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  • Trying to slow the decent after the market peak.

    The markets peaked year(s) ago. Here is a good article about the whole world running on fumes. Lots of good graphs.
    https://deviantinvestor.com/10961/call-it-desperation/
    Markets are demanding a rate cut to stay alive. This time around, nobody is sure that they will get what they want.
    https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...d-stands-alone
    8/28 Mass surveillance: NJ cops turn individuals’ phones into spying devices – SHTF Plan
    Ah yes,,, New Jersey.
    https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...esident-admits
    8/29 E.P.A. to roll back regulations on methane, a potent greenhouse gas – NY Times
    They never mention that water is the primary greenhouse gas.
    8/29 All four Carter Page FISA warrants were illegally obtained – WE
    Evidently, somebody felt that trump didn't have enough ammunition.
    8/29 FBI studies two broken cameras outside cell where Epstein died – Reuters
    Did they have hammer marks?
    8/29 Elites “going rogue” suggests the global neoliberal architecture is collapsing – ZH
    I hope that they all devour each other. Killing Epstein put fear into everybody and, they don't know who to pay off to be safe. It's every pervert and criminal for herself.
    8/29 Bitcoin price targets 3-week losing streak in $14 billion overnight wipeout – CCN
    Did you hear that the same thing happened to gold??? Neither did I.

    8/29 Dow jumps after China says it wants ‘calm’ trade resolution – CNBC
    8/29 China says it’s willing to resolve trade war with a ‘calm attitude’ – CNBC

    Meanwhile, Trump is doing slash & burn.
    Epstein's legacy is growing.
    https://rense.com/general96/the-epst...ron-swartz.php
    Ellen Brown has a good article advocating that the State take over credit creation instead of the banks. Reportedly, that is what created the financial stability of Mesopotamia.
    https://www.truthdig.com/articles/th...000-years-old/

    Kunstler gives a rundown on everything.
    https://kunstler.com/cluster****-nation/the-g-7-blues/

    Comment


    • Armstrong and Brexit

      Armstrong has an article where he talks about holding cash off to the side to buy up bargains after the crash..... as opposed to paying off your mortgage and being debt free.
      https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/m...rtgages-banks/
      He does mention that your cash is at risk if the bank fails. I think we're going to se a lot of that. Forget the FDIC. They are capitalized to $ 23 billion but, insure $72 trillion.
      Armstrong has a very good plan for straightening out the federal court system.
      https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/i...on-the-nation/

      For those of you in Europe, Armstrong has some good ideas for storing wealth when the euro implodes.
      https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/m...ars-in-europe/

      "Nearly 8% of Americans 60 and older were “food insecure” in 2017, according to a recent study released by the anti-hunger group Feeding America. That’s 5.5 million seniors who don’t have consistent access to enough food for a healthy life, a number that has more than doubled since 2001"
      https://time.com/5662200/elderly-hunger-in-america/
      Climate change, the pole flip and, the crash will make all of this worse.

      https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archi...ght-wing-coup/
      " The very appointment of Boris Johnson by Elizabeth Saxe Coburg Gotha was a constitutional outrage.."
      Brexit is going to be messy.
      Senator Calls For Probe Into Fed Independence After Bill Dudley Urges Fed To Overthrow Trump
      It all smells like a setup to me. Trump, et al want to bring in debt-free money. They need to flay the FED first.
      Last edited by Danny B; 08-30-2019, 02:39 PM.

      Comment


      • Nobody knows what they are doing

        I need to do lots of cites to convey the general state of the economy.
        Mauldin economics; In each of these cases, negative real rates have been no panacea for the growth problems. Indeed, the span of sustained poor economic performance has increased.
        Now, evidence has emerged that the US real rate, while still positive, is declining and that investors here are being forced to accept lower real yields similar to investors in foreign markets. The implication: Decreased capital returns will prolong the period of poor economic growth in the United States, as has been the case in Japan and Europe. "
        "Federal Reserve is on track to do exactly the wrong thing by dropping rates further as the economy weakens. "
        NO mention at all that negative rates impoverish everybody who depends on interest-income. All those insurance and pension funds,,, and savers.
        "the span of sustained poor economic performance has increased."
        They rob hundreds of $ millions of interest income and, wonder why the economy is poor.
        "There is no other reason for what is happening here except that the nations of the EU have directed the ECB, the European Central Bank has “NO” independence, to make this “Money from Nothing” and then buy both sovereign and corporate bonds denominated in euros. Now their budgets can be afforded, as they can borrow at less than zero, so they do not have to pay anything for them."
        So, the State can go on borrowing by cannibalizing all the millions of people who depend on interest-income. This is the blob-State in action. The GOV bureaucrats will suck out the last drops of blood,,,, led by France.
        https://www.mauldineconomics.com/fro...le-year-coming

        Meanwhile, the money-renters in America are screaming for lower rates. Remember, they hope to sell their 2% debt at a profit when rates hit 1%.
        "not to mention another rate cut by the Fed (which is priced in with 100%+ probability by the market)"
        "Needless to say, the market - which is pricing in almost 5 rate cuts by Dec 2020, will not be happy by any unexpected Fed hawkishness."
        https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/...g-us-night-bmo

        Lagarde Praises Negative Rates (But Study Shows They Reduce Lending)
        NO, NO, no, the credit bubble MUST grow.
        Have Environmentalists Killed More Europeans Than Islamic Terrorists Did?
        In Europe, people are dying because they’ve been told that their sacrifices will save the planet...

        The Real "Helicopter Money": Since 2009, China Has Created $21 Trillion Of New Money, More Than Double The US
        China’s money supply stands at Rmb192tn, equivalent to $28tn. It equals the size of broad money supply in the US and the eurozone put together, yet China’s nominal GDP is only two-thirds that of the US

        How much of it left in currency flight?
        China Crypto Miners Wiped Out By Flood; Bitcoin Hash Rate Hits ATHs

        Recession Red Flag: The Wealthy Aren't Spending
        Nervous Retirees Are Too Scared to Spend Ben Steverman Bookmark August 22 2019, 2:30 PM August 26 2019, 10:57 AM (Bloomberg Businessweek) -- The U.S. economic recovery, the longest in recorded history, has increased Americans’ wealth by $52 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve.

        Read more at: https://www.bloombergquint.com/bq-bl...n-their-wealth

        Bulls & Bears Enter The Thunderdome
        Bull and bear are entering the Thunderdome in September and October and only one will emerge victoriously...

        The Hollow Promise Of A Statist Economy
        "Unfortunately, the young socialists are uninterested in truths. Not when the goal of hard work and paying one’s way in life has been reduced to a game for suckers.

        AOC Claim That Millennials "Most Informed, Historically-Literate" Annihilated In Scathing Op-Ed

        Armstrong, "Governments are moving in the opposite direction to eliminate physical money because Keynesianism has collapsed AKA Quantitative Easing. Moreover, end the fiat currency system and you have to end all social programs. You cannot promise everything for everybody and then restrict money. "
        "t is far more than merely fiat money. We have to deal with the very core of the issue — political reform. Without that, everything else is indeed a fairy tale."
        Ah yes,,, morality. Put a computer in charge.

        13% of companies worldwide are zombies that can't service their debt. They still employ quite a few people. State money is used to preserve millions of jobs that would have disappeared due to outsourcing and automation. State debt is growing faster than exponentially.
        " Nearly half (48%) of US workers report experiencing ‘layoff anxiety’.
        And, this is during the “good times”, folks. Officially, we’re still in the longest economic expansion in US history.
        What’s it going to be like when this long-in-the-tooth expansion ends, as all inevitably must?"
        "As a result, today’s US companies are as or more dangerously leveraged than ever before. More than $9 Trillion of debt now burdens the balance sheets of America’s corporations:"
        CB money that was pumped in to keep employment going.
        "On top of that, as we’ve been long warning about here at PeakProsperity.com, employers currently have a tremendous perverse incentive to automate and replace human labor with technology.
        The simple and harsh truth is that it’s expensive, and becoming more so, to employ humans. Wages, health care, retirement benefits, workers comp, OSHA regulations, lawsuits, training, vacations, sick days — it all adds up. Machines free employers from all of those costs, headaches and potential liabilities."
        " 50% of current work activities are at risk of being automated by 2030, and that by that time, 400-800 million workers worldwide will be displaced by technology — creating “a challenge potentially greater than past historic shifts”."
        https://www.peakprosperity.com/mass-...e-you-at-risk/

        "The Fed’s market-centric and interventionist approach has essentially supported incumbent Presidents and Washington politicians. From this perspective, it is clearly “establishment” and susceptible to “deep state” innuendo. This regime is today challenged by President Trump, with his penchant for tariffs, confrontation, and scathing attacks on the Fed and its Chairman. The President is essentially blackmailing the Fed: Play ball or you’ll be blamed, ridiculed and targeted, with clear risk of losing your jobs along with the institution’s coveted independence."
        Credit Bubble Bulletin : Weekly Commentary: Dudley Sticks His Neck Out
        I think that Trump intends to get rid of the FED. The existing framework just won't work for an economy where everything is automated.

        Comment


        • No more currency accords

          "Between 1980 and 1985 the dollar had appreciated by about 50% against the Japanese yen, Deutsche Mark, French Franc and British pound, the currencies of the next four biggest economies at the time.[4] This caused considerable difficulties for American industry "
          "By 1985, their campaign had acquired sufficient traction for Congress to begin considering passing protectionist laws. The prospect of trade restrictions spurred the White House to begin the negotiations that led to the Plaza Accord"
          "The U.S. Federal Reserve System under Paul Volcker had halted the stagflation crisis of the 1970s by raising interest rates, but this resulted in the dollar becoming overvalued to the extent that it made industry in the U.S. (particularly the automobile industry) less competitive in the global market."
          Next;
          "The Louvre Accord was signed in 1987 to halt the continuing decline of the U.S. dollar. "

          "The president feels that lower US rates and a weaker USD would be good for the US. Participants at Jackson Hole suggested that a weaker USD and lower US interest rates would be good for the world. The similarity can be extended in that the president sees higher US rates as having choked off growth in the US economy, while the JH crowd sees higher US rates and a stronger USD as having choked off growth abroad"
          "Of course, if that was all there is to the debate, then we would have a new Plaza Accord as soon as this weekend: after all, "everyone agrees" that the dollar is strong, right? Then just agree to devalue it."
          "Carney felt that the USD’s pre-eminence in international financial transactions was disproportionate to the US’ importance in production and trade" as Englander recaps."
          No mention at all of the lack of confidence in crabby European currencies.

          "The surprise was his long-term recommendation that the USD-centric system of global finance be replaced by a multi-polar system, arguing that a system of “multiple reserve currencies would increase the supply of safe assets”."
          What a crock of BS. They would never be equal. ONLY gold can meet this.
          "What was not said that such a transfer of reserve status from a central bank-backed currency to a digital/crypto currency is a tacit admission that central banks are now powerless, and the transformation is one of necessity as the old, fiat model begins to fall apart (of course, none of this could be verbalized at a central banker convention)."
          Will NOT fly as long as the currency is subject to the whims of politicians. You can bet that the East wants no part of this.
          "Carney's proposal is certainly audacious, and "would appeal to the IMF, whose role in international financial policy would be increased. "
          How many hate the IMF? Let me count them.
          "The proposal looks a lot like a digital version of the Special Drawing Right (SDR) which has been around for fifty years. Interest in the SDR perks up every decade or so when the basket is reconfigured and then disappears"
          https://www.zerohedge.com/health/coo...secretly-works

          The whole world is in competition to keep jobs domestically. They will never agree to any kind of worldwide currency that is controlled by any politician anywhere.

          Comment


          • A few headlines to start the week

            9/02 Worried about negative interest rates coming? They are already here – Forbes
            9/02 The great refinancing cycle is upon us – Seeking Alpha
            9/02 Major supply chain disruptions coming: thank Trump – Mish
            9/02 This recession won’t be fixed by cheap cash and stimulus – AFR
            9/02 Let’s get out before Italy falls on top of us – Conservative Woman


            /01 Could Hong Kong disrupt China & the global markets further? – Technical Traders
            9/01 The real “helicopter money”: China created twice as much new money as the US – ZH
            9/01 Global fears, Uncle Sam’s red ink mean investors will feast on Treasury debt – Yahoo!

            Apparently, there is an assumption that money renters will always by treasury debt, no matter what.
            9/01 “Financial vandalism” of low and negative-yield bonds wreck pension plans – Mish
            9/01 Jim Grant: this madness will all end with higher gold – Market Sanity
            9/02 The end of the dollar as we know it – The Hill
            9/02 Argentina imposes currency controls – Zero Hedge

            8/31 Report: peak price bitcoin HODLers have cashed out – Yahoo!
            There are a lot of people "cashing out"

            9/01 Brexit: Keir Starmer says MPs ‘will propose legislation to stop no deal’ – BBC
            9/01 Italy’s Salvini partied on the beach while rivals plotted his overthrow – Zero Hedge
            9/01 New world order in meltdown, but Russia stronger than ever – Saker
            9/01 The sheer scale of Britain’s constitutional crisis has been laid bare – Guardian
            9/01 Bernie Sanders proposes cancelling $81 billion U.S. medical debt – Reuters

            8/31 Brexit gloves come off, let the massacre begin says Eurointelligence – Mish
            9/02 “Demand for EV cars now a problem:” lithium bust underway as prices collapse – ZH

            8/31 Scientists ‘tantalized’ by draining dams in the US for solar panels – Science Alert

            We don't need no stinkin irrigation.
            9/01 Hezbollah fires anti-tank missiles at Israel, bomb shelters open in north – J Post
            Last time that israel got sucked into Lebanon, they got spanked badly.
            9/01 Hurricane Dorian nears category 5 with 150 mph winds – Fox News
            Dorian has gusts up to 220 mph and, is moving at 3 mph. It will pound the Bahamas into the sand. For the absolute best info on Caribbean storms, go to;
            https://stormcarib.com/

            Comment


            • Willie and Fulford,,,, reserve currency

              Time to check in with the 2 loose cannons.
              Fulford; August 26, 2019
              Pentagon plans to deport Zionists as global financial reset looms

              The U.S. military-industrial complex is making serious moves against Zionists, preparing to expel many of them to a Jewish autonomous zone in Siberia, Pentagon sources say. While the Pentagon and its allies are quite eager to take on Zionist control, even central bankers and G7 leaders meeting last week in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and Biarritz, France admit that an economic paradigm shift is needed. These moves are related to talk of a global financial reset that would end Zionist control of privately owned central banks, the sources say.

              A whole slew of establishment bigwigs are all now publicly calling for a financial reset. These include IMF head Christine Lagarde, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Chinese President Xi Jinping, the Rothschild-owned Economist, and others. They have all called for replacing the U.S. dollar with a new international currency. Such a currency, almost by definition, would fall out of Zionist control because the interests of the world economy and those of the Zionist-controlled corporate U.S. government are in conflict.

              “The trade war is a front for the global currency reset,” Pentagon sources confirm. U.S. President Donald Trump has been calling the CEOs of JPMorgan Chase Bank, Bank of America, Citigroup, and others to gain support for his stance on the trade war, the sources say. The cancellation by JPMorgan Chase of all credit card debt in Canada, the implosion of Deutsche Bank, the General Electric fraud exposure, the yuan devaluation, and a gold-backed dollar were all a part of the ongoing horse-trading for the new system, they say.

              However much Trump blusters and makes calls, though, the numbers make it clear that the new system will take power away from the United States. The United States now accounts for only 10% of world trade, but over 70% of global GDP uses the U.S. dollar as an anchor currency, according to the Bank of England. This makes it obvious that any Global Currency Reset would take huge power away from the U.S. corporation.
              This is the closest any sitting U.S. president has come to publicly declaring bankruptcy. Other Trump statements and actions all point to some existential crisis. He has tried to take over Greenland and its resources, charge allies for full costs of U.S. military bases “plus 50%,” and put tariffs on everything Chinese, all because of this impending default, multiple sources agree.

              The U.S. military is preparing for the ongoing big changes by putting the Army in overall charge of the military while the Navy takes over control of the various intelligence agencies, the Pentagon sources say. This means the new head of all U.S. intelligence agencies is …"

              A bit more from Fulford;
              https://benjaminfulford.net/2019/08/...-many-predict/


              Jim Willie;
              "An intriguing paradox is evident, whereby the USDollar continues to rise despite the global economic recession. In fact, it can be argued that the USDollar is rising in the past several months, because of the global recession. On a worldwide basis, the economy is struggling badly, especially in the West. Worse still, without a doubt, the rising USDollar is destroying the individual economies of smaller nations, one by one. The King Dollar is truly an economic machete. Numerous factors are at work. All contribute toward the continued rise of the USDollar until the systemic breakdown hits both the economy and the financial system. The sign of systemic breakdown is the bond rally, which has taken bond yields into negative territory. Nobody with a working cerebrum can claim that $17 trillion in sovereign bonds sporting negative yields can defend the current system as either normal or stable. The Fed Valuation Model justifies higher stock index values when bond yields are lower, but the model has no modern feature for negative rates."

              Here is a side note where Armstrong shows the gold price in various currencies.
              https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/m...-currencies-2/
              NOW,,,, USD-centric system of global finance be replaced by a multi-polar system, arguing that a system of “multiple reserve currencies would increase the supply of safe assets”
              It just doesn't work that way. ALL currencies are subject to different levels of confidence. Multiple reserve currencies is a joke right from the start.
              9/02 The end of the dollar as we know it – The Hill

              This paper suggests that the dollar is not threatened as the hegemonic international currency, and that most analysts are incapable of understanding the resilience of the dollar, not only because they ignore the theories of monetary hegemonic stability or what, more recently, has been termed the geography of money, but also as a result of an incomplete understanding of what a monetary hegemon does. The paper argues that the dominant view on the international position of the dollar has been based on a Metallist view of money. In the alternative Cartalist view of money, the hegemon is not required to maintain credible macroeconomic policies (i.e., fiscally contractionary policies to maintain the value of the currency), but to provide an asset free of the risk of default. Further, it is argued that the current crisis in Europe shows why the euro is not a real contender for hegemony in the near future.
              https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/...90.2012.698997

              The various CBs are trying to dethrone the dollar.
              World needs to end risky reliance on U.S. dollar: BoE's Carney
              BOE's Carney Floats Idea of New, Virtual Reserve Currency
              Carney Urges Libra-Like Reserve Currency to End Dollar


              "to provide an asset free of the risk of default."
              History is on America's side in this aspect.
              Armstrong,
              "It became the dollarization of the world economy just as it had been in ancient times with every dominant economy. The dollar became globalized in part because the USA also never cancelled its currency as was the routine case in Europe. Nations cancelled their currencies to force people to come clean and pay taxes."

              "China will not replace the dollar as a reserve currency until debt is no longer used as reserves by nations. There is a separate and distinct difference between the currency being used in trade and the currency being used to store wealth. They do not have to be the same thing and are entirely two different animals."
              "Until debt ceases to be money that simply pays interest, the dollar will not vanish as a reserve currency. There is no replacement as of yet. Even when China becomes the largest economy, that will not displace the “reserve” status of the dollar until there is a deep market to park cash. That is separate and distinct from trade being conducted in a variety of currencies. We have to revise the world monetary system. When we reach that point, then we can deal with creating an alternative for a “reserve” currency that is entirely distinct from trade currencies"

              This has been said many times. Your trade currency can NOT be the same as your store of value.
              https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/w...erve-currency/
              The U.S. dollar is the preferred store of value. I believe that Trump, et al are trying to get rid of the FED and switch over to issuing debt-free money. There is no other solution for the advances of automation. With debt-free money, Federal GOV would have no need for taxing. Abandoning federal taxing would bring even more confidence to dollar holders. There would be less chance of default. The hunt for taxes is reaching criminal levels.
              https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/tag/hunt-for-taxes/

              Comment


              • Finance vids,,,China slide

                Keep in mind that a loan of money merits a payment of interest because the person who loans the money is forgoing current spending to spend later. All of this rationale gets turned on it's head when liquidity is created out of thin air. Also, a loan merits interest because of the risk of loss of principle. Since the CBs never face any kind of loss, why do they merit anything.

                A few interesting vids.
                IMF: The Days Of Being Paid Interest May Be Over Forever
                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09gywF58KfA&t=50s
                Central Banks Are Destroying the Financial System and Will Buy Everything For Pennies!
                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVYHuKN33AE&t=125s
                Will The Hong Kong Protests Result In Civil War? (w/ TL Tsim) | Real Vision Classics
                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TlBNyg_G7s&t=598s

                China created the largest mass migration in history. It was artificial, not organic. It is looking increasingly difficult to manage.
                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t487ILVf87k&t=111s
                Stephan Molyneux has a concise vid on how U.S. GOV ordered the banks to make loans to people who couldn't pay them back.
                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0OwcPCPFW8
                Economic Battle Lines Being Drawn Across the Globe. Substitute "employment" for economic.
                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nvohS58uj4

                Beware (And Prepare): The American Empire Is Collapsing
                RonPaulLibertyReport
                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AUzkdfy8GWg
                Dr. Paul needs to take a more international view. Socialism will take down a government just as well as militarism.
                Germany's SPD wants to target super rich with wealth tax .
                Now can ANY German advocate socialism? The decades-long lesson of a screwed-up East Germany should cure any German of a yearning for socialism.
                The French GOV spends 57% of the GDP. Remember that money spent on consumption is rarely repaid.

                Bizarro world
                9/02 Almost half of top quality euro corp bonds have sub-zero yields – Reuters
                9/02 Blain: “Coming tragedy will widen the divisions between East and West” – ZH
                Trump is hard at work to bring China to revolution.
                9/02 Investors flee emerging markets funds during the third quarter – Lipper
                That includes China.
                9/01 China’s dream of making the yuan a global currency hit by Hong Kong protests – SCMP
                How convenient.
                8/31 Dollar jumps, yuan falls ahead of new tariffs this weekend – CNBC
                How very unfortunate for China

                Joel Stein, But I don’t care if Americans think we’re running the news media, Hollywood, Wall Street or the government. I just care that we get to keep running them.
                https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-...n19-story.html
                9/02 Hollywood reboots Russophobia for the new cold war – OffGuardian
                As long as Trump refuses to blow up the world, he will have a lot of enemies. I fear that the IRGC and Hezbollah will take this as a sign that they can march into israel without worrying about Pox Americana.

                "If the current bubbles follow the pattern of all other speculative credit-driven bubbles, they will pop, without much warning and with devastating consequences for all those who believed the bubbles couldn't possibly pop."
                "What happens when these monstrous speculative bubbles pop? Trillions in phantom wealth vanish, pension funds go broke, states, cities and counties are insolvent, and nest eggs invested in speculative assets dry up and blow away."
                http://charleshughsmith.blogspot.com...ement-and.html

                This is a good article and, you should read it. There is something VERY important to remember.
                Regulatory capture has allowed the banks to privatise the gains and, socialize the losses. If recent history is any guide, when the collapse hits, the banks will simply take all your money and say that they need it. It is all very legal under the bail-in laws.

                Comment


                • Recession signals

                  28 signs of recession.
                  "#25 Instead of pumping his company’s funds into the stock market, Warren Buffett has decided to hoard 122 billion dollars in cash. This appears to be a clear indication that he believes that a crisis is coming."
                  I'll bet that he believes that his cash isn't at risk of evaporating.
                  "#5 Mortgage defaults are rising at the fastest pace that we have seen since the last financial crisis."
                  "#8 The Cass Freight Index has been falling for a number of months. According to CNBC, it fell “5.9% in July, following a 5.3% decline in June and a 6% drop in May.”"
                  Good points, https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...ptember-begins

                  "Yves Mersch, European Central Bank’s key legal official, said that Facebook’s Libra stablecoin is “beguiling but treacherous” during a speech at the ECB’s legal conference in Frankfurt on Monday."
                  A very interesting article because the CBs fear the competition from crypto.
                  https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...oks-siren-call

                  "Williams believes further Fed interest rate cuts are cutting, money printing madness quantitative easing (QE) likely to follow. Will monetary policy and tax cuts strengthen economic conditions?

                  Corporations used their windfall for executive pay increases and bonuses, stock buybacks raising valuations, mergers and acquisitions to reduce competition, dividends to shareholders, and stashing trillions of dollars in offshore tax havens.

                  Economic growth depends on productive investments, creating jobs, absent in the US, its industrial base and other high-paying jobs offshored to low-wage countries."
                  Gutted by the global mean wage.
                  https://stephenlendman.org/2019/09/a...ession-coming/

                  "The list is long for the intentional de-industrialization of production. Most intuitively understand that the elimination of good paying jobs is not an accident. Perceptive individuals even know the reasons and players who systematically promote the most perverted of all caught phrases, Free Trade. "
                  "With each passing day the crumbling society, that surrounds our communities sink deeper into national insolvency. Working harder or even smarter will not provide the ladder to climb out of this abyss.

                  The triumphant middle class is rapidly becoming the beholding subsistent underclass.

                  In order to reverse this debacle the entire superstructure of globalization must be overturned. It is better to face the inescapability of the inevitable fiscal cataclysm, which stems from the debt crisis. When the dollar collapses and the debt obligations repudiated, the country must demand rational and balanced trade protectionism and re-industrialization of a manufacturing economy. The goal is to re-create independence through product self-reliance. Closing of the borders from transnational dumping from abroad is imperative to put Americans back to work."
                  Labor in America Does Not Pay

                  "In the last two centuries, all wars have been machinations orchestrated by bankers pursuing two very simple objectives: profit and a world domination that bears a name: the New World Order."
                  "When a country goes to war, it borrows money from private banks that lend funds that they create out of thin air. Now, bankers will not only get back the funds that they never had, but will also charge interest on these loans. They will even change the interest rate at will, trying to hold in their laughter. Next step, countries will use this fake money to buy military equipment from industries in which international bankers are major shareholders or partners in investment. This equipment is then used to destroy as much infrastructure as possible in the countries at war, so that everything needs to be rebuilt by governments that will borrow more money from bankers, to pay construction companies partially or totally owned by bankers. This is why carpet-bombing on civilians was invented."
                  https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...rld-domination
                  Once again, we see enormous perverse incentives that lead the bankers to continuously push for war.

                  Futures Slide After Trade Deal Hope Turns To Dread Slash & burn.
                  As FedSpeak-Fest Begins, Trader Fears "Cure Has Become Worse Than The Disease"
                  https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...-worse-disease
                  China Lodges Tariff Complaint Against US With World Trade Organization
                  China is the second largest economy in the world. Just the same, it demands special preferential treatment because it is an "emerging market".
                  Trump US Slaps New Tariffs On China ...One Minute Later China Retaliates
                  Rebels Willing To Lose Their Jobs To Block 'no-deal' Brexit
                  Whatever it takes to make the City of London bankers happy.

                  Former US Military Official Calls AI-Run Nuclear Arsenal More Of A Threat Than 'Killer Robots'
                  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coloss...Forbin_Project

                  9/03 Here’s a list of recession signals that are flashing red – CNBC
                  9/03 Demoralized, depressed, detached & defiant – Burning Platform
                  9/03 Argentines wait at banks to withdraw cash as currency controls kick in – Reuters
                  9/03 Oil and gas bankruptcies to accelerate as $137 billion debt matures – Zero Hedge
                  9/03 No more debt = “horrifying depression” – Economic Collapse


                  9/03 Thai cryptocurrency exchange Bitcoin Co. closing down operations – Coin Telegraph
                  9/03 The mystery of low inflation despite huge debt – Japan Times

                  Japan's Population Is In Rapid Decline : NPR
                  We need a sense of crisis over depopulation | The Japan Times
                  Japan's fertility crisis is terrifying and unprecedented - Business Insider

                  MAYBE, there is a connection.
                  Is Elon Musk Right About Global "Population Collapse"?
                  Elon Musk continues to suggest a population collapse is in store within a few decades time

                  9/03 Elon Musk, Jack Ma: biggest problem world will face is population drop – CNBC

                  Kunstler, "The tremors of August appear to mark the end of the ten-year bull market run, a.k.a. “the recovery,” a last-ditch central bank orchestrated campaign to pretend that economic growth is infinite on a finite planet. The magic of credit — “money” untethered to resources — drained economic mojo from the future"
                  "not avail to prevent a horrendously destructive work-out of loans that can never be paid back. Default makes money disappear. The response, of course, will be to print more money untethered to real stuff. An orgy of QE could easily drive stock markets higher, only those markets will be indexed to money losing its value. "
                  "A rowdy-dowdy financial smash-up will tarnish the Trump MAGA brand for sure. But will the Golden Golem of Greatness simply stew in the oval office or try some desperate new stunts to salvage his quixotic political career? And will his shaky marriage with the Republican Party veer into divorce court,"

                  "However, there is a possibility that the 2020 election will be such an unholy mess, with contested poll results in key states, lawsuits flying in every direction, and monkeyshines in the electoral college, that it will be ironically left to the Deep State to try to save the republic (after their recent attempt to wreck it). "
                  https://kunstler.com/cluster****-nation/the-quickening/

                  Comment


                  • Armstrong,,, defaults,,, upturn in the war cycle

                    Here is a good article about the financial problems in Italy. The article cites some interesting precedents.
                    "|Cyprus provides a lesson for what could happen to bank depositors in France if Italy defaults. After lending billions of dollars to Greece, Cyprus banks faced a liquidity crisis in early 2013. To prevent bank runs Cyprus closed its banks for 12 days.

                    When the “bank holiday” ended, depositors were unable to close their accounts and move their funds elsewhere. In exchange for a €10 billion ECB bailout, Cyprus restricted withdrawals to prevent capital flight. Bank customers could only withdraw €1,000 daily from their accounts. When the dust settled, depositors holding uninsured accounts that exceeded the €100,000 ECB deposit guarantee received stock in the failed banks instead of getting their money back. This is the famous bail-in scenario that’s now been exported to the rest of the world."
                    https://www.nestmann.com/how-the-nex...c0223e68310bb1
                    Good article.

                    Armstrong, " Countries have been borrowing year after year with no intention of paying off their national debts. It has been a fool’s game and we are starting to see this pressure build as it will FIRST on the currency pegs, and then on the inability to meet debt payments.
                    Welcome to Big Bang (2015.75-2022). We begin with peripherals and state/provincial level as well as municipal."
                    https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/a...mic-emergency/
                    Once again, Armstrong points out any entity without a printing press will be in big trouble. I.e.municipal debt. Any currency with a peg will break that peg.

                    "COMMENT: Marty; I found my ticket to your Japanese session from March 1999 when you warned the audience the club was targeting the yen for March-end. You told everyone how to defeat their manipulation and that was just great. You saved everyone billions that day. They called you Mr. Yen for that one. The club didn’t appreciate that call. I heard that on the phones. I remember the yen went from 117 to 122. They lost a lot that week."

                    https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/a...-modern-times/

                    "I’ve been a big fan of your blogs for all these years. May I ask if you have any recommendation of books..."
                    "ANSWER: Unfortunately, the book I wrote back in 1986, “The Greatest Bull Market in History,” brings as much as $3,000 on eBay. Paul Tudor Jones had bought a large quantity and distributed them to his clients so that is probably where most have survived. I have only one copy myself. The receiver confiscated all the copies to prevent them from getting out, I believe, at the request of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission"
                    "There really is an effort to prevent any real analysis that exposes the business cycle and those manipulating markets from the safe haven they have been granted in New York City. Everyone knows that NEVER is a single banker every criminally charged for what they do. Even Steve Bannon, the former adviser to Trump who did work at Goldman Sachs, has called the failure to ever prosecute a single person in New York just outrageous. "

                    "I am also finishing for the WEC “How do Empires, Nations & City-States Fall – The Dark Age Cycle.” This will be the first time I release the “Dark Age Cycle,” which has been back-tested to 6,000 BC. I have provided the reconstruction of the world monetary system for the first time in an effort to demonstrate how I have used coinage to document history. My research also allows me to answer vital questions of how empire, nations, and city-states actually fall and how rapidly this type of move unfolds."
                    "I have also undertaken the study of the emergence of Dark Ages and compiled the checklist that distinguishes a shift in political orientation from a collapse in civilization itself where it takes a reboot to start all over again."
                    "Here is the email from Tancred Schiavoni demanding the source code to Socrates be turned over to the government or they would fire all employees. They used the case as an open door to try to stop all forecasting."

                    "They banned the film the Magnitsky Affair in the USA and the Forecaster has been shown on TV in Europe, Asia, and even in Canada – but not the United States. Why? If it is just conspiracy talk, that they allowed being aired."
                    https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/w...dom-of-speech/
                    It is painfully clear that the NYC banks are the central focus point of corruption.

                    Another good article on corruption.
                    "The Thai military in its coups has followed the same path. Their interventions and unlike those of various military dictatorships in European history. They step in, deal with corruption, and then surrender power back to the political state."
                    https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/i...from-the-west/

                    Rense,
                    If The Debt Machine Was Turned Off, The US Would Immediately Plunge Into Horrifying Depression

                    The Fed's Not A Politics-Free Technocracy It's An Agent Of Redistribution To The Top

                    No financial bubble can ever be stable. It invariably grows until it bursts. The bubble demands that new loans be created to roll over old loans + interest. How does that work with a falling population? How does that work with falling purchasing power? A smaller population consumes less. A falling standard of living entails less consumption.

                    Pakistan To Distribute 5 Million Chickens To Tackle Malnutrition Problem
                    Better to distribute chickens that to start a war with India as a diversion.

                    Israel Evacuates Soldiers From Military Base Hit By Hezbollah

                    Hezbollah Chief Says All Israeli Forces At Risk In Case Of New Attack On Lebanon

                    'No More Tolerance Of Israel Over Lebanese Airspace' Hezbollah Head Signals 'new Phase' Of Conflict

                    Lebanon has an economic emergency. Will they attack israel as a diversion?

                    Is the Fed Preparing to Topple the US Dollar?
                    https://www.globalresearch.ca/is-fed...dollar/5687786
                    Another interesting paper from the same people.
                    "The UAF WTC 7 report concludes that the collapse of WTC 7 on 9/11 was caused not by fire but rather by the near-simultaneous failure of every column in the building."
                    https://www.globalresearch.ca/fire-d...-finds/5688098

                    9/04 Fed’s Rosengren sees ‘no immediate’ easing needed – Bloomberg
                    NO, Wait! Wall street has already priced in a cut 100%.
                    9/04 Swiss negative rate at ‘pain threshold’, Pictet chief tells FAZ – Bloomberg
                    9/04 “The eurozone faces the worst combination of economic and systemic risk” – CG


                    9/04 VanEck, Solidx to offer bitcoin ETF-like product to institutions – Coindesk
                    9/04 Cryptos surge after launch of first bitcoin ETF – Talk Markets
                    9/04 Bitcoin bubble has nothing on world’s biggest bond mania – Forbes

                    This is so STUPID. I invested in tulip bulbs. They are rare and valuable.

                    Comment


                    • The CBs flog the same dead horse

                      " Passive investments are inflating stock and bond prices in a similar way that collateralized debt obligations did for subprime mortgages more than 10 years ago, Burry told Bloomberg News.

                      “The theater keeps getting more crowded, but the exit door is the same as it always was. All this gets worse as you get into even less liquid equity and bond markets globally,” he said."

                      "The problem in 2008 was too much debt, and the predictable knee-jerk regulatory response was to tighten bank capital requirements. "
                      Yep, the FED handed the banks $trillions of "excess reserves". That really tightened things up.
                      " Forsaking the advice of Walter Bagehot, who stated that the function of a central bank during a panic was to lend freely at a penalty rate against good collateral, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates, lending freely, at a far-from-penalty rate, against poor collateral. Even this monetary largesse failed to suffice"
                      "For finance ministries, zero interest rates on government bonds are a blessing and a curse. For the first time in history, they can raise capital for nothing or even receive an interest payment for their trouble."
                      So what if ZIRP wipes out pension funds, insurance funds, savers, etc. As long as the State can borrow for no cost.
                      "There are, of course, other bond buyers, such as pension funds and insurance companies, that are obligated to purchase their government’s debt obligations. "
                      We're from the government,,, give us your money.
                      https://www.aier.org/article/economi...est-rate-world

                      "So, naturally, what is getting play is a story that Bank of England governor Mark Carney said the dollar’s influence could decline. This is somewhat ironic, because in true Keynesian fashion, Carney believes in a “savings glut” which he laments has caused “low inflation”.
                      Everyone should be bellowing from the rooftops, not about the greatly exaggerated death of the dollar, but that major currencies are dropping so fast!"
                      "In gold terms, since that same date, the euro has fallen over 18%. We don’t know why Europeans aren’t screaming “bloody murder” at this not-so-subtle looting. And to a somewhat lesser degree, Americans should be right there yelling too."
                      "That means: if the price of gold doubles, the gold owner may have twice as many dollars but those dollars are each worth half as much. It is good to own gold, not for making profits but for avoiding the loss of the currency."

                      Emerging Market Central Banks Panic With Most Rate Cuts Since Financial Crisis
                      And they wonder why their currencies slide down.

                      Jim Willie writes about the rising dollar paradox. It's all tied to confidence.
                      King Dollar Paradox: Global Reserve
                      Armstrong, "Our computer forecasts the start of what we called Big Bang that began 2015.75. That was more than just the beginning of crazy negative interest rates and the start of the Sovereign Debt Crisis, which is becoming painfully obvious at the state and local levels. The crisis will expand into the federal levels probably around 2021-2022 in Europe and then Japan. "
                      Armstrong has clearly warned that municipal and State debt will blow up first.
                      "It is ALWAYS economics which create political change."
                      "Our computer is the ONLY forecast that got both correct without human opinion – just economics. Why do you think the press will NEVER report our forecasts? "
                      "Government abuses their power and over-tax and over-regulate in a quest to maintain control. In that process, they inevitably seal their own fate and thus governments die by their own hand. There is simply no exception. Undermine the economy and everything else will change accordingly."
                      https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/i...r-v-influence/

                      Brexit
                      London's reign as the world's capital of capital is at risk -
                      City of London downbeat over EU market access after Brexit

                      "Likewise, this aids those in Britain desperate to keep their perks and pensions in place so they are selling out Britain for personal gain using the same issue as trade."
                      "So far the Euro/Sterling Cross has been following the forecast array perfectly. The low was March followed by the breakout May/June with a Directional Change due in September. The next target is November followed by January."
                      "What is very clear is that the financial markets are far more afraid of Labour taking power than BREXIT. We do not see any reversal of fortune for the pound and its long-term decline before 2021. Labour has become extreme. They will most certainly destroy the capital formation in Britain perhaps once and for all."
                      Armstrong is definitely a cheerleader for the banks.
                      "China will listen to the US news which will show Trump losing 2020 even if you put a monkey up as the Democratic candidate. The press is so against Trump that they will turn this trade issue into real insanity."
                      https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/i...turning-point/

                      9/05 The world’s central banks have lost credibility with markets – Bloomberg
                      The politicians would never allow a turndown in the markets so, they eternally goose them.
                      9/05 Let’s be serious, members of the media can’t cause a ‘recession’ – Real Clear Market
                      Yeah,, right
                      9/05 “The 2020s will begin with the lowest interest rates in 5000 years” – Zero Hedge
                      That might have something to do with the "money" supply being the highest in 5,000 years.
                      The Trump effect, 9/04 U.S. judge orders big drug companies to face opioid trial – Reuters

                      9/05 ECB back to easing again, but inflation still not in its grip – Reuters
                      9/05 NY Fed’s John Williams says low inflation is ‘the problem of this era’ – CNBC

                      Of course, wage deflation and population deflation don't enter into the equation.
                      9/04 Negative interest rates threaten the financial system – Bloomberg
                      No mention of negative population growth
                      9/05 New Hampshire power brokers paralysed by size of Democratic field – Politico
                      NOPE, they are paralysed by the absolutely horrible qualifications of the field.
                      Last edited by Danny B; 09-05-2019, 05:04 PM.

                      Comment


                      • More speed bumps

                        China desperately needs to earn dollars to service dollar denominated debt.
                        U.S. imports of advanced technology products from China in the first seven months of the year fell by nearly $20 billion
                        EU Bank Bosses Warn Of "Grave Consequences" If ECB Keeps Cutting Rates
                        “In the long run, negative rates ruin the financial system,” Sewing said at the event, organized by the Handelsblatt newspaper."
                        "While incoming ECB head Christine Lagarde has claimed that the benefits of deeply negative rates outweigh the costs "
                        She's a lawyer, NOT an economist.
                        "According to Sewing, all it would achieve is to further divide society by lifting asset prices while punishing Europe’s savers who are already paying 160 billion euros ($176 billion) a year because of negative interest rates."
                        Maybe they should have bought gold.

                        "So, with Draghi facing push back from an increasingly hawkish group of ECB members, the question is, will he just push off the decision? Starting October 31, how the Eurozone will be destroyed - whether with hyperinflation fire and deflationary ice - will no longer be Draghi's decision, but instead the final destruction of the Eurozone will be delegated to arguably the most clueless person (see Argentina) in the room."
                        https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-...-cutting-rates
                        ZIRP is destroying the banks. Maybe it's all part of euthanasia of the rentier.

                        "“It is astonishing how little US policymakers know, who are supposedly or at least in their own mind the smartest people in the room, that despite spending countless billions of dollars on militarism, weapons development … the US is a declining empire,” Lendman told Press TV on Wednesday."
                        https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2019/...n-Paul-Lendman

                        Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos Sells Stock Valued At $1.8B - CRN
                        9/05 Bond flood continues as companies, including Apple, sell $56 billion in two days – ZH
                        " Stocks have liquidity, and potential return (or loss), but no safety of principal. Treasuries have a stated return, and a high degree of safety. However, in order to guarantee the stated return, Treasuries must be held to maturity"
                        ALL governments eventually default.
                        https://realinvestmentadvice.com/no-...nt-overvalued/

                        Comment


                        • Changes after 1979,,, giving up on negative interest rates

                          Armstrong; "I leave you alone and you leave me alone and we can all get along. I object to politics that seeks to exploit class warfare for historically that has ALWAYS, and without exception, led to civil war."
                          This is a good article on comparative values of different currencies.
                          Armstrong, "1998 Russian collapse. All the big names lost billions. Even the New York Times reported that George Soros lost $2 billion. You were the only one who made money My question is this. Since all the big names were involved in the Russia trade which took down Long-Term Capital Management, is this why you call them the “club” for they all do seem to be involved in the same trade?"
                          "Correct. This is also why they try to prevent people from listening to me. They are convinced that the reason they lost was that I was too influential and had too many institutions listening to me. That absurdity is what they ran to the government with, so I was then accused of “manipulating” the world economy. They all lost after I warned them and refused to join in their takeover of Russia I"
                          " It was the US bankers, with the support of the Clintons, who first tried to interfere into Russian elections. "
                          https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/a...-always-wrong/

                          Armstrong writes about demurrage currency.
                          "there were people who theorized that gold hoarding was preventing economic recovery. There is always this same theory that people who save hoarding their money and are not spending it results in the lack of a recovery suppressing demand. This theory has been around for a very long time. It assumes a recovery is always blocked by people hoarding their money and saving for a rainy day"
                          "The rumbling behind the curtain I am hearing is a growing idea of making the currency in Europe simply expire. I have explained before that in Europe currency routinely expires – even in Britain."
                          "Europeans are accustomed to having their money simply expire. This is not limited to paper currency. They also cancel the coins. The proposal being whispered in the dark halls of Europe is that perhaps the way to impose negative rates to force people to spend is to just cancel all the currency and authorize only small notes for pocket change. They want everyone to be forced to use bank cards and this is the new theory to revitalize the economy"

                          Back during the Great Depression, there were people who theorized that gold hoarding was preventing economic recovery. There is always this same theory that people who save hoarding their money and are not spending it results in the lack of a recovery suppressing demand. This theory has been around for a very long time. It assumes a recovery is always blocked by people hoarding their money and saving for a rainy day.

                          The rumbling behind the curtain I am hearing is a growing idea of making the currency in Europe simply expire. I have explained before that in Europe currency routinely expires – even in Britain. The United States has never cancelled its currency so a note from the Civil War is still legal tender. But that is not the case in Europe.

                          Europeans are accustomed to having their money simply expire. This is not limited to paper currency. They also cancel the coins. The proposal being whispered in the dark halls of Europe is that perhaps the way to impose negative rates to force people to spend is to just cancel all the currency and authorize only small notes for pocket change. They want everyone to be forced to use bank cards and this is the new theory to revitalize the economy.

                          The chart patterns for the Euro are about as long-term bearish as one can imagine. The problem facing the world economy is this idea that they can even FORCE people to spend their savings recklessly as the government does. Cancelling the euro may be a drastic and desperate step, but it is being proposed as an alternative to deep negative interest rates which have failed to work for more than 10 years. The middle ground proposes a paper currency with expiration dates."
                          Mario Draghi is headed out the door. Lagarde is a lawyer, now an economist. Europe is just too socialist to operate with a debt-currency.

                          "Either way, the risk of a profound dollar rally remains in the wings. The powers behind the curtain desperately want to defeat Trump for they know he would NEVER cancel the American currency. To pull that off, they need a career politician. Joe Biden would be perfect. He might just sign whatever bill is put before him and then take a nap. It is ironic, but there would be a lot of Americans who would wake up and want Trump bank after that one."
                          Everywhere that you look, there are forces trying to bring communism to America. As long as Trump resists, the dollar will continue to rise. This will continue to destroy competing currencies.
                          Either way, the risk of a profound dollar rally remains in the wings. The powers behind the curtain desperately want to defeat Trump for they know he would NEVER cancel the American currency. To pull that off, they need a career politician. Joe Biden would be perfect. He might just sign whatever bill is put before him and then take a nap. It is ironic, but there would be a lot of Americans who would wake up and want Trump bank after that one.
                          https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/a...cancel-it-all/
                          Socialism and communism just don't work. BUT, a fully automated economy with nobody working won't work either.

                          "There was a somewhat successful call yesterday between US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Chinese Vice Premier Liu He. The call concluded that the US and China will resume trade talks in person at the beginning of October."
                          9/06 Hooray! Another month of “trade deal around the corner” discussion – Mish
                          9/06 Alasdair Macleod: U.S. dollar is more at risk than China’s yuan – GATA
                          9/05 China’s private bond defaults climb to record $4.4 billion – Bloomberg

                          9/06 Blackrock: Central banks will debase everything to spark inflation – ZH MMT or nothing.


                          The monetary policy endgame
                          September 05, 2019, 01:51:43 AM EDT By Rick Rieder, BlackRock

                          "The first principle is that the major central banks embraced a roughly 2% inflation target (implicit for the Federal Reserve since, at least, 1995 and explicitly stated since 2012), "
                          Paul Volker, A Presbyterian, was the only FED head to refuse to do the 2% INFLATION TARGETING.
                          "The commitment to the 2% inflation target is extremely important for understanding our current monetary policy challenges,"
                          Yes, that 2% increase was what financed all the speculation by the bankers..

                          "However, before we answer that we must examine why inflation peaked in 1979 and why it has been in a downtrend since then? In other words, what are the structural forces creating disinflation ? There are four major forces that created inflation prior to 1979 and resulted in disinflation afterward. First, the population growth rate following the post war Baby Boom peaked around 1979/1980 and subsequently slowed. Second, the growth rate of female participants in the labor force also peaked around 1979/1980 and subsequently slowed. Third, the U.S. and China opened diplomatic and trade relations in 1979, as a result of Deng Xiaoping's reforms, arguably marking the beginning of the latest stage of globalization. Finally, the oil shocks of the 1970s, ending with the 1979 Iranian Revolution and a surge in oil-driven inflation were a critical factor in the price rises of that time."

                          "The fact is that central banks' actions, so far, have simply been too modest to matter against the backdrop of these tectonic changes. Moreover, we would argue that central banks have already achieved meaningful price stability (for instance, the volatility of CPI is near its lowest levels in history), but the natural rate of inflation is simply not 2%, but rather is something lower. So, despite the seemingly large size of monetary policy stimulus by historic standards, central banks have still only brought "a knife to a gun fight,"
                          The "natural rate" of population inflation has been suppressed. No surprise that everything else follows.

                          Consumer price inflation is at about 6%. It has come down from about 10% (Shadowstats)
                          Asset price inflation is off the charts. The bankers inflated the snot out of the upper loop, leaving the lower loop to twist in the wind. They told everybody that there would be a trickle down effect for wages. NO possible way. We slide down towards a global mean wage at the same time that automation takes over. All the PTB is at a loss to explain the lack of consumption.

                          "While the point is debatable, we do not think the arsenal of central bank tools is near exhausted, which brings us to the endgame and the concept of fiat currency . There are two ways inflation is created: one is to actually raise the prices of goods and services organically, but the other is to debase the currency in which those goods and services are sold (think helicopter money). Because the former method relies on traditional aggregate demand stimulus (lower interest rates), which has not been working, since the natural rate of aggregate demand growth is now so low (and in some places is contracting) and the supply curve is so flat; the endgame may well be monetary debasement "

                          This is a very good example of blatant stupidity.
                          "raise the prices of goods" But, not wages
                          OK, so they debase the money. We'll all make $1,000 an hour
                          "The most famous case of hyperinflation is the one that occurred in Germany during the Weimar Republic, from January 1919 until November 1923. According to Investopedia, “the average price level increased by a factor of 20 billion, doubling every 28 hours.”

                          "And, potentially more importantly, extremely low rates can and will encourage fiscal actors to add more, and potentially dramatically more, debt to an already historically-levered set of economies (e.g. the increased discussion of MMT)"
                          https://www.nasdaq.com/article/the-m...game-cm1207679
                          "add more, debt"
                          There you have it,, clear as can be. Printing debt-free money will add more debt.
                          The battle rages on. The money renters don't want to see their niche wiped out. Automation will wipe out something eventually.

                          Comment


                          • Where the money went,,,, universal basic income

                            It's getting so much more difficult to keep track of all the competing pressures. Behind everything, there is an ongoing effort to reduce world population.
                            The Kissinger Report explicitly lays out the detailed strategy by which the United States government aggressively promotes population control in developing nations in order to regulate (or have better access to) the natural resources of these countries."
                            Advocates of population control say that one of the most effective measures we can take to combat climate change is to sharply reduce the number of humans on the planet."

                            We previously had an economic system based loosely on capitalism. It also had a fair dose of socialism and redistribution. Regulatory capture brought us a big increases in crony-capitalism. This is beginning to smell a lot like Fascism; the marriage of BIG GOV and BIG business. Meanwhile, corporatism is trying to erase democracy.
                            The money renters have taken control of the State to shift all the wealth to themselves. A business is a money-making enterprise. A family / household is a money-losing enterprise. As the wealth percolates up to the top, the money-losing enterprises close down.
                            The money renters now find that nobody wants, or can afford to rent their money.
                            They, then rent their money to the State believing that the masses will be forced to shoulder the repayment.
                            44 million Americans receive direct assistance from the State. 51% of Americans receive a check from the GOV. 23 million Americans work for the GOV. U.S. GOV spends about 30% of the GDP.

                            Lew Rockwell During his first 31 months in office – and at the very top of the longest business cycle in history – he has added $2.7 trillion to the net public debt,", (Trump)
                            The numbers that are thrown around are just so enormous;
                            "We manage UC investment funds and provide fiduciary oversight. The Office of the Chief Investment Officer of the Regents currently manages a portfolio of investments totalling approximately $120 billion"
                            They also receive about $2 billion from the FEDs. This is all shown in the comprehensive financial report.

                            All public entities are required to file a comprehensive financial report. Walter
                            Burien at CAFR 1 reports that the aggregated wealth reported
                            by Government agencies amounts to $237 trillion.

                            Remember that Keynes projected that we would all be so wealthy by ABOUT 1980-90 that we would only have to work about 15 hours a week. George Jetson works 1 hour a day, 2 days a week.
                            There is an enormous amount of liquidity floating around but, it just isn't within reach of those who do the actual productive work. To make matters worse, there are 96 million Americans who are not in the labor force.

                            Shumpeter came up with the idea of "creative destruction". We need to constantly destroy stuff so that we can continue to work and, produce new stuff. The military spending is about $1 trillion a year. Federal debt service is about 1/2 trillion.
                            Surprise! You Work Nearly 4 Months Every Year Just to Pay taxes.
                            About these taxes;
                            "Not one dime of IRS money goes to the US Gov't", according to Reagan's Grace Commission: it all goes to pay interest on a bogus debt to the Private Federal Reserve (FED), just to allow paper money to circulate as "Federal Reserve Notes".

                            Why does the UC system need to gouge students so that it can amass a fortune of $120 billion?
                            Why do 37,000 government agencies need to amass a cumulative fortune of $237 trillion?
                            Keynes said that we would only need to work 15 hours a week. The banks and the State steal a LOT of our earnings. Suppose that we only worked 15 hours a week. There would be far less to steal. Suppose that we redesigned our military for domestic defence only?

                            Automation, outsourcing and a global mean wage have crashed down consumption. There is no escaping low wages as long as automation keeps destroying more and more niches formerly occupied by humans. With consumption and legitimate credit demand falling, there is no possible solution in the world of Keynesian economics. The CBs create megatons of mega pixels that are supposed to serve as a store of value. They wonder why the interest rate has fallen. All the "money" that they have locked away is frozen in the upper loop where it is unavailable to the mass of consumers.
                            That may have sounded like a good idea at one time but now, starvation and revolution are entering the stage.

                            While the money renters are keen to keep their advantage, they also don't want to see revolution and general destruction. South Africa is at that stage now. They have started looting and burning. The fuel companies are refusing to deliver fuel. Things will crash pretty rapidly without fuel and food.

                            The PTB are looking for some way to avoid worldwide revolution. In the upcoming crash, most of the notional wealth is just going to evaporate. 5.1 million Americans starved to death in Great Depression one. That was back when 44% lived on the farm.
                            NIRP, ZIRP and the rest of the BS that was designed to keep the banks in power and, create a trickle down effect for the middle class are a complete failure.
                            MMT was bandied about to see the reaction. The money renters HATE the idea of free money. It looks like universal basic income will be used as the antidote for crushing poverty that promises to accompany the emerging collapse of the State.

                            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQjrhIyaPyg&t=120s

                            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIL_Y9g7Tg0&t=317s

                            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Qj6AU7dRrA


                            The CBs would like to maintain control;
                            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3BjMUd391c&t=730s
                            I'm not sure what Powell is up to.
                            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrzIyfiDb44&t=236s

                            Negative Rates Multiplying At A Staggering Rate
                            "Unheard of since the Mesopotamian invention of debt in 2,400 BC, negative interest rates have suddenly appeared on the financial landscape like a new mutant species, an invader without natural predators, gaining a sudden foothold and then spreading rapidly.

                            From literally ‘none’ ten years ago, to more than $17 trillion now. And up from a ‘mere’ $6 trillion in the past ten months alone:"
                            "Whatever the final repercussions are, one fact is clear: the world’s central banks are completely, 100% responsible for these bizarro-world negative interest rates.

                            They try to pretend that the $20+ trillion money printing spree they engineered after 2008 isn’t a root cause. Instead, they claim “the markets” are responsible."
                            Of course, it wouldn't be smart to claim that the politicians are responsible for the printing.
                            “5,000 years of financial trial and error has firmly established that saved capital deserves a positive rate of return. You are now certain that negative interest rates are what the world needs."
                            "Saved capital" my arse. This air money merits thin air interest. Is that so hard to comprehend?
                            "So many things are changing. And the rate of change is speeding up, too. It’s barely possible to fashion a comprehensive plan for what to do about it. " NOT EVEN
                            "The rate of change is accelerating. Things are speeding up. That’s how exponential systems behave. "
                            https://www.peakprosperity.com/its-t...hat-kills-you/

                            9/07 Heavy-duty truck orders collapse, production slashed, cancellation orders soar – ZH
                            9/07 Profiles in absurdity: remembering the ‘terror’ wars – Antiwar

                            What do you mean "absurdity"? Some people made a LOT of money.

                            Comment


                            • Who will hold power?

                              WaPo Warns USA Needs More Narrative Control As Pentagon Ramps Up Narrative Control

                              Putin Warned Bush About Impeding Attack TWO DAYS Before 9/11 ' Ex-CIA Analyst

                              Is The US Government The Enemy Of The People? America's Enormous Post 9/11 Lost Liberties


                              US Unemployment Rate Is 'Grossly Underestimated' By US Labor Department Numbers - Fakery Of Trump's 'Booming Economy'

                              DARPA Plan For Total Control Of Free Speech - Vid

                              HARPA- Trump's New Social Credit Plan Partners Big Tech And Govt To Attack First Amendment


                              US Army Major (Ret.) - We Are Living In The Wreckage Of The War On Terror

                              9/11 & The Road To America's Orwellian Hell


                              Suicide Rate Rising In US, Especially In Rural Areas

                              Former ADL Staffer Appointed Head Of Orwellian Office For The Prevention Of Hate Crimes In NYC


                              Assuming that the world goes into economic meltdown, just how much incentive will Americans have to try to preserve the old system,,, the police state,,,, the military-industrial power complex,,,, the banking dynasties,,,, the control structures?

                              Comment


                              • Price, Pareto and the un-necessary cogs.

                                Price’s Law

                                " The square root of the number of people in a domain do 50% of the work.
                                This means that in a company of 10 employees, 3 of them do 1/2 the work. The remaining 50% of the work is done by the other 7 people.
                                This scales too.
                                When there are 100 employees, 10 of them do 1/2 the work. The other 90% are doing the other half of the work."
                                As your company grows, incompetence grows exponentially and competence grows linearly.
                                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Q0PCDEJWek
                                Governments employ 20 percent or more of workers in nine states
                                Government Workers Now Outnumber Manufacturing Workers

                                So, there are 23 million at all levels who work for GOV.
                                square root(23 million) 4795.83152331

                                "Pareto principle

                                "The Pareto principle, also known as the 80/20 rule, is a theory maintaining that 80 percent of the output from a given situation or system is determined by 20 percent of the input."
                                "Applying the Pareto Principle to business metrics helps to separate the "vital few" (the 20 percent that has the most impact) from the "useful many" (the other 80 percent)."

                                50% of current work activities are technically automatable by adapting currently demonstrated technology.
                                https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McK...V9_Ex5_rj.ashx

                                Parkinson's Law
                                The Mathematics of Bureaucracy
                                "Weber's criticism of bureaucracy is probably closer to how many people see it today. John Pourdehnad, management consultant and educator, agrees with Weber's criticism, writing on his blog that a bureaucracy "takes steps to preserve itself: It makes work and introduces red tape, and it imposes nonfunctional requirements on others, which 'justify' the made work."

                                Pourdehnad also adds that because people are being promoted based on seniority rather than merit, the bureaucratic organization continues to grow uncontrollably. "Since performance is not critical for survival, size is. ...Therefore, growth becomes an objective because it is an efficient way to secure survival," he argues."
                                "work expands to fill the time available for its completion" and in bureaucratic organizations, the number of people required to do the work will continually rise whether the actual volume of work stays the same, increases, decreases or disappears."
                                "According to Parkinson, this occurs because workers want to multiply subordinates, not rivals, and make work for each other. For example, an overworked employee wants to diminish the amount of work he has to do. He can either: 1) resign, 2) halve the work with a colleague of equal standing in the company or 3) hire two junior employees to work under him.

                                The first option leaves him jobless, and the second brings a potential rival for a promotion. The third option is the only one that allows him to keep his standing in the company while allowing him to do less."
                                Growth per year "The percentage will "invariably prove to be between 5.17 percent and 6.56 percent."
                                "The three assigned efficiency curves to workers throughout their life and computed the time when they should optimally retire, or what Parkinson referred to as the "Pension Point," to ensure a "maximum efficiency within the body."

                                The physicists also came up with a way to quantify how large a committee can grow before it becomes inefficient. The number they came up with is 20 "
                                "They found that groups with fewer than 20 members tend to reach an agreement whereas those with more than 20 splintered into groups that agreed within themselves but remained deadlocked as a whole. Additionally, the computer simulations found one number of members that ended with a high probability of deadlock: eight. (It is perhaps worth noting that 90 percent of small businesses in the U.S. employ fewer than 20 people"
                                "In 1955, Parkinson noted that no nation had a cabinet of eight. As New Scientist points out, only one British monarch in U.K. history had eight council members: Charles I. His and his cabinet's decision-making led to the English Civil War and eventually his beheading."
                                https://www.thomasnet.com/insights/i...e-inefficient/

                                Automation eliminates entire niches of jobs,,, the simplest jobs first. The remaining jobs demand better skills.
                                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjs2gPa5sD0
                                The State tries to hire those who have no niche in the private sector. But, the State is in the process of going broke. The schools were oriented to preparing our children to be good little cogs in the machines. The machines no longer need such an influx of cogs. It also has a lot of old cogs that don't fit in any current machines. 10,000 cogs retire every day to collect SS. That will go on for the next 18 years.

                                The economic collapse is inevitable. GOV debt is growing faster than exponentially.
                                What is the fate of the un-necessary cogs?

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