Category Blogger Martin Armstrong

Jan 30 2026

Lab-Grown Meat Marketed to Children


Posted originally on Jan 30, 2026 by Martin Armstrong |  

Are we eating real, whole food? The USDA and FDA permit companies to sell barely consumable “food” filled with chemicals to the American public. Studies confirm that these processed foods often lead to health issues and have caused the nation to lead in the obesity epidemic. Prepare for the situation to worsen as lab-grown meat is now being marketed to children.

Lab-grown meat has been readily available for years, thanks in part to mega initiatives bankrolled by the likes of Bill Gates. You are the carbon that they wish to eliminate. “You will eat bugs,” as the infamous Klaus Schwab line goes, was merely the beginning of what the globalists, intent on ushering in the Great Reset, have planned for the masses. Food production is bad for the environment; therefore, people must resort to lab-created synthetic products.

Millions of children around the world subscribe to an online personality named Mr. Beast. He recently took his young audience for a tour of a $200 million plant run by Upside Foods that produces hundreds of thousands of pounds of fake meat. Mr. Beast (Jimmy Donaldson) explains to his young audience that “meat” grown from animal cells does not require slaughter. It requires less strain on the environment as water, land, and emissions are minimal. The online celebrity tells his young audience that it tastes as good as real meat, and strongly suggests normalizing lab-grown menu items.

Mr. Beast has partnered with the Rockefeller Foundation and has been called “the new Bill Gates.” The FDA and USDA has already provided Upside Food the authority to sell “cell-cultivated meat product” to the public. Mr. Beast’s role is peddling this fake food to children who are adaptable and more willing to accept new norms.

No one knows the health consequences of lab-grown meat on public health. The World Economic Forum insisted that the world must decrease its meat consumption. First, the WEF took an environmental, climate-change approach, but now it will claim that livestock consume too much water.

Bill Gates is a huge investor in this mechanism. Gates said all wealthy nations should switch to synthetic meat, buy up vast tracts of farmland, and invest in his own cultivated-meat business. The cultivated fake meat industry was valued at around $247 million in 2022, and it is expected to spike to $25 billion by 2030 – right on time for Agenda 2030. The Food Safety and Inspection Service has not determined how they will label these products; therefore, you may be eating pre-cancerous fake meat cells without your knowledge in the near future. What easier way to ensure these products end up in your refrigerator than to market them to impressionable children who do not understand the dangers?

Jan 30 2026

Cost of Living Rising Faster in Blue Cities


Posted originally on Jan 30, 2026 by Martin Armstrong |  

World Highest Standard of Living

Cycles are often systemic, predictable, and, as I have long argued, often the result of policy distortions interacting with underlying structural forces. The latest data showing where the cost of living is rising fastest in the United States is a textbook example of how centralized, urban-centric policies can create persistent price pressures and distort economic incentives.

According to a new study by Plasma, the cities where the cost of living is rising fastest are:

  1. New York City
  2. San Diego, California
  3. San Francisco, California
  4. Los Angeles, California
  5. Seattle, Washington
  6. Boston, Massachusetts
  7. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  8. San Jose, California
  9. Chicago, Illinois
  10. Baltimore, Maryland
Housing

All of these metros are either solidly Democratic blue or dominated by policies implemented by progressive leadership. Broader evidence shows higher costs in blue states and blue cities due to higher regulation, taxes, and constrained housing supply.

While red and purple cities also experience price pressures, the magnitude is markedly different. Berkley conducted a study to determine why costs rise rapidly in blue-driven areas. Data show blue stated and the cities within them exhibit higher cost structures compared to their red and purple counterparts, particularly in housing. Berkley noted that the trend of higher costs in blue states has been a 15-year trend in the making. “A combination of high demand for housing and restrictions on supply that lead to shortage drive high housing costs in blue states,” the study notes.

The study looks at  Regional Price Parities (RPP) data, produced by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) annually to determine national pricing levels. Each element of RPP, from housing, utilities, goods, and services, is distinctly higher in blue states. Utilities, as of 2023, were 45% more expensive in blue states, while housing jumped 52% higher than purple or red areas.

Blue states have greater levels of regulation-driven housing shortages. “Environmental regulations and policies promoting clean energy likely play a role,” the study admits. Zoning restrictions have prevented blue areas from creating enough housing to meet demand.

Urban centers like New York, San Francisco, and Boston are global magnets for capital and labor. The concentration of finance, tech, and high-skill jobs amplifies price pressure. Higher demand leads to higher costs, which leads higher wage demands and overall price levels. But policies will not permit the market to operate freely, and areas are reserved for government-approved housing. Government makes it increasingly difficult to build housing that they cannot control and monitor. Interventions like rent controls and mandates further distorts supply.

These areas also have massive budget shortfalls. New York City’s self-proclaimed socialist mayor Mamdani admitted that high earners will need to pay more in taxes to meet budget deficits. That plan has never worked and only successfully leads to capital flight. The drastic difference in pricing between blue and red or purple cities and states shows how policy and policed markets can distort pricing.

Jan 30 2026

Physical Bank Branches Disappearing – Relationship Banking is Dead


Posted originally on Jan 30, 2026 by Martin Armstrong |  

bankteller

Physical bank branches are disappearing along with relationship banking. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) files state that the US lost a net total of 339 bank branches in December 2025. The S&P Global and Federal Reserve found that the US has been losing, on average, 1,600 bank branches per year.

Santander announced that it would be shuttering 44 branches in Q1 2026, noting a move toward digital banking. TD Bank plans to close 51 branches across 13 states as it aims to cut 10% of its brick-and-mortar locations. JPMorgan Chase announced 66 branch closures in late 2025. US Bank, Wells Fargo, PNC, Bank of America, Citizens Bank, Flagstar, and every other major banking chain are moving away from physical banking as people favor online convenience, and the government favors online monitoring.

Digital banking will continue to grow. Branches will continue to close. But do not confuse a trend with a solution. Convenience is being sold as innovation, yet what is really happening is the consolidation of financial power and the reduction of public access points.

Relationship banking was built on human judgment. Transactional banking is built on algorithmic approval. This is something I have warned about for years.

Under relationship banking, they lent you money but monitored your business and ability to repay. This imposed some rational constraints. Under the new transactional banking model, the New York bankers sought to repeal Glass-Steagall, and they have transformed into brokers, packaged loans, and resold them. They no longer cared about the borrower, for the motive is how they can sell it.

Under relationship banking, your local banker knew who you were. They understood your business, your family, your reputation, and your history in the community. Loans were not always granted because a formula said yes. They were granted because character and long-term trust mattered. The system was decentralized in practice, even when imperfect. Now you are reduced to a data profile.

A banker could vouch for a person based on their relationship and push through loan approval. With transactional banking, a model can reject the loan, and that’s the end of the discussion. One is local, and the other is centralized.

As governments move toward tighter financial surveillance, digital currencies, and automated reporting, relationship banking becomes an obstacle. It introduces flexibility into a system that regulators want to be rigid.

Jan 30 2026

AFD Calls of Zelensky to Pay for Blowing Up Nord Stream


Posted originally on Jan 30, 2026 by Martin Armstrong |  

2026_01_29_20_48_49_Zelenskyy_Should_Pay_for_Blowing_Up_Nord_Stream_German_Co_Leader_of_the_AfD_S

Perhaps there is no greater example of how the EU elite couldn’t care less about the people who constantly support their hand-picked puppet Zelensky, yet turn a blind eye to his blowing up of Nord Stream. Every European leader who supports Zelensky should be thrown in prison for treason.  ONLY the AFD in Germany has stood for law and order and recently said:

“Zelenskyy Should Pay for Blowing Up Nord Stream”

Zelensky does not care for anyone but himself. He has destroyed German jobs to try to hurt Russia and does not care what he does to anyone else. Any European that supports Ukraine is a traitor to the people of Europe.

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From the outset, just 3 months into the war, I reported that Ukraine lost 100,000 soldiers. Some instantly accused me of put out Russian propaganda because they love to listen to the Neocon propaganda. It turns out that was classified information. Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the EU, had released a video and then edited it deleting that very information I reported at the request of Zelensky. All this is to hide the fact that Ukraine has been losing the war. With its armed forces down at least one-third in the first few months.

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There is absolutely NOTHING that Zelensky has said that has proven to be true. In Italy, he claimed Russians were capturing children and torturing them. This was another outrageous lie. That allegation vanished. He says whatever he can to get money. He could have just complied with the Belgrad and Minsk Agreements but he is determined to lead the world into war. Trump, according to sources, has told him he must surrender the Donbas to get security guarantees.

The US Pentagon has come out and even said that they CAN NOT independently verify what took place in Bucha. There is no way to verify anything in Bucha and there are videos that show people laying in the street pretending to be dead with no blood and then there are videos showing they get up when the camera passes.

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Ukraine_Crucifies_Man_Burns_Christian_Icons

I have videos that are too horrible to even post of Ukrainian taking captured Russian soldiers, crucifying them, and then burning them alive. Ukraine is the motherland of ethnic cleansing. That is why the CIA protected them because they were killing Russians.

Indepentent Neo Nazis

Anyone who thinks this I am Putin supporter, I will pay for your ticket to Ukraine and even buy you a gun. Go put your manipulated beliefs to the test.

Jan 29 2026

Potential Homebuyers Walking Away at Record Pace


Posted originally on Jan 29, 2026 by Martin Armstrong |  

TIME to Buy Time to Sell

We are witnessing an unmistakable shift in the US housing market, not a bubble pop like 2008, but a market regime change characterized by buyers retreating as inventory rises and affordability remains strained. Recent data from Redfin shows that roughly 40,000 US home-purchase agreements were canceled in December, representing about 16.3% of homes that went under contract–the highest level for that month since at least 2017.

Excess demand and historically low mortgage rates drove the housing market until around 2023. Trends that cannot continue forever eventually break down when the cyclical structure turns. The peak in housing demand, much like in equities or commodities, eventually lost momentum as mortgage rates climbed and affordability deteriorated.

We also saw a mass exodus out of states like New York and California due to policy, first surrounding COVID restrictions followed by excessive taxation. The political landscape has remained relatively stable on a state-wide basis and both people and corporations have settled in their respective states.

Even as longer-term bond yields and mortgage rates have slightly pulled back, with average 30-year mortgage rates near their lowest point in over three years, they remain elevated compared with the ultra-low era of the early 2020s. Higher rates are pushing monthly payments beyond what buyers are able to afford. Sellers now outnumber buyers by record margins, a dynamic unseen in the recent boom years when over-ask bidding wars were commonplace.

In a boom market, buyers panic, compete, and push prices higher. In a cooling market with more listings, they withdraw when the deal doesn’t meet their financial reality. This is the behavior captured in the cancellation data provided by Redfin. Inspections and contingencies come with a high price tag and can cause buyers to walk away as every aspect of maintaining a home comes with a high price tag.

The problems in 2008 stemmed from systemic financial excess, predatory lending, adjustable-rate resets, and a lack of vetting. It was not an organic situation, but rather, conditions manufactured by credit expansion by financial institutions and rating agencies. We are not witnessing defaults because buyers are choosing to walk away before the purchase. Buyers and lenders are both evaluating risks and stopping deals in their tracks.

Wage growth, while improving, hasn’t kept pace with housing cost inflation over the last decade, especially after the dramatic increases in home prices since 2020. Combined with mortgage rates above long-term averages and elevated property taxes and insurance, the effective cost of homeownership has climbed faster than incomes for many.

Affordability is of particular concern with younger demographics who have been priced out of the market. Starter homes are not what they once were.

The market is recalibrating and corrections are occurring before systemic debt defaults. All participants are making choices based on affordability and the heightened risk of not being able to make payments. It is almost difficult to call this a buyer’s market as no one feels they are walking away with a great deal.

Jan 29 2026

Powell Concerned Over Central Bank Independence


Posted originally on Jan 29, 2026 by Martin Armstrong |  

JeromePowellFedChair

Jerome Powell came out to defend the integrity and sovereignty of the Federal Reserve. “The point of independence is not to protect policymakers or anything like that. It is just that every advanced economy and democracy in the world has come around to this common practice. It’s just an institutional arrangement that has served the people well, and that is to have a separation between — to not have direct elected official control over the setting of monetary policy,” he said.

“The reason is that monetary policy can be used, you know, through an election cycle to affect the economy in a way that will be politically worthwhile,” Powell said. “If you lose that, it’s going to be hard to retain it, and we haven’t lost it. I don’t believe we will… it’s enabled central banks generally not to be perfect, but to serve the public well.”

I do not agree with Trump that political leaders should control the Federal Reserve or dictate monetary policy. That would be a serious mistake. Politicians operate on short election cycles and will always favor policies that produce immediate results, regardless of the long-term consequences. However, that does not mean the Federal Reserve is genuinely independent, nor does it mean that its structure has “served the people well,” as Powell claims.

The Federal Reserve is appointed by politicians, confirmed by politicians, and ultimately exists to support government financing. Its primary function today is to ensure that government debt can be issued and serviced. If it were truly independent, it would refuse to accommodate endless deficit spending. It does not. Instead, it responds to fiscal excess by monetizing debt and then pretending inflation is something mysterious beyond its comprehension.

The Fed was created in 1913 as a regional system precisely because capital flows change with the seasons. Crops are planted, money flows one way; harvest arrives, it flows another. That design worked because it was decentralized. What destroyed that structure was not politicians meddling in interest rates, but war. World War I forced the Fed to abandon its original mandate and become a funding arm of government debt. From that moment forward, independence ended.

The Fed today is appointed by politicians, confirmed by politicians, and operates entirely to accommodate government borrowing. If it were truly independent, it would refuse to monetize debt. Instead, it has enabled the largest expansion of government liabilities in human history while claiming neutrality. This is why the entire debate between “Fed independence” and “political control” is a distraction that neither can control inflation, and confidence itself is eroding.

Jan 29 2026

Microsoft Provided the FBI with Encryption Keys


Posted originally on Jan 29, 2026 by Martin Armstrong |  

Microsoft Logo

Microsoft provided the FBI with Bitlocker encryption keys. It should come as no surprise that a US-based cloud storage service provided US intelligence with backdoor access. Encryption is only as strong as the one who controls the key to lock it.

Microsoft, the world’s dominant provider of desktop and enterprise systems, complied with an FBI warrant and handed over BitLocker recovery encryption keys. This provided the FBI with access to the encrypted hard drives of laptops seized in a fraud investigation tied to pandemic unemployment benefits.

By default, modern Windows installations tied to a Microsoft account store the BitLocker recovery key in Microsoft’s cloud infrastructure. This is sold as convenience: you forget your password, Microsoft can help you get back in. What few users appreciate is that this convenience places the key into the custody of a third party, and once a third party holds that key, it is subject to the legal and political pressures of every legal jurisdiction in which that company operates.

Government Spying on Everything

Encryption only works if the key is inaccessible to outside parties. The moment a third party holds a copy of that key and the encryption itself becomes only symbolic. It still scrambles the data, but the lock no longer belongs exclusively to the individual.

When Apple famously resisted the FBI’s demand to unlock an iPhone a decade ago, the tech world broadly supported the notion that encryption keys should remain private. Government will always overpower the private sector. The US immediately used the “national security” plea and drafted legislation to ensure that intelligence agencies had backdoor access to all online activities.  Everyone government has demanded access to online user data; companies are forced to comply.

Last February, the United Kingdom’s deep state demanded that Apple create a back door for them to retrieve all the content any Apple user worldwide has uploaded to the cloud, which would be an unprecedented erosion of online privacy and civil liberties. This works because once the UK seizes your data, they can hand that to the Feds in the states, and your Constitutional rights are NOT violated because the US government did not illegally seize it without a warrant.

I refuse to store anything on a digital cloud that could be compromised by the government. Under no circumstances ever store ANYTHING in the cloud, for you have no constitutional rights, and they can claim whatever they desire. The government can add items to your cloud and send you to prison.

Privacy erosion has shifted power to the state and corporations over the individual. It should come as no shock that the government demanded cloud access. The real concern is digital IDs and currency; governments are pushing to move everything digital for complete control. In my article  “How to make a mint: the cryptography of anonymous electronic cash,” I discuss the NSA’s role in the digital financial system. Governments access everything you do online, on your phone, and through your bank account. Governments can justify physical searches without warrants. Nothing is sacred; your privacy rights were eliminated long ago.

Jan 28 2026

The India-EU Trade Deal


Posted originally on Jan 28, 2026 by Martin Armstrong |  

euindia

Deemed the “mother of all deals” by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, India and the European Union signed a historic trade agreement that will permit near free trade between the two economies. The EU plans to phase out tariffs on Indian goods by up to 95% over a multi-year period. India will begin phasing out tariffs on EU-dominated imports. The proposed India–EU trade agreement is being promoted as a strategic breakthrough, but in reality it reflects Europe’s growing isolation rather than strength.

Total services between the two economies have been rapidly increasing from the €26 billion spent in 2023 to the estimated €120 billion today. Reduced restrictions will permit services to continue expanding. The EU primarily imports machinery and electrical equipment, chemicals, and transport equipment to India.

The EU has angered its top trading partner in the process. “The U.S. has made much bigger sacrifices than Europeans have. We have put 25% tariffs on India for buying Russian oil. Guess what happened last week? The Europeans signed a trade deal with India,” US Treasury Secretary Bessent told ABC News Sunday.

China came out earlier in the week to publicly praise its relations with India. India’s neutrality politically has caused it to become indispensable in the global marketplace. Most nations turned to India to bypass Russian energy sanctions, and now, they are turning to India to bypass tariffs and political uncertainty.

From India’s perspective, this deal is about leverage, not partnership. India gains access where it wants it, while carefully protecting its domestic industries. Europe, meanwhile, is trying to replace what it lost with Russia and China by pivoting to India without changing the policies that caused the damage in the first place. Europe’s problem is not a lack of trade agreements. The problem is that confidence in government is collapsing, and capital follows confidence.

Non-tariff barriers, regulatory obstacles, carbon taxes, ESG compliance, and digital rules are all designed to protect Europe’s internal market while demanding open access abroad. India noted that these areas have made preliminary discussions extremely difficult. You cannot tax, regulate, sanction, and militarize your economy and then expect trade deals to reverse capital flight.

The Economic Confidence Model has consistently warned that Europe would fracture economically before it ever unified politically. The EU can now sell in India, but so can other economies that may have a competitive advantage due to a lack of regulatory and political pressures from a centralized control powerhouse. India has come out on top yet again.

Jan 28 2026

The UK Rolls Out Largest National AI Surveillance Program


Posted originally on Jan 28, 2026 by Martin Armstrong |  

UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced the largest national AI surveillance program, using Live Facial Recognition (LFR) technology, to be deployed in cameras across England and Wales. “You can’t enjoy any of your liberties if you’re not safe,” she warned.

Police.AI is the new artificial intelligence branch of security that cost the government 140m pounds to develop. “For 20 years we’ve been talking about Big Brother societies, maybe for even longer than that, I just really reject that analysis. I think that law-abiding citizens going about their daily business can do so in security, nothing about that will change,” she decided, later adding, “We have seen what happens when facial recognition technology is rolled out without clear safeguards: children are wrongly placed on watchlists, and black people are put at greater risk of being wrongly identified.”

The AI branch of policing will rapidly analyze CCTV, phone, doorbell, and other sources of footage to pinpoint citizens based on their clothing, vehicles, and of course, facial recognition. The AI system can transcribe phone calls and sift through hours of information, constantly monitoring the public. Government claims it will equate to six million policing hours annually, or the workload of 3,000 officers.

The ethics behind such measures present a challenge. Who has access to this wealth of data? Individual organizations in the UK must obtain permission and be transparent about their policies, but no such restrictions exist for the government. We have seen countless data breaches in recent years, with independent hacker groups infiltrating every supposedly secure data center. Civil liberties groups believe the government is infringing upon human rights by spying on their every move, but governments no longer permit individual freedoms.

Everyone is a potential criminal—your face and likeness exist within a government database, and your file is ever-expanding. The Home Office has even stated it would monitor citizens’ emotions and body language at known suicide hot spots.

CCTV.UK_.Surveillance

UK Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner Fraser Sampson admitted that private companies will have access to user data. “We, the people, are now using sophisticated surveillance tools once the preserve of state intelligence agencies, routinely and at minimal financial cost,” he writes. “We freely share personal datasets – including our facial images – with private companies and government on our smart devices for access control, identity verification and threat mitigation. From this societal vantage point it seems reasonable for the police to infer that many citizens not only support them using new remote biometric technology but also expect them to do so, to protect communities, prevent serious harm and detect dangerous offenders.”

Live cameras are monitoring the public at all times. Both the private and public sector have access to your whereabouts at all times. This is one of the reasons why the UK is implementing a digital ID system, which will later become linked to digital payment systems and CBDC. At the final stage, everything will be linked to a social credit score that includes each citizen’s water and carbon footprint. The plans are well-documented but sound too dystopian for the public to accept, but this is not a conspiracy—they are watching you.

Jan 28 2026

US Consumer Confidence Drops to Lowest Reading Since 2014


Posted originally on Jan 28, 2026 by Martin Armstrong 

American Consumer

US consumer confidence has plunged to its lowest level since 2014. The Conference Board’s index fell sharply in January to 84.5 — well below expectations and even below the depths reached during the pandemic panic.

Consumer confidence is a quantifiable measure of the public’s willingness to engage in economic activity. When confidence drops, consumers tighten their spending, postpone big purchases, and shift from growth-oriented to survival-oriented behavior. And where consumers go, capital inevitably follows.

“All five components of the Index deteriorated, driving the overall Index to its lowest level since May 2014 (82.2) — surpassing its Covid-19 pandemic depths,” Dana Peterson, chief economist at The Conference Board, said in a release. “References to prices and inflation, oil and gas prices, and food and grocery prices remained elevated.”

Grocery aisles, energy costs, health insurance premiums, and rent have not retreated to historic norms. Consumers are not just fearful of future inflation; rather, they are learning to manage the ever-increasing cost of living. This is a sign that real wages and purchasing power are under stress. The price of essentials never meaningfully waned from the worldwide lockdown, and the world is beginning to accept that high prices are the new norm.

Hiring has slowed, and households don’t feel secure. Corporations began mass layoffs last year and the trend is continuing. Right now, the cost of living is through the roof, jobs are scarce, and geopolitical tensions are high. Confidence has evaporated and will only improve when people see consistent improvement in their own finances.