been printed since 2000, and how much debt we accumulated since then, how much your gas, heating, electricity, medical bills, insurance, groceries .........etc had went up since then.
Looking at burgers as an indicator for inflation is a guarantee to lose wealth...lol
as i said redo the math.

I have been folllowing this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Mac_Index for about a decade and Doc, quit seriously, it is a pretty accurate guage.

The flaw in that index is....... it is comparing a falling currency to another faster or slower falling currency, all central banks across the globe are devaluing their currencies to catch up with helicopter Ben. I will advice you to look at how many "stimulus packages" are passed around to get a better gauge of inflation.
if you keep looking at "big macs" your wealth may end up "eaten"

So, Doc, what index do you recommend that shows a 80% devaluation? Numbers, please.

 

[Doc_1]

Ya right. So you are saying the US dollar devalued over 5 times since 2000?

So you paid a quarter for a hamburger in 2000? I don't remember that.

How many dollars have been printed since 2000, and how much debt we accumulated since then, how much your gas, heating, electricity, medical bills, insurance, groceries .........etc had went up since then.
Looking at burgers as an indicator for inflation is a guarantee to lose wealth...lol
as i said redo the math.

I have been folllowing this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Mac_Index for about a decade and Doc, quit seriously, it is a pretty accurate guage.

The flaw in that index is....... it is comparing a falling currency to another faster or slower falling currency, all central banks across the globe are devaluing their currencies to catch up with helicopter Ben. I will advice you to look at how many "stimulus packages" are passed around to get a better gauge of inflation.
if you keep looking at "big macs" your wealth may end up "eaten"

So, Doc, what index do you recommend that shows a 80% devaluation? Numbers, please.

Helicopter Ben has those numbers not me.
Try to ask him how many dollars he printed but i doubt if he will answer you since last i checked he did not answer congressmen, i doubt if you have better chance than them getting an answer
But indirectly i will give you numbers...50 trillion debt including unfunded liabilities. is that enough?

 

[Lady_Disdain]

Ya right. So you are saying the US dollar devalued over 5 times since 2000?

So you paid a quarter for a hamburger in 2000? I don't remember that.

How many dollars have been printed since 2000, and how much debt we accumulated since then, how much your gas, heating, electricity, medical bills, insurance, groceries .........etc had went up since then.
Looking at burgers as an indicator for inflation is a guarantee to lose wealth...lol
as i said redo the math.

I have been folllowing this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Mac_Index for about a decade and Doc, quit seriously, it is a pretty accurate guage.

The flaw in that index is....... it is comparing a falling currency to another faster or slower falling currency, all central banks across the globe are devaluing their currencies to catch up with helicopter Ben. I will advice you to look at how many "stimulus packages" are passed around to get a better gauge of inflation.
if you keep looking at "big macs" your wealth may end up "eaten"

So, Doc, what index do you recommend that shows a 80% devaluation? Numbers, please.

Helicopter Ben has those numbers not me.
Try to ask him how many dollars he printed but i doubt if he will answer you since last i checked he did not answer congressmen, i doubt if you have better chance than them getting an answer
But indirectly i will give you numbers...50 trillion debt including unfunded liabilities. is that enough?

No, it isn't. That number doesn't show devaluation at all - it shows your lack of faith in the future value, not the present value. It is also an empty number, as it needs to be related to the total amount of money in the economy and the hard assets. I am not saying that it isn't a worrying number, just that you need a lot more arguments to support your theory.

However, since we have derailed this thread far enough, I invite you to take this subject to Hangout, where I am sure there will be a lot of interested posters.

 

[Doc_1]

Ya right. So you are saying the US dollar devalued over 5 times since 2000?

So you paid a quarter for a hamburger in 2000? I don't remember that.

How many dollars have been printed since 2000, and how much debt we accumulated since then, how much your gas, heating, electricity, medical bills, insurance, groceries .........etc had went up since then.
Looking at burgers as an indicator for inflation is a guarantee to lose wealth...lol
as i said redo the math.

I have been folllowing this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Mac_Index for about a decade and Doc, quit seriously, it is a pretty accurate guage.

The flaw in that index is....... it is comparing a falling currency to another faster or slower falling currency, all central banks across the globe are devaluing their currencies to catch up with helicopter Ben. I will advice you to look at how many "stimulus packages" are passed around to get a better gauge of inflation.
if you keep looking at "big macs" your wealth may end up "eaten"

So, Doc, what index do you recommend that shows a 80% devaluation? Numbers, please.

Helicopter Ben has those numbers not me.
Try to ask him how many dollars he printed but i doubt if he will answer you since last i checked he did not answer congressmen, i doubt if you have better chance than them getting an answer
But indirectly i will give you numbers...50 trillion debt including unfunded liabilities. is that enough?

No, it isn't. That number doesn't show devaluation at all - it shows your lack of faith in the future value, not the present value. It is also an empty number, as it needs to be related to the total amount of money in the economy and the hard assets. I am not saying that it isn't a worrying number, just that you need a lot more arguments to support your theory.

However, since we have derailed this thread far enough, I invite you to take this subject to Hangout, where I am sure there will be a lot of interested posters.

Then keep following the burger numbers!

I agree........ back to topic