Posted originally on Jan 15, 2026 by Martin Armstrong |
What we are seeing with China’s nearly $1.2 trillion trade surplus in 2025 is not merely a statistic to be cited in passing. It confirms the trend that China is On the Rise. Capital, production, and power are migrating East. The raw data shows exports climbing about 5.5% even as imports showed little growth, marking a widening imbalance of historic proportions.
A trade surplus of this magnitude does not arise from a single policy, tariff, or administration’s rhetoric. Decades of economic reconfiguration have led China to become an economic powerhouse. China has integrated itself into the global supply chain and is crucial to the global economy at large.
A friend recently spoke of their business trip to China during the 1990s. Cars were outdated, roads were unpaved, and farm animals were running alongside the roads. The landscape has changed dramatically in an impressively short amount of time. People may claim that China is communist in nature but in actuality they switched to a capitalistic model.
China’s manufacturing base was built during a rising confidence phase when globalization expanded and capital flowed freely. Now, as confidence fractures domestically, that same capacity is being pushed outward at almost any price. This is why we see export volumes rising even as margins compress and global tensions rise.
Exports from China to the US fell by 20%. China’s strength relative to the US indicates that It is supplying the world with goods rather than merely one isolated market. Sanctions and tariffs are not placing a chokehold on the Chinese economy because it has a plethora of outlets and trade partners who are eager to conduct business.
China’s consumption and property sector have struggled to maintain rapid growth. But weakened domestic demand leads to heightened exports as a simple economic cause and effect. A thriving economy ideally has robust domestic consumption, investment, and saving. Surpluses as large as $1.2 trillion tell us that China’s exports are propping up the economy.
China has been experiencing capital flight by its own citizens, tighter capital controls, and declining foreign direct investment. Policymakers should not view this data as a sign of stability, but heavy export reliance often peaks before contraction when global demand weakens.
Posted originally on Jan 15, 2026 by Martin Armstrong |
Governor Gavin Newsom fears losing voters ahead of a likely presidential bid. The proposition of a billionaire tax has caused a massive amount of capital to flee California. The Democrats had banked on redistributing the funds generated from that tax to pay for their ever-expanding welfare state. Suddenly, Newsom is strongly against the billionaire tax proposal.
“The evidence is in. The impacts are very real — not just substantive economic impacts in terms of the revenue, but start-ups, the indirect impacts of … people questioning long term-commitments, medium-term,” Newsom said. “That’s not what we need right now, at a time of so much uncertainty. Quite the contrary.” The eat-the-rich governor then stated he will fight to defeat the liberal bill. “I think people understand what it does versus what it promotes to do.”
Instead, Newsom believes the tax should be imposed at the federal level to prevent smart money from fleeing his state. “It’s one thing to have a [tax] of the [nation], and you can talk about all 50 states,” he explained to The New York Times, contrasting this with the current scenario where “you’re [competing] against all the other states.”
Socialist bureaucrats focus on redistribution instead of economic growth. No nation has ever taxed its way into prosperity, no government budget has ever been covered by advancing taxes when spending continues indefinitely. Smart money moves quickly. A federal wealth tax may not cause the rich to flee the United States, as it is the last safe haven, but it would cause capital to move underground.
Europe abandoned wealth taxes not because the rich complained, but because the tax base collapsed. Investment stopped. Entrepreneurs left, jobs disappeared, and governments collected less revenue than before. The models show this repeatedly because capital is mobile, and confidence is everything.
Posted originally on Jan 15, 2026 by Martin Armstrong |
People are often cheering class warfare for they fail to understand by imposing a billionaires tax in California on UNREALIZED gains of 5%, will necessitate dumping stock to raise cash to pay the tax. Those companies will in in shock and specs will jump in front and sell those companies knowing that massive liquidation will follow. Yet additionally, it will require EVERYONE to file to state under penalty of perjury that you are not a billionaire. The third disaster is they always get such taxes through promising a minimal tax rate. Then, at anytime in the future, they can just raise the rate whenever they need money. When the US Income Tax was installed, the rate on the hated rich was just 1%. That was minimal.
We can see that proposed 1% reach 77% for World War I and the 94% for World War II. The Democrats have shut down the government over Trump’s tax cuts and the top rate is 37%. But worse still, the play with the definitions to get more money.
They also have constantly changed the top tax rate. During World War II it stood at $5 million. Then it came down to $250,000. But it got worse. When the modern income tax was established by the 16th Amendment in 1913, it taxed individuals on their own income. There was no concept of a joint return for married couples.
The First Major Shift from individual to household income came with the introduction of the Joint Return (1948). This is the most significant change that moved the system toward considering household resources. If the husband was in a high income tax bracket, his wife, with even just a part-time job was now taxed at his rate. Many became to see this as a major reason there were stay-at-home-moms for it did not pay to get a simple job to stay busy.
Prior to 1948, they assumed passive income from investments could be shared with each spouse filing separately, reporting only their own income. This created a major disparity because residents of community property states (where income is legally considered jointly owned) could split income between two returns, lowering their total tax bill compared to identical-income couples in common-law property states. This drove the Democrats delirious. OMG, they could beat us out of some money.
Revenue Act of 1948 was intended to resolve this inequity or loop-hole and also to provide a benefit to married couples is how they sold the idea. Congress created the joint return. This allowed a married couple to combine their incomes, be taxed on the total, but use a tax schedule with brackets exactly twice as wide as those for a single individual. This is known as income splitting. It effectively created a “household” tax unit for married couples, though it was still an option (they could still file separately).
Consolidation of the “Household” Concept (Post-1948) The 1948 law established married couples as a tax unit. Subsequent changes refined how different household structures are treated:
1969: The “marriage penalty” emerged. To address the fact that two single individuals could sometimes pay less tax than a married couple with the same combined income, Congress created a new tax schedule for single filers that was less favorable than half the married brackets. This formally established different tax treatments for different household/filing statuses (Single, Married Filing Jointly, Married Filing Separately, and later Head of Household).
1970s onward: The introduction of provisions like the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) in 1975 truly brought “household income” to the forefront. Eligibility for many credits and deductions (like the EITC, Child Tax Credit, IRA contribution deductibility) is based on Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI), which is often calculated on a household basis (e.g., combining income of spouses and sometimes dependents) for the purpose of phase-outs.
Today, the U.S. system is best described as a hybrid:
The Tax Computation Starts with the Individual: You are taxed on your individual income. Filing status then determines the rates and brackets applied to that income.
Household Structure Determines Filing Status. In other words, your household situation (single, married, with dependents) dictates your filing status (Single, Married Filing Jointly, Head of Household, etc.), which applies different tax rates and standard deductions. I know elderly people who got married simply because of the taxes.
Many Benefits are Household-Income Tested. For example, key benefits, subsidies (like for the Affordable Care Act), and deductions phase out based on the total income of the tax household (e.g., combined income on a joint return).
Around 2015, a group of clients asked me to join in buying a bank in Switzerland. They wanted me to design a gold-backed bank which did not lend in an unsecured manner. I designed the bank and how it would eben issue a credit card and allow Giro Banking (transfers between accounts) all based on cash as well as precious metal deposits. The idea was not to avoid taxes, it was to avoid possible banking failures. Between 2009 and 2016, about 45,000 U.S. taxpayers, had taken advantage of IRS tax amnesty programs to pay more than $6 billion in back taxes and related penalties for having offshore accounts to avoid taxes.
Switzerland already has an International Wealth Tax which is a levy on the total value of personal assets, including bank deposits, real estate, assets in insurance and pension plans, ownership of unincorporated businesses, financial securities, and personal trusts. You have to declare everything you own around the entire world. Then, because Switzerland is part of the CRS, they will share that with every other country. Typically, liabilities (primarily mortgages and other loans) are deducted from an individual’s wealth.
The Common Reporting Standard (CRS) is a global standard for the automatic exchange of financial account information between tax authorities, designed to combat tax evasion. It was developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in 2014, it has been implemented by over 100 jurisdictions worldwide. Unlike previous systems that required specificrequests, CRS mandates the routine, annual exchange of financial information. In other words, if you were under investigation, they would request all info on you. Today, they transfer data on everyone just in case.
There was a legal case that became the seminal beginning of the American Revolution known as Entick v. Carrington and Three Other King’s Messengers (1765), reported at length in 19 Howell’s State Trials 1029. This case was the start of the American Revolution and was also based upon abuse of the king’s agents. The action, dated November 1762, was for trespassing and interfering with the plaintiff’s dwelling by breaking open his desks and boxes and searching and examining his papers.
After George III became king in 1760, by February 1761, Parliament enacted the Writs of Assistance that was challenged in court in Boston, Massachusetts. These were writs that empowered the king’s agents to search anything they suspected, like the NSA today at their discretion. The defending lawyer James Otis (1725-1783) pronounced these writs as “the worst instrument of arbitrary power, the most destructive of English liberty, and the fundamental principles of law, that ever was found in an Englishlaw book.”Otis warned that the king placed discretion in the hands of every agent to act as he desired. Nothing has changed, for our current government can do whatever it desires today, and it is always the burden of the citizen to prove he has any rights whatsoever.
John Adams (1735–1826; 2nd President 1797–1801) was in the audience at that hearing that day, and the four-hour speech of James Otis so moved him that he declared:
“Then and there was the first scene of the first act of opposition to the arbitrary claims of Great Britain. Then and there, the child independence was born.”
The CRS and the US version of FACTA were inspired by this very same distrust of the population. Everyone is a criminal and the Writs of Assistance allowed the King’s agents to enter your house and rummage through everything to see if they could prosecute you for something. This is the very same issue. You have money that they want and they are out to get it for we are all criminals and just economic slaves to support the state.
Needless to say, I declined because of the wealth tax. I was told its minimal – progressive but very low (0.1% to 1.0% effective). If it is so minimal, then why bother? The problem is always clear. It may be minimal but so was the Income Tax proposed to be 1% in 1913 and rose to 94% by 1945. This taxed UNREALIZED GAINS, and with war on the horizon, it was far too dangerous to get involved. They can say you house is worth whatever and you now must pay a wealth tax on it in Switzerland even though it is on the beach in Florida.
Hoe do you ever retire voluntarily or because of health? Then you still must pay taxes on its value and if the market is in a downturn, you may not be able to sell it to pay all the taxes every government is demanding.
Just as the billionaires are fleeing California which was demanding a 5% one-time tax, this illustrated these Progressive Democrats do not understand the economy and would be the impact of forcing these people who may be billionaires on paper (NOT CASH) to start dumping shares to pay the tax. We have the MOST incompetent herd of politicians worldwide. After dealing with governments around the world for nearly 50 years, I can honestly say it certainly appears to be a conspiracy to inject the worst possible candidate globally.
I get people asking is there a conspiracy theory from elites to utterly destroy the United States and turn it into a Marxist Utopia like Europe? I cannot confirm that nore deny that. I have dealt with many politicians over my years. I have found that the decline and fall has been systemic on a global scale. It does make one ask yourself, home man coincidences does it take to make a conspiracy. I have tried my best to open the door where LIBERTY and JUSTICE for all actually exists.
We will do an update to forecasts for the 2026 Midterm Elections. Many have written in and asked I have offered advice to the Trump Administration/Republicans. I believe there are plants in some of these people’s staffs and they are deliberately giving bad advice that does not support them for the 2026 midterms. It just appears very strange. As far as the Trump Administration directly, I believe there are some players who actively try to prevent me from offering advice.
So, is this all a coincidence or a deliberate conspiracy? The LEFT is in a battle to take no prisoners. Going into 2028, we should expect a most aggressive attempt to seize power. This idea of the LEFT where individual liberties is just an illustion. Since the Day of Sparta, and the Thucydides Trap which is a concept in international relations that describes the heightened risk of conflict when an emerging power challenges an established ruling power. This is what is playing out on a global scale. We are at great risk of war internationally as well as civil war domestically as there is no compromise. This is all about one side suppressing the other.
Posted originally on Jan 14, 2026 by Martin Armstrong |
Australians could face up to 15 years imprisonment for comments deemed offensive by the government. The Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Bill introduced this month establishes federal offenses for “publicly promoting or inciting hatred.” Speech, writing, or “other forms of public gestures” will be monitored and controlled.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the prop “I encourage you to read the Old Testament and see what’s there and see if you outlaw that, what would occur,” he said. “I encourage you to read the Old Testament and see what’s there and see if you outlaw that, what would occur,” he said. “So we need to be careful — we consulted with faith groups, not just with the Jewish community. We want to make sure there’s the broadest possible support for this legislation but we also want to make sure that there isn’t unintended consequences of the legislation.”
“Unintended consequences” come down to losing voters, but for citizens, their freedom is at risk at every turn. The Old Testament example is quite interesting as that would chalk up Judaism and Christianity to “hate speech” for questioning the LGBTQ community.
The law will also further prevent the public from accessing firearms. Intelligence agencies will have the ability to reconsider gun licenses. “The terrorists at Bondi Beach had hatred in their minds but guns in their hands. This law will deal with both, and we need to deal with both,” the prime minister said.
Courts will look at three items to identify criminal hate speech: public incitement, superiority claims, and serious vilification. The Reasonable Person Test is the official standard courts use, which broadly allows anything to be taken out of context. In fact, Australian legislators believe that NO VICTIM IS REQUIRED! Prosecutors do not need to prove that anyone was harmed or felt intimidated. Context will be considered over intent. The government will now have full range to claim that any “reasonable person” of a certain group would feel intimidated or harassed by direct or indirect comments.
“Let me be clear – once these laws are passed, they will be the toughest hate laws Australia has ever seen,” Michelle Rowland, Attorney General, said. “They will specifically target those who seek to spread hatred and disrupt social cohesion in our community. And it will send a clear message that this conduct will not be tolerated.”
The government has full control over speech. Religious leaders, especially Christians who are unprotected, are especially vulnerable to this new law. They may quote religious scripture only for teaching or discussion, but any additional commentary or sermons could result in federal prosecution.
The Minister for Home Affairs can cancel or refuse visas to anyone deemed a “risk of harm” for promoting hate speech. Social media platforms will be scanned and monitored by the government. Anyone involved in a “hate group” will face 15 years imprisonment, and anything deemed “offensive to a reasonable person” will be considered a hate group. Will Australia ban religion next? Will political opponents be considered “hate groups?” Can people freely speak out against open borders or other policies that they disagree with?
If you say or type anything deemed offensive, the government will charge you with “racial vilification” and throw you in prison for five years. Australia showed the extent of its authoritarian brutality during the COVID crisis when it prohibited citizens and journalists alike from questioning the narrative. The government is providing itself with legal grounds to round up the disobedient who will serve as an example to others. Self-censor, obey, comply—the path toward the new world order will be treacherous.
Posted originally on Jan 14, 2026 by Martin Armstrong |
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) report for December 2025 has been released, and although it may appear uneventful on the surface, it confirms the broader trend. Headline CPI rose 0.3% last month and 2.7% year-over-year, matching November’s pace and forecasts. Core inflation, excluding food and energy, rose 2.6% on an annual basis. The reality is that the Federal Reserve’s 2% target has not been attainable.
Price pressures have remained persistent since 2020. The basic necessities for survival continually increase. Shelter accounts for over one-third of CPI and is up 3.2% on the yearly and 0.4% monthly. Food prices are up 0.7% monthly and 2.6% annually, with energy coming in at 0.3% and 2.3% respectively.
Every time inflation rises, the same two culprits are dragged out by the press and politicians: tariffs and the Federal Reserve. Prices rise, and immediately we are told tariffs are “taxes on consumers” or that the Fed “printed too much money.” Both explanations are simplistic, politically convenient, and fundamentally wrong.
Tariffs have not caused food and shelter to continually rise. Inflation is born on the fiscal side of government, not the monetary side. This is the critical distinction that most economists either do not understand or deliberately ignore.
The Federal Reserve does not create inflation. It creates debt instruments. When the Fed expands its balance sheet, it is not dropping money out of a helicopter into the hands of the public. The Fed is merely swapping one asset for another. Inflation emerges when the government, the largest borrower, spends beyond its productive capacity.
Printing money without spending it does nothing. Borrowing money without spending it does nothing. Inflation occurs only when government deficits are monetized through fiscal policy, where money is injected into the economy to cover political promises, wars, social programs, and bailouts. This is why inflation exploded after 2020 when governments worldwide unleashed trillions in direct spending while halting productive output to zero.
The Federal Reserve reacts to inflation, but it does not create it. Trump is wrong for demonizing Powell and attempting to pin criminal charges on him. Removing the Fed chairman will not somehow tame inflation or reduce it by a single basis point. If anything, arresting the head of the central bank would only further erode confidence. The FOMC could drop rates into the negatives but it would not erase the trillions in deficits or offset reckless spending.
Posted originally on Jan 14, 2026 by Martin Armstrong |
🚨 BREAKING — In Iran, massive crowds of anti-Islamist-regime, pro-@PahlaviReza protesters are taking to the streets in Tehran’s Haft-Hoz Square, chanting “Death to The Dictator,” directly targeting Khamenei and his terrorist regime. Share these videos so the world can see. pic.twitter.com/w8zcyOUu6t
An estimated 12,000 people in Iran have been killed in a severe crackdown on nationwide protests, accompanied by a near-total communications blackout designed not only to suppress dissent but to conceal the truth of what is happening on the ground.
Economic exhaustion and a collapse of public trust have converged with political stagnation and foreign policy missteps to create a pressure cooker within the Islamic Republic. Analysts have noted that Iran’s 2026 may represent one of the hardest years the regime has faced, where internal pressures intersect with external constraints such as sanctions, isolation, and military attrition will cause the republic to lose control.
Eliminating citizens’ ability to communicate is the first course of action for a crumbling government. The regime shut down the internet and blocked all communication channels to prevent the people from communicating, but the public refuses to be silenced.
The value of the Iranian rial collapsed to historic lows, reaching 1.45 million rials per USD as of late December 2025. The currency has lost 40% of its value since the most recent clash with Israel. Inflation in Iran surged to 42.2%, with the public unable to purchase food or necessities. The regime attempted to introduce a “new rial” where one equals 100 old rials, but it simply does not matter as the people have lost all confidence in government. The currency is worthless in their eyes. President Pezeshkian attempted to offer citizens the equivalent of $7 USD per month, but they waited too long to calm the masses with cash. The people now demand a complete regime change. Longstanding mismanagement, chronic deficits, and archaic behavior caused the nation to dwindle into financial ruin. No one is benefiting from the current leadership, and the people have nothing left to lose.
The USA is seizing the opportunity. President Donald Trump took to social media to urge Iranians to “KEEP PROTESTING – TAKE OVER YOUR INSTITUTIONS,” promising that “HELP IS ON ITS WAY.” Neocon Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, warned that the regime could survive the protests. The computer model accurately noted that a new conflict would be underway around the second week of January. What is happening in Iran right now is not a spontaneous uprising. It is a late-stage confidence failure.
European Commissioner for Defense Andrius Kubilius believes a unified European army should replace American troops amid geopolitical tensions. “How will we replace the 100,000-strong American regular military forces that form the backbone of military power in Europe?” he asked, later answering his own question by proposing the creation of a permanent continent-wide joint armed force.
Kubilius believes there must be a European Security Council, a centralized control hub. “The European Security Council could consist of key permanent members, as well as several members on a rotational basis—around 10 to 12 in total—whose task would be to discuss the most important defense issues,” he emphasized, adding that the United Kingdom may be barred from entering due to Brexit.
The idea that the European Union now seriously considers replacing American troops with a European army is the culmination of decades of shifting global power, economic cycles, and the EU’s structural failure to sustain its own sovereignty. NATO became permanent precisely because European nations could not muster the political will and economic unity to defend themselves independently. It is easy to talk about replacing 100,000 U.S. troops with a European force when Europe has yet to solve its own sovereign debt problems and cannot even harmonize a defense budget.
“Would the United States be militarily stronger if they would have 50 armies on the States level instead of a single federal army, 50 state defence policies and defence budgets on the states level, instead of a single federal defence policy and budget? Kubilius questioned. The United States is a unified nation (for now); the European Union model expects each member to abandon its national identity, which is simply not possible.
Defense policy would require a unanimous agreement among all member states. Yet each member state faces distinct security threats shaped by trade and geography. Spain will not have the same concerns as Poland, for example, as you cannot broadly paint Europe with one brush. It has become increasingly apparent that each policy issued from Brussels benefits some members while disadvantaging others. Trade, war, and migration — every nation faces unique challenges that cannot be solved by broad solutions. Each nation can only survive if it maintains its structural and economic integrity, which is why I have warned that the very design of the euro was flawed from the beginning. It is extremely unlikely that 27 independent nations could continually agree on ever-changing policies in the event of war. A centralized authority would need to assume control of the proposed army, make decisions unilaterally, and trust that soldiers would collectively follow orders.
The European Union coerces members into prioritizing European interests. The union was destined to fail, and these overhauls will only spur the cycle in motion—Europe is in the process of separating.
The proposed billionaire tax has caussed $1 trillion in potential tax revenue to flee California. The billionaire taxwould require California residents worth over $1 billion to pay a one-time 5% fee on all assets, including unrealized gains.
Google co-founder Larry Page fled the state and took his $276 billion net worth with him. Page moved his family office, Koop LLC, from California to Delaware and began purchasing property in Florida at the end of 2025. Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, worth around $245 billion, sold his home in San Francisco in favor of Hawaii. Venture capitalist Peter Thiel cut ties with California, taking his $26 billion and counting, opting to relocate in Miami. Craft Ventures co-founder David Sacks fled California and opened an office in Austin, Texas. Sacks wrote on social media that “Miami will replace NYC as the finance capital and Austin will replace SF (San Francisco) as the tech capital.”
Venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya believes California has lost$1 trillion in billionaire wealth because 50% of billionaire-driven potential tax revenue has left the state. Even if the bill does not pass, the fact that it was proposed and highly considered has unsettled capital and smart money will not remain where it is not welcome.
California heavily relies on top-earners to cover budget deficits. Last January, the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) found that California is facing “double-digit operating deficits in the years to come”as a result of reckless government spending. For the 2025-26 period, the LOA believes the state may have a balanced budget, but calls Newsom’s spending and policies highly unpredictable.
GOVERNMENT SPENDING is to blame for the budget failures. Every analysis says the same thing. The LAO suggests: “Legislature would need to address in the coming years, for example, by reducing spending, increasing taxes, shifting costs, or using more reserves. The magnitude of these deficits also indicates that, without other changes to spending or revenues, the state does not have capacity for new commitments.”
California was banking on billionaires to cover 90% of the state’s health care costs. The 2025-26 budget allocated $188.1 billion in total ($42.1 billion General Fund) to Medi-Cal, representing a steep $4.5 billion General Fund increase from the previous year. Medi-Cal is expected to expand to $222.4 billion in FY2026-27. Administration costs alone account for nearly 17% of health spending, with costs increasing by 23% in 2023 alone. The state was expecting the billionaires’ tax to cover $22.5 billion in annual healthcare program costs. The funds have left the state and will not return.
The state was also planning to redirect $2.5 billion from billionaires’ annual contributions to food and education assistance programs. Governments will never understand that they cannot rob Peter to pay Paul without repercussions. Again, the proposal alone was enough to uproot capital, businesses, jobs, development, and innovation.
Posted originally on Jan 13, 2026 by Martin Armstrong |
Russia is slinking back into its old Soviet Union methods of spying on citizens. Beginning on January 1, 2026, internet providers in Russia are now required to store all text, audio, and video messages for three years. The Center for Countering Disinformation has access to every Russian’s digital footprint.
Per usual, authorities claim the measure is to protect against fraud. The true motive is control, instant punishment, and the notion that citizens will begin to self-censor their private correspondence to avoid criticizing the Kremlin.
The Roskomnadzor (the federal communications regulator) has the authority to disconnect the Russian internet segment (Runet) from external sources at whim. Regulators may block or permanently ban individual websites or services if they believe they are a threat to national security. Telecom operators must issue commands and control network traffic in accordance with the Roskomnadzor. The Russian internet will be completely isolated from the global network.
Fines and penalties have been inconsequential despite increasing severity. As of September 1, 2025, Russians face a 5,000 ruble fine for “intentionally searching extremist materials.” This was significant as it was the first time Russia punished citizens for viewing prohibited online content.
Over one million websites have been analyzed for pretrial blocking by Roskomnadzor and the Prosecutor General’s Office. Over 150 media organizations are currently blocked in Russia. The government has repeatedly shut down the internet on a regional basis throughout the Ukraine war, with authorities claiming the blackouts are needed to support drone warfare.
Social media channels such as Twitter/X, Reddit, META/Facebook, LinkedIn, SnapChat, and Discord are inaccessible. YouTube and TikTok may be used on a limited basis. Russians are forbidden to view BBC News, Deutsche Welle, Le Monde, Der Spiegel, and other news outlets. VPNs are illegal, although widely used, and Russia ranked #1 in the top internet outages in 2025.
Russia ranked first worldwide in total internet disruptions in 2025, according to Top10VPN’s Cost of Internet Shutdowns report. Analysts recorded 37,166 hours of outages, citing their scale and technical complexity. pic.twitter.com/amRIN2yAke
Russians all know that Big Brother is monitoring them online and tapping their phones. People in former communist nations do not trust the government. They’ve been taught throughout the generations to keep a guard up. Unlike those in the West, the Russians and Chinese understand that the mainstream media is merely a propaganda tool. The information displayed on your TV screen or the front page of the newspaper has been pre-approved by the government; otherwise, it would not be permitted to air. I can proudly say that this website is one of them, and we are permitted to operate in both Russia and China.
The Kremlin and every other government authority has unlimited access to text messages and online searches. You can delete your texts and clear your search history, but government can still see your complete digital footprint. Governments suedinternet and phone providers years ago to ensure they had full backdoor access to every outlet. Social media outlets were compromised, and those who failed to comply like TikTok were either banned or sold out. Digital privacy is not a protected right. Modern civilization depends on the internet for communication and information, making it a prime target for government surveillance. We will see governments continually restrict internet access in the years ahead as each nation aims to create a digital firewall to protect its citizens from sharing information, or worse, collaborating against the regimes controlling them.
Posted originally on Jan 12, 2026 by Martin Armstrong |
President Trump’s announcement that he wants to push the U.S. defense budget to $1.5 trillion in 2027 is being framed as a necessary response to “very troubled and dangerous times” and a way to build what he calls a “Dream Military.” He claims that tariff revenues generated by his trade policies can help fund the increase and even allow for debt reduction while maintaining economic growth. There is a reason that Washington wants to increase its budget drastically, and the timing aligns perfectly with our computer model.
The proposal represents a roughly 50% increase from the $901 billion defense budget approved for 2026. The massive increase in funding represents a country preparing for a major geopolitical event. America stands alone. It can no longer trust the neocons in NATO, besides, America was the one primarily funding the organization. All of America’s allies are on the fence in terms of continued support, with the majority showing intense disapproval for recent military ventures.
Europe’s involvement in the Russia-Ukraine war cannot be ignored. Protests have erupted in France and Germany to declare that the people do not wish to die for Ukraine, but they have no say. The EU is run by neocons who are eagerly awaiting their turn to enter the conflict directly. China, the Middle East, South America, and Europe—conflicts are emerging in every corner of the globe, and unsurprisingly, America has been at the forefront.
An additional $500 million ensures the United States retains its reputation for having the most advanced military in the world, one would hope, but Chinahas been rapidly advancing its military capabilities in preparation for a grand-scale conflict. Russia has been testing nuclear missiles, some powerful enough to create toxic radioactive tsunami waves that can wipe cities off the map.
We are approaching a critical turning point in the Economic Confidence Model. Confidence will continue to decline as war nears, and capital will continue to seek refuge in private assets. When confidence declines, politicians turn to external enemies to justify internal failures. War becomes a tool to distract from fiscal mismanagement and to consolidate power. The 2026 panic cycle aligns with a historic pattern in which sovereign debt crises and geopolitical conflict converge. This is not the beginning of war; it is the escalation phase.
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This is a library of News Events not reported by the Main Stream Media documenting & connecting the dots on How the Obama Marxist Liberal agenda is destroying America
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