Category End of the era of the Dollar
Interview: The Fall of Western Civilization
Armstrong Economics Blog/Armstrong in the Media Re-Posted Jun 3, 2023 by Martin Armstrong
Watch the video above or click here to view the latest interview.
Martin Armstrong returns to the Outer Limits of Inner Truth Podcast to discuss: what Socrates is saying about the 2024 election, the likelihood that CBDCs will not succeed based on what happened in Africa, the fall of Western Civilization, where the elites want to take humanity, and how to preserve your liberty in these trying times.
Interview: The Real Rate of Inflation
You are NOT Alone
May 19, 2023 | Sundance
You are NOT alone!…
It might, heck, -check that- it does seem overwhelming at times. But that is the nature of this collectivist strategy. That is the purpose of this bombardment. We must hold strong and push back against the lies and manipulations. If you look closely at the attack, it is weak and much of it is psychological bait. Do not fall into the trap of despair.
When I share the message “live your best life”, it is not without purpose. Every moment that we allow the onslaught to deter us from living our dreams, is a moment those who oppose our nation view as us taking a knee. Do not allow this effort to succeed. You might ask yourself how I can, one person, a flea looking into a furnace, retain an optimistic disposition while all around me seems chaotic and mad.
Simple answer, it’s your choice. Two wolves fight – one filled with despondency, isolation, despair and dark imaginings; the other filled with faith, something bigger, unrelenting hope, focus and driven to remain connected. Which wolf will win? The one you feed.
The feeling of isolation begins first with a rejection of God… If you want to shake it, reconnect.
Shake it off. “Get up, get back on your feet, you are the one they can’t beat, and you know it.” WATCH:
The point? It ‘seems’ chaotic and mad because it has been created to appear that way. There are more of us than them; they just control the systems that allow us to connect, share messages and recognize the scale of our assembly.
And here we are… divided by a network of seemingly intoxicating systems; many purposefully driven by the modern dynamic of social media, steering a tribal outcome we are only now just beginning to fathom.
Ultimately the collective weight of progressive leftism is putting us is isolation. There are many historic references to this disconcerting sentiment to review with hindsight. However, ultimately the feeling of isolation first begins with a rejection of God. Defeat it by embracing Him.
In/around July 2020 it was obvious in my travels we were on the precipice of a disconnect from human interaction that would numb our psyche to what ultimately matters, fellowship.
Not only are various governmental agencies forcing the separation of people from their community networks, we were also seeing faith-based organizations, churches, buying into the fear.
Even in areas where churches were not forcibly shut down, we saw a structural shift where some faith leaders were willingly ostracizing their community under the guise of various medical, social and cultural alarms.
This is not good…. not good at all.
Fellowship is the essential ingredient to a purposeful life. How and why we interact with each-other is how and why we recharge our core humanity.
To see faith leaders willing to separate from the function of fellowship was alarming. However, as individuals we must not allow this foreboding sense to become the normal expectation.
Our nation needs more people like you, right now. Don’t wait… engage life, get optimistic however you need to do it. Then let that part of you shine right now… This is how we fight. Hold up that flag; give the starter smile… rally to the standard you create and spread fellowship again.
Throughout history large armies have been defeated through the process of division. It is not a leap to see the same strategic objectives being deployed against social assemblies including congregations. It is puzzling how many in leadership cannot see the danger in social and spiritual distance when the bond of fellowship is needed more than ever.
Each of us has a different connection to our community. Each of us has a different level of internal strength… such is the nature of living. However, the distance between people is manifestly not a good outcome when combined with the lack of food for the soul.
The influence of social media is already troublesome, physically distancing from human engagement only worsens the impact. There is no digital replacement for the true fellowship of humanity on a personal level.
Ultimately it is the currency of human connection that is the true value in our lives.
We have each felt how our positive influence upon the lives of others nourishes our own sense of purpose and fulfillment… Do not lose that. Do not think you can compensate for that through other arbitrary measures; you cannot.
With local, state and federal leaders moving increasingly toward self-interest; with disconnected workplaces creating social distance; with faith-based leaders unfocused on the value of fellowship; and now government entering your home to tell you the importance of separating yourself from your family we must dispatch these arbitrary decrees very deliberately.
Perhaps we are in this position today because we didn’t sit still enough and contemplate the real priorities in our lives. Fellowship is the essential ingredient to a purposeful life.
I will not divide my humanity, nor concede my core view of fellowship, simply to comply with the demand of another that I consider my brother or sister of greater or less value than myself. Any system that seeks to steer my path will not benefit from my participation. I choose freedom!
My f**king choice…
Our Liberty is inherent.
Our freedom is inherent.
The removal of both requires consent.
I choose not to disconnect.
I choose purpose.
I choose my own humanity.
I believe in a generous loving God.
My faith stands.
Whatever it takes.
I’m going back into the battle, refreshed, renewed, rearmed and restored…. No weapon formed against us will prosper!
Love to all,
~ Sundance
It was a coup d’ ètat… and Trump caught them all
April Home Prices Reflect Largest Year-Over-Year Drop in Decade, April Prices Drop 1.7%, Decline 23.2% from Prior Year
Posted originally on the CTH on May 18, 2023 | Sundance
Homeowner equity is being erased. As higher interest rates continue to put pressure on borrowers, the ability of the average person to afford a mortgage diminishes. Higher mortgage rates lead to downward pressure on residential home values as fewer borrowers can afford higher payments. Simultaneously, commercial real estate is dropping in value as vacancies continue increasing.
Put both of these issues together and already tenuous banks holding mortgage bonds as assets can become more unstable.
This dynamic creates the continual tremors in the background of an economy already suffering from high inflation and low consumer purchasing of durable goods.
A perfect storm starts to realize.
(Wall Street Journal) – Sales of previously owned homes fell in April from the prior month and prices declined from a year earlier by the most in more than 11 years.
U.S. existing home sales, which make up most of the housing market, fell 3.4% in April from the prior month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.28 million, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. April sales fell 23.2% from a year earlier.
The national median existing-home price fell 1.7% in April from a year earlier to $388,800, the biggest year-over-year price decline since January 2012, NAR said. Median prices, which aren’t seasonally adjusted, were down 6% from a record $413,800 in June. Home prices have fallen the most in the western half of the U.S., while prices continue to rise from a year earlier in many eastern markets. (read more)
Before looking at today’s graph showing median existing home values, remember me saying this in 2021?:
“I said in June, at a macro level home prices had reached their peak (last two weeks of May, first two weeks of June was apex). Obviously, there are some geographic home value increases still happening as COVID related regional issues and work opportunities are shifting populations. There is also a lag and ripple effect that takes time to work through the economy. The macro-apex will not be visible until next year.”
When I said that in 2021, people said I was wrong. Well, with hindsight now visible within the data as it is reflected, look at the result:
May and June 2021 was the peak of year-over-year percent of change in median home value increases.
So, what was going on?
As CTH outlined in 2022: If you look closely at the timing (keep in mind the data reporting lag) what you will notice is that financial institutions began a big surge in purchasing hard assets, specifically real estate, as soon as Joe Biden took office (Jan ’21), and the economic policy became evident. Intangible financial instruments became an immediate risk as the professional financial control groups recognized energy policy would drive inflation (supply side) and devalued money would fuel it (demand side).
As an offset to predictable inflationary policy (the insiders’ game), institutional money (Blackrock, Vanguard, etc) was moved into hard assets with tangible value.
This shift in asset allocation, institutional sales, helped fuel a false surge in home prices and their valuations. CTH was writing about this in 2021, and sounding alarms as it took place. 25% of all real estate purchases were being made by institutional investors.
We The People got screwed.
The dynamic was predictable. The Biden administration economic policy, energy policy and monetary policy, was going to cause massive inflation. CTH was shouting about it in early 2021 and warning everyone to prepare for waves of price increases that would naturally surface first on high-turn consumable goods, and then embed into longer-term durable goods.
Despite claims to the contrary, this 2021 inflationary explosion had nothing to do with the pandemic or supply chain shortages. It was entirely self-created by western governmental policy – the collective ‘Build Back Better’ agenda. You can see now from the background moves within the financial sectors, they too knew the reality and their money shifts reflected that despite their ‘transitory’ pretending they were mitigating their own exposure.
We the People were yet again going to be victims of specifically intended monetary, regulatory, energy and economic policy.
The investment class rulers of the WEF assembly shifted assets to avoid the pain that we would feel. We “would own nothing and be happy,” and their shifts would position them to own everything and be in control.
Overall govt spending and regulatory controls drove inflation for these past two years. The ‘demand side’ was blamed, despite the lack of demand. I will be proven right when history is concluded with this. Interest rates were raised by central banks in an effort to support the policies that are driving ‘supply side’ inflation – not demand side.
Energy policy was/is crushing the consumer by driving up the cost of all goods and services. To support the overall goal of changing global energy resource and development (a false and controlled global operation), central banks raised interest rates. Various western economies, including our own, have been pushed deeper into a state of contraction by central banks crushing consumer demand, and eliminating investment via increased borrowing costs.
In short, the goal was/is to lower energy consumption by shrinking the economic activity. This, according to the BBB plan, was needed at the same time as energy development was reduced. These economic outcomes are not organic, they are all being controlled by collective western government agreement.
Within this control dynamic, there was always going to be a point where the reaction of the people to their economic reality means the financial control elements need to shift direction. They will always maximize profit and minimized risk, while knowing what the larger objective remains.
Just like every other durable good, housing demand contracts as prices and costs become unaffordable. The loss of equity within your home is damaging to your own value or ability to borrow against it.
From the perspective of an institutional asset, that same equity drop is an investment loss. However, the investment loss is not materialized until the sale of the lower valued asset is completed. Retaining declining real estate on investment books creates an artificially high appearance of the investment result; unless and until the real estate is sold at a diminished value.
As mortgage rates rise, just as a consumer would pull back from the housing market, so too will institutional investment groups now control the slow dumping of the asset to remove the equity they pumped into it. Much of the investment housing will be retained as rental housing, with the monthly rents being part of the returns on the investments. However, as this dynamic unfolds, further investment purchases of houses stop, because the asset overall is declining in value. This halt of investment activity also worsens a steeper drop in home values.
Durham Report Explained – Everything was a Lie
Armstrong Economics Blog/Corruption Re-Posted May 18, 2023 by Martin Armstrong
Special counsel John Durham revealed in his report that all American intelligence agencies knew the Trump-Russian collusion story was a lie. You can read the full 300-page report here. Hillary Clinton needed a way to take the heat off of her email scandal and was the mastermind behind this plot. The CIA and FBI knew without a shadow of a doubt that the Steele Dossier was a lie designed by Clinton to take down Trump. The FBI then leaked deliberate misinformation to the press to condemn Trump on behalf of Hillary and the Democrats.
Christopher Steele was bribed $1 million to write his fictional Steele Dossier. Igor Danchenko was known to be Russian intelligence. Intelligence agencies paid Danchecnko a quarter of a million USD to reveal classified information to back Steele’s claims. He could not provide any evidence since it did not exist, but he was paid anyway. Former intelligence chair Shiff said he saw first-hand evidence of Russian collusion — a complete lie.
Will anyone be held accountable for these extreme crimes? All Americans should be completely outraged that we were lied to by our intelligence agencies and media outlets in an attempt to alter our election. This is a direct attack on our freedom and electoral process. Hillary knows she is above the law and can commit crimes in the open without penalty or even criticism. Obama, Biden, the FBI, the CIA, and numerous politicians knew that everything regarding “Russian collusion” was a complete lie. Trump was correct — this has been one of the biggest witch hunts in American history.
The 14th Amendment & the Destruction of the United States
Armstrong Economics Blog/Sovereign Debt Crisis Re-Posted May 10, 2023 by Martin Armstrong
Interpretation of the Constitution is often caught up in controversy. What is beautiful to one person is average or ugly to another. The best construction regarding law was the cornerstone of Justice Scalia who I regard as probably one of the most brilliant minds that ever sat on the bench. Of course, the left will send me hate mail on that one because they did not like the outcome. But Scalia held to what is known as Strict Construction which requires a judge to apply the text only as it is written. Once the court has a clear meaning of the text, no further investigation is required.
I will give you an example of the “liberal” wing and how they want to interpret the Constitution. They cannot even define what is a WOMAN anymore. I am waiting for them to declare the LGBQT have been so disadvantaged, that they will be exempt from also paying taxes since they are exempt from all social regulations. Since I like women, then I should “identify” as a Lesbian and enjoy all sorts of protection and be exempt from taxation.
This entire WOKE agenda has gone nuts. Just because some guy has a sex change does not justify changing all the definitions of everything and changing all social norms. Women’s sports have been completely destroyed. What about the girls that hoped to break records and win scholarships? Nothing works anymore. Just because a guy changes his sex does not make him a woman who can have biological children which is different from carrying a child because they now have a uterus. There is still a difference! Why must a woman surrender her identity? The simple solution was there are males and females, and in Thailand, the transgenders simply identify as a ladyboy.
This is precisely the same irrational interpretation they are using to justify the 14th Amendment which will destroy everything and this is far more serious than just suspending debt payments. By invoking this 14th Amendment, there will never be a debt ceiling and then you will have runaway inflation, taxation, and a complete breakdown in all liberty. The executive can then use executive orders to deny Congress even the opportunity to vote on any spending. The head of the EU did that to buy 3 times the number of vaccines from Pfizer than the population of Europe. And Ukraine put out the propaganda that they are fighting to preserve democracy yet refuse to honor the Minsk Agreement to allow the Donbas to vote! Our Western governments have killed democracy long ago and executive order circumvents everything – it is the tool of choice for dictators.
To illustrate the constitutional crisis, Garrett Epps, who was a professor of law at the University of Baltimore until his retirement in June 2020, wrote back on November 22, 2022, claiming that the Constitution’s text bars the federal government from defaulting on the debt “even a little, even for a short while.” Epps claims that “[t]here’s a case to be made that if Congress decides to default on the debt, the president has the power and the obligation to pay it without congressional permission, even if that requires borrowing more money to do so.” I tried really hard to follow his legal argument and I could not with any Strict Construction Interpretation. Quite frankly, he also probably cannot define what is a woman either.
The “Intent” behind the 14th Amendment has nothing to do with this argument of default. Britain suspended the gold standard and declared a moratorium on debt during the Great Depression – they resumed. The City of Detroit suspended its debt payments in 1937 and resumed in 1963. Yet people insist there was no default. What is the definition of “default”? That traditionally means the abandonment of all obligations on a permanent basis. There is NOTHING in the statutory construction nor in the Constitution that would bar a “suspension” of debt payments. Ukraine suspended its debt until the US paid everything for them so they did not default.
Looking at the 14th Amendment, Section 4 provides that “the validity of the public debt of the United States … shall not be questioned.” The “intent” of that was that the debt incurred by the North was to be the national debt and the Confederate States would not question having to pay those debts. But it continued and made it clear that it would not honor any debts incurred by the Confederate States to fund their side of the war.
In order to understand what this means, we must turn to Statutory Construction which begins by FIRST looking at the plain language of the Amendment to determine its original intent. We must look at the words to determine the original intent and apply their usual and ordinary meanings. If after looking at the language and the meaning remains unclear, then we must attempt to ascertain what was the intent of the legislature by looking at legislative history and other related sources. Normally, a court must not create an interpretation that would create an absurd result that would be counter to the original Legislature’s intent.
Epps claims that “Shall not be questioned” doesn’t mean “shall be paid most of the time unless you can score political points against the other party by not paying it.” That is creating an absurd result and opening the door to the total collapse of the United States. Article I, Section 8 is pretty clear that borrowing and repaying indebtedness are congressional, not executive, powers! Article I would be nullified if the 14th Amendment granted the power to the president to spend as he wants and to pay all debts when that is expressly the power of Congress.
Now we turn to 31 USC §3101 which some try to claim is UNCONSTITUTIONAL and therefore there should be no debt limit. Up to now, this statute has proved to be a good tool for forcing budgetary reform aimed at debt reduction.
The statute was passed in 1982 and became law. The ORIGINAL intent was to do precisely what it has been used for. The only grounds for it to be unconstitutional is if Congress did not have the power to limit the debt. Looking at Article I, this entire argument that Biden can just pay debt and spend without the approval of Congress is the death knell to the Constitution. This is a direct assault upon the separation of powers between the President (Executive branch) and Congress. Since Article I delegates all questions of debt to Congress, I cannot rationally see where Congress lacked the power to curtail the debt when that was the original intent as well.
The ONLY person who wants those provisions to be UNCONSTITUTIONAL so they can spend whatever is left-wing and they have ZERO intention of EVER paying off the national debt. This is really a fraud on their part because you borrow with only the intent to repay the debt. Lacking that, their actions are totally UNCONSTITUTIONAL and a fraud upon the people of the United States and the world.
15-Minute Cities Will Enslave the People
Armstrong Economics Blog/WEF Re-P osted May 5, 2023 by Martin Armstrong
“Make no mistake, it’s not about your convenience, and it’s not about saving the planet. It will be a complete impoverishment and enslavement of all the people,” German MEP Christine Anderson said regarding the push for 15-minute cities. She’s right. The 15-minute city is marketed as a futuristic town where everyone will live within 15 minutes of essential services. They are marketing these cities as affordable, convenient, and virtuous as they combat climate change. The truth of the matter is that these cities are reminiscent of the Jewish ghettos during World War II or the Japanese internment camps in the US. They are designed to contain and control the people.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) claims that Paris will soon become a 15-minute city, and Milan and Melbourne are also running pilots to test this design. Every street will have a bike lane as it will be easier to reduce our access to cars. Reducing our access to personal vehicles will reduce our ability to travel outside of our 15-minute enclosures. Everyone will work within a 15-minute radius, their children will go to school within this 15-minute radius, and there will be no “need” to leave. The problem here is that they have the power to prevent people from leaving.
As Anderson said, governments can easily implement climate emergency lockdowns. “The looming existential threat of climate change and worsening income inequality require us to urgently rethink our existing cities, and rapid urbanization makes it imperative that we create a new and better city-building template for cities to house future city dwellers,” the website for the enclosures states.
Since governments have made homeownership completely unaffordable to many, they are marketing “accessory dwelling units” (ADUs) under 1,000 sq ft as a viable alternative to housing. They claim this will solve homelessness as well since we will all be completely equal. YOU WILL OWN NOTHING AND BE HAPPY.
The government will choose where we live and how we live. The globalists want us to rely solely on government, a government that they hope will be a united one-world unit. The majority will be the “have-nots.” The few elites at the top will prosper on their puppets in their doll house towns who they can play with like Sim characters. My computer model has been stating that the globalists will fail, but it will take a revolution.
REMINDER: Inflation was at 1.4% When Biden Took Office
Armstrong Economics Blog/Inflation Re-Posted Apr 27, 2023 by Martin Armstrong
Inflation was only 1.4% when Biden took office. He began implementing policies on his first day that directly created the energy crisis in the US. He refused to reopen the economy under the pretense of COVID for as long as possible, disrupting the supply chain and damaging small businesses. Biden has created multi-trillion dollar spending programs that saddled the nation with more debt and increased price volatility. His team has been working to divide the people and create civil unrest. I could go on about his failures, but his worst move was involving America in the Russia-Ukraine war. Inflation has steadily risen to unsustainable levels nearly every month since Biden took office.
Biden’s team toys with the numbers to tout that inflation has gone down, but they are comparing the high and low both created under Biden. Wages cannot support the increase in costs and absolutely no one is better off under Biden. Considering the dire situation, it is infuriating that the US had a 1.4% inflation rate not long ago.
Inflation has soared by over 15% since Biden’s inauguration in January 2021. The “Presidential Inflation Rate,” (PIR) developed by the Winston Group, measures a president’s progress in handling inflation over time, from their inauguration month to the month of the most recent CPI report. As of March, inflation under Biden is 15%, which makes him the most inflationary president since Carter. Biden’s 24% “Presidential Inflation Rate” for rising electricity costs is higher than any of the previous seven presidents as it is now up 37.2%. The cost of food rose 18.3% under Biden, and eggs alone have soared by nearly 80%. Shelter costs are now at a 42-year high, and Biden’s PIR for rent has surpassed 13.5%.
Joe Biden takes no responsibility for the inflation caused by his policies and failures as a president. Inflation will continue to increase under Biden. He has absolutely no plans to address the issue, and the legislation he creates to address the problem only exacerbates it. Biden is a corrupt politician who lines his pockets with money from Ukraine and China. The investigation into his crime family that the media is sweeping under the rug reveals the truth. This man needs to be removed from office immediately, but the people alone must decide when they’ve had enough.
Biden’s Let’s Finish the Job
Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics Re-Posted Apr 27, 2023 by Martin Armstrong
Biden’s announcement that he is running was crafted like a Twitter post – not live and posted at 6AM. His message is highly questionable for all he is saying is that the Republicans are radicals and therefore vote for him and he will maintain the status quo. There is a void of any new proposal and there is undoubtedly no message about the economy or inflation that is running away and reducing the livelihood of the average American. Quite frankly, this is the most controversial campaign that naturally the media will never even discuss. How do you “finish the job” without knowing what has been accomplished and what remains “finished” in a second term? The total absence of any claim that he accomplished anything from COVID to having 7 aids that are LGBTQ leaves a huge void.
The Republicans, on the other hand, are simply rolling out the same agenda of restraining the debt ceiling which will only work to undermine the entire socialist agenda and that is way too late. The warmongers in the Republican Party would rather spend money throwing it into the Ukrainian Black Hole where we are paying the entire salaries and pensions of Ukrainian government officials with no restraint on their salaries whatsoever. So we are to cut the benefits of Americans but keep funding Ukraine? Sorry, that is not an agenda I would be voting for.
Then there is the Abortion issue so they are fighting well-organized propaganda where even Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg said when she got to the Supreme for Roe v Wade, that it was all about population control and eugenics – not women’s rights.
The defense of Roe v Wade is actually hypocritical for the Democrats. The main support comes from Gates and Rockefeller Foundations and it is covertly supported by the United Nations. This is all about the Planned Parenthood agenda to provide abortions to minorities to reduce their population. Now you may think I am being a conspiracy theorist. However, back in 2009, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg bluntly told the truth, when she was for equal rights for women.
The Democrats successfully won the abortion argument and the Republicans never understood the issue. It is like asking a witness when was the last time you beat your wife. He will then try to defend himself saying never, and even say ask his wife if he ever beat her. She will say no, and then you argue of course she will deny being beaten out of fear you will beat her again when you get home. You created a no-win argument and changed the entire agenda and nobody understands how you manipulated the entire argument.
Ginsberg made it clear: “Frankly, I had thought that at the time Roe was decided, there was concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don’t want to have too many of.” She spoke bluntly in an interview published in the New York Times Magazine which was an article on women on the court. So it was not simply a woman’s rights agenda. That was the cover story to hide the real agenda which has always existed – eugenics and to reduce the population of minorities.
The Republicans have been diverted to argue over religion and never noticed that the Democrats flipped Eugenics into Women’s Rights. This claim it is my body so it is my choice, was entirely ignored by the Biden Administration when it came to COVID Vaccines. Suddenly nobody cared if it was your body, you were being told to take the vaccine or lose your job.
The Republicans are too caught up in their old rhetoric to notice that they have been played like a fiddle and they are the monkey dancing to the organ-grinder’s tune. I fail to see any Republican charging in on a white horse to save the day. They are too distracted to even understand what day it is.
So when Biden says let’s finish the job, he refuses to even say what the job is.
Centinel2012 