Mugabe threatens to flood the world with diamonds ...

Daily Mail ^ | July 14, 2010 | Staff

[C19fan]

Robert Mugabe has threatened to flood the world's diamond markets - despite being slapped down by the world's diamond control body. The Zimbabwean president said his nation's massive reserves of diamonds have 'huge potential' to revive the shattered economy. He said Zimbabwe can account for one-fourth of the world's diamond supply

[econjack]

His best bet is to make enough noise to be paid off but not enough to be taken out.

Wonder if he's smart enough to know where that line is drawn?

[existtoexcel]

Were trade beads part of the trade goods? Most history books say so, but it is not true.

Not unlike a lot of 'written' history I'm sure. One of the reasons I come to this site is for enlightenment, and I get a lot of it. Thanks for the school'n.

[Sudetenland]

Even investment grade diamonds are relatively worthless. My sister has a 5 carat "investment grade" diamond she was given as an engagement ring. It is insured for $15,000. We recently had it evaluated for purchase at about $5-7,000.

These values are completely arbitrary, and unlike gold, are not based on actual rarity, but on a false marketer imposed rarity.

[LadyBuck]

>>Who is going to buy these diamonds, Mugabe?<<

Cheap sparklies?

I’d buy them, and I know alot of people who would too.

Would be great to wear a nice diamond (or several), not worry about insuring or losing it, as you can run to the store and pick up more inexpensively.

Besides, hell hath no fury like a husband who discovers the wife has lost her pricey rock (speaking from experience here)

[garbanzo]

Say's Law

[CharlesWayneCT]

The only difference between diamonds and gold is that we haven’t found the huge supply of gold that would require direct manipulation to prop up the market like we have for diamonds.

Diamonds are like beanie babies; only valuable because the “manufacturer” has deliberately limited the supply while hyping the demand. And at any time, that “manufacturer” can decide they need more money and open up the supply chain, ruining the value of the existing holders.

[stormer]

+1

[N. Theknow]

He will probably try to do this covertly to hide what he is doing.

So....

Beware of a "Looney in disguise with diamonds."

[GOPJ]

Must be a guide book for thugs somewhere = one they all read, there's so little originality in their thuggery.

[GOPJ]

There's about as many diamonds (*weight-wise) as garnet gemstones. Meaning the real price is not much... Would hate to be the young man who bought the `$12,000 ring for his beloved only to find it's now worth $1,000.

[GOPJ]

"Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn." - Alfred Pennyworth

Interesting...

[redhead]

"I hope he does."

Yah, I can like it.

[Tax-chick]

I might like to have a diamond, if the price reflected the actual supply. I like *cheap* sparkly things!

[Niuhuru]

I can buy diamonds cheap on ebay. Not high quality, but good stuff nonetheless.

[Niuhuru]

When you sell your soul to the Devil like he has, the Devil gives you full value. Which is why evil seems to thrive while goodness withers.

Of course, people who do that pay for all eternity.

[Niuhuru]

Well, soon the Chinese will move in upon hearing this. Offering him ‘deals he can’t refuse’ and soon he’ll be a little puppet in their hands.

[Niuhuru]

Rhinestones work just as well.

[Tax-chick]

That’s a point.

[RadiationRomeo]

I had to go and research diamond consumption by country and failed. But I did find out that the US diamond purchasing has dropped 49% in the last year and 24% in Japan. China is the only country that has increased their purchasing. The new craze of diamond wedding rings has caused their purchasing to increas over 12%.

http://news.alibaba.com/article/detail/business-in-china/100147345-1-china-next-biggest-diamond-consumer.html

[RadiationRomeo]

Australia threatened to sell their diamonds without going through DeBeers some years back. DeBeers threatened them with a devaulation of diamonds. I just noticed that Australian diamond production has dropped to almost zero.

http://geology.com/articles/gem-diamond-map/

DeBeers won.