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  • Balance between, taxes, profits and wages

    "crack down on all the exchanges"
    https://sputniknews.com/asia/2017121...coin-exchange/
    The parasites of the world depend on the working people to provide them with sustenance. If close to 100 million Americans of working age are no longer in the work force, sustenance is much reduced. The main source of wealth is "value added industry". We shipped that out years ago.
    "According to 2016 data from the Tax Policy Center, 44 percent of Americans —or roughly 77 million people— don't pay any federal income taxes at all.Dec 4, 2017"
    So, the tax rolls from the individual are much reduced also. The CB pumps liquidity into the corporatocracy and, the corporatocracy pumps some back to the treasury. Armstrong said to just print it directly instead of pumping it through the system.
    As the world slides down to a global mean wage, there are fewer and fewer people who are required to pay income tax. At the same time, these billions of wage slaves have little discretionary spending to generate profits for the corporation. Globalism brings global poverty.
    Much of this is due to automation but, tax-farming of the population to support hundreds of millions of State workers worldwide is also to blame.

    "The fundamental thing to grasp is that globalisation is—and always was—the product of human agency; it can be shaped and reshaped, for good or ill. The great problem with Blair’s forceful affirmation of globalisation back in 2005 was the presumption that it is essentially one thing, immutable to the way that our societies must experience it, a wind of change which there could be no negotiating or arguing with. This misunderstanding still afflicts our political, financial and technocratic elites."
    "The Davos set, the Blairs and the Clintons are all scratching their heads, asking themselves how on Earth a process they insisted was inexorable has spun into reverse. Trade has stopped growing in relation to output, cross-border financial flows have still not bounced back from the global crisis of a decade ago, and after long years of stasis "
    "Those that were cheerleaders of hyper-globalisation at the turn of the century stand no chance of understanding where it has gone wrong without realising how little they understood the process they were championing."
    "The main beneficiaries of the post-1990 rules of globalisation were the corporations and professional elites. No doubt, the hyper-globalisers believed their case. "
    "Perhaps the hyper-globalisers’ most egregious mistake after the 1990s was to promote financial globalisation. They took the textbook argument and ran amok with it. Free flow of finance across the world would, it was confidently predicted, set money to work where it could do most good. With free-flowing capital, savings would be automatically channelled to countries with higher returns; with access to the world markets, economies and entrepreneurs would have access to more dependable finance"
    You can see the problem unfolding. The money comes in and stays until it sees the next "best deal" and then, it flees and leaves a smoking ruin.
    "Most of the scepticism is directed at short-term financial flows, which are so given to crisis and excess,"
    Excellent article
    https://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/m...e-trump-brexit

    Globalism gutted the wage base and made a few people super-rich. It threatened to freeze up the economy so, money was pumped into various channels, NOT INTO WAGES. It is going to take a complete crash of the corporatocracy for the modern-day fascists to appreciate the fact that would-be consumers require a living wage if they are going to consume anything more than just food.

    AI, AI Building AI: Mankind Losing More Control Over Artificial Intelligence

    https://www.wired.com/story/future-o...backchannel_p3

    Comment


    • Millennials to inherit the worst economy possible

      Some areas are doing well,,, some are doing poorly. The rural areas are farthest from the cities that are the main centers of what is left of value-added manufacturing. I previously wrote about rural poverty.
      http://www.energeticforum.com/241618-post282.html
      The cities are more likely to hold lots of administrative jobs. The coastal cities are deeply involved in finish manufacturing of imported goods. The counties around the District of Corruption are doing the best of all.
      The same is true for different age groups.
      By some reckoning, the millennials have it the worst.
      Millennials Are Screwed - The Huffington Post
      By many accounts, they blame the boomers. It's just a simple fact of the markets that America slipped away from it's post-war prosperity due to competition.

      Some millennials seem to belong to the ranks of the DELUDED.
      "The 2017 survey, which surveyed 22,100 globally who invest, found millennials even more optimistic. Those born between 1982 and 1999 expected their money to make average returns of 11.7% a year between now and 2022."
      Breaking it down by generation:

      Millennials (born 1982-1999, aged 18-35): 11.7%
      Generation X (born 1965-1981, aged 36-52): 9.8%
      Baby Boomers (born 1945-1964, aged 53-72): 8.6%
      Silent Generation (born 1923-1944, aged 73+): 8.1%”
      "Add the overly optimistic outlook and positioning to a market that is the most overvalued, overbought, and extended, in the last 20-years and the risk to future returns becomes much more evident."
      Great graph on drawdowns,,, of which millennials expect to NEVER happen.
      http://realinvestmentadvice.com/wp-c...28-Present.png
      Wages as a share of corporate profits, http://realinvestmentadvice.com/wp-c...tio-121317.png

      "There was no catalyst that we know of that burst the dot-com bubble in 2000. There was no catalyst that started the slide in the markets in 2008"
      https://realinvestmentadvice.com/the...mbering-bulls/

      David Stockman has made it very clear that stock earnings have gone nowhere for the last 20 years when corrected for price inflation.
      http://davidstockmanscontracorner.co...-fantasy-time/
      John Hussman, as usual, has all the numbers.
      https://www.hussmanfunds.com/comment/mmc171204/

      12/15 Charles Nenner – get ready for the bear market – Financial Survival Network
      12/15 Unfunded liabilities of state public pensions top $6 trillion in 2017 – Free Beacon
      12/15 Connecticut pension system worst in the nation – Yankee Institute

      The stock market is over valued by about 2.8 times. What will happen to all the pension funds when market come crashing back to earth AND overshoot their historical norm,,, on the way to the basement?
      12/14 The global economy is partying like it’s 2008 – NY Times That was just a warmup.
      12/15 No, Mr. Trump, torture doesn’t work – NY Times Where were they when obummer was waterboarding everybody in sight?
      12/15 US military biggest “big government” entitlement program on Earth – Truth-Out
      12/15 Iraq, Syria, Iran…are we to destroy Iran next? – American Conservative
      Nope,, Iran is safe. They can easily take out Saudi and israel and block the Straights of Hormuz AND destroy Saudi oil production. This Jerusalem declaration has cemented together most of the Arab States. Jordan, et al will sit on the sidelines. Iran and Lebanon will unleash total hell that is unstoppable.

      Comment


      • Whos is right and who is wrong about the asset markets?

        Here is a repost;
        "Indeed it could be argued that the prospect of tax cuts is the final carrot the free money scheme has to offer. The carrot top. No more carrots.
        Consider the central banking liquidity game has peaked and is dropping off:"
        Great graph of the withdrawal of liquidity from the CBs.
        https://i2.wp.com/northmantrader.com...77%2C266&ssl=1
        "Margin debt now at $561bn, double amount of tech bubble of 2000, 47% > than in 2007”:"
        https://i1.wp.com/northmantrader.com...52%2C325&ssl=1
        "The prospect of imminent tax cuts keeps investor salivating and allocating cash into all time highs as markets drenched in 8 years of artificial liquidity find tax cuts to be the next carrot to push markets caps into the stratosphere:"
        https://northmantrader.com/2017/12/03/the-carrot-top/

        OK, so we hear that no more carrots are coming to the markets.

        Rest of world holdings of U.S. assets;
        "ROW holdings of U.S. Financial Assets jumped $724 billion (nominal) during the quarter to a record $26.347 TN. This puts growth over the most recent three quarters at a staggering $2.124 TN (16% annualized). What part of these flows has been associated with ongoing rapid expansion of global central bank Credit? It’s worth recalling that ROW holdings ended 2007 at $14.705 TN and 1999 at $5.639 TN. As a percentage of GDP, ROW holdings of U.S. Financial Assets ended 1999 at 57%, 2007 at 100%, and Q3 2017 at a record 135%."
        "Meanwhile, the Fed’s Domestic Financial Sectors category expanded assets SAAR $2.841 TN during Q3 to a record $95.213 TN. In nominal dollars, the Financial Sector boosted assets a notable $5.085 TN over the past three quarters, almost 8% annualized growth. Notably, the sector’s holdings of Debt Securities surged a nominal $775 billion in three quarters to a record $25.425 TN. "

        "Total Equities Securities jumped $1.229 TN during the quarter to a record $43.969 TN, with a one-year gain of $5.923 TN (16.4%). Equities jumped to a record 224% of GDP, compared to 181% at the end of Q3 2007 and 202% to end 1999. Debt Securities gained $171 billion during Q3 to a record $42.385 TN, with a one-year gain of $1.080 TN. At 217% of GDP"
        "Total Securities ended Q3 $30.819 TN, or 56%, higher than the previous cycle peak in Q3 2007. "
        https://dollarcollapse.com/money-bub...-three-charts/

        Everybody wants to know how long this can keep going.
        Armstrong has the answer and, I find it hard to believe.
        "The Trump Tax Reform reducing the corporate tax to 21% and taking effect January 1st, 2018 rather than being delayed until 2019, will be one of the biggest positive catalysts for US equities in decades. This is very interesting because it is now fundamentally validating what our computer has been projecting for highs going up to the 40,000 level on the Dow back in 2009."
        "Our projections for 2017 stood at 25,648.40 and this rises to 28,045.71 for 2018. This is the next area of resistance. Once we push through that projection, the market will come back to test it."
        https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/m...mp-tax-reform/

        OK, so Dollar Collapse is reporting 16.9% growth of foreign holdings of U.S. assets. Apparently, Armstrong is calling for this to go on for years. The tax cut is our "final carrot". What about inflows foreign capital?
        America is a currency union with a debt union. Europe is a currency union WITHOUT a debt union. China looks to be a big pot of nitrogen triiodide
        The stock market has no actual earnings. It is just juiced up by buybacks. Can the Dow go to 40,000 without earnings? U.S. corporate debt is at nosebleed heights. Does that matter? Only 2 or 3 American companies have AAA rated credit. Does that matter? China will blow first. Will that not affect America?
        The Swiss CB bought $ billions of U.S. assets. Will foreign CBs continue to support American markets? Armstrong has said that investors would rotate out of public debt and INTO private debt. Can he possibly be projecting a continuing surge in the stock market at the same time that public debt collapses?
        The Russell and Wilshire stock indexes are collapsing. Can the Dow and S&P keep rising when the broad index and the small caps are in meltdown?

        Socrates, Armstrong's program receives the news feeds. I suspect that it doesn't get ALL the news. Here is a bit from Jim Willie.
        "BRICS Gold Trading platform with independence even consequences for making big challenges to London and COMEX, the arrival of Dual Universe featuring USD vs RMB with pressures on the United States to launch its domestic only new currency, the Repatriated Dollar issue in $20 trillion volume with tax rates as well as risks, "
        http://www.goldenjackass.com/main5.html
        "two vise jams the Saudis find themselves with Pentagon White Hats versus Langley Narcos and with West versus Iran & Eastern superpowers, the great financial bubbles being created in the United States with their sources identified,"
        Socrates may very well predict sentiment and capital flows but, there is more going on than that.

        The tax bill will further gut American society. Things are bad enough already.
        https://www.marketwatch.com/story/th...tty-2017-12-14
        The fallout from our great slide down is taking a huge toll.
        https://www.defiantliving.com/2017/1...self-delusion/
        "In this shining beacon on the hill, we cherish our demockery. We have turned tyranny, fascism, hypocrisy, treason bribery, and high crimes into an art form, a blood sport, and a national past time. We have corrupted nearly every institution in America. We are the gangrenous deep state, backed by the parastic central bank, and defended by the military industrial complex:"
        https://rebel0007com.wordpress.com/2...royed-america/

        Comment


        • Moving away from public crypto,,,revenge?,,, more carrots

          Bitcoin is having "growing pains"
          https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...Id=yhoo.hosted
          12/16 Seth Klarman calls bitcoin a ‘trading sardine’ – CNBC
          12/15 Washington trying to regulate bitcoin. These people are trying to stop it – Fortune
          12/15 Bitcoin is history’s biggest bubble, Turkish economist says – Time
          12/15 Bitcoin fever exposes crypto-market frailties – Reuters
          12/15 Bitcoin is failing as a currency – Engadget
          12/15 Why bitcoin is surging in the countries trying hardest to stop it – Fortune
          12/15 Crypto vs. gold: gold has value unto itself – Seeking Alpha


          Gold is rare and, BTC is rare. BUT, crypto-coins are NOT rare. . This will come in to play eventually.
          "China’s Crackdown on Cryptocurrency Trading – A Sign of Things to Come

          The Chinese government is determined to cement its place as a leading rule maker, now in cryptocurrency."
          "The Chinese government’s decision to order several Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies exchanges to close shows how much of a threat they are perceived to be to financial stability and social order in China.

          The decision to also ban initial coin offerings altogether (the unregulated means by which funds are raised for a new cryptocurrency venture) has taken traders and analysts by surprise. China is the world’s largest cryptocurrency market with around 80 percent of Bitcoin transactions taking place in yuan."
          The East will generally rally around China if they want to continue trading in the East.
          So much of our "money" is already digital, it is no big jump to go to E-coin. It's just that the Central banks want to control it.
          Australian Central Bank - Bitcoin Is Bad But You'd Love A Digital "e-AUD" | Zero Hedge

          Armstrong got thrown into prison by N.Y. banks and crooked judges. He did hard-time at Ft. Dix. He probably wants revenge. He told the Chinese to bypass the big N.Y. banks and buy Treasuries directly from the Treasury. The big banks lost a lot of money when the Chinese bypassed the primary dealers.
          He is now projecting that the stock market will continue to climb,,, ostensibly to 40,000. I fail to understand how that could happen just on foreign capital inflows. Just the same, everybody is piling into the stock market.
          JPMorgan: "This Is The Moment Everyone Went All In" | Zero Hedge
          Are they being led to the slaughter? Will Armstrong extract his revenge from the GOV that falsely imprisoned him?
          12/16 Stocks hit records with GOP set to unveil tax bill – Bloomberg Is this truly the last carrot?
          12/16 A financial crisis in 2018? The signs are starting to emerge – City AM
          12/16 Surge in investor cash to stocks triggers fear rally near an end – CNBC
          12/16 ‘Economic recovery’ just a Fed-induced entitlement program for wealthy – Zero Hedge
          12/15 Yet another nation, Norway, is moving to decriminalize all drug use – Anti Media
          This is TERRIBLE news for the lawyers and the incarceration business. People will use prostitutes and intoxicants regardless of the laws. These 2 items are made illegal so that it would be worthwhile for organized crime to take them over. The Mexican mafia are all killing each other because their markets have shrunk.

          Comment


          • Saudi Arabia and israel against the world

            Politics and economics are always mixed.
            Warren Buffet was adamantly against the Keystone Pipeline after he bought BNSF Railroad,,,, which hauled oil by tank car.
            U.S. GOV is demanding that Afghanistan dump their Kalashnikovs and buy American.
            TASS: Russian Politics & Diplomacy - Lavrov: US demands Afghanistan replace 50,000 Kalashnikov rifles with US-made weapons Always trying to make a buck.
            POX Americana put sanctions on Russia to stop them from competing with American gas.
            TASS: Russian Politics & Diplomacy - Lavrov: Washington pushes EU to buy overpriced gas under pretext of ‘fighting’ Russia
            Austria and Germany say; SCREW the sanctions, TASS: World - Austria’s new government set to lift anti-Russian sanctions
            Reportedly, Europe would last 15 days without Russian gas. https://sputniknews.com/europe/20171...-gas-supplies/
            You can see why they are sick and tired of the District of Corruption. Everybody wanted to block Russian gas but, it is right there when they need it.

            On to more important things.
            China killed a few thousand Chinese in Tienanmen square because they were protesting. China doesn't give a rat's a$$ about human rights. They happily deal with all the human rights violators around the world.
            In earthshaking news, China backs a Palestinian State with al-Quds as it's capital.
            PressTV-China backs State of Palestine with East al-Quds as capital
            There is no way to overstate the importance of this. It isn't just China.
            http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2017/1...rusalem-Israel

            Put together the headlines;
            http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2017/1...lem-alQuds-OIC
            Bibi is absolutely RABID to start up a war with Iran.
            https://www.rt.com/usa/413273-iran-haley-orders-israel/
            Trump is not.
            http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2017/1...ileNikey-Haley

            Meanwhile, Saudi is proving to be a paper tiger, https://www.rt.com/usa/413273-iran-haley-orders-israel/
            Saudi has now officially teamed up with the "Great(er) Satan".
            http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2017/1...med-bin-Salman
            MbS has managed to piss off all the other Arabs and unite them against both Satans.

            Iran and Russia will be the low-cost oil producers for the foreseeable future. http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2017/1...Azadegan-plans
            China has clearly come out against israel and Saudi Arabia. They have severely reduced their oil imports from Saudi.
            Russia has clearly come out against israel by supporting Syria,,, after Bibi ordered Putin to cease.
            Armstrong calls for capital flight into America. BTC is a good vehicle for capital flight BUT,
            https://www.rt.com/business/413297-b...ia-china-saxo/

            Meanwhile, Russian investments and Russian public debt are close to being the best in the world.
            http://tass.com/economy/970919

            The 2 nut case religious States have teamed up together against the rest of the world.

            Comment


            • Dumping the Middle-East,,Peak cheap oil,,Chinese powder keg

              Post WW II, America came out on top. We had all the gold (24,500 tons) and we had the strongest military. We had 3% of the world's population and 50% of the manufacturing capacity. The chosenites made a wise decision and bought the U.S. congress to further their dreams of world conquest & control. The Wolfowitz doctrine spelled out that Pox Americana MUST control central Asia. Things looked good for Pox Americana when Russia collapsed. Continued meddling in State affairs in Eurasia (and Latin America) insured dis-unity in much of the world.
              Eventually, Russia pulled out of the morass that was the U.S.S.R.
              Eventually, Iran was able to regain stability.
              China came to the fore and wanted NO part of the Anglo-American hegemon ---directed by israel.

              China and Russia have just recently declared against israel. While Iran is technically a theocracy, they aren't anywhere near as stupid as their neighboring theocracies, Saudi and israel. Iran has just now pulled away from the control of the West and added a huge nail in the coffin of Western control over Eurasia.
              Iran Joins EAEU - 45 Years Of US Foreign Policy Down The Drain | Zero Hedge
              "Chaos no longer. Zbigniew Brzezinski isn’t just dead, his strategy is as well."
              "Pieraccini’s argument is the Trump is a mix of ineptitude and pragmatism when it comes to foreign policy. And that mix has led to the current state of affairs, where the U.S., Israel and Saudi Arabia are flailing about trying to remain relevant."
              Maybe, Trump does NOT want to be relevant over there.

              "In this complicated context, Donald Trump emerges as a destroyer of US interests in the region."
              Trump, Netanyahu, & Bin Salman: Destroyers Of The Neoliberal World Order | Zero Hedge
              The chosenites are hard at work to destroy Trump by any means possible. American "interests" over there are focused on the well-being of israel.
              The "flailing about" is going to get a lot worse.

              It now seems a sure bet that America is not going to "finesse away the oil in Central Asia.
              Here is another article that you should read in it's entirety.
              Summary; the baseline data shows that fracking is a complete financial disaster.
              http://www.24hgold.com/english/news-...hris+Martenson
              It also makes the point that various economies crash when the price of oil rises. VERY good article.
              The 2000 and 2007 crashes were initiated "in part" by defaults up and / or down the credit chain. The contagion moves down all the lines when it reaches critical mass. Here is a good examplke of a company the fudged it's numbers for a s long as it could.
              http://www.24hgold.com/english/news-...r=Wolf+Richter

              Considering the huge cross-border capital flows that destabilize everything, there should be a LOT more sovereign defaults.
              "But a more cautious interpretation of the missing defaults is that the protracted nature of the downturn in international conditions has yet to take its cumulative toll,"
              https://www.fnlondon.com/articles/th...aults-20171103

              china: "cracks are appearing in Chinese markets with the Shanghai/Shenzhen suffering a 300-point drop of almost 5% over the Thanksgiving Holiday."
              "It is evident that China needs and wants to deleverage-at least for right now. But, what is less clear is if China has the stamina to go through with what will be a harrowing process. After all, other attempts to rein in debt-even though half-hearted-have failed miserably. "
              "The rise in China's debt grew from $7 trillion in 2007 to nearly $30 trillion today, which happens to be the greatest increase of debt in the history of the world in any ten-year timeframe."
              "Given these painful imbalances, is it really credible to believe the air can be gently let out of this debt balloon with impunity? Not at all! This means Xi Jinping will have to abort this latest attempt very quickly, probably once the Shanghai Composite Exchange breaks below 3,000."
              "This is because the global economy will descend into a deflationary depression without their constant heroin injections."
              http://www.24hgold.com/english/news-...ael+Pento&mk=1

              Comment


              • Crypto,,Drug addiction is big money for Big Pharma

                Crypto news:
                12/17 Bitcoin proves you can’t have your digital cake & eat it too – GoldSeek
                12/17 Cryptos forecast fate of fiat currencies – GATA
                12/17 The creator of signal has a plan to fix cryptocurrency – Wired
                12/17 2018: the year of the cryptocurrency craze – Wired
                12/17 Do you want a government fiat crypto? (part 4) – Bitcoin News
                12/17 Bitcoin has a dirty, dirty secret – Fortune
                12/17 What the hell is bitcoin? Watch this Netflix documentary – GQ
                12/17 Somebody hacked Starbucks’ wifi to mine cryptocurrencies – Zero Hedge

                https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/w...or-prime-time/
                https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/w...ity-or-shares/

                Missing money, https://www.rt.com/usa/413411-trilli...sing-research/
                Evidently, Tillerson plans to carpet-bomb the Middle-East with hydrogen bombs. "Fell swoop"
                https://www.rt.com/news/412430-lavro...ove-tillerson/

                The corporatocracy made a real killing selling addictive drugs. At one time, both heroin and OxyContin were proclaimed to be non-addictive.
                https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...ticle33448409/
                "But Bayer had hugely miscalculated. Heroin, it turned out, was just as habit-forming as morphine, and possibly even more addictive. "
                "Considered the father of modern pharmaceutical marketing, he helped boost Valium sales by persuading physicians to expand its use beyond the treatment of anxiety into conditions ranging from sleeplessness to restless-leg syndrome. Those efforts helped turn Valium into the first $100-million drug, and Arthur was inducted into the Medical Advertising Hall of Fame in 1997 for the achievement.

                He was also instrumental in the development of OxyContin. "
                "Students were told OxyContin had a low risk of addiction, though the company could not support the claim with clinical data."
                "Purdue dedicating millions of dollars to performance bonuses, while staff were coached to highlight that OxyContin could be used for a variety of conditions – from back pain to fibromyalgia"
                "suggesting OxyContin as a substitute in situations where over-the-counter painkillers such as Tylenol might have been used."

                "As physicians began prescribing OxyContin for conditions beyond severe pain, the rate of addictions soared. And because the pain of withdrawal was often worse than the condition the opioid had been prescribed to treat, some patients quickly became long-term users and built up a tolerance that required more powerful dosages." MORE CUSTOMERS.
                In 2009, Purdue was again defending Patent '738 against a bid by Apotex, the Toronto-based generic-drug giant. Apotex called Purdue's claim that OxyContin reduced the number of dosages needed to kill pain, "a material misstatement made with deceptive intent."
                Side note. Sherman is the CEO of Apotex, http://www.presstv.com/Detail/2017/1...ionaire-Police
                " six drug makers in Canada began producing generic versions, filling the void with an abundant, cheaper supply."
                Corporate drug pushers.

                "We are experiencing a unique iatrogenic – or physician-caused – public-health crisis. In Ontario, there are 500 deaths per year from overdose. No other prescribed medication comes close to the suffering caused by opioids," Dr. Kahan told the committee hearing"
                True, but, they are very profitable.
                OxyContin is VERY profitable and Fentanyl is even MORE profitable. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...ticle29570025/

                Comment


                • The FED put their finger in the dam but, the dam is cracking

                  Most of you have seen the cover of The Economist magazine from 1988.
                  https://i.ytimg.com/vi/QBDtIfJWr2A/maxresdefault.jpg
                  It depicts a Phoenix standing on a pile of burning paper currency. The projected date for this meltdown is 2018. The IMF, et al have predicted a "reset".
                  Jeffry Berwick predicts that Bitcoin will rise up to near? $100,000 and then, be crashed. BTC will be blamed for the entire crash of the entire economy.
                  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74A4VUC4t_A
                  America WAS a high-price,,,, high-wage economy. It is now a low-wage economy waiting for low prices to kick in. This grand reset will probably accomplish this. Public crypto will be demolished and CB controlled crypto will be introduced,,, at the point of a gun. FED crypto will be the only thing accepted for paying your taxes.
                  Since the East will have nothing to do with a Western hegemon or a Western crypto-currency, America will have to have a gold-linked currency for foreign exchange.
                  China has developed a "bread basket" in Africa and won't need to buy our food. Russia is more than self-sufficient in food production.
                  We may very well end up with a FED e-dollar but, it won't be accepted by our NUMEROUS enemies. Our $1.5 billion a day trade imbalance will come to an end.

                  "Armstrong says, “Yes, absolutely. We are in the biggest bond bubble in history, not a stock bubble, but a bubble. . "
                  "Armstrong says, “Our computers are showing that interest rates are going to go up faster than anybody has ever seen in history. . . . You are looking at a doubling of interest rates very, very rapidly. "
                  Sure, double the interest rates and,,,, everybody defaults.

                  A few more vids:
                  Trump to be blamed for the whole collapse, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ymSevvYPZY
                  Jim Rickards brings more doom porn, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd1-5IpZ4VU
                  Charles Huge Smith is asking if we are moving to hyperinflation?
                  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAu8Y3aQbjQ
                  Since the 2,008 crash, the CBs have printed about $200 trillion extra monetary units. What Smith SHOULD be asking is; when will the hyperinflation of the upper loop move into the lower loop? It only does that in peripheral economies, not central economies. (Armstrong).
                  As long as the wages of the main body of the population keep slipping away, we will only see price inflation, not hyperinflation. As prices go up,,, consumption goes down.
                  U.S. Electricity Sales Dropped In 2015 For Fifth Time In 8 Years ...
                  https://thinkprogress.org/u-s-electr...-time-in-8-yea...
                  Peak gasoline consumption, http://www.energyeconomist.com/a6257...l/WGFUPUS2.gif
                  The financial sector of the economy can easily have hyperinflation. The tangible sectors of the economy are a different story.
                  The post 2008 deflationary crash was held at bay with an extra $200 trillion thrown at the problem. Since "trickle up" does not exist, the $200 trillion only made things worse.

                  Comment


                  • Population down, earnings down even more

                    "The “tax bill cometh.” According to the press, this is going to be the single biggest factor to jump-starting economic growth since the invention of the wheel.
                    Interestingly, even the Fed’s economic projections are suggesting that economic growth will pick up over the next two years from the impact of tax cuts. "
                    "Of course, you should note the Federal Reserve has NEVER accurately forecasted future economic growth. "
                    "But for economic growth to blossom, the consumer will have to pull their weight given consumption makes up roughly 70% of GDP. The problem, as witnessed by the latest retail sales report, is that consumptive spending is far weaker than headlines suggest."
                    "But what the headlines miss is the growth in the population. The chart below shows retails sales divided by those actually counted as part of the labor force."
                    GREAT GRAPH
                    "As you can see, retail sales per labor force participant was on a 5% annualized growth trend beginning in 1992. However, after the financial crisis, the gap below that long-term trend has yet to be filled as there is a 22.7% deficit from the long-term trend. "
                    "economic growth will likely remain weak as the deficit expands to $1 Trillion over the next couple of years and Federal debt marches toward $32 trillion"
                    https://realinvestmentadvice.com/wee...-is-no-excuse/

                    GS says that everything will be fine for them, Goldman Finds Tax Reform Will Greatly Benefit The Big Banks | Zero Hedge
                    Larry Summers, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...=.8939abf2edd3
                    Coming up, https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/12/b...of-living.html
                    An indictment of crony capital;ism, https://www.theatlantic.com/business...tm_source=feed

                    Nomi Prins is a high-power banker who has decided to write a newsletter. She writes about "dark money". This is in reference to the liquidity that flows from the CB and,,, who it flows to.
                    https://dailyreckoning.com/dark-money-runs-world/
                    Moas and BTC, https://www.rt.com/business/413497-b...thousand-moas/
                    Tilson and BTC, http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-1...uld-hit-1-mill

                    12/18 Bitcoin’s illiquidity will be a huge problem when the bubble bursts – Business Insider
                    12/18 Bitcoin futures crash over $2000 from open – Zero Hedge
                    12/18 Junk ETF posts biggest weekly outflow in seven months – Bloomberg
                    Did it flow into crypto?
                    12/18 It took five decades to build Steinhoff. It cratered in two days – Bloomberg A taste of things to come.
                    12/18 SocGen: “Every bit of good news is now priced in” – Zero Hedge
                    12/18 Dow soars 200 points higher as Street cheers upcoming tax bill vote – CNBC
                    No bad news allowed.
                    12/18 Zombie corporations: 10% of companies depend on Fed money – Talk Markets So, what would the unemployment rate be if the FED money stops?

                    12/18 EU to force firms to reveal true owners in wake of Panama papers – Guardian That will be a big deal.
                    12/18 ‘There’s no life here’: a journey into Britain’s precarious future – Guardian
                    http://www.rense.com/general96/englanddying.html

                    Comment


                    • BTC crackdown,,,overpaid writers

                      "NSA mathematicians detailed “digital cash” two decades ago

                      What evidence supports this notion? First, take a look at this document entitled, “How to make a mint: The cryptography of anonymous electronic cash.” This document, released in 1997 — yes, twenty years ago — detailed the overall structure and function of Bitcoin cryptocurrency.

                      Who authored the document? Try not to be shocked when you learn it was authored by “mathematical cryptographers at the National Security Agency’s Office of Information Security Research and Technology.”
                      https://www.naturalnews.com/2017-12-...-currency.html
                      "the smart money has always known the regulators were coming."
                      "The third thing is now that the regulators are in motion, they aren’t going to stop moving. They’ll keep going until they’ve created a world pretty much like the one we have. They are the forces of the status quo: not of evil but of stasis. BTC represents nearly violent change."

                      "BTC is anonymous or pseudonymous, and zcash can blind transactions in any system with a gateway. Yep, you bet, right on. So there’s the battle lines for the next five years: zeroprivacy vs. zcash. Use and abuse of zksnarks. Authoritarian vs. libertarian, all on very similar tech base. "
                      https://medium.com/humanizing-the-si...y-b99110480ff0

                      "there is absolutely NO historical evidence that cutting taxes, without offsetting cuts to spending, leads to stronger economic growth."
                      “Bad debt is the root of the crisis. Fiscal stimulus may help economies for a couple of years but once the ‘painkilling’ effect wears off, U.S. and European economies will plunge back into crisis. The crisis won’t be over until the nonperforming assets are off the balance sheets of US and European banks.”
                      Aha, therin lies the problem. A lot of those "nonperforming assets" are people. The CB pumps in liquidity to keep employment going.
                      Global QE,, remember, this is only what is admitted to. https://d1-invdn-com.akamaized.net/c...0b7e1fe0d1.png
                      Total system leverage / GDP https://d1-invdn-com.akamaized.net/c...5644ce0cb7.png
                      "The complexity of the current environment implies years of sub-par economic growth "
                      Could that possibly be related to sub-par population growth?

                      "Also, while it is believed that “tax reform” will fix the problem of lackluster wage growth, create more jobs, "
                      "While Japan has entered into an unprecedented stimulus program (on a relative basis twice as large as the U.S. on an economy 1/3 the size) there is no guarantee that such a program will result in the desired effect of pulling the Japanese economy out of its 30-year deflationary cycle."
                      When will these boneheads admit that a deflation in population brings a deflation in economic activity?
                      "A decline in savings rates to extremely low levels which depletes productive investments" We're broke and have no savings. The CB jumps in and says; we'll just print the money to replace the missing savings.

                      "The lynchpin to Japan, and the U.S., remains demographics and interest rates. As the aging population grows becoming a net drag on “savings,”
                      Side noteHere's how many Americans have nothing at all saved for retirement
                      https://www.cnbc.com/.../heres-how-m...ll-saved-for-r...
                      Jun 13, 2017 - In fact, the vast majority of Americans have under $1,000 saved and half of all Americans have nothing at all put away for retirement. "Nearly half of families have no retirement account savings at all,"

                      https://www.investing.com/analysis/t...rica-200273958

                      " Nomura avoided the more widely discussed - and more probable scenarios such as the Italian elections, US Impeachment risk, North Korea conflict, which it covered in its event risk radar series, and has instead selected topics that have not been as widely discussed."
                      He gives 10 possible "Grey Swans" I'm not impressed.
                      http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-1...ns-events-2018

                      Comment


                      • No wages = no economy

                        America lost it's post-war job niche to low-wage competitors. Is that so hard to visualize and understand? Implementation of computers and CNC machines reduced the need for many workers. As the remaining jobs became more complex, the average applicant needed to be smarter and more competent. This was at the same time that our schools were dumbing-down and indoctrinating the young.
                        Low IQ students had / have almost no opportunities. High IQ immigrants put a squeeze on the upper levels of the job market.
                        ALL of this is logical. All of it is related to market forces so, it isn't any surprise. Things were made worse by NAFTA and other agreements but, they just sped up the process.
                        The falling population of 16---62 year olds caused falling consumption. Again, no surprise. Cheap-peak-oil caused a general rise in prices because energy is the master resource. The gutting of the productive sector to maintain the profits of the speculative sector isn't anything new.

                        Downward pressure on wages from China, India, et al must be added to the downward pressure from domestic manufacturers.
                        "Listen to any central banker and they’ll share their worst fear in two words, “wage inflation.” Wages have been pretty much frozen for 40 years. Manufacturers move production to a place where labor is cheap and,, try to sell their stuff where prices are high. After a lag of several years, they find that the places with high prices are flat broke. The CB pumps in "money" to try to keep consumption going. They pump it into the speculative loop and,,, wait for trickle down to wages.
                        Computers are superior for information handling. Humans are slow and mistake-prone. The world is awash in MILLIONS of bureaucrats who add nothing to the economy. They shuffle papers to each other for a bloated paycheck. They are the ones who will be hit the hardest by the default cascade.

                        This hot money sloshing around the upper loop finds it's way slowly into the lower loop in the form of price inflation.
                        "As a result, every data release that shows wage pressures are subdued leaves central bankers scratching their heads. " 100 million people of working age are NOT in the labor force and,,, the CB can't understand why workers are not demanding higher wages.
                        "Indeed, for some, pricing power remains an-out-of-reach luxury. As such, some producers have had to turn to the debt markets to shoulder increasing costs."
                        No kidding,,, we can't afford their stuff so, they borrow money to keep afloat.
                        The article goes on to state that there is little inflation in consumer prices but, increasing price inflation in producer prices. The producers aren't able to pass this on because the consumer is broke. So, they borrow money to make up the difference.
                        https://www.bloomberg.com/view/artic...ion-is-at-hand
                        The corporatocracy tries to maintain it's former margins from the good times. Back when jobs paid a decent wage. That time is long gone so, they try to further squeeze the worker to preserve profit margins. Did it never occur to companies that workers must have purchasing power to,,, purchase?

                        "3. The stock market's year-long levitation while the real-world economy decays is a perverse counter-correlation that reflects the widening divide between those enriched by the asset bubbles and those left further behind."
                        "4. In the midst of a supposedly resurgent U.S. "recovery" in its 9th year of wonderfulness, the opioid epidemic has killed tens of thousands and crippled hundreds of thousands of lives and families, yet the federal government, supposedly the most powerful force on the planet, is frozen in a decades-long law-enforcement/Drug Gulag obsession, blind to the Big Pharma Cartel that has created and fuelled the epidemic as a means of reaping billions in profits."
                        So long as the campaign contributions flow in, that is all that matters.
                        "9. While The Deep State has entered the common lexicon, all the media chatter does little to illuminate the internecine battles within the Deep State that are playing out as shadows cast in the Russian Collusion Kabuki theater."
                        oftwominds-Charles Hugh Smith: Jedi Mind Trick: The Disturbing, Destabilizing Abnormal Is Now Normal

                        The new tax bill will push us further off the cliff. Not everyone is ignorant of this fact. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.21fd97d6f505

                        "People are subservient to Government. There will be no solution to the human condition until the opposite is true: Government must always be subservient to the People. Bad Government leads to crash and burn.

                        This inversion of priorities is readily seen in the entire tax “reform” effort. It is all about maintaining Government revenue streams. Slavery of the People is acceptable. Until the enslavement of man is terminated, there is no change in the trajectory of civilization."
                        "Thomas Paine recognized this inversion process and opens his Common Sense with it. He explained that government believes it is the country and not the people. Once that takes place you see the results."
                        "Government always begins as a benevolent entity to further the common good. The problem emerges with a Republican form of government. Once you politically elect a “representative” of the people, the system is doomed"
                        https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/w...sion-delusion/
                        Hemingway wrote a short story, The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber. It looks like this same idea will apply to BTC.
                        12/19 A Bitcoin.com founder has sold all his bitcoin – GATA
                        12/19 EU plans to prohibit anonymity for bitcoin transactions on exchanges – GATA
                        12/19 Korean bitcoin exchange files for bankruptcy – Zero Hedge
                        12/19 Germany joins French-led moves to regulate bitcoin at G-20 level – Bloomberg
                        12/19 SEC suspends trading in crypto company which soared to $11 billion – Zero Hedge

                        Comment


                        • China liquidity down = world liquidity down.

                          Best Of The Web

                          Irrational complacency – Algebris
                          Doug Kass’ 15 surprises for 2018 – Zero Hedge

                          Read them both. NOTHING there.
                          China did not want to get steam-rollered by the West. They used mega-tons of credit to launch the country forward. OVER AND OVER, they acknowledge the need to rein in the credit bubble. OVER AND OVER, they make an attempt. PBOC liquidity is also flowing into global credit markets. They have "printed" more than the FED, BOJ and ECB combined. China has the fastest falling population in the labor force. China has extremely low wages. China plans to switch over to a domestic-consumption model and get away from an export-driven model. They have a falling population of 16--62 year olds and terrible wages. Needless to say, domestic consumption can't possibly carry them forward. Every time that they try to trim back the growth of the credit bubble, they make a deep cut in the economy.
                          Reality strikes and they turn up the printing presses another notch.
                          In Dramatic Reversal, China Gives Up On Deleveraging Pledge | Zero Hedge
                          "Which led to the conclusion that "in the end, whether China's deleveraging is premeditated or accidental doesn't matter: a few more month of China's credit impulse collapsing and it will be too late to prevent a hard landing, first in China where real estate was, is and will be the most popular and important asset, and then the rest of the world. As we explained in "Why The Fate Of The World Economy Is In The Hands Of China's Housing Bubble", to understand what the world economy will do in 6-9 months you only have to follow China's debt creation and housing market today."
                          "In other words, China has just admitted - for the second time - that not only does it have an unprecedented debt addiction, but it will never be able to get over it. Which is a problem for the country which according to the IIF has over 300% in total debt to GDP."
                          "Unfortunately, China no longer has a way out, as an official involved in policy discussions told the Wall Street Journal: “Let’s face it, it’s not realistic to reduce leverage when the whole economy relies on banks for financing."
                          China just doesn't have enough organic growth to escape from debt-fuelled growth. If you look at their wage structure and their one-child policy, that isn't a complete surprise.
                          The East has a low-wage structure that does not support organic growth and the West has a falling wage structure that also does not support previous levels of consumption. This is papered over with credit growth. MUCH of it emanates from China.

                          The bankers are trying to save the bankers. The State is trying to save the State. The only way that they "can" do this is by squeezing the productive sector. The more that they squeeze, the lower the economy goes. All that is left is the printing press. That only "works" if they have ZIRP or NIRP.
                          The CBs have been creating QE in a round-robin fashion. If China slows down, another CB(s) will have to take up the slack. The BOJ has gone from nose-bleed levels to the hard vacuum of outer space. The ECB can't get past the Germans. The FED does not plan to throw in the towel.
                          Once again, global capital flows have proven to be the key.
                          Globalism requires that all States work together. With the underlying belligerence of Pox Americana, globalism remains impossible.

                          Armstrong said that interest rates are going to go screaming up higher. Most commercial rates are tied to the 10 years treasury. The FED claims that it is going to reduce it's holdings of Treasury paper. That means that OTHER buyers must be found. FED GOV is going on a huge cash-raising spree.
                          OTHER buyers are going to want higher interest rates.
                          https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...oing-to-pay-up

                          Keep in mind that the Treasury makes various claims as to who is buying their paper. About 90% of their claims are LIES.

                          Comment


                          • When the panic starts

                            The CBs buy every dip so, there are never any honest market signals. Investors are trying to predict the next downturn but, not having much luck. Here are a couple of technical articles that boil down to; there are some indicators but, we aren't really sure.
                            How the Asset Bubble Could End ? Part 1 |
                            How the Asset Bubble Could End ? Part 2 |
                            The CB models assured the bright people at the helm of the printing press ship of State that trickle-up would take over for stimulus after a couple of years. The CBs jumped on the tiger and spoon fed it. The interest load and debt bubble have grown the tiger enormously. The CBs can't jump off the tiger because it is VERY hungry and looking around for more. Fittingly. the Chinese tiger is the largest.

                            This article has some good graphs on energy price and consumption. The main party of the article is some bogus discussion of the use of coal.
                            The Depression Of The 1930s Was An Energy Crisis | Zero Hedge
                            "I consider the Figure 1 (below) to give the most compelling picture on the absurdity we have arrived to. It presents the yield of the US 10 year treasury bond, the yield of Italian 10 year bond and yields of junk bonds of European and US companies as well as the QE:s of the ECB and the Fed. It implies that the default probability of an average European junk-rated company is smaller than that of the US government. This, naturally, is just absurd "
                            NOT according to Armstrong
                            https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry...b0df0de8b060fb
                            BTC news, https://dailyreckoning.com/the-great...crash-of-2018/

                            Comment


                            • Fate of the EU,,, dollar moves,,,growing tiger

                              A couple notes from Armstrong on cooling.
                              https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/w...nter-20172018/
                              https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/w...one-suspected/
                              Excellent article on electronic money.
                              https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/w...is-electronic/
                              "Electronic Money. I researched this 3 or four years ago and came up with, .003 physical currency vs the rest as Electronic Money. I later stumbled across an article on the same subject by an economics professor who put the ratio at .0003 physical."

                              The European Union is / was a BAD system that tried to combine the rise of socialism with the power of the corporatocracy. It is soon do go down in flames. How will this affect the view of the dollar?
                              "The more political chaos in Europe, the crazier the markets will become in 2018 driving the dollar up until the monetary system cracks wide open."
                              https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/i...days-numbered/
                              Keep in mind that; as the dollar rises, dollar-denominated debt will become ever-more difficult to service.

                              " China has to keep expanding. According to the World Bank, over the next three years, about 35 percent of global GDP growth will come from China, twice as much as the U.S. and four times as much as India. When China sneezes, all developing markets catch a nasty cold."
                              " Of the more than 870 state entities listed on the mainland, 20 percent require at least 6.6 years of operating profit to pay off their net borrowings."
                              "In October, Beijing issued its first sovereign dollar bond since 2004."
                              What will happen to these "dollar bonds" when capital flight raises up the value of the dollar?
                              https://www.bloomberg.com/gadfly/art...christmas-gift

                              There is speculation that the CBs will buy crypto currencies. https://dailyreckoning.com/central-b...ptocurrencies/ There is also speculation that CBs will quash private crypto to make way for CB / State controlled crypto.
                              Armstrong says that the tax cut will be a boon to small business.
                              Big business says that the tax savings will go straight to the piggy bank.
                              https://theintercept.com/2017/12/19/...ck-republican/

                              American big oil needs at least $50 a bbl. to make any money. Saudi produces for $4. Saudi is in deep financial trouble and trying to sell off a stake in the national oil company. Venezuela has the biggest reserves and, is in deep financial trouble. Iran and Iraq want to sell as much as possible. Discipline will soon break down and oil will fall again. This won't be good for the frackers.
                              https://dailyreckoning.com/oil-prices-soon-drop-50/

                              Comment


                              • Productivity paradox

                                "Decade after decade, medium-skill manufacturing/office jobs have been disappearing, and in response, the unemployed have found new employment in new low-skill service jobs. People unemployed by machines still require income, so they end up finding what they can get. At the same time, they are competing against others doing the same thing (as long as the labor market remains involuntary) and thus people are bidding down their own wages and taking any job they can get in a race against the machines.
                                This also serves to make investments in automation less attractive. As an added bonus, the jobs that are being automated are more productive jobs than most of the jobs being newly created. Cheaper human labor and an increasing number of low productivity jobs together then result in a “paradoxical” deceleration of productivity growth. Long story short, the middle of the labor market is disappearing. That’s the reality, and it’s been happening for decades."

                                "A landmark 2017 study even looked at the impact of just industrial robots on jobs from 1993 to 2007 and found that every new robot replaced around 5.6 workers, and every additional robot per 1,000 workers reduced the percentage of the total population employed by 0.34% and also reduced wages by 0.5%. During that 14-year period of time, the number of industrial robots quadrupled and between 360,000 and 670,000 jobs were erased. And as the authors noted, “Interestingly, and perhaps surprisingly, we do not find positive and offsetting employment gains in any occupation or education groups.”
                                https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/...VyZDWKTjJf.png

                                This is a very important article. I have been hammering away on the idea that almost all of out problems result from automation.
                                https://medium.com/basic-income/the-...t-8b95f9bad71b
                                Every time that consumption falls, producers employ more robots to make up for lost margin.
                                "solutions like unconditionally guaranteeing everyone a basic income as a rightful productivity dividend if people are actively being unemployed by growing productivity and the discussion is framed as a future danger to our social fabric instead of a clear and present danger."
                                The corporatocracy doesn't care about the social fabric.
                                "If we look at recent history, each successive downturn has resulted in the permanent shrinkage of the labor market. Peak labor appears to have already occurred back in 2000."

                                Comment

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