Economic pressures

[Danny B]

Conflicting info,,,, driving the dollar out of Europe

Things are definitely in flux. It's hard to organize a post.
"But Federal government expenditures have risen by 317% and state/local government spending has leaped by 328% since 1990. In other words, government has expanded at roughly four or five times the underlying growth rate of the economy."
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-...eak-government
The State prints debt money but, never intends to repay the debt.
So, how much do you owe?
https://www.goldbroker.com/news/ever...5-million-1226
The FED had to force ZIRP to keep sovereign debt from eating everything.
Martin Armstrong – Rates are Going to Jump to 10% Instantaneously
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFRuRoqLKZU&t=154s
Interest Rates Are About to Shoot Through The Roof - Peter Schiff
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvMyiBw8R18&t=72s

Of course, ZIRP ate everything. The State is worried about the State.
It's not just the EMs that are running into problems, "Argentinareceived a short term reprieve on Tuesday when they 'rolled over' $26 billion of debt (known as Lebacs), and issued new debt totalling $200 billion. However, at rates between 38-40%, it raisesquestions on the long-term sustainability of such financing."
Brent Hits $80, Highest in 4 years
Emerging Market Chaos, the Lira and Peso in Freefall
The spike in the oil price will undoubtedly cause problems.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...here-next-gold

The Atlantic writes that corporations have a $5 trillion stash of cash. Not ONE WORD about having $5 trillion in debt. https://www.theatlantic.com/business...ermany/260006/
"rising rates, a surging dollar, and a 4 year highs in oil have wreaked havoc on Emerging Markets, and may soon spill over to developed markets although so far US stocks have been resilient, if failing to break out of the recent range despite the small-cap Russell 2000 hitting new all time high. At the same time, a financial publication used several hundred words to not so simply say that there was $8.8bn in equity inflows into US stocks even as the S&P had its biggest weekly drop in over a month;"

OK, now contrast that with;
US stocks suffer second biggest outflow ever in first quarter as ...
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/.../us-sto...ver-in-first-q...
Apr 3, 2018 - A stunning $63.3 billion left U.S. stock funds in the first quarter,
"February saw the third-highest stock outflows on record amid volatility .."
The devil is in the details.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...-short-squeeze

So, reportedly, we're headed for a train crash, https://www.mauldineconomics.com/fro...-crash-preview
5/20 Credit card delinquencies at smaller banks spike past 2008 high – Wolf Street
5/20 Earnings estimates: Yardeni asks “what are analysts smoking”? – Mish
Pox Americana is trying to do some heavy arm-twisting to cut off Iran. The arm-twisting is forcing many other States to do a work-around that involves side-lining the dollar.
https://journal-neo.org/2018/05/19/w...rican-century/
EU States, Russia, China To Discuss New Iran Nuclear Deal, Leaving Zionist US Sidelined

"The annual report showed that 2017 saw the biggest increase in the number of billionaires in history, with new ones created at a rate of one every two days. Their wealth has increased by 13 percent a year on average in the decade from 2006 to 2015."
https://www.rt.com/business/416644-w...-wealth-oxfam/
Corruption kings;
https://www.rt.com/business/417874-s...-most-corrupt/

[Danny B]

RE sucked up by hot money,,,

This graph shows the number of owner-occupied houses.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/...us-since-1975/
It has barely gone up.
This graph shows the population growth;
https://www.statista.com/statistics/...nt-population/
The Gramm-Leach-Bliley act took your money and gave it to the bankers to speculate. Residential RE is a long-term, high-dollar investment. It is VERY attractive to the upper loop where the free money flows. Home ownership just hasn't gone up because the upper loop is buying it up to park wet-ink money..
The hot money flows in and, the average worker is priced out.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/...old-in-the-us/

"Compare that to the average family today. Both spouses likely have to work—whether they want to or not—just to afford the same basic lifestyle.
Plus, it now costs well over $200,000 to raise a child, on average"
"In 1959, the median annual salary for a US high school teacher was $5,276, according to the Department of Labor. Meanwhile, the median US home value was $9,627, according to the US Census Bureau.

That means a teacher made enough money each year to cover over half of the price of a middle-class home. Or 55%, to be exact."
"Today, the median purchase price of a US home is $241,700. To maintain the 1959 income-to-home price ratio, a high school teacher would need to make $132,935 annually."
The median income-to-home price index, https://www.zerohedge.com/sites/defa...rt1_jlf940.jpg

We would be OK with stagnant wages if prices didn't rise. Here is a very important graph.
https://www.zerohedge.com/sites/defa...rt2_jlf940.jpg
It is painfully obvious that the break with the last vestige of the gold standard is what unleashed the monetary inflation that robbed our purchasing power.
"The average family has to work twice as many years to afford the average home as compared to the 60s:"
The last nail in the coffin for the middle class, occurred in 1999, when Bill Clinton signed the repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act. Before then, banks were required to pay no less than 4% on savings accounts, and charge no more than 6% on loans. Savings accounts were a big thing to help the middle class along, and low interest loans were too.

The Gramm-Leach-Bliley act was called the "financial modernization act" We're all very "modern" now.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...s-middle-class
Once again, it was regulatory capture that set the (price) inflationary wheels in motion. The economy was reconfigured to serve the bankers rather than the bankers serving the economy.
The FED transparently works to get a 2% price inflation in the overall economy. This is 100% a mechanism to keep all the bankers and speculators well off. FED GOV goes along with this hoping to inflate away the burden of repaying the debt. When you talk about regulatory capture, don't forget that the State wants monetary inflation too.
It's no secret that the state is working against the best interests of the productive economy.

But, wait! 51% of Americans receive a check from GOV. 43 million are on food stamps. 45.3 million pay no federal taxes. What happens to the poverty rate of FED GOV should go broke?
http://money.cnn.com/2018/05/17/news...udy/index.html

The TARP money is gone. The follow-up bailout money is gone. The gold is gone. Cheap oil has peaked long ago. The 401k money is gone. The banks are fighting for deposits. There are giga-tons of money (liquidity) in the system. Only problem is,,, it isn't really there.
http://ggc-mauldin-images.s3.amazona...quidCrisis.jpg
The corporatocracy has tried to scale-up to global markets. It is possible that global-scale markets could work. The problem is that there is no such thing as free trade. It's all smoke and mirrors because scale-up doesn't work when it is twisted and distorted by power-mad maniacs.
http://charleshughsmith.blogspot.com...-to-scale.html

So, everybody lies about their GDP to keep the hot money from flowing out.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...C0%2C0%2C0%2C1
Emerging markets are blowing up,,, right on schedule. Italy is going to blow the ECB right out of the water.
https://creditbubblebulletin.blogspo...sis-watch.html
The US civil work force is 33%. This is the blob State sucking up every penny they can find.
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/a...going-forward/

[Danny B]

Italy to shaft the ECB,,,50% increase in EM debt,,,Rape Germany again

The Trump administration is playing hardball trying to force Europe to sanction Russia. It even wants Europe to cancel the oil pipeline. It has always been economic war. It was never about ideology.
5/18 Trump hardball: Europe pressured to cancel Russia pipeline – Mish
Europe needs dollars to service dollar-denominated debt. The FED can pressure Europe to push away from Russia in return for dollar liquidity. Pox Americana told Europe that it will get relief from American tariffs if it buys more LNG and less Russian gas. This is all about starving out and carving up Russia for $75 trillion in natural resources.
At the same time, Italy is in the process of blowing up the European banks.

5/18 Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: Italy’s insurgents enrage Germany and ECB – GATA
Five Star And Lega Ask ECB To Cancel €250 Billion In Debt!
Italy's bond market will blow up the EU exposing ECB Mario Draghi's idiocy
Bridgewater Asks "Could Italy Blow Up The Euro?" | Zero Hedge
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-...taly-blow-euro

It's not just Europe that needs dollars and a continuation of low interest rates.
5/18 Fitch says EM is vulnerable as debt balloons to $19 trillion – Bloomberg
Armstrong did say that interest rates and a rise of the dollar would make emerging markets blow up.
"The outstanding Emerging Market debt has exploded by 50%. "
"We passed $200 trillion in global sovereign debt back in 2016."
"he world comes unglued ONLY with a dollar rally – not a decline. A drop in the dollar would be cheered by governments who would then issue even more debt. A dollar rally will cause the Sovereign Debt Crisis – not a dollar decline. Emerging Market defaults are once again on the timeline. They are economically in far worse shape today than they were in 2008. As interest rates rise, they will blow their budget out "
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/w...n-the-horizon/
Armstrong talks about the U.S. economy being in far better shape. WELL, if the EMs default on a few $trillion, I am sure that will take down a lot of banks everywhere.

The EU was an exercise in futility because they didn't have a common debt market. Germany has a $1trillion surplus and, the rest of Europe has a $1trillion deficit. Not surprisingly, Draghi wants a common debt market. It's all very simple. All the Eurozone States vote for Germany to pay all their debts.
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/w...n-the-horizon/

5/18 Bitcoin mining to use 0.5% of world’s energy by end of 2018 – Cointelegraph
BTC is useless. It was just a beta test for Central Bank crypto currencies.

[Danny B]

The Blockchain noose

Every baby born in California has DNA sample stored - Digital Journal
U.S. Fertility Rate Hits 40-Year Low
Births plunge to record lows in United States
Death rates for many young Americans rising - Business Insider
What's behind the rise in youth suicides? - CBS News
Age 15-24, 10% of deaths are from suicide.

US ‘Government’ Has Spent $2.8 Trillion From
Future Generations On The Phony War On Terrorism
America Spends $1 Trillion on its Military Every Year - and Has No Way to Pay for It
I don't want the wars. I don't want the trashy immigrants. Someone in some office somewhere has decided for me. They claim that it is in my best interests. They need money for all of this. Negative interest rates worked for siphoning off a bit of money. Wouldn't it be great if the PTB had access to ALL of your money.

"If you’re looking for insights into what Central Banks have planned when The Everything Bubble bursts, on Monday one of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) top bankers provided a blueprint."
"The second is that central banks today could make use of new technologies that would enable the introduction of what is widely referred to as a “token-based” currency – one based on a distributed ledger technology (DLT) or comparable cryptographic technology.

And the third “new” fact, at least from a long-term perspective, relates to the role of central banks in setting monetary policy, and more recently to the emergence of negative rates as a policy instrument and the consequences for the transmission of monetary policy."
Yup, negative to you and, positive to them.
" Potential cash bans in tandem with negative interest rates (the problem with physical cash is it allows you to avoid paying interest via NIRP because you can simply store it yourself instead of keeping it in a bank).
Shifting over to a completely digital currency controlled by a Central Bank."
"Put simply… discussions of ending physical cash and introducing strictly digital money are taking place within the highest circles of Central Bankers.
If you think this isn’t coming to the US, you’re mistaken."
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...C0%2C0%2C0%2C1
COMMENTS;
Just think how easy asset forfeiture will be.

This is one of the big stories we should all be watching ... not that this will do us any good. If “they” want to do this - and they obviously do - they will do this.

BitCoin was the BETA Testing.

Need a blockchain crypto that only trades over the airwaves via ham radio or the like.

think bitcoin gave them the idea. Their crypto code will allow for expansion/contraction of currency in circulation along with the added bonus of traceability, its designed to be traceable centrally controlled fiat. Free market crypto code is designed not to be expanded/contracted or traced, its designed to be anonymous specie.
All cryptos are not the same. Hackers will have a field day with central banker cryptos and free market denizens will strengthen specie crypto invulnerability via open source code.
Quantum computing will present real challenges to all code that rely on strong encryption, both fiat and specie and all other computer security systems. Nevertheless the fight is on between freedom and slavery and while the vast majority of people, zh commenters included, don't understand the game, enough people do, and that will ensure that free market specie crypto currencies are here to stay, irrespective of what central banksters throw at them.

1. Cash is becoming eliminated to great a extend within the next 5 to 1o years. This will kill the "small man's or woman's" tax saving scheme making them even more vulnerable as they are already today.
. Electronic cash comparable to Bitcoin will be the way the CBs are preparing for us. The Swedish Ryksbank has already given a licence to a company to manage and ocersee a bitcoin-style official Swedisch Krona (which is more or less pegged to the Euro).So to say the first bitcoin backed by an official CB located within the EU. It will be the forerunner for the Euro in bitcoin style.
3. But what is the worst consequence of the plans laid out in the speech of the Central Banker in Geneva, in my opinion, is the following fact: Negative interest rates will have the effect than no one can accumulate by saving a first "working capital" to start an enterprise. This will make the banks indispensable toget a permission to start a business and the position of a future entrepreneur is much weaker than it is today. The banks will know then everything and own everything.

In other words, when you save some money to have a small capital to start a business in the not so far future you will be crippled by the new tax which is called negative interest rates. Saving is punished and you have to borrow it all from the banks at unfavorable rates due to the lack of a sufficient own capital.
In short without the banks blessing and knowledge no "small man or woman" can in the future open a business because saving is destroying capital. It is the total surrender of society to the money lenders. Good Night, land of the Free, you do not exist anymore when this becomes reality. Land of the bank slaves would be the correct title for all the areas what we call now the Western World.

Asset forfeiture is the new kid on the block.
If one were to ponder about the future, it is easy to see that at some point digital currency will replace physical cash. There are too many positives for the banks and central banks and governments to switch to all digital.
Also, at some point negative interest rates will be employed. Most likely the next recession or all out depression. As far as the central banks are concerned, their past and current monetary manipulation has worked fantastically. So, it stands within reason that they will do it again, and this time to a higher degree. Another inevitability is UBI. Like it or not, this will pacify the masses for a little time. Thus, the use of digital. It is not a matter of if, but when, sadly.

No doubt that that is their agenda. But they can't do anything unless most people comply. As long as they have the sheeple plugged into the Matrix, they can pull it off. But they are getting worried. Their agenda is event driven, not time driven, but even so they are way behind schedule. For example, Wesley Clark was told in a visit to the Pentagram in early October 2001, that the regime change in all the named countries which included Iran was to take place in less than five years. While we are frustrated with how slowly most people are awakening from their daze, the 0.0001% are terrified.

Your universal basic income payment is being withheld for lack of compliance with our directives.
by suppressing labor central banks have avoided inflation unleashing a red-pill moment upon the masses. little by little, step by step, transforming the fruits of our labor to their fruits of graft

Yes, once labor is reduced to entries on a digital ledger we will "pay to exist."


"I'm from the government and I'm here to help you. Please be advised that effective today your asset balance has been electronically reduced by 15% due to unforeseen government needs for more cruise missiles, aircraft carriers, F-35's, and more other stuff. We are confident that future additional reductions will not be necessary. However, should they be necessary, we will be sure to advise you ASAP, after the fact."

"You are of course free to complain about this to your Senators and Congressmen. They are also always eager to help."
"Have a nice day."

It looks like blockchain is just too good of a control structure for the CBs and Pols to walk away from.
Meanwhile, the people refuse to reproduce. Many of the young just kill themselves. This is a question of confidence, control and quality of life. That isn't something that is easily changed for the better. Automation and
AI can't be put back in the bottle. The criminal gang that is running the show isn't going to just set us free.
I see so MANY people waiting and hoping for a collapse.

[Danny B]

The lit fuse in Italy,,,, destroying the tribes of europe,,, oil squeeze

"A Bank of America Merrill Lynch report reveals investors removed $29.4 billion from mutual funds and ETFs the first quarter.
And TD Ameritrade’s Investor Movement Index (IMX) sank 8.2% last month."
The article goes on to state that the stock market can't crash this year because stock buybacks are holding up everything.
https://dailyreckoning.com/stock-mar...ot-crash-2018/

"Another serious problem is illustrated in Chart 1 below. This shows the U.S. budget deficit as a percentage of GDP " "From the late 1980s through 2009, these two time series exhibited a fairly strong correlation." "But as the chart reveals, the correlation has broken down since 2009 and the two time series are diverging rapidly."
https://s3.amazonaws.com/agorafinanc...getdeficit.png
https://dailyreckoning.com/economic-...less-meet-eye/
It's all smoke & mirrors, vapor-ware and debt.

Only FOUR stocks are holding up the market averages.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...018s-sp-return
One take-away, consumer staples are down 12.77% 16 million are absent from the labor force. Evidently, they are not buying much of anything.

5/16 Turkey’s economy is entering a ‘slow burning crisis’ – CNBC
5/17 Japan and Europe both show signs of slow-down – Fx Street
Yep, a falling population and capital flight will do that.

5/16 Italian bonds tumble amid political chaos, debt writedown fears – Zero Hedge
5/16 Five Star Lega deal is a commitment to leave the eurozone – Mish
They laughed at Beppe Grillo when he said that he wanted to take Italy out of the Euro. They aren't laughing now.
They laughed at Nigel Farage when he said that he wanted to dismantle the Eurozone structure. They aren't laughing now, either.
5/17 Mortgage rates highest since 2013 taper tantrum – Mish
5/16 It’s time to bail on the homebuilders – Seven Figure Publishing
Yep, one more sector gets the rug pulled out from under it.

"This is the entire problem with the structure of the European Union. They want one federal government, one single currency, but none of the responsibility of a national debt."
Socialism is fine until you run out of other people's money.
"The economics behind the Eurozone is a complete disaster. The markets are reflecting that economic reality behind the curtain that nobody wants to pretend is even going on for fear what that will do to Europe. Two-year Italian government yields are now back in positive territory for the first time"
"Now we have for the first time Italy and Greece currently yielding above ZERO on their respective two-year Eurozone government bonds. Interest rates are going to EXPLODE when we look down the line!!!!!!!"
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/m...is-inevitable/
The ECB buys all the imperilled sovereign debt that investors won't touch.
Did feces-for-brains Draghi think that investors would eventually change their minds?

The Poles and the Hungarians have blocked the efforts to destroy their countries by forced immigration. They are trying to preserve national unity. The one-worlders are trying to destroy all national unity to make populations more controllable. They are making "great" progress.
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/i...cades-to-come/

When the CB quits printing, the bubbles pop.
https://www.themaven.net/mishtalk/ec...UeILgorCkZz5w/
It remains to be seen how much new capital is flowing into markets from back-door channels.
https://www.themaven.net/mishtalk/ec...UeILgorCkZz5w/

Fracking oil from America is an almost worthless LIGHT distillate. Oil from Venezuela is an extremely heavy crude like paste shoe polish. It doesn't flow at all. Russia is a huge producer of oil. Russia and China are buying up as much oil as possible and blending it to re-sell. This is all flowing through Petro-Yuan contracts.
https://www.rt.com/business/426637-c...il-trade-iran/

The defense Dept admits that there is $21 trillion missing. As the dollar is used less and less, it will be more difficult to paper-over small financial discrepancies.

Permian Basin Is Growing Into the Largest Oil Patch in the World ...
https://www.bloomberg.com/.../permia...il-patch-in-th...
Why is the shale industry still not profitable? | MINING.com
http://www.mining.com/web/shale-indu...ot-profitable/

Shale oil was financed from the junk bond market. It never made a profit. Chevron borrowed from the credit markets to pay stock dividends. Oil is headed up in price but, that just means that everything else is headed down from the higher cost of the master resource.

[Danny B]

More bumps in the road

Things are looking really bad in the Middle-East. Dunno when they are going to blow up.
Trump, unfortunately, is threatening Europe if they don't toe the line at isolating Russia.
"Der Spiegel (May 12) wrote “Clever resistance is necessary, as sad and absurd as that may sound. Resistance against America.”

At the time of Trump’s announcement, former Fox News staffer and US Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell tweeted:

“As @realDonaldTrump said, US sanctions will target critical sectors of Iran’s economy. German companies doing business in Iran should wind down operations immediately.”

That dictatorial command might seem good international diplomacy to Fox News fans, but was taken correctly by Chancellor Angela Merkel and most Germans as an insult to their leaders, industry, sovereignty and nation."
"Trump is resolving for Europeans one nagging question: “Can Trump be trusted?” As it stands the answer is NO, Trump cannot be trusted. And since Donald J. Trump is president of the United States and represents it, it translates to the United States cannot be trusted."
" A sort of “mini-Axis” could evolve based, for now, solely on the sanction issues, but having the potential to enlarge into a full-Axis as more destructive maneuvers by Trump catapults most of the developed world (West and East) to form stronger ties and alliances with each other despite their preexisting differences (“the enemy of my enemy is my friend”). One Axis foreseeable is: EU-Russia-China vs. US-Israel-Saudi Arabia."
https://www.globalresearch.ca/trump-...acting/5640296
It didn't have to be this way but, that's how the world sees things.
https://nationalvanguard.org/2018/05...-lobby-a-list/

Bonds,
"That will break the back of emerging market debt, and probably the European banking system.

Keep in mind that the USA took the bad loans out of the banks and stuffed them in Freddie and Fannie. ....... The banking crisis just never ends. That combined with Draghi leaving next year means that and any halt to QE by the ECB will leave marginal governments unable to sell their new debt."
"I am continually called throughout Europe because they know this is just a waiting game. I do not think the solution will be one that anyone is willing to talk about without blood pouring from the ticker-tape."
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/m...l-or-adjusted/

"But Monday's action shows what may be in store for bond traders after ECB policy maker Francois Villeroy de Galhau told Bloomberg News that he expects bond purchases to end this year and an interest-rate increase could follow "
Maybe, they'll do like the Japanese and talk about raising rates year after year.
https://www.bloombergquint.com/view/...pse#gs.L=_Q1_A
Feces-for-brains politicians believe that; if they raise interest rates on sovereign bonds, investors will flock to buy them.
So, they can't cut back on bond purchases but, they are going to do it.

Kunstler, "One way or another, though, the Deep State is determined to drive Trump from office. In the final rounds of this struggle, Trump might conceivably undertake a sudden swamp-draining operation: the firing of a great many politicized Intelligence Community officers, especially the ones legally culpable for leaking classified information to media — another area that Mr. Mueller could also shine a light on. The colossal security apparatus of this country — especially the fairly new giant NSA — has become a monster eating America. Somebody needs to literally cut it down to size. Perhaps that’s the Deep State’s main motive in moving heaven and earth to dump Trump.

When they do, of course, they are liable to foment an insurrection every bit as ugly as the dust-up that followed the shelling of Fort Sumter. Trump, whatever you think of him — and I’ve never been a fan, to put it mildly — was elected for a reason: the ongoing economic collapse of the nation, and the suffering of a public without incomes or purposeful employment. That part of the common weal is liable to completely whirl down the drain later this year in something like a currency crisis or a depressionary market meltdown engineered by yet another Deep State player, the Federal Reserve. That and the ejection of Trump could coincide with disastrous results."
A Monster Eating the Nation - Kunstler

The petro-yuan system might not be all the great but, a lot of international players will do anything to bring about the demise of the dollar.
https://www.rt.com/business/426637-c...il-trade-iran/
Mike King on income tax, http://tomatobubble.com/tax_central_bank_scams.html

5/16 Many forces are in place that could keep pushing rates even higher – CNBC
5/16 German economy stumbles, Europe suffers setback in growth – Bloomberg
5/16 China to blame for millions of lost U.S. manufacturing jobs – MarketWatch
No kidding. When did they figure that out?
5/16 Global synchronous recovery collapses as Japanese GDP plunges – Zero Hedge
5/15 Bond traders get a peek at the apocalypse – Bloomberg
5/15 Stocks and Treasuries are selling off – CNBC

5/15 India bonds hit near 33-mth low, rupee weakest in 16 months – Nasdaq

[Danny B]

Bankers, politicians,,, all sinners, no saints

Winston Churchill made it clear that WW II was started for the bankers. Why?
"The debt-to-GDP ratio hit its all-time record of 113% by war's end. Debt was at $241.86 billion in 1946, about $2.87 trillion in current dollars. Unlike after World War I, the US never really tried to pay down much of the debt it incurred during World War II"
Eisenhower warned against letting the military-industrial get control. But, war was so profitable, they just wouldn't let it go. The war industries had no intention of just fading away. The bankers had no intention of letting go of a cash-cow. America had it's Bretton-Woods unlimited credit card and, it was going to SPEND.
The Gulf of Tonkin (non) incident kicked off a new war that was far more profitable than the Korean war.
LBJ kicked off the "Great Society" to buy lots of votes. The mid-60s saw the inception of the warfare-welfare state,,,, all financed by the Bretton Woods credit card. By 1971, this had broken the golden link that had been designed to keep currency expansion in check.

Some judicious arm-twisting by Pox Americana created new life for the dollar and further embedded the (petro) dollar as the reserve currency. This lead to even more wars for resources and power. Pox Americana was playing whack-a-mole slapping down every threat to dollar hegemony.
War and resource theft was the name of the game.

War was great for the debt it produced. U.S. wars lately haven't produced much profit. The American public is strip-mined to finance them. We haven't been able to pay up so, the cost of war has been put on our tab for future generations to pay off.

Where did this all start? Who bears responsibility? There are 2 candidates for ultimate responsibility. Politicians and bankers.
"After all, it was bankers (backed by mainstream economists) that lobbied most successfully (both in the UK, the US and the EU) for laissez faire in the 1960s and ‘70s: the deregulation of credit creation, and for the lifting of controls over interest rates and for cross-border capital mobility. (Duncan Needham, 2014). By bribing and intimidating the political class, most notably in the US, financiers achieved, and still enjoy, self-regulating, global markets in finance."

"After the Great Financial Crisis of 2007-9, it was the finance sector that lobbied politicians into bailing out the private financial system. The system was on the brink of collapse, with the very real threat that hundreds of millions of deposit-holders would not be able to withdraw funds from their banks in the event of systemic failure. Bailouts of individual banks (and other institutions including insurance companies) were both inevitable and, given the circumstances, right. After the Fed bailout, Wall St. bullied and blackmailed the US Congress and demanded a further $700 billion in bailout funds “

" (According to Reuters, the financial sector spent $2 billion on political activity from the beginning of 2015 to the end of 2016, including $1.2 billion in campaign contributions – more than twice the amount given by any other business sector, according to the study from Americans for Financial Reform. That works out to $3.7 million per member of Congress and is the most ever tracked by the group, which analysed spending data going back to 1990.)"
"So I repeat my point: global bankers and financiers (including those overseeing trillion-dollar Asset Management Funds) can be blamed for the rise of populist and fascist political parties after the Great Financial Crisis."
https://rethinkingeconomicsnorge.com...e-the-bankers/

OK, so, Glass-Steagal took our savings from the control of the bankers.
Graham-Leachy-Bliley gave our savings back to the bankers. Who voted yes for Graham Leachy?
Here are the names right here, https://www.senate.gov/legislative/L...n=1&vote=00354
It was close to unanimous. All those millions and billions for bribes worked magic. Don't forget the revolving door from Wall Street to the District of corruption. Vote "correctly and, you'll never be out of a job.
Graham-Leachy gave all your savings to the bankers to "invest". The big banks all do speculation in commodities and real estate. Since they have all of YOUR money, they can buy up everything. Then, when you need to buy something,,,, you buy it from a banker. They use your money to front-run EVERYTHING.
Not only that, they sweep all accounts every night and take "non-working" money and, put it to work. Since they don't pay interest on savings, the money works for the bank alone.

So, the banks were going to crash in 2007 because lack of money. They received $trillions when all was said and done.
TODAY, the banks are in a huge battle to get deposits. What happened to the hundreds of $billions of depositor money they were speculating with?
What happened to the sweep money?

The IRS and FED produced a Star Trek vid showing that a world falls into total chaos if they don't have taxes and a central bank. Hard to believe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxU6n4pAnrU
Armstrong, naturally, is an apologist for the banks.
"the solution is a cryptocurrency to eliminate central banks and the creation of money by lending. That is so impractical it just shows the lunacy of it all. If you stop the creation of money by lending, do you realize property values would crash? We would be back to the Dark Ages "

" All pension funds would be wiped out. The savings accounts would not be there for probably 80%+ of banks would close if not 100%. To suggest that the solution is the end of central banks and bank lending, you are talking about blood in the streets. The riots would be incredible if not revolution. "
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/w...banks-survive/
You get the idea. Our very survival depends depends on the banking system. The fact is; the survival of the banking system depends on those who create wealth. The parasite must convince the host to continue to produce. THAT is why bankers go catatonic at the mention of barter.

Armstrong preaches about destruction of the economy by too LITTLE currency creation.
No where does he write about the destruction of the economy by too MUCH currency creation.
We are at the point where all the previous currency creation is starting to blow up. The State is trying to suck out more blood regardless of consequences.
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/w...-for-30-years/
We are at a point where the system can not just be reset.
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/w...-out-all-debt/

Graham-Leachy gave all our money to the bankers. Apparently, it has run out. Apparently, the TARP money has run out. The FED claims to have started QT, withdrawing money from the economy. OTHER is buying up all the Treasury bonds to keep U.S. GOV from going off a cliff. Foreign capital flows are supporting private markets. Nobody will touch sovereign debt.
Just the same, the blob-State wants to make sure that their retirement is secure.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...ension-problem
A great deal of the money (debt) supply is leveraged consumer debt. The consumer is defaulting and deflating the money supply.
5/15 Subprime auto loan default rates above financial crisis levels – Zero Hedge
5/15 Millennials feeling impact of higher interest rates spending less – Globe & Mail
5/15 America’s worst long-term challenges: #1- debt – Sovereign Man
5/15 Shoppers desert UK High Streets, putting more jobs at risk – Guardian

[Danny B]

New day,,, faster BS flow

Central banks were originally created to finance wars for the State / banks. The Bretton Woods credit card allowed the FED to do a real bang-up job of war-making. The State, being much like other organized-crime groups, tends to push the most ruthless people to the top. The ruthless people push things to the limit,,, including the economy. The criminals eventually push things too far and, get either a collapse or a revolution. How far is too far?
Fifth of UK population now in poverty amid worst decline for children
Child poverty in Britain 'set to soar to new record' | Society |
MPs of the Public Accounts Committee warned on Thursday that Britain’s armed forces could be up to £21 billion (around US$28.5 billion at the current GBP/USD exchange rate) short of funds
And the justification, Ex-UK Military Chief: Boost Defense Budget to Protect 'Homeland' From Russia

Pax Romani expanded until it went bankrupt.
Pax Britannia expanded until it over-reached and went bankrupt.
The London bankers saddled up America to be the new world conquerer.
With $21 trillion in State debt, our time is not far off. How in the world did the DoD manage to misplace $21 trillion and not create a financial problem,, so far?
Pox Americana blindly marches on threatening new wars on a half dozen fronts. Regardless of what the FED claims, the State is still wildly printing new money.

"These domestic sources of buying are led by that juggernaut of funding known in the Treasury reports as "other". Not domestic banks, not domestic pensions, not insurers, not state or local governments...no it's mutual funds assisting the massive bid from "other", loading up like never before on US Treasury debt and saving America from interest rate Armageddon."
Regardless the BLICS efforts, the remainder of foreigners have eschewed US debt to such a degree that foreign holdings as a whole have essentially stalled since the Fed ceased QE. This has left the domestic sources to do nearly all the buying."
https://econimica.blogspot.com/2018/...reviewing.html
The FED bought dollar confidence by doing QE under the table. It also raised rates to attract foreign capital. Just the same, there aren't enough inflows to sovereign debt. Uncle Sam is going broke.

Avoiding the 'Q" word.
"Japan gov't debt hits record-high Y1,087 tril at end of March"
"The figure rose 16.25 trillion yen from a year earlier. Debt per capita stood at 8.60 million yen"
They can say,,, 1,087 trillion but, they won't say,,, quadrillion.

Argentina shows us that everything is speeding up.
"The speed by which the EM boom has faltered offers a warning to all. After all, it was only weeks ago that EM prospects were viewed as exceptionally bullish. And with "money" flooding into "developing" markets, it was too easy to disregard structural vulnerabilities and mounting risks. As always, there was ample "hot money" originating from leveraged "carry trades," derivatives and the leveraged speculating community more generally. But these days, with the broad menu of available hot international ETF products, it has never been so easy for retail "money" to jump aboard the EM boom cycle. Jump they did,"

"The Bubble inevitably faltered (2001/2002), and "hot money," as it does, raced for the exits. There were no buyers, no liquidity and meager real wealth to make good on all the debt that had been extended. It was a horrendous collapse and tragedy for the Argentine people, for which they're still suffering some 17 years later. "
"Turkey, another recent EM "darling," saw its currency drop another 2% this week, boosting its two-week decline to 6.3% and y-t-d losses to 12.0%."
" It took just 43 days for China's average yield to rise from 7% to 8%, after having taken more than four months for the move from 6% to 7%."
"A hundred years ago, at about the same time that the Titanic hit the iceberg, Argentina was among the 10 richest countries in the world. Today it ranks 87th. In all, it has defaulted on its debt eight times, suffered hyperinflation twice, and gone through 20 IMF-supported economic programmes in 60 years. The most brutal of these ended in 2001, triggering a $100bn default and crushing devaluation."
"Emerging markets added on $7.7 trillion in new debt last year,"
https://creditbubblebulletin.blogspo...uilibrium.html

5/13 Fed’s Bullard says no more rate hikes needed – Reuters
Ahh yes, but, what does Powell say?
5/12 US Postal Service lost $1.3 billion in fiscal Q2 – 24/7 Wall Street
That's chump-change for the DoD.

[Danny B]

Grand chessboard and , useless sanctions

Pre- WW II, Imperial Japan was gobbling up territory that Great Britain considered to be theirs. British bankers made a lot of money trading with China, et al. At the same time, Great Britain was losing out to competition from Germany. France committed the first invasion of WW II. Soon, everybody was in it. The British knew that they couldn't win and had to work very hard to drag America into the fight. Roosevelt blockaded Japan to get them to attack. "They" hoped that an attack from Japan would finally overcome American resistance to entering the war. It was hoped that America could be dragged into Europe once it was engaged in the Pacific.

The same thing is happening again but, with different players. China is creating an Eastern "Marshall Plan" with their new Belt & Road initiative. Iran is to be a central hub.
https://www.axios.com/china-is-makin...3139f1f57.html
Pox Americana is working against China by cutting off Iran.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...-money-network
"to develop its $430 billion economy, Iran is being forced to rely on political allies in the east. Trade with China has more than doubled since 2006, to $28 billion. The biggest chunk of Iran’s oil exports go to China, about $11 billion a year at current prices."
"China is “already the winner,’’ Dina Esfandiary, a fellow at the Centre for Science and Security Studies at King’s College in London, told Bloomberg. "Iran has slowly abandoned the idea of being open to the West. The Chinese have been in Iran for the past 30 years. They have the contacts, the guys on the ground, the links to the local banks.’"

And they’re more willing to defy U.S. pressure as Trump slaps sanctions back on.
In short, the more Trump pushes Iran - and the broader middle-eastern region - to comply with the will of Israel and Saudi Arabia, the closer Iran will get with China whose influence in the middle-east, where it is ideologically aligned with Russia, will only grow..."
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-...n-nuclear-deal

The neocons, hawks and nut cases think that they can block the Belt & Road initiative. I seriously doubt it. Pox Americana has just made TOO many enemies. The hawks have surrounded Russia with missile bases. They rattle sabers in the direction of Iran.
The Ultimate Nightmare: Why Bombing Iran Would Be a Disaster
Why war with Iran would spell disaster | Iran | Al Jazeera
An attack on Iran would be a disaster for Israel - Haaretz - IsraelNews
Regime Change in Iran Would Be a Disaster for Everyone – Foreign
Wilkerson: Invasion Of Iran A 'Disaster That Would Make Iraq Pale In comparison.

There is really nothing that can be done with Iran. They have over 1/4 million missiles,,, most of them heavy ordinance. An attack on Iran would unleash the Hezbollah from Lebanon. NOTHING would stop them. Iran would make sure that not one barrel of oil left Saudi, Iran and UAE.
So, the West tries to get a proxy war going with Iran to stop Russia. But, China is backing Iran also. China said that they would protect Iran.
China is sending subtle hints of their intentions.
China flies fighters and bombers around Taiwan ... - Business Insider UK

The sanctions just push Iran and others to get even more involved in the Asian investment and infrastructure bank. Iran has had many years to prepare for these sanctions. Pox Americana has also created great solidarity in Russia. The sanctions will hurt Iran but, they won't stop them.

Oil is starting to rise quite a bit in price. This will hurt oil importers worldwide. Who will it help? Who will the money be flowing to?
https://sputniknews.com/russia/20180...-profits-rise/
So, we threaten Iran when we can not sanely do anything against it. That raises the price of oil so, we send more of our money to Russia.
At historic interest rates, America will soon be paying $1 trillion a year in interest payments. China, on the other hand is NOT loaded with this kind of debt.

[Danny B]

Capital flight = RE bubble

5/11 Third of British homeowners priced out of their own property – Independent
Cheap credit fuels house prices rising 200 times faster than income .Australia
AND
Capital flight from Saudi Arabia has contributed to the sizeable decline in official reserves.
Why China Lost About $3.8 Trillion To Capital Flight In The Last Decade
Jan 1, 2018 China expert Anne Stevenson-Yang warns capital flight to intensify ...
Capital Flight and the Latin American Debt Crisis | Economic Policy .

Globalism does not work because capital moves instantly and, people do not. The price of a house must be relative to the wages in the same area. When the hot money floods in, a lot of people get priced (and taxed) out of a house.

"Armstrong, All these politicians imposing laws to curtail real estate are just brain-dead. This is the one area you do not mess with."
Very interesting article, https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/a...ion-deflation/
This is pretty stupid. Greenspan bubbled up RE to the moon. FED GOV actually penalized bankers who did not do enough liar-loans. Our socialist-in-chief wanted to raise the rate of home ownership way up. What did the feces-for-brains think would happen? "They" wanted to jack up the economy by increasing RE and, the resulting wealth effect. Everybody used their home for an ATM.
The banks made their fees and, TARP fixed everything.

US housing prices are rising twice as fast as wages - New York Post
The hot money flows to where it gets the best return. This is the rule until a downturn. Then, the hot money flows to where it gets the best protection. The U.S. currency has never been cancelled. The U.S. doesn't report earnings to foreign States. Capital flows to the States with the strongest property rights.
The dollar will keep rising.

5/10 Here’s what $70 oil means for the world economy – Bloomberg
5/11 Get ready for $100 a barrel oil and the conflict it represents – CNBC
"Trump has promised to enact the "highest level of economic sanctions" against Iran, which would cut off the U.S. market from its oil exports. "
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/10/oil-...t-watcher.html
$100 oil would put the brakes on a lot of things. Wait and see.

[Danny B]

Mentally prepared

So, there are 2 people and a 100 bots reading this thread.
I'm fascinated by history and, writing this thread entails reading a lot of history.. I'm not discouraged. I see SO much participation in the American ruling class thread, I thought that there would be more contributors.
A fellow FE researcher said that reading one of my posts here was like reading a PHD dissertation. Dunno, I thought that this stuff was pretty straightforward.
As far as the doom & gloom stuff, nobody is going to fall over dead. Times will be tough. Yes, the criminals will kill quite a few people. Those people who are mentally prepared will fare much better. There is a huge difference between being worried and being concerned. Just go through life and keep a weather eye out so that you aren't taken by surprise if the banks close.
The majority of people will panic because they are caught flat-footed. Things won't be bad until people make them bad.

[Danny B]

Blob State consumes Europe,,, too much money in the wrong places

For those of you living in the Eurozone, I can't stress it enough that you must become preppers. Especially those of you living in German, French, or Swedish cities. The Euro has been recognised as a "dead man walking". The French are most at risk because the State spends 57% of the GDP. When the bond market collapses, the persons who have the LEAST amount of a stake in French society will cause the most destruction. The muzzies will burn the place down. They already torch about 40,000 cars a year. What will they do when the dole stops?
We all wonder when. Look at how fast the Argentine crisis unfolded. No telling how fast the eurozone will unravel.

Putin REALLY wants some kind of solidarity with Western Europe but, he is dumping the Euro.
Putin says he wants to break with the dollar but dumps euros instead | Gold Anti-Trust Action Committee
5/11 Putin: Whole world sees ‘dangerous dollar monopoly’ – Zero Hedge
This is nothing new. Don't worry. The shiny new SDR will take over.
5/10 Good news: Public union membership about to dive – Mish Abandon ALL hope. If the money people just CAN'T recognise that would-be consumers must have a decent wage to do any actual consumption, the fall down will never stop until it hits a very hard bottom.

5/11 Europe, again humiliated by Trump, struggles to protect its interests – NYT
That giant sucking sound is the sound of capital leaving Europe. The European blob state of bureaucrats is far too heavy of a load for the productive economy to carry.
5/11 Eurosceptic, anti-immigration Five-Star and Lega have coalition green light – Mish
5 Star wants to just dump the onerous debt. Italian banks are extremely weak. 5 Star will do well in elections and cause even more capital flight.
5/11 EMP Commission warns of year-long blackout and massive death toll – SHTFPlan
The fear of terrorists is wearing off in spite of all the attacks like Sandy Hook. An EMP attack is like terrorism. You just don't see it coming and,,, you should be fearful all the time. Your good, old Uncle Sam will protect you.

Armstrong, "The idea that the Fed can stimulate the economy by handing banks more money is the most stupid idea I have ever heard."
The FED had to pump money into the upper loop. Pumping it into the lower loop would let us stop working.
"Then Congress instructed the Fed to buy their debt for World War I and never restored the design of the Fed. So now the Fed buys only government paper "
How else do you expect the Welfare-warfare state to exist?

"I have stated also many times that the domestic money supply of any nation can be increased and decreased by international capital flows. If the Chinese come and buy a piece of real estate, they bring in money for a dead asset. The seller now has money that did not exit domestically before the sale. If two Canadian sell and buy a home, nothing changes domestically. But a foreign buyer must import the cash to buy the home and thereby the available cash domestically increases with the state doing nothing"
The hot money coming into Vancouver is a good example.

"You can create all the money you want, but if the banks will not lend and consumers will not borrow and prefer to hoard because they do not trust the future, you will be in a deflationary cycle."
The State was hoping to create a wage-price spiral to lift the heavy burden of paying back the bond market. But, since there was no wage inflation,,, there was no spiral. We have monetary inflation with deflation of almost everything else.
"This is why I have made it clear many times. The 2007-2009 Crash was far more devastating than the numbers show because real estate dropped and people felt that they lost their wealth. This is why liquidity remains about 50% of 2007 level"
"All these politicians imposing laws to curtail real estate are just brain-dead. This is the one area you do not mess with."
Very interesting article, https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/a...ion-deflation/

The banks tripped over each other in their haste to loan money to people who could not pay it back. They inflated the debt load but, wages were never inflated.

[Danny B]

Long term viability doesn't look so good

Yes, carry on, please. I read most of your posts on this thread. Learned a lot. Cannot imagine how you research and compose such volume. I don't "buy" everything but certainly appreciate the opinions.

This has definitely been a learning experience for me too. My 20 minutes of college didn't give me any background in economics. Yes, I cover a lot of "volume". Out of necessity, I have to bring in a LOT of history.
Human nature remains the same but, our destructive capacity is rapidly growing.
Keep in mind that we are the last in our genus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwQWNpgdP6U
Home Erectus died out <100,000> years ago.
Modern man's ancestor Homo erectus became extinct '108,000 years earlier than previously thought' | Daily Mail Online
Neanderthal died out <35,000> years ago.
Our all-consuming complexity coupled with our astounding destructive capacity make us especially vulnerable to collapse. The coming pole flip and solar minimum will cause huge problems. At the same time, our solar system is moving out of galactic dust clouds that protected us from a lot of cosmic radiation. We could join Neanderthal and all the rest.

[bistander]

Thanks

I'm not getting any feedback on this thread. Does this stuff need more explanation? Can you get a reasonably good idea of your future financial situation? I seem to be writing on an infinite blank wall. Oh well,,,, carry on.
...

Yes, carry on, please. I read most of your posts on this thread. Learned a lot. Cannot imagine how you research and compose such volume. I don't "buy" everything but certainly appreciate the opinions.

Regards,

bi

[wayne.ct]

You are full of crap (and meat and bones - LOL)

Hey Danny, that joke is lame, I know, but take a deep breath and let it go! Look here. I keep coming back to read your posts so you have at least one regular reader. Don't give up on us! I read your post where you complain that you are discouraged because you don't get much feedback. It looks like "Low Joe" and I are the only two readers you got. Well he reads your posts and I appreciate your effort. You get at least "some" pleasure from posting or you would have quit a long time ago. So as long as you feel up to it and enjoy the process, keep up the good work.

I do think you beat up on the Jews unnecessarily. Every group has its saints and sinners. When I read "Jews" I insert "some" because I know you mean some Jews and not all. There are bad apples in every bushel. But I honestly don't read every word from Armstrong or Tyler or half of everything else you read. It would be interesting to me up to a point but I would be overwhelmed and for what purpose? I have enough other things to think about and do. I think you may have a lot of followers that just don't have a clue what to say to you. You are way above their heads. They are in a continuous state of panic and discouragement. They are overwhelmed and spend most of their time "putting bread on the table."

Anyway, lighten up and I hope you keep going.

The economy is still a huge operation. The Titanic could not turn on a dime and it will be some time still for things to collapse as predicted by the doom and gloom crowd. The facts are true and obvious to a small percent in both the upper and lower loop but the majority don't understand and just live from day to day or paycheck to paycheck. Things are accelerating in a downward direction in my view. I am still on the lookout for a trigger that can and will change the mass psychology.

I think the interest rate may be the trigger.

It can easily start a chain reaction and contagion. Let's say the FED follows through and raises the interest rate to 3 percent. Eventually they will go all Volcker, but I think 3 percent would be a step along the way. The sheep would at that point still believe the lies about "safety" and the banks and corporations, being "less safe" would follow along blindly and expect "their" paper to earn 3+ percent. Retail prices would be inflated to "pay" the price of debt. Each person and corporation, acting independently, would see the shift in prices through their conventional glasses and act in self preservation. The wheels would come off rather quickly over the course of a few weeks.

It has to do with perception, of course. As a retail customer, my cost of living is going up, my discretionary income is evaporating. My paper money is dear and I see price inflation everywhere I look. On the one hand I see inflation but the "money" has become expensive. (and THAT is deflation) I am talking about things from an American perspective. The effect on the ROW and EM and their perspective will be a bit different. I won't harp on that.

The banks and corporations will have a slightly different perspective. They will see things from a legal/accounting/market forces POV. Their challenge will initially be to balance "all" the factors and many will either bulk up their debt or engage in fraud. They are already trapped but don't seem to know it. They will fail a few at a time and the market volatility will be alarming. Few will see the connection but contagion will be awesome to behold. I remember when corporate failures were headline news. What would it be like to have not one Enron every three months but a new Enron every week and that week after week? Daily? It's only a matter of time.

I gotta go. See ya!