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  • Credit markets, stock markets, death cross and Brexodus

    Yesterday, I saw a headline about how the economy was doing so well because bank earnings were up.
    April Bank Of America Earnings Jump 51% In Q1; Stock Setting Up
    Bank of America hauls in biggest profit ever - CNN Money

    OK, that all sounds good. The cheerleaders are hard at work. What is the reality?
    June Banks just posted the longest losing streak ever, and it could get a lot worse
    https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/27/bank...get-worse.html
    "Financials just extended their losing streak into a 13th straight session, a record for the sector.
    The XLF financial ETF's sell-off has caused major technical damage to the charts, according to Matt Maley, equity strategist at Miller Tabak.
    “Look at that XLF, it’s broken some key support levels,”
    “It’s also broken below its 200-day moving average which has given it good support all year this year ,and now it’s broken slightly below the bottom end of its lows for this year,”
    more runs to the Treasurys and more flattening of the yield curve,” Schlossberg said on Wednesday’s “Trading Nation.” “All these dynamics are kind of like a toxic brew for the financials.”

    The yield curve, which measures the difference between short-term and long-term bond yields, is now at its flattest level since August 2007. The flatter the yield curve, the tighter a bank’s net interest margin, which exacts more pressure on its profitability."

    The banks can't make money when the yield curve is flattened.
    6/30 Yield curve still flattening relentlessly – Financial Sense
    6/30 European yield curve collapses on report ECB considering operation twist – CNBC


    6/30 China’s “debt trap” is even worse than we thought – Quartz
    The impossible trinity is eating them up.
    6/30 Canada makes retaliatory tariffs official: ‘We will not back down’ – CNBC
    Canadian and Alaskan railroads are well known for killing a couple hundred moose every year. The moose will never get off the tracks when a train is coming.
    6/30 Chinese stocks in bear market, on pace for worst year since 2011 – CNBC
    That's what happens when your customers go broke.
    6/30 Emerging markets are in a death cross, with another big drop ahead – CNBC
    https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/29/emer...re-losses.html
    China will devalue their currency and cause a drop in American markets of at least 10--12%. As the dollar "gets stronger", the EM debt will be that much harder to service.

    6/30 Debt for US corporations tops $6 trillion – CNBC
    YES, and as interest rates rise, this debt won't be serviced.
    6/30 Buy bitcoin or gold for the end of the liquidity party? – Goldcore
    Unless you have a lot of money, hold paper U.S. dollars.
    6/30 US saving rate continues to contract – Zero Hedge
    So, we aren't putting money in the banks AND, the flattening of the yield curve is killing their profits. Armstrong makes it very clear that the banks will be closing.

    6/30 Danes see record low bank deposit rates – Bloomberg
    I wonder why??
    "Danish households clocked in at 123.6% of household debt to GDP. These figures from the Bank for International Settlement, gathered up by Trading Economics, cover the period through Q2 2016. So Australians, who were essentially neck-to-neck at the time with the Danes, might have surpassed them by now. But that stunning level of 123.6% of GDP is good for 2nd place, though it's down from 140% just before the Financial Crisis (via Trading "
    "And here is Number 1, the most glorious debt slaves of all, the country whose central bank is trying to manipulate down its currency by imposing steeply negative interest rates: Switzerland. "
    Look at this rise, https://amp.businessinsider.com/imag...0e-750-364.png
    "Nor for the global rankings of debt slaves, where US households squeaked into the ignominious 10th place, barely ahead of Portugal! I mean, come on! Portugal!! "
    These are the countries with the biggest debt slaves - Business Insider

    6/30 These 7 nation-state backed hacks have put us on the brink of a global cyber war – SB Yes, future paralysis.
    6/30 Corporate Brexodus beings as “no-deal” Brexit looms – Wolf Street
    This is a BIG deal. The City of London bankers are at war with the ECB. They want to loan to the continent without hindrance. The first shot fired??
    "It didn’t take long for the City of London to hit back. On Wednesday the Bank of England warned that unless the EU accepted a temporary permissions regime for financial services, up to £29 trillion worth of financial contracts could be declared void in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Derivatives contracts could come to an end without fresh legislation from the UK and EU, the central bank’s financial policy committee said."

    https://wolfstreet.com/2018/06/28/co...-brexit-looms/
    Last edited by Danny B; 06-30-2018, 06:02 PM. Reason: missing link

    Comment


    • A crisis here,,, a detonator there

      7/02 Morgan Stanley: Vicious cycle will end only when stocks dive – ZH
      The aggregate stock markets are down $10 trillion so far.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWF4Fwp8Cew
      Armstrong broadly hinted at a bank closure. Deutsche bank may very well trigger this.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbLC08PV77c
      They have many $trillions in derivatives that can't realistically be unwound.
      The financial sector got access to our savings (Grahm-Leach-Bliley) and speculated against the consumer driving up prices. Wages went up enough to make us non-competitive globally but, NOT enough for us to keep up with price inflation. After our savings were gone, the banks needed continual bailouts to keep functioning.

      The mentality of Wall St. did NOT allow any moral hazard to enter the equation. The bailout of Wall St. erased any feelings of financial hazard. This was especially true when every loan was securitized and passed off to some muppet (investor). The bailouts just emboldened AND empowered the self-proclaimed titans to leverage even more. While the FED is owned by it's private member banks, it is slowly becoming aware of the dangers of bailing out irresponsible people.

      The FED, ESF and PPT pumped endless liquidity into the system to keep everything going when actual commerce would not do that. The problem comes in when; if you offer money to people, they WILL take it.
      7/02 $6.3 trillion…American companies have never owed this much – CNN Money
      Excellent article on bull markets and sentiment.
      Stock Markets Hyper-Risky 3 - GoldSeek.com
      Keep in mind that a rising dollar will destroy the system.
      "Tighter domestic monetary policy and global trade turmoil have set the US dollar for its best quarterly performance since December 2016. The DXY index, which tracks the US currency against a weighted basket of global peers, was up 5.2% in the three months to June 29. "
      "U.S. dollar strength or emerging market weakness? It's most likely a mix of both,"
      "The U.S. dollar gained 5.2% against the euro, 4.0% versus the Japanese yen, 6.7% versus the Swedish krona, 6.5% against the New Zealand dollar, 5.8% versus the British pound, 3.8% against the Norwegian krone, 3.7% against the Swiss franc, 3.6% versus the Australian dollar "

      "14.7% drop in the Brazilian real. Surging inflation, a faltering boom, excessive debt and strongman President Erdogan's threats on central bank independence were behind the Turkish lira's 13.9% fall for the quarter. Vulnerable as well, the South African rand fell 13.7% versus the dollar.

      Especially late in the quarter, Asian currencies were under heavy selling pressure. Declines for the quarter included the Thai baht's 5.8%, the Indian rupee's 4.8%, the South Korean won's 4.6%, the Taiwanese dollar's 4.5%, the Malaysian dollar's 4.3%, the Indonesian rupiah's 3.9% and the Singapore dollar's 3.7%."
      "Losses included the Hungarian forint's 10.0%, the Russian ruble's 8.9%, the Polish zloty's 8.7%, the Czech koruna's 7.5%, the Iceland krona's 6.5%, the Romanian leu's 5.3%, the Bulgarian lev's 5.2%, the Serbian dinar's 5.0% and the Croatian kuna's 4.5%.

      In Latin America, the Venezuelan bolivar sank 48.5%, the Mexican peso 8.7%, the Chilean peso 7.7% and the Colombian peso 4.6%. " Chinese stocks led the rout. The Shanghai Composite sank 10.1% during the quarter. The small cap CSI 500 lost 14.7%, and the CSI Midcap 200 fell 12.5%. China's growth/tech ChiNext index was slammed 15.5%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng financials index dropped 10.7% during the quarter, led by losses from the Chinese securities firms. As for China's two largest banks, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China dropped 12.6% during the quarter and China Construction Bank lost 15.5%.
      https://creditbubblebulletin.blogspo...e-quarter.html

      The emerging markets are in a tailspin and may very well be a detonator. Problem is, there seem to be a dozen "known" detonators spread around the world.
      7/02 China is one signature away from dealing the dollar a death blow – Birch
      7/02 Renminbi’s worst month ever sparks U.S.-China currency war fears – GATA

      China wants a weak currency to help it's exports markets AND a strong currency to stop capital flight.
      Socialism is the firewall between Darwinian pressures and, non-producers. What happens when you get TOO many non-producers?
      https://fabiusmaximus.com/2018/07/01...san-francisco/

      John Mauldin and his Train Wreck series of articles.
      http://www.mauldineconomics.com/fron...unded-promises
      Crypto news; 7/02 Some crypto investors are giving up on bitcoin, cashing out of Coinbase – Fortune
      7/02 Over 1,000 cryptocurrencies are considered “dead” now – Cointelegraph

      https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bitco...024507352.html

      The EU is starting to face up to the fact that; borrowing money for consumption just isn't a good idea.
      "After more than 2 trillion euros of asset purchases and a zero interest rate policy, it is long overdue. The massive quantitative easing (QE) program has generated very significant imbalances and the risks far outweigh the questionable benefits. The balance sheet of the ECB is now more than 40 percent of the eurozone GDP" Do tell!
      "The governments of the eurozone, however, have not prepared themselves at all for the end of stimuli."
      "In other words, the problems are still there, they were just hidden for a while, swept under the rug of an ever-expanding global economy."
      ever-expanding global money supply

      "The 19 eurozone countries have collectively saved 1.15 trillion euros in interest payments since 2008 due to ECB rate cuts and monetary policy interventions, according to German media outlet Handelsblatt. This reduction in costs is financed by pensioners and savers who are forced to invest in these debt instruments, often by institutional mandate."
      "Taxes rose for families and small and medium-sized enterprises, while current spending by governments barely fell"
      "The main eurozone economies face more than 2.1 trillion euros in debt maturities between 2018 and 2021."
      Don't forget about the Euro 1.2 trillion in non-performing loans.
      "Where would bond yields be if the ECB was not the largest purchaser of eurozone bonds? We do not know for sure, as there is no discernible market demand at these levels. "

      Today, the ECB program buys more than three times the net issuances.
      https://www.theepochtimes.com/the-eu...s_2579575.html

      Comment


      • Exit from equities,,, rising dollar,, DOD audit

        7/02 Morgan Stanley: Vicious cycle will end only when stocks dive – ZH
        7/02 Chinese, Japanese stocks plunge on trade, oil worries – CNBC
        7/02 US stocks lower on trade hostility – CNBC

        OK, and the result;
        May 22, 2018 ... The tough times for Emerging Market Bond Funds continued, with redemptions exceeding the $1 billion mark for the third
        .................................................. ...........................................
        Domestic Equity funds reporting net outflows of -$6.926 billion and Non-Domestic Equity funds reporting net outflows of -$1.027 billion...ExETFs - Emerging Markets Equity funds report net outflows of -$0.345 billion.
        .................................................. ...............................................
        High Yield funds reported net outflows of -$1.135 billion...Money Market funds reported net inflows of $18.188 billion
        ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
        So, several $trillion is flowing out of equities and EM bonds. Much of it is flowing into money-market funds. Some into U.S. bonds.
        FUND FLOWS: Despite Coming Rate Hikes, Investors Love US Bonds ...
        Page not found | Wealth Management...
        Cameron Brandt | May 22, 2018
        I posted all the various currencies that are falling. The financial "air" is being sucked out of the room. A lot of investors are running to cash.

        7/02 Mexican peso and euro slide on political uncertainty – MarketWatch
        7/02 Venezuela’s inflation rate tops 40,000 per cent for first time ever – Independent

        Nobody wants the dollar to go up like this but, it appears to be Unstoppable.


        Trump is kicking around another sacred cow;
        https://sputniknews.com/us/201807021...to-withdrawal/
        Oil
        "The U.S. and Saudi Arabia struck a side deal to boost oil supply by 2 million barrels per day, according to President Donald Trump."
        Sounds fishy because Saudi production has been in decline for years.
        https://static.seekingalpha.com/uplo...2407555935.png

        "the actual total of unaccounted for money at the Pentagon is most likely significantly more than $21 trillion. The First ever “full-scope audit” of the Pentagon is presently underway. Read the first report from this series here. "
        The financial management systems DOD has put in place to control and monitor the money flow don’t facilitate but actually “prevent DOD from collecting and reporting financial information
        DOD frequently enters “unsupported” (i.e. imaginary) amounts in its books (p. 13) and uses those figures to make the books balance
        DOD managers do not know how much money is in their accounts at the Treasury, or when they spend more than Congress appropriates to them. (p. 5)18
        Nor does DOD “record, report, collect, and reconcile” funds received from other agencies or the public (
        DOD does not know who owes it money, nor how much.
        OD’s “Internal Controls,” intended to track the money, are inoperative. Thus, DOD cost reports and financial statements are inaccurate, and the size, even the direction (in plus or minus values), of the errors cannot be identified,


        Think about it. The military-industrial-complex (don't forget the banks) have a bottomless check book that nobody ever looks at. Many years ago, David Walker, the comptroller-general of the U.S. refused to certify the books. Everybody is just writing checks without even a passing thought for congressional appropriations. Though, the do make sure that the grunts life in poverty. The DOD left no paper trail so that nobody could actually assign responsibility or accountability.
        https://www.globalresearch.ca/how-21...ntagon/5638534

        Trump indicated in the beginning that he wanted a complete audit.
        and
        "Gowdy declared that Strzok was obviously biased because, “He was talking about impeachment within three days of Special Counsel Robert Mueller being appointed."
        “More than 60 Democrats have already voted to proceed with impeachment before Robert Mueller found a single solitary damn thing,” Gowdy roared."
        American Patriot Daily ? Trey Gowdy Turned The Mueller Investigation Upside Down With This Speech

        The offence industry spent $174 million on lobbying congress. EVERYBODY can be presumed dirty. Hundreds of congressmen have contributed miles of rope to the hangman.

        Comment


        • No money to fill the gas tank

          The CBs pump money into the financial sector. The financial sector front-runs everything that the producer loop needs to buy. Effective wages drop since purchasing power is diminished by price inflation. A barrel of oil is sold (estimates vary) about 27 times before it is consumed. Since oil is one of the biggest markets, it attracts a lot of speculators. The end result is that; our diminishing purchasing power can't afford to buy oil. Price i8nflation has outrun wage inflation. Add to this; China, et al have put a roof on wages.
          Global aggregate purchasing power is falling as various States raise their basic standard of living. Oil is getting more scarce and, more expensive. Our wages are falling and we can't actually pay for oil. The FED pumped out $trillions and some of this went to the junk-bond market to finance fracking.

          Sr. Price writes about the fall of oil. It is not so much the price of recovering oil. It is also the amount of energy expended to recover it.
          "Net Energy Available for GDP Growth, per barrel of oil, was about 61% of the total original energy in each barrel, after subtracting unavoidable Waste Energy, and Energy Costs of Production; by 2015, that figure had fallen to only 8%. In 2030, the Net Energy provided by the Petroleum Industry is forecasted to be - 0%!"
          This is an excellent article.
          http://www.plata.com.mx/enUS/More/355?idioma=2
          "According to the thermodynamic thesis, the price of oil has not been able to rise to make good the financial promises of the Oil Industry, simply because the productivity of the world has been insufficient to allow payment of higher prices."
          Yep, the money is stuck in the upper loop.

          Here is a very comprehensive report on the 12 major debt sectors. Once again, debt is crashing because our wages are insufficient to service it.
          https://www.narrowroadcapital.com/me...f-global-debt/

          China is in rapid meltdown because it too doesn't have high enough wages to service it's debts.
          https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...ddenly-tumbles
          As the FED raises rates it marches straight towards the dreaded inversion of the yield curve.
          https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DhHZZynV4AA0nXd.jpg:small
          So, the FED is raising rates to attract fleeing capital. Raising dates will crash domestic markets. The FED has lit one end of our life raft on fire.

          7/03 Investor margin debt reaches record high – SRSRocco Report
          Yep, smart money is fleeing equities. The dumb money is buying up all the deals with even-higher leverage.
          7/03 Companies buying back their own shares is the only thing supporting stocks – CNBC
          What could go wrong and, when will it?
          7/03 Obrador’s win in Mexico is an opportunity for Trump to end drug war –Tom Luongo
          Crucify the bankers if you wants to end the drug war.
          Kim Jong Un seems to have stripped a couple of cogs.
          North Korea's Kim Jong Un Wants to 'Completely Eliminate Manual Labor'

          Comment


          • Oil Vs the economy,,,currency reset

            Well, oil is going up so, everything else must go down.
            The total cost of crude as a percentage of world GDP is now 3.57%. The 1960 to 2015 average was been 2.48%. Every time, over the last 58 years, that the ratio has exceeded 3.25% the economy has gone into a recession within a year. There is no reason to believe that this time will be any different.
            http://i64.tinypic.com/2cfshth.jpg
            depletion
            Besides the cost of crude, the taxes are rising on fuel. The State does not care.
            A good article on oil depletion;
            depletion
            A good graph, http://i64.tinypic.com/2cfshth.jpg

            Armstrong, "I have explained that southern Europe got the worse deal. They converted their debts to Euro and then the Euro rose from 80 cents to $1.60 doubling their national debts and the austerity policy forced economic recession upon their economies with youth unemployment reach 60% in some regions known as the lost generation. "
            This is the simplest explanation of what went wrong.
            https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/i...rozone-crisis/

            Special Discuss JUN 26, 2018 - MARTIN ARMSTRONG: The New Currency System is Coming
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUesVfp643w&t=716s
            The whole world sees that the rising strength of the dollar is ripping the system apart. The obvious solution is to devalue the dollar AND make it less attractive.

            Jim Willie, "the upcoming Systemic Lehman event that hits both sovereign bonds and entire banking systems, "
            http://www.goldenjackass.com/main5.html
            I suspect that Trump is making a fast trip to meet Putin because the system is failing fast.

            Martin Armstrong Warning To All * Economic Collapse Isn’t COMING, It’s Already HERE!
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NX-xALgqH-s&t=116s
            MARTIN ARMSTRONG Next Depression will Not Directly Effect Economy but Bonds and Governments
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2yiyOVn6VY&t=373s
            I just don't buy this.
            Alex Jones;
            Trillionaire Rothschild Warns His Own Central Banking System Is Failing and Buys Gold
            The Dollar Vigilante
            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cssfD0KlHxA&t=1557s

            Deutsche Bank In PANIC MODE as Stock Near RECORD LOW and Market Shows MASSIVE Outflows!
            The Money GPS
            7/04 Carpet is about to be pulled out from under junk bond market – ZH
            WAIT, they financed fracking.
            "There is now $63 trillion of sovereign debt outstanding, with total debt at $237 trillion, a full $70 trillion above pre-Lehman levels.
            There are only 11 sovereigns and only two U.S. firms left with a AAA rating,"
            "The 2007 U.S. deficit at $161 billion or 1.1 percent of GDP pales in comparison to this year’s projection of $804 billion. America’s public debt-to-GDP ratio has risen to over 105 percent of GDP from around 65 percent of GDP in 2008, with projections of a continued rise. In the euro zone too debt is now 20 percent higher, rising 60 percent in Spain; and Italy’s public debt, already high in 2008, has now breached 130 percent of GDP, a full 30 percent higher than its 2008"
            https://www.bloombergquint.com/opini...ur-major-risks

            Trump will seal a deal with Putin so that America will still get oil after the dollar crashes. The meeting is soon. The U.S. military is the biggest user of petroleum in the world. Something's gotta give. The dollar will be devalued overnight. This has been done many times with many currencies. Prices will be set commensurate with our wages.

            Jim Willie;
            https://www.silverdoctors.com/gold/g...urrency-reset/
            https://www.silverdoctors.com/gold/g...se-jim-willie/

            Comment


            • Abandoning the banks

              "J.P. Morgan was off by more than 2 percent in trading Friday. Wells Fargo dropped nearly 3 percent.
              "If you take out the capital markets business and the one-time events, it shows these banks aren't doing any business, and that's the key problem,"
              "Bank stocks are breaking down even as rates are rising. Here’s why"
              https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/26/bank...heres-why.html
              Why Big Bank Stocks Are About to Crumble | Investopedia
              https://www.investopedia.com/news/wh...about-crumble/

              " The US Federal Reserve (Fed) struck an unprecedented bargain with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley ahead of recent stress tests that allowed the two banking giants to avoid outright failing grades"
              https://sputniknews.com/us/201807031...-stress-tests/
              "US Branch of Deutsche Bank Fails Federal Reserve Stress Test"
              https://sputniknews.com/business/201...deral-reserve/
              Deutsche Bank leads the way on the slow grind down to insolvency. The new Italian government is setting off capital flight. This may take down Deutsche Bank.

              Apparently, the war-mongers / arms industry is running scared.
              https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...p-putin-summit

              Comment


              • What to do about the strong dollar

                May is trying to do the bidding of the London bankers,
                7/05 Britain’s May to pitch ‘softest possible Brexit’ plan to team: ITV – Reuters
                Oil isn't going to be abandoned Everybody wants to raise their energy consumption. This can only be done with solar and wind.
                7/04 China showcases mega solar farm size of 5 Manhattans – People’s Daily
                7/05 Bitcoin bear: Digitized gold ‘only type of crypto that can succeed’ – Cointelegraph
                7/05 Outright US-China currency war the real risk, McKinnon says – Bloomberg

                No such thing is possible. The markets and confidence are driving the rise in the dollar. Historically, when a State wanted to devalue it's currency, it re-pegged it to the U.S. dollar. The rising dollar is a fast-moving calamity. The only way to re-peg the dollar is to re-peg it to GOLD. Years ago, the peg was changed from $ 20 per pounce to about $35. This will happen again because market distortion caused by capital flight to the dollar is just too destructive.

                Goodbye M3 - What is the Government hiding? - InflationData.com
                https://inflationdata.com › Home › Blog › Government
                Mar 16, 2006 - FED will no longer track M3 hiding massive inflation of the money supply. ... The most restrictive, M1, only measures the most liquid forms of money; it is limited ... So the question immediately arises why would the FED stop tracking this?

                Why Did FRED Suddenly Discontinue Reporting On The Fed's Balance Sheet Normalization?
                by Tyler Durden
                Wed, 07/04/2018 -
                https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...-normalization
                The FED is real keen to hide monetary inflation that might reverse capital flight to the dollar.

                "Europe was shocked by the Danske Bank reports and sees its shares drop around 3% on the day. "
                Wait, I thought that Deutsche bank was at the head of the meltdown.
                "Lots of talk also surrounding the ECB’s twist operation it rumoured last week. Talk that the maturing proceeds will be reinvested at the long end of European markets is causing yet more curve flattening as liquidity dries even more. Draghi also mentioned last week that rates could remains low beyond summer of 2019 "
                Ah yes, that pesky yield curve problem.
                https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/m...k-july-4-2018/

                Armstrong, "This is war is building, but it is not really between Trump and Putin personally. The bureaucracy in the USA seems to want war. Perhaps as a diversion for economic problems with social programs"
                https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/a...g-up-with-ecm/
                UK reportedly tells Trump he cannot meet with Brexit architect Nigel Farage
                Nigel Farage unveils George Soros corruption with EU 200 MEPs on the take

                Arrest george soros! nigel farage orders the eu parliament
                Trump To Tell NATO US Won’t Be Their ‘Piggy Bank'
                Wait, NATO bases are the prime distribution point for drugs in Europe.
                Iran Will Import Good Only From Countries Buying Its Oil
                The face of the future.
                Switzerland Chooses Gold Over Dollar-Backed Paper
                Gazprom Boosts Natural Gas Production To Solidify Top Position In Europe
                World Bank Backs Egypt To Become Regional Oil, Gas Trading Hub
                YES, but Iran has the gas and oil, NOT Egypt.

                As Syria is purged of mercenaries, the pipeline wars are winding down. Pox Americana is provoking Iran still trying to diminish their oil sales. At the same time, they don't want to provoke them TOO much.
                https://www.rt.com/business/431669-o...ran-sanctions/

                Comment


                • Systemic failure, Countdown, hot in the Golan

                  "The unwelcome reality is the systemic issues cannot be reversed with policy tweaks or shuffling those at the top of a crumbling centralized order. The systemic problems arise from the structures of centralization and monopoly capital, the institutionalization of perverse incentives"
                  "The Ratchet Effect is another key reason why meaningful reform of the status quo is impossible. In flush times, budgets expand as easily as waistlines, ratcheting up to consume ever-higher revenues. But once revenues start declining, the administrative/consumerist status quo is fiercely resistant to any reduction."
                  Don't cut off my welfare , or else

                  "In other words, the social crises, the constitutional crises, the financial crises--all of these are to some degree mere manifestations of the failure of centralized systems that arose to benefit from conditions that no longer exist."
                  "Rather than admit the failure of our socio-economic system, those benefiting from the system's gross imbalances are pursuing a multi-pronged strategy of control:"
                  oftwominds-Charles Hugh Smith: The Gathering Storm

                  One would expect a war to break out to be the scapegoat for economic and social collapse..
                  The M.I.C. is deathly afraid that peace will break out and end their gravy train. What about China?
                  https://www.yahoo.com/news/m/6c42678...-it-has-a.html

                  Bernanke, Dalio and Armstrong all claim that U.S. GOV will collapse going in to 2020. Pick January for argument’s sake. We still have August, September, October, November and December. For 2019, we have 12 months. So, we have 17 months until the U.S. GOV collapses.
                  Making a guess, I would say that the banks will collapse 2 months before the GOV collapses. That means that we have 15 months +/- until the bank closures. The EU banks should collapse 2-3 months before that.

                  FED GOV isn't just sitting by idly.
                  "Another record shows that ICE has recently procured 8,000 M4 assault rifles, adding to the 5,000 ICE already has in the field. "
                  "shows that the officers of the agency’s Enforcement and Removal Operations will this year be trained in the use of assault weapons, chemical agents, stun grenades, and flash bangs at the Howell Shooting Range in Chicago" Chicago,,, huh?
                  https://www.rt.com/usa/431695-ice-ag...ault-training/
                  Trump is trying to cut back on the debt to make it more manageable.
                  President Trump Cuts More US Debt for a Longer Period of Time Than Any President | MAGA PILL

                  The West is provoking Iran hoping to get regime change. They want to reduce it's oil earnings to zero. That can't be realistically done. Iran is holding the Straights of Hormuz as hostage.
                  https://www.rt.com/business/431669-o...ran-sanctions/
                  The pentagram says that they can keep the straights open. No possibility.

                  Trump has refused to bomb the Syrian army that is taking back Syria from the mercenaries hired by Saudi, israel and the neocons. Teresa May, held in bondage by the London bankers has dropped a few bombs in a show of support.
                  https://www.rt.com/business/431669-o...ran-sanctions/
                  Meanwhile, israel is demanding that Syria honor a 1974 separation of force agreement that both of them signed. Syria has no particular reason to abide by a de-escalation agreement that was nothing more that a convenience.
                  "The agreement was signed a year after an Arab-Israeli war in which Syrian forces failed to retake a large part of the Golan Heights area seized by Israel in 1967.

                  The strategic highland has since been annexed by Israel, bringing some Israeli troops as well as settlements to within a few dozen miles (kilometers) of Damascus. " "The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported some 600 airstrikes in Daraa province."
                  https://www.yahoo.com/news/intense-a...085312926.html

                  So, will the Syrians take the Golan or, not?
                  Netanyahooo is running to Moscow again to plead / demand that Putin let israel have the Golan. . Everybody on the planet is tired of the endless wars. The U.N. is VERY clear.
                  https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/...195853040.html

                  "To underline that this capacity still exists and should not be tested, Hizbollah has retaliated against direct Israeli attacks on its assets in Syria with operations in the Israeli-occupied Sheba farms area, which it considers Lebanese territory,"
                  https://www.crisisgroup.org/trigger-.../golan-heights
                  A LOT of arms were funnelled to the mercenaries through Jordan. Recently, Netanayahooo went to Jordan to demand more help. More recently, the king and queen of Jordan came to visit Trump. He said that the king and he were old friends.

                  Comment


                  • Save the investor, kill the jobs

                    "U.S. has record 6 million job openings, even as 6.8 million Americans are looking for jobs"
                    U.S. has record 6 million job openings, even as 6.8 million Americans are looking for jobs
                    "Inflation Is Back, Part 8: Labor Shortage Reaches “Critical” Point"
                    https://www.dollarcollapse.com/labor...e-inflation-8/
                    America has a massive truck driver shortage. Here's why few want an ...
                    https://www.washingtonpost.com/.../a...hortage-heres-...
                    Construction industry struggles with labor shortage | The Seattle Times
                    https://www.seattletimes.com/nation....-labor-shortag...

                    So, who can we blame this on?
                    "In the United States, the total capacity of all colleges and universities is only 40% of high school graduates."
                    "The misguided decision to close the majority of LAUSD's once vibrant industrial arts program was made under the false assumptions that it would be too expensive to retrofit them to modern standard"
                    "3.There are critical shortages in the skilled labor market for mechanics, welders, carpenters, and electricians with starting salaries of over $40,000 that are going unfilled in our society. "
                    The case for Industrial Arts. - Perdaily.com

                    The Death Of Shop Class And America's Skilled Workforce - Forbes
                    https://www.forbes.com/.../the-death...killed-workfor...
                    May 30, 2012 - Shop classes are being eliminated from California schools due to the ... Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) with 660,000 students in ... Without early exposure to shop class many kids are going to lose out on the ...
                    This is a Fobes article and, evidently, I've used up my free quota of views.

                    "with the supplier base and knowledge required for manufacturing centered in Asia, the United States no longer has the technological prowess to manufacture many high-tech devices domes*tically. When it comes to applied research and downstream “process innovation,” America lags behind its competitors."
                    "Corporate research labs that once developed and commercialized breakthrough technologies have been eliminated. And critically, the United States, unlike Germany or Japan or South Korea, lacks key institutions focused on applied research and innovation. "
                    "U.S. manufacturing employment has fallen 30 percent since 2000. Deindustrialization, which in the 1980s was centered in the heavy industry sectors of the Northeast and Upper Midwest, moved to the Sunbelt after 2000. As U.S. factories closed, the locus of manufac*turing moved to Asia."

                    " It’s a story with much good news for the nation as a whole . . . [as] mills were able to replace their workers with a new generation of nearly autonomous, computer-run machines.2"
                    America’s largest import from China is electrical machinery, followed by general machinery. Its largest exports to China: grains, seeds, and fruit.
                    "But starting in the 1970s and ’80s, American corporations stopped pursuing these long-term research projects. Kressel poignantly describes the demise of lab after lab. These losses include Westinghouse Research Labs, which created the foundational technology for flat-panel displays; Hughes Research Laboratories; the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center; and his own RCA Labs, which was spun off. "
                    "the search for “shareholder value” pushed companies to outsource manufacturing and to cut corporate R&D,"

                    "Indeed, activist investors seem to have a special enmity for central corporate labs. The handful of remaining research labs in the United States, such as the lab at DuPont, have come under fire from activist investors. Following the activist-engineered merger of Dow and DuPont (and vast layoffs at DuPont’s central research and development organization), Trian Fund Management’s Nelson Peltz turned his attention to Procter & Gamble. Here again, the activist sought a “lean holding company,” meaning cutbacks in R&D"
                    Activist investors,,, what a wonderful concept.
                    https://americanaffairsjournal.org/2...-deficiencies/

                    Comment


                    • All quiet besides tariffs

                      The U.S. is relatively stable when compared to China, India, Brazil and Europe. It appears that Trump wants to shake up foreign markets with his tariffs. Here is the list.
                      The Office of the US Trade Representative on Tuesday announced a list of Chinese products that will face a new 25% tariff.
                      The list includes machinery, agricultural equipment, and tech goods.
                      The Chinese are laying tariffs on pork, fruit and nuts.
                      Apparently, the list is set to expand.

                      7/06 China accuses the US of launching the ‘largest trade war in economic history’ –
                      7/06 Trump’s trade war with China shifts into high gear – The Hill

                      Trade War Begins - China Retaliates With 25%
                      Tariffs On $34 Billion Worth Of US Imports

                      Trump Regime's Trade War With China Heats Up
                      Chinese Ports Begin Delaying Clearing US Goods

                      Russia Slaps Retaliatory Duties On US Imports
                      Trump Threatens China With $500 Billion In US Tariffs.

                      so far the tariffs haven't destabilized markets but, the night is yet young.

                      Comment


                      • Trade war, Powell, EU banks, Kunstler

                        Here is a 12 page report on economic factors that includes tons of charts. Among the many things that it shows; Chinese exports to America only account for 3.5 % of it's GDP.
                        http://alpinemacro.com/wr/June29_201..._a_Stumble.pdf
                        7/07 Risk of ‘brutal correction’ in global stock markets – Sydney Morning Herald
                        7/07 The dark cloud of global debt — perfect storm looms – GoldTelegraph

                        Here is one chart that shows the "everything" bubble.
                        https://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Uplo....amazonaws.jpg

                        OK, what about decisions from Powell,, the FED head?
                        "The Atlanta Fed’s GDPNow estimate suggests
                        that the U.S. economy is growing at a 4.5% annual
                        rate. I find this inconceivable"
                        "Chairman Jerome Powell is more concerned about economic overheating and the strong labor market is emboldening policymakers to become more hawkish. "
                        "The Treasury yield curve does not agree with Powell’s assessment and has flattened sharply since the Fed’s last decision. "
                        "The Fed narrative seems to be that U.S. economic strength will be sustained, and inflation will creep higher. However, forward-looking indicators are telling a different story"

                        7/07 June jobs increase — all part time and no full time jobs – Zero Hedge
                        7/07 Welcome to full employment – Atlantic
                        7/07 Copper’s collapse deepens as US-China trade war escalates – Bloomberg

                        Dr. copper is a very good indicator of true economic strength.
                        7/07 As Japan dumps Treasuries it’s buying riskier US assets – Think Advisor
                        So, Japan believes that junk bonds carry less risk than U.S. treasuries.
                        7/07 Brexit: Theresa May’s new customs plan ‘dead on arrival’ in EU – Independent
                        The French, Swiss and German banks have no intention of letting London
                        banks continue to do business as usual on the continent.
                        7/07 US spends $686 billion on defense — what about other NATO countries? – CNBC
                        There are 688 billion reasons to go looking for enemies.

                        Kunstler has a new report that is more than mildly pessimistic.
                        Summer of Tough Love - Kunstler
                        "Trump wants lower oil prices while at the same time his administration is trying to zero out 2.5 million barrels per day of Iranian oil exports.

                        “It does not occur to the U.S. president that it is Trump himself who is driving prices up through his Iran policy,”
                        “You impose sanctions on major producers, founders of OPEC, and yet you are asking them to reduce the prices?! Since when did you start ordering OPEC!” Iran’s OPEC governor Hossein Kazempour Ardebili said in a statement. “Your tweets have driven the prices up by at least $10/b. Pls stop it, otherwise it will go even higher!”
                        "Meanwhile, the U.S. Congress has revived legislation that would remove the immunity that sovereign nations have from being sued from antitrust violations."
                        Yeah, that should go over real well around the world.
                        https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oi...il-Crisis.html
                        An excellent report on Work and Wealth
                        https://www.marketwatch.com/story/am...mod=idealmedia
                        In the Battle for Syria, it still remains to be seen just where the Syrian army will stop.
                        https://russia-insider.com/en/politi...s-will/ri24004
                        This is a very big deal.

                        Comment


                        • Failed Capitalism,, bring in socialism

                          Capitalism; the operating system;
                          Take something from the natural world, add in a bit of labor, trade it for some other item that you need.
                          This is the only system that actually produces anything. Any other system must necessarily involve theft by some non-producer.
                          Capitalism - An economic system based on the “Survival of the fittest”.
                          Socialism – An economic system based on “You get your share no matter what your contribution is”.

                          Pure capitalism does not involve coercion. The non-producers of the world don't have any interest in “Survival of the fittest” Society has always had thieves who would steal the fruits of the labor of the producers. The State is the biggest thief of them all. It has the law books and often, all of the guns. The State perfects parasitism to a fine art.
                          Of course, this is all very legal. It is now fashionably called "crony capitalism."
                          Crony capitalists bribe the State to give them an exclusive license for theft in some particular sector. The system is now COMPLETELY rotten with all the wealth transferred to the parasites. The entire system is rotten and, irredeemable. So, what is the end result?

                          Search on, "failure of capitalism" About 27,800,000 results
                          The first return is; Posner, famous for his advocacy of free markets, turns on free-market capitalism in this book: "the financial crisis is indeed a crisis of capitalism rather than a failure of government." ... He asserts that the "depression is a failure of capitalism".
                          Richard Posner was born on January 11, 1939, in New York City. His father's family were of Romanian Jewish descent, and his mother's family were Ashkenazi Jews from Vienna, Austria.

                          The failure of CRONY capitalism is most assuredly a failure of government. The State regulators enabled the bankers to steal everything. Aside from regulatory failures, the bankers are responsible for the enormous currency inflation that robs everyone who doesn't have a printing press.

                          5 Reasons Capitalism Has Failed | Alternet
                          The Failure of Capitalism | The Swamp
                          American capitalism has failed us: We're overworked, underemployed ..
                          A Failure of Capitalism: The Crisis of '08 and the Descent into depression, Posner
                          Not a Failure of Capitalism--A Failure of Government
                          The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the West. Towards a New Economics for a Full World.
                          Capitalism, American style; a failing system, no longer a model for the world
                          Capitalism has failed the world: Socialism is the viable alternative ...

                          Ah, now we're getting somewhere.

                          Has capitalism failed or do we just not like its results? | Stuff.co.nz
                          Socialism vs. Capitalism: Which is the Moral System | Ashbrook
                          Laissez Faire Capitalism left when the State demanded to grow without limits. The only host available was the producer.
                          Mother Nature does not "do" morality. It is impossible to claim that socialism is moral if a great number of people must steal their sustenance.
                          Socialism has never worked because it removes motivation. It does appeal to the masses of people who never had any motivation. They can be counted on to vote for it every time.

                          These are the Jewish socialists who paved the way for Bernie Sanders
                          The Jews Who Dreamed of Utopia - The New York Times
                          Milton Friedman on Israel and Jewish Support for Socialism
                          Empire, Socialism and Jews V: The Postwar Years
                          Jewish Socialism is Hot Among Millennial Voters - PJ Media

                          Historical Dictionary of Socialism - Page 254 - Google Books Result
                          https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1442258276
                          Peter Lamb - 2015 - ‎Political Science
                          JEWS. Jews have played an outstanding role in the history of socialism as both revolutionaries and reformists. Among the many socialist thinkers and leaders ...

                          So, here we are. Capitalism has FAILED. Socialism is the better system and MSM is pushing it. The legislature is responsible for the collapse. How will the battle shape up. How will the armies on non-producers wage war to bring socialist enlightenment?

                          Comment


                          • Bumps and potholes in the financial road

                            Teresa May is trying to do the bidding of the city of London bankers. She has just run into a block wall. Everybody is deserting. They can see that Brexit is going to be such a bloody mess, they don't want to be anywhere near Parliament.
                            'Absolute chaos': BoJo is third minister to resign as foreign secretary within 24 hours
                            Chris Hedges has a very impre4ssive history as a foreign correspondent. Here is an excellent vid of the battle lines.
                            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQU4x3DqzuQ&t=591s

                            An excellent article about corporatism and, where it has brought the world. He is really down on Trump but, don't let that affect your view of the greater message.
                            "Our “corporate coup d’état in slow motion,” as the writer John Ralston Saul calls it, has opened a Pandora’s box of evils that is transforming America into a failed state. The “unholy trinity of corruption, impunity and violence,” he said, can no longer be checked. The ruling elites abjectly serve corporate power to exploit and impoverish the citizenry. Democratic institutions, including the courts, are mechanisms of corporate repression. Financial fraud and corporate crime are carried out with impunity"
                            https://www.truthdig.com/articles/am...-failed-state/

                            "It's been my view, going back to 2009's aggressive reflationary measures, that central bankers failed to learn key lessons from the mortgage finance Bubble period. My biggest frustration revolved around the Fed's fateful decision to target mortgage Credit for system reflation - and then their complete neglect of prudent oversight of mortgage lending and mortgage-related financial intermediation, leverage and speculation. "
                            https://creditbubblebulletin.blogspo...-economic.html
                            The residential real estate market is where the upper loop meets the lower loop. They wanted to bring confidence to those in the upper loop. The lower loop got the shaft because RE price inflation meant that millions would be homeless.

                            The billionaires have a problem. When the crash and the chaos hits, how can they insure the obedience of their guards? ,,,, shock collars OR, robot guards???
                            https://medium.com/s/futurehuman/sur...t-9ef6cddd0cc1
                            Here is a graph of Lehman Bros laid over a graph of Deutsche bank,http://goldswitzerland.com/wp-conten...nn-600x334.jpg
                            "but change starts in the periphery where very few are looking. Look at China where the Shanghai composite is down 23% since January. And look at Brazil where the Bovespa is off 17% so far this year and Turkey which has lost 20%."
                            "Once the bear markets start, they are likely to turn into secular trends that last many years and result in falls of 75% to 95%. Difficult to believe for most investors today, but nobody in 1929 believed that the Dow would fall 90% in the ensuing years and take 25 years to recover."
                            "But as tax revenues decline and spending increases, I would not be surprised to see $28 trillion debt in 2021. That would put the US on course for a $40 trillion debt in 2025. That would mean a doubling of the debt from 2017 which is in line with the historical trend of a 100% increase every 8 years."

                            "There is a consensus that many of the Eurozone countries are basket cases and that is hard to argue against. Very few talk about the US as a basket case. But with no real budget surplus since 1960, the US financial and military hegemony will soon come to an abrupt end"
                            "That is why no one believes that DB is even worth the equity as the market cap is only 28% of shareholders’ funds. A 4.6% loss on the DB loan book or a 0.1% loss on the derivative portfolio would totally extinguish the equity."
                            "But how can they save a bank with a balance sheet of 50% of German GDP and a derivative portfolio of 14x GDP? "
                            https://goldswitzerland.com/us-debt-...ion-weimar-ii/

                            Here is an article about how tight the labor market is.
                            https://www.dollarcollapse.com/curre...n-back-part-9/
                            7/09 Record 95 million Americans not in the labor force – MyBudget360
                            7/09 Stocks jump as traders’ fears dissipate – CNBC
                            7/09 Chinese stocks have best day in two years as trade war fears recede – Reuters

                            AND
                            7/09 Global trade decelerates sharply – Independent

                            A very good article by Armstrong on the history of tariffs.
                            https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/w...at-depression/
                            Here is an exhaustive article on the effects of the coming oil crunch.https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...ll-shock-world

                            "With the creation and treachery of a Christmas vote, the Federal Reserve took full control of the financial sector and placed the country on the inevitable path of totalitarian rule.

                            If a refresher course is needed, the Jackals of Jekyll Island - Federal Reserve Audit article illustrates the dire nature and consequences of the debt created money system that has impoverished our society. In the essay, Federal Reserve 100 Years of Failure the history of the banksters financial system is examined. So what can be done to stop this monster of liberty destruction and monetary theft? First off the immediate remedy provided for the removal of reprehensible outlaws is impeachment.
                            " The first was by Congressman Lindbergh: Articles of Impeachment Against Federal Reserve."

                            This Act establishes the most gigantic trust on earth. When the President signs this Act the invisible government by the Money Power, proven to exist by the Money Trust Investigation, will be legalized. The new law will create inflation whenever the trusts want inflation. From now on depressions will be scientifically created.” – Congressman Charles A. Lindbergh, Sr., 1913"
                            "Now that this sterling American patriot (Congressman Louis T. McFaddens) has made the Passing, it can be revealed that not long after his public utterance against the encroaching powers of Judah, it became known among his intimates that he had suffered two attacks against his life. The first attack came in the form of two revolver shots fired at him from ambush as he was alighting from a cab in front of one of the Capital hotels. "
                            "The most recent attempt was made by Rep. Gonzalez, Henry B. [D-TX-20] (Introduced 03/07/1985).

                            H.Res.101 - A resolution providing for the impeachment of Paul A. Volcker, Edward G. Boehne, Robert H. Boykin, E. Gerald Corrigan, Lyle E. Gramley, Karen N. Horn, Preston Martin, J. Charles Partee, Emmett J. Rice, Martha R. Seger, and Henry C. Wallich, as members of the Federal Open Market Committee."
                            "Nonetheless, the value of using the impeachment vehicle is not necessarily the removal of a Greenspan, a Bernanke or a Yellen. It is about developing the critical mass necessary to instill public awareness that the financial system of central banking is the quintessence and inevitable reason, for the cause of the coming economic collapse, which is unavoidable. "
                            "Impeachment is a small step towards the replacement of the malefic hell that the central bankers inflict as they squeeze America to the “consequences of defaulting on a desperate bargain”
                            Face the facts that the courts and the legal barrister class are essentially gatekeepers to protect the establishment.
                            http://batr.org/forbidden/102715.html

                            Trump meant it when he said America first. Other states are starting to catch on.
                            https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...uropean-allies
                            Trump has GREAT plans to cut back on the huge waste of money that Pox Americana has become.
                            https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...-threat-empire

                            Comment


                            • England,Armstrong, gold, changing world order

                              It is becoming more obvious every day that economics and politics are linked together with one alternately jerking the other one along. There is no better example of this in Europe at the moment than the débâcle in England. You Scots, Irish and Welsh have your own issues.
                              England; "I have to say that Boris Johnson’s comment that Britain is headed for the status of a “colony” is absolutely correct. There are “remainers” who have simply ignored ALL the economic data and will seriously end Britain as any sort of viable economy."
                              About that North Sea oil that ran out,,,

                              "It may simply be too much to expect rational political leadership any more from Britain. Instead of the cabinet stabbing the PM in the back as they did with Thatcher to also try to join the euro, this time it is the PM who is stabbing her cabinet and the people in the back trying to stay in the EU "
                              "There are people now calling for Nigel Farage to return. Quite frankly, Nigel is probably the ONLY hope for Britain. Unless they cut the umbilical cord to the EU, Britain cannot possibly survive. Its economy has been sucked dry. "
                              "The economic growth of Britain peaked before it joined the EU and has declined steadily ever since. Britain loses EVERY trade argument in the EU Court. "
                              "after the coup against Margaret Thatcher to take the pound into the euro. This is not the END of the Conservatives, but the PM has to realize that any concern about leaving the EU is absolutely stupid. Europe is tearing itself apart. Nigel Farage should step back in, but he has paid a high price personally for trying to save his own country.

                              Personally, London to me is the most beautiful city in the world to live in. I lived there for about 5 years. "
                              You can bet that he didn't live in Earl's Court.
                              https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/i...tting-suicide/

                              "Therefore, the business cycle I discovered was INTERNATIONAL, and by that very nature, it means that when one nation peaks, another bottoms."
                              https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/f...other-bottoms/
                              "We are in the eye of the storm coming out the other end. When we do, the turmoil will begin. While I would hope that at some point the political powers at large will listen, the likelihood of that is nil until the crisis happens."
                              "The longer the government wages war against its own people to retain power, the greater the fall into economic oblivion."
                              https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/a...-middle-ground

                              Charles Hugh Smith; "Here are the core characteristics of dysfunctional but stable states that benefit the entrenched few at the expense of the many, i.e. 3rd World nations:"
                              " 6. Cartels and quasi-monopolies are parasitically extracting the wealth of the nation for their elite owners and managers. Google: quasi-monopoly. Facebook: quasi-monopoly. Healthcare: cartel. Banking: cartel. National defense: cartel. National Security: cartel. Corporate mainstream media: cartel. Higher education: cartel. Student loans: cartel. I think you get the point: every key institution or function is controlled by cartels or quasi-monopolies that serve the interests of the few via parasitic exploitation of the powerless.
                              7. The elites use the extreme violence and repressive powers of the government to suppress, marginalize and/or destroy any dissent. "
                              "The USA is definitively a 3rd World nation. Read the list above and then try to argue the USA is not a 3rd World nation. Try arguing against the facts displayed in this chart:"
                              oftwominds-Charles Hugh Smith: The USA Is Now a 3rd World Nation

                              Here is a good article on the mega-parasite, the blob State.
                              Janus v AFSCME and the truth about Illinois pensions in one graphic – Wirepoints Original | Wirepoints

                              Traditionally, money (the unit of account) was something that was rare and / or difficult to produce. It could be cowrie shells, Rare feathers, salt.
                              The unit of account had a relative value to everything else.
                              Armstrong, "When St. Patrick visited Ireland during the 5th century AD, he wrote that the monetary unit of account was slave girls. That did not mean you went shopping dragging slave girls with you to pay for things. Everything else was valued in terms of slave girls, so they were the “unit of account”
                              This is where Armstrong's logic fails. He stridently talks down gold.
                              "These gold promoters hurt so many people for they imply that everything will crash and only gold will rise to such levels. If everything crashed, that would be deflation and gold would decline not rise. Gold would ONLY rise when it is the monetary base or the money everyone uses. That it is not. You cannot pay your mortgage in gold nor can you pay your taxes. That means it is NOT legal tender"

                              You can't pay your taxes in slave girls either. Armstrong is deliberately mixing currency with store-of-value.
                              "Those who keep preaching that only gold is money are in the same category. Money at the end of the day is labor be in physical or mental. You accept whatever in exchange for that because someone else will accept it from you. "
                              Once again, Armstrong ignores the fact that "money" is a store-of-value AND a medium of exchange.
                              You don't get paid in slave girls for building a wall. You get whatever is the most convenient medium of exchange.

                              "Besides, for gold to reach such levels, nothing would be left including a place to even spend it. If there is nothing you can spend it on, it becomes worthless for it is only a medium of exchange. The dark pictures they paint are not something gold would survive. At that point, the control-alt-delete buttons are pushed and everything would rest back to the hunter-gather period meaning food is everything."

                              " it is only a medium of exchange" Gold has been the premier store-of-value for thousands of years. It doesn't wear out like slave girls.
                              Bankers HATE gold because it limits currency expansion. Since most banking is parasitic, they need unlimited monetary inflation.
                              "This is Alice in Wonderland, plain and simple to say gold will rise to $50,000 or higher. The maximum our models project is $5,000. That is probably the point at which total chaos is unleashed anyhow and you end up with a completely new monetary system."
                              He refuses to recognise the store-of-value function.

                              "Keep in mind, however, gold will not go so easily into the light. There is a high probability that they will declare gold illegal for transactions and prosecute under money laundering, which has been redefined as simply hiding money from government. The end game is really the collapse of the monetary system and hopefully that coincides with a collapse in government power. That is where gold will make the transition from the old to the new."
                              NOT in the R.O.W.
                              https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/m...-really-worth/
                              U.S. Gov may very well try to take the gold because that will be the only thing that the East desires for payment.

                              One last thing of great importance. A gold standard is DEATH to war. All States go off the gold standard when they are planning a big war. After the war, EVERYBODY is squeezed for taxes and impoverished.
                              Trump doesn't show his cards any more than he has to.
                              Mike King;
                              "Having watched Trump talk trash about Syrian President Assad before launching a harmless missile attack on Syria, soon followed by a complete cutoff of the CIA's program to arm the Syrian terror-rebels -- and having watched Trump threaten war on North Korea, soon followed by a stunning announcement of a one-on-one meeting with Lil' Kim -- and having watched him talk trash about Putin, soon followed by a stunning announcement of a one-on-one meeting with Putin (this week!) -- Sugar and I, er, "The Editorial Board" of The Anti-New York Times are reading this "trade war" ™ as the latest installment of Trump's chess-match against the Globalists -- an epic contest in which men like Putin, Xi, Assad, Lil' Kim, Erdogan and others are all in league with Trump.

                              Far from a mutually damaging "trade war" ™, we believe that Trump and Xi -- unlike Obongo and Xi -- clearly have a mutually respectful relationship and have already worked out new trade terms that will be fairer for the United States. As is the ongoing case with the Trump-Kim "negotiations," the rest is for public consumption and entertainment. The Piranha Press will once again huff and puff their fury towards "isolationist" Trump until he finally pulls the rug out from his demented detractors by "winning," with Xi's assistance, "the trade war" ™.
                              "So, that's our call on this coming "trade war" ™. On a separate note, we would like to point out the inconsistency and double-standard hypocrisy of Sulzberger's Slimes scaring its simple-minded readers with talk of Trump's "trade war" ™, when they never once called attention to the very real dangers of the "cold war" that Obongo and State Secretary Killary Clinton had started with China.

                              There was the "Asian Pivot" scheme which encircled China with missiles, bases and relocated naval assets. There was the unusual arming-up of local vassal states like Vietnam and the Philippines. There was the pressure placed upon vassal Japan to abandon the "pacifist clause" of its constitution so that it could re-arm itself as a counter to China. There were the constant warnings, threats and provocative naval cruises directed toward China over its "seized" islands and newly constructed artificial islands. Thankfully, all that tension is gone now.

                              The final few years of the Obongo presidency marked a dangerous decline in US-China relations. So dangerous, in fact, that George Soros (cough cough) - one of the highest raking "capos" of today's New World Order crime syndicate, made comments during a conference at the World Bank (2015) that were actually not-so-veiled threats of World War III.

                              Soros' actual comments below, followed by our "translations."

                              ********************

                              Soros: If there is conflict between China and a military ally of the United States, like Japan, then it is not an exaggeration to say that we are on the threshold of a third world war. "

                              Killary and the neocons and other various war mongers planned to light up Russia as fast as possible.
                              So what is Trump doing?
                              He wants to pull out all the troops that are superfluous and, he wants to concentrate on mutually beneficial trade.
                              https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...-threat-empire

                              Comment


                              • How to bring back morality?

                                Douglas MacArthur (1880-1964), Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in the Pacific during World War II, stated, “History fails to record a single precedent in which nations subject to moral decay have not passed in to political and economic decline."
                                Just as honest people tend to aggregate, dishonest people tend to surround themselves by easily corrupted people. If everybody is a crook, they are all trying to steal everything in sight. When the fruits of your labor are serially stolen, you stop producing anything extra. The predations of the corporatocracy bring EXACTLY the same results as socialism. Socialism brings a moribund economy with little productivity.
                                The corporatocracy brings us to the same outcome,,, by a different route.

                                The State prints extra money to keep the working class solvent so we ignore the constant predations from the corporations. No corporation can be expected to make moral decisions unless the officers are moral. Chances are, these officers can't make moral decisions and still be able to compete with other corporations that are immoral.
                                There is something to be said for a State run by royalty. They rule the State by birthright and, are more difficult to corrupt.

                                Hammurabi is an example. He wrote a code of laws that held everybody accountable for their actions. The EXACT opposite of what the corporate construct accomplishes. After the 2008 crash, only one banker went to jail.
                                Fascism, "the marriage of big business and, big government".
                                The corporatocracy has removed all moral hazard. The Central Bank has effectively removed all financial hazard. BUT, only in a temporary manner. We will have a return to financial hazard. What would it take to return our society to moral hazard?
                                https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...mment-11988633

                                Kunstler, "The collapse of our techno-industrial set-up has actually been going on for some time, insidiously and corrosively, without shattering the scaffolds of seeming normality, just stealthily undermining them. I’d date the onset of it to about 2005 when the world unknowingly crossed an invisible border into the terra incognito of peak oil, by which, of course, I mean oil that societies could no longer afford to pull out of the ground. "
                                "The techno-narcissistic nonsense reverberating through the echo-chambers of business, media, and government aims to furnish that nostrum called “hope” to a nation that simply won’t admit darker outcomes to the terrible limits facing humanity."

                                "I expect the collapse to pick up more momentum as we turn the corner around summer. The system that we have most willfully abused and perverted is finance. This monster that so many observers call “capitalism” is just a set of methods for managing surplus wealth — the catch being that nothing nearly this complex has ever been seen before in history and is a pure product of the 200-year-long industrial orgy driven by fossil fuels. That is, the world never before accumulated so much surplus wealth in such a short span of time."
                                When Collapse Goes Kinetic - Kunstler

                                Kunstler calls for a downturn after this summer. Look at this graph and, decide for your selves.
                                https://www.zerohedge.com/sites/defa...12-24-02_2.jpg
                                Powell plans to ignore the yield curve and forge ahead with rate hikes. It is going to get messy.
                                "Bloomberg's markets recession model, which translates how various asset classes are trading into recession probabilities, now flags the next recession to take place in 12-24 months. More importantly, the start of the recession is more likely to be in the next 12 months rather than in two years."
                                https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...sion-you-think

                                "#3: As commercial and central banks devalue the dollar “currency risk” affects the debt markets and interest rates rise. Higher rates applied to $230 trillion of global debt require larger debt service payments and “squeeze” debtors including all sovereign governments."
                                "Debt is too large. Either sovereign debt will default (unthinkable) or will be paid with devalued currencies. Argentina “over-printed” and dropped 13 zeros from their inflated currency during the past 70 years."
                                "As George Bernard Shaw said, “You have to choose between trusting to the natural stability of gold and the natural stability of the honesty and intelligence of the members of the government."
                                https://deviantinvestor.com/10156/th...what-is-wrong/

                                The yield curve is also showing a recession in the not-to-distant future.
                                https://www.financialsense.com/sites...inversions.jpg
                                https://www.financialsense.com/danie...c-market-peril

                                7/11 Asian markets plunge after tariff list news; China stocks take a hit – CNBC
                                7/11 US futures slip as Trump seeks tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods – CNBC
                                7/11 Every $1 in debt generates just 44 cents in economic output – Sovereign Man
                                7/11 Leveraged loan risks are piling up – Wolf Street
                                7/11 The most hawkish Fed ever? – Silver Phoenix

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