Monthly Archives: April 2018

Apr 24 2018

The Failure of Human Judgment


Armstrong Economics Blog/Basic Concepts

Re-Posted Apr 24, 2018 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: You have said it is a waste of time to try to persuade a government to act in advance of a crisis. Nobody seems to even come close to you with experience and contacts. Still, do you think it is possible to ever change that reality?

PL

ANSWER: Sadly no. The only possible way to change it would be to eliminate career politicians and people would serve one term as originally intended. People make a judgment in the own self-interest. Then you have the problem of human judgment. The majority is always wrong in markets as I have stated many times. But that decision-making process is wrong in so many other fields that also require a judgment.

The author of Harry Potter, JK Rowling, told her readers on Twitter that she received “loads” of rejections before she finally got published. She said she was rejected 11 times before someone took a chance on her. This is the fate of human judgment in so many fields far too often because people also judge others by themselves. Some women were angry that I dared to say that not all prostitutes were forced. They judge others by themselves. There are people who have always slept around and others who value celibacy. We are all not the same. Likewise, Goldbugs cannot accept that gold is not money because that is their view and the rest of the world is wrong.

When you judge others by yourself, you will never arrive at an objective decision. This is why the majority will ALWAYS be wrong in just about anything that requires human judgment. So eleven publishers rejected Harry Potter. What does that say about human judgment?

Apr 24 2018

Rand Paul Discusses His Change in Support for Mike Pompeo…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on April 24, 2018 by

Good honest explanation by Senator Rand Paul and why he changed his position on supporting Mike Pompeo for Secretary of State.

Apr 23 2018

Too Much Winning – Democrats Pin Hopes On Bloomberg Travel Fail…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on April 23, 2018 by

::with Russian voice:: Comrades, we are almost winning too much.  Almost.  While we recruit Comrade Kanye West to our mission, American narrative engineers pinned remaining hopes on Comrade Trump 2013 visit to mother Moscow; and with visit to beautiful city for beautiful women of Universe pageant.

But seriously, if anyone paid attention to the latest hopes of the #Resistance, their cause du jour circled around discovering proof for the vast Russian conspiracy/collusion narrative through Bloomberg purchasing flight logs to determine validity to Clinton-Steele Dossier.  [More on that below] The effort is so pathetic it would be laughable if Trump Derangement Syndrome wasn’t actually a real thing.

While the Moonbats are chasing red flight dots… the Trump administration leveraged Rand Paul to bend the knee on confirming Mike Pompeo for Secretary of State; and the larger Senate ‘Resist-We-Much’ movement collapsed along with him… Even Corker (insert loud Russian laughter here).

Meanwhile, POTUS Trump sends DAG Rod Rosenstein a magnificent set of Presidential Cufflinks for his first ever appearance before the U.S. Supreme Court.  Apparently, comrade Rosenstein’s fears of dismissal were greatly exaggerated by American Pravda, or something….  No, seriously, Mr. Rosenstein is a happy camper and the deconstruction of the professional political deep state continues unabated.  Moar, winning.

… And if that’s not enough to drive the Moonbats to absurd levels of visible nuttery….

French President Emmanuel Macron and Bridget Macron arrive for a wonderful State Visit with President Trump and First-Lady Melania Trump and things are going swimmingly…  Yes, France on team Trump.  Liberals are going bananas.

President Macron brings with him a gift, offering to President Donald Trump and the American people an oak sapling taken from Bellau Wood, about 60 miles northeast of Paris in the Champagne region. The site is where a famous World War One battle took place, where the U.S. Marine Corps repelled a German offensive in the final year of the conflict almost exactly a century ago.

The sapling grew close to the so-called “Devil Dog” fountain, a spot that has become legendary within Marines ranks. It is where U.S. soldiers are said to have gathered after the battle. The “dog” in the fountain’s name refers to its spout, which resembles the head of a bull mastiff. But the nickname also stems from the German moniker “Teufelhunden”, or “devil dogs”. That term is said to have been used by the Germans to describe the U.S. Marines due to the ferocity with which the Americans fought.

As a consequence, “Devil Dog” soon became a common nickname for U.S. Marines.  President Trump and President Macron planted the sapling on the South Lawn just prior to departing for dinner at Mount Vernon with Melania and Bridget.

Cool stuff.

Now, about that Bloomberg nonsense.

Whoopsie.  Apparently Narrative Engineers (ie. Moonbat journalists) favor Arts and Humanities over STEM and Math studies…

Oh, wait… they updated:

Apr 23 2018

Tennessee Waffle House Shooter, Travis Reinking, Captured…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on April 23, 2018 by

2:10 p.m. – Authorities say they have arrested a man suspected of storming a Waffle House restaurant in Nashville and fatally shooting four people with an assault rifle.

Authorities announced that 29-year-old Travis Reinking, was taken into custody Monday. Other details were not immediately available. (Via AP)

Apr 23 2018

Toronto Terror – Van Targets Pedestrian Sidewalk, Eight to Ten Victim…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on April 23, 2018 by

Caution on this story. Toronto is the epicenter of political correctness. If the incident is terror related the suspect will not be named and the motive will be clouded in mystery. [Cultural Marxism is runs amok in Toronto]

A white rental van mounted the sidewalk in downtown Toronto, Canada and appeared to be intentionally targeting pedestrians.  At least eight to ten pedestrians have been struck by a the van in north Toronto.  There are fatalities.

Police initially say the driver struck the crowd at Yonge Street and Finch Avenue East in downtown Toronto.  The driver fled the scene in the vehicle but has been captured by police.

Apr 23 2018

Nicaragua Protests Over the Collapse of Social Security


Armstrong Economics Blog/Civil Unrest

Re-Posted Apr 23, 2018 by Martin Armstrong

At least 10 people have died in Nicaragua during this week’s violent protests over the government’s planned changes to the social security system. Nicaraguans began protesting on Wednesday against measures that increase worker contributions and lower pensions. The economics of Marxism has completely failed and the decline in the birthrates spells doom for most pension models.

This has been a direct confrontation with Ortega, a former Marxist guerrilla who has had to face the reality of Marxism as did Russia and China. Protestors in Managua threw rocks and set fires in unrest that started Wednesday, and police responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. Late on Saturday, local media stated that a reporter was shot and killed during a live broadcast from Bluefields, a town on Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast that has been hit by the violence.

This is the CIVIL UNREST that will rise up around the West as socialism continues to collapse. The taxes must rise and the benefits must decline and even that will not keep the social systems in place for more than two years. We will have to face a complete revision of the monetary system. How that is approached will determine if we have violent confrontations with government and the rich are dragged from their homes and hanged as has so often taken place in the past.

Apr 23 2018

Europe v America


Armstrong Economics Blog/Banking Crisis

Re-Posted Apr 23, 2018 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: Why is Europe still in an economic crisis among its banks while the US banks are obviously beyond the crisis days of 2008-2009?

Thank you for your insight.

HT

ANSWER: The bad loans in the states were really dumped into Freddie Mac, is a public government-sponsored enterprise created in 1970 to expand the secondary market for mortgages. The main difference between Fannie and Freddie boils down to who they buy mortgages from. Fannie Mae primarily purchases mortgage loans from commercial banks, while Freddie Mac primarily buys mortgages from smaller banks that are often called “thrift” banks.

The bad real estate loans were stuffed into Fannie and Freddie so the bad debt was not in the banks. In Europe, the bad loans are still on the books of the banks. Hence, the European banking crisis was not been addressed and this is the primary difference between American v Europe.

Apr 23 2018

What’s Wrong with the Internet


Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics

Re-Posted Apr 23, 2018 by Martin Armstrong

While the Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made the admission during questioning on Capitol Hill Wednesday that his personal data was in the Cambridge Analytica leak, there is something seriously wrong with the entire scheme of the internet which should be outlawed right now. Facebook, Microsoft and everyone else came up with the whole idea that they had the right to collect your personal information and sell it to advertisers to make money. You cannot even buy a computer to use as a quote screen because Microsoft wants to search that computer to see what you are looking at to sell to others. You are paying even for a Pro version of windows and it still does not allow you the block Microsoft.

In the office, we turned off our automatic updates to Windows 10 and discovered that two computers CRASHED within minutes and required reboots. That was Microsoft’s clever way of getting into your computer one way or another. If you have Windows 7 – cherish it. Never let it go.

If you are willing to pay for a product, then you should have the right to ABSOLUTE privacy. This is a very seriously wrong business model that should be outlawed. Personal data is personal. It is not there for the reading pleasure of government or Mark Zuckerberg. Congress will do nothing to protect our privacy rights because they too enjoy profiling us for political purposes. We should not allow our personal data to be collected for sale or those of our children. It is time to demand respect for our right to privacy.

Apr 22 2018

French President Emmanuel Macron Pre-State Visit Briefing…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on April 22, 2018 by

French President Emmanuel Macron arrives in the United States tomorrow for the first official State Visit and State Dinner of the President Trump Administration.

In advance of the visit, the pontificating media ambassador to the DC swamp, foie gras Wallace, briefs President Macron on what horrible vulgarian affronts he may encounter:

.

A bit of background color – As noted in the interview, President Macron will bring with him a gift, offering to President Donald Trump and the American people, an oak sapling taken from Bellau Wood, about 60 miles northeast of Paris in the Champagne region.  The site is where a famous World War One battle took place, where the U.S. Marine Corps repelled a German offensive in the final year of the conflict almost exactly a century ago.

The sapling grew close to the so-called “Devil Dog” fountain, a spot that has become legendary within Marines ranks.  It is where U.S. soldiers are said to have gathered after the battle.  The “dog” in the fountain’s name refers to its spout, which resembles the head of a bull mastiff. But the nickname also stems from the German moniker “Teufelhunden”, or “devil dogs”.  That term is said to have been used by the Germans to describe the U.S. Marines due to the ferocity with which the Americans fought.

As a consequence, “Devil Dog” soon became a common nickname for U.S. Marines.

Part II:

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Apr 22 2018

Sunday Talks: Maria Bartiromo Interviews Ron DeSantis…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on April 22, 2018 by

Representative Ron DeSantis appears on Maria Bartiromo to discuss the referral of Andrew McCabe to federal prosecutors and the remaining characters within the FBI and DOJ who were involved in the weaponization of government for political operations.