Category Inflation

Mar 18 2022

Harris makes Biden ’20 times worse’: Gingrich


Posted originally on Rumble by Sean Hannity  Published March 18, 2022 

Mar 18 2022

Digital Currencies & Rations


Armstrong Economics Blog/War Re-Posted Mar 18, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: Dear Mr. Armstrong
A question that is worrying so many…
Will programmable central bank digital currencies be successful once introduced?
Kind regards G

ANSWER: Reliable sources are saying that they intend to (1) cancel all paper currency, (2) confiscate all cryptocurrency, (3) impose rationing, (4) wage World War III. Will CB digital currency be successful? Yes and No. They will impose it by sheer force and do everything in their power to attack black markets. They will fail in this endeavor for everything relies upon the power grid. If an adversary takes out less than 10 strategic power stations, the grid will fail and so will all money transactions.

Germany in World War II counterfeited the currency of Great Britain to undermine the currency value as a tactic to win the war. Today, you just target the power grid and that will kill the economy faster and far more sufficient than ever before. The black market will probably involve canned for and silver coins dated pre-1965.

During WWII, Americans were asked to make sacrifices in many ways including rationing. With the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States government created a system of rationing, limiting the number of certain goods that a person could purchase. Rationing included gasoline, butter, sugar, and canned milk. War also disrupted trade, limiting the availability of some goods as we will expect this time around so get some of those pink umbrellas for your drinks for they come from China. Since the Japanese Imperial Army controlled Indonesia from March 1942 to September 1945, that cut off the supply of rubber. Roosevelt’s Executive Order 8875 created the Office of Price Administration (OPA) on August 28, 1941. They put in price ceiling on most goods in auditioning to rations.

Americans received their first ration cards in May 1942. The first card, War Ration Card Number One, became known as the “Sugar Book,” for one of the commodities Americans could purchase with their ration card. Other ration cards developed as the war progressed. Ration cards included stamps with drawings of airplanes, guns, tanks, aircraft, ears of wheat, and fruit, which were used to purchase rationed items.

They will impose curfews and lockdowns. The WHO is already proposing a worldwide COVID passport and they will most likely use that to claim they are filtering out spies.

Mar 18 2022

While Americans Suffer Their Economy, Detached Pelosi Orders Catered Luncheon and Dancers for Her Entertainment


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on March 17, 2022

It is important for us to accept the reality of our current situation.  As millions of American citizens are suffering the economic damage from rising inflation, gas prices, and the working class are trying to figure out just how to make ends meet, it becomes critical to know how our political leadership is responding.

This video is an unfortunate representation of the state of our union.  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi holds court, hosting a catered luncheon and calling for dancers to perform for her and the congressional delegation.  Please WATCH (10 mins):

The juxtaposition of images from outside Congress to the activity inside Congress speaks for itself.

You might want to bookmark the video above – in the event anyone asks you to explain your political position.

Mar 17 2022

Americans Want Energy Independence


Armstrong Economics Blog/Energy Re-Posted Mar 17, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

Americans want President Biden to “green light the restart of the building of the Keystone XL pipeline that would transport oil from Canada’s oil sands region through the Midwest to refineries in Texas.” Maru Public Opinion for Postmedia noted in a poll that 71% of Americans support the idea. Around 39% state they favor the idea very much, while another 32% reported somewhat favoring the idea. Around 16% somewhat oppose the idea, and 13% remain very opposed. “It would appear that the public, given the current circumstance, has decided that this is a bipartisan solution to what is now an unprecedented circumstance,” John Wright, Maru Public Opinion’s executive vice-president, stated.

If Joe Biden didn’t kill the project the moment he took office, it would be ready for operation in Q1 of 2023. Experts say it would now take much longer to complete the pipeline amid supply shortages. Last week, Democrats blocked a motion put forward by Republicans called the American Energy Independence from Russia Act to once again prevent America from becoming energy independent.

“This week our president — our American president — asked Venezuela and Saudi Arabia to increase oil production, asked them to boost their output so that American consumers wouldn’t see a spike in gas prices,” Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) said. “Surely, [Biden] knows we can also boost domestic production right here at home. Surely he knows that domestic production supports American jobs, and surely he knows that domestic production is cleaner, by far, than foreign production.”

That’s right — Biden turned to hostile dictators for help instead of tapping into the numerous options he has available at home. His policies are disingenuous and do not represent the wishes of the people who allegedly elected him.

Mar 17 2022

The Scheme behind the Great Reset


Armstrong Economics Blog/Great Reset Re-Posted Mar 17, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

As the press covered Zelnensky’s professional speech carried out by his acting training, he continued to try to pull on the heartstrings of the American people to further the hatred of Putin and to wage World War III. He knows what he is asking for and he is not stupid. Zelensky said on March 16 that World War III may have already started amid the Russia–Ukraine conflict. He is desperately trying to create World War III. This will end up nuclear and he is no hero, and the press had better start doing some real investigative work before it is too late.

The National Hero of Ukraine in Zelensky’s mind is Stephan Bandera who was a Ukrainian Nazi in whose name they massacred hundreds of Jews, Poles, and Russians with the same philosophy of ethnic purity. The Ukrainian Nazis were protected by the CIA and the Neocons BECAUSE they also hated Russians. The German Nazis were put on trial but the US covered up the Ukrainian Nazis because they hated Russians and that warranted their partnership.

Bandera’s monument stands in Ukraine not as a Nazi war criminal, but as a national hero. The Jews who hunted down Nazis who fled never knew the full story about the Ukrainian Nazis who the US protected.

The money that was behind Zelensky for his career came from an oligarch linked to George Soros who did what he could to make sure Zelensky knows that his repeated call for the U.S. to enforce a no-fly zone over Ukraine will not spare his country – it will result in its total destruction. That will be an all-out war between the United States and Russia which will drag in China and North Korea as well as in the Balkans from Serbia and Belarus just for starters. Iran will love to join the party against the West and you can bet that will result in bombs falling on Israel.

Even the latest James Bond movie was about bioweapons that can target an individual or a specific ethnicity. This is why Macron refused to take a COVID test in Russia because that would give them his DNA. The Biolabs the US has been running on the border of Russia in Ukraine and China are alleged to be engaged in creating such bioweapons. The US denies that but they also refuse to allow international observers to inspect these facilities – 130 in total.

George Soros in fact acknowledged in an interview with CNN that he actively contributed to the overthrow of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in 2014. He said:

“I created a foundation in Ukraine before it became independent from Russia. The foundation has functioned since then and has played an important role in current events,”

Soros supported  Volodymyr Zelenskyy for President and his friend secretly financed Zelensky – the Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoisky. It was Kolomisky whose name surfaced in the Pandora Papers investigation, which was uncovered tracing money laundering by more than 600 journalists. The worldwide probe by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), included work by journalists from the Ukrainian as well. They connected the financial dealings of Zelensky’s television production company Studio Kvartal 95 to the Ukrainian oligarch Igor Kolomoisky. Today, Kolomoisky is a person of interest in investigations in Ukraine, Britain, and the United States. However, now that Zelensky is being portrayed as a hero standing against Putin, now of this will see the light of day.

Now we have Soros out in force claiming that China in league with Russia will “destroy our civilization” when it fact Zelensky is the puppet pushing desperately for World War III so the Neocons can wage war against China and Russia and they think they will get to then usher in the Great Reset and restart the world monetary system all over again with the United Nations as the one-world governing body.

So while everyone cheers Zelensky, they have no idea what cost there will be is getting involved in Ukraine. Zelensky could have easily saved his country by just ending the idea of joining NATO, allowing the two provinces to vote on the separation as was in the Minsk Agreement of 2014, and end all claims to Crimea which was historically Russian territory that was simply assigned to Ukraine for governorship under the Soviet Union. Ukraine was never its own country before the Soviet Union.

This is all being well played and they are desperate for the people to plead for war and that will be the crowning glory for the Great Reset – a completely new world order.

Mar 17 2022

U.S. Retail Sales Collapse as Govt and Media Attempt Denial That Economy Is Contracting


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on March 16, 2022 | Sundance 

Move along, move along folks… please do not pay attention to the fire raging downtown, the suburbs are so nice this time of year… move along folks, look shiny Ukraine thing over there…

When retail sales are calculated, they are calculated in dollars.  Any recorded increase in retail sales that does not exceed the price increases in those items is factually reflecting a drop in units sold.

Ex. – if you sell 300 items at $1.00 each, you have $300 in sales.  If you sell 250 items at $1.25 each, you have $312.50 in sales.  Technically, you have a 4.1% increase in sales.  However, you have sold 17% less items (50 units).

When you are selling less stuff, your business (economy) is contracting, not expanding.  We have been in this contracting cycle (an actual production recession) since May/June of last year; however, the contraction has not been recognized because massive inflation is hiding it.  That, my friends, is the painful truth and it spells big trouble ahead.

(AP) […] Retail sales increased 0.3% after registering a revised 4.9% jump from December to January, fueled by wage gains, solid hiring and more money in banking accounts, according to the Commerce Department. January’s increase was the biggest jump in spending since last March, when American households received a final federal stimulus check of $1,400.

Business at furniture and home furnishing stores fell 1% in February, while sales at consumer electronics and appliance stores slipped 0.6%. General merchandise stores saw business down 0.2%, while online sales fell 3.7%. Restaurant sales rose 2.5% as shoppers shift more of their spending to services as the threat of COVID-19 fades. (read more)

Take the figures above and compare them to the sector inflation in February (Table-2, BLS Report)  – Just sticking to what is above:

  • Furniture prices rose 0.8% in Feb, total furniture sales dropped 1.0%
  • Electronics and appliances rose around 1.8% in Feb, sales dropped 0.6%
  • Online sales items rose in price around 0.5%, sales dropped 3.7%

.

What this reflects is an actual contraction much greater than the dollar drop in sales.   In most cases the unit sales dropped at a rate six times the price difference.  If you reverse engineer the math, the average is approximately a 15% reduction in durable good units purchased.

In a very macro perspective, that means the U.S. economy overall has approximately 15% too much labor in the sectors associated with the categories of goods that people have stopped purchasing.  This means people working in the durable goods sector, production, assembly, transportation, delivery and retail sales staff, are about to get laid off work, RIF’d and downsized.

Math is math, and inflation clouds the realities of the economy.

Ordinary people are prioritizing spending and watching their wages get chewed up by higher prices for food, energy, fuel and housing.  If you live in a predominantly working class or blue-collar area, when you start seeing contraction locally, you can be sure it will show up nationally.

Prepare for a long-duration recession, combined with increasingly costly energy costs.

However, do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.  Instead, empower yourself.  Take action today to evaluate your expenses and then ask how can I lower those expense costs by modifying my habits?  Think strategically about convenience -vs- costs -vs- how much your own time is worth.

You may not need to modify anything.  Or you may need to reevaluate priorities in order to help your kids or grandkids.

Be wise.

Be the hero for your family.

Be strong.

Be proactive.

Above all, be thankful to a loving God.  No weapon formed against you shall prosper.

Stay humble in your expectations, stay connected to your stabilized core self, and embrace fellowship.

This too shall pass.

#FJB

Mar 16 2022

The Insanity of the Biden Administration – Decline & Fall of the West


Armstrong Economics Blog/Neocons Re-Posted Mar 15, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

The Biden Administration has been fully subordinated to the Great Reset. It is highly debatable if Joe is really doing anything. During an international crisis, he still takes off weekends and heads to Delaware. Gee, perhaps I should run for President and get weekends off instead of having to work 7 days a week during a crisis. OMG – I never knew I could work less as a leader of the questionable free world given the 2 years of COVID imprisonment.

Biden’s pick of Sarah Bloom Raskin for the Chair of the Federal Reserve will completely destroy the integrity of the Federal Reserve. Installing another Climate Change zealot is just beyond belief. There is no aspect of the economy that the Biden Administration has not undermined which he is desperately trying to blame inflation of Putin. From the perspective of China and Russia, they are watching their greatest adversary commit suicide. One does not step in to prevent that for it becomes an easy victory. Biden is even trying to cut a nuclear deal with Iran, which is the leading terrorist nation that was kept at bay by Saddam in Iraq who we removed. Biden will hand them money which will only be used against the United States. They will join Russia and China against the West – make no stupid mistake about that.

In all honesty, I have NEVER seen such total propaganda coming from ANY Administration as that of this one. No lie was told by any previous administration Republican or Democrat that has ever reached the level of total absurdity as what is coming from Biden and Pelosi. Pelosi actually said that government spending no longer increases the National Debt. The only possible way for that to happen is you stop borrowing and just create money. The end of Keynesian Economics. In Pelosi’s own words she actually said:

“When we’re having this discussion, it’s important to dispel some of those who say, well it’s the government spending. No, it isn’t. The government spending is doing the exact reverse, reducing the national debt. It is not inflationary.”

Then Pelosi claims that it is “Global Inflation” and that is why this is Putin’s fault. But sanctions have never work not even once in history, and they knew imposing these drastic sanctions would further the commodity shortage they already caused with the lockdowns. Then in the middle of international war, the Navy actually refused to deploy a warship because its Commander remained Unvaccinated! So you cannot defend the country unless you are vaccinated? I am sure Xi and Putin are having the biggest laugh of their life.

We are heading into war because this is not just part of the Great Reset to recreate another Bretton Woods and default on National Debts that have become no longer sustainable, but the Biolabs conducting “research” as the Neocons claim, were involved in creating Bioweapons that genetically target specific ethnic groups. They have collected a lot of DNA samples with all the COVID tests. Remember Macron refused a COVID Test by Russia because they would then have his DNA. Once you have a person’s DNA, you can create a disease that is targeted that will kill just that person. The biological weapons have advanced and this is what Russia and China are concerned about where the Neocons refuse to allow inspections.

Putin has been very consistent about stopping the advancement of NATO. It was 51.6 weeks into the Biden Administration when Russia insisted that Finland not join NATO which they rejected. In the Balkans, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has obscured the intentions of Bosnia and Herzegovina to also join NATO, which Moscow vehemently opposes. We are looking at Serbia, which is pro-Russian, also looking to oppose NATO on their border. While the West claims that NATO is defensive and not offensive, that is not what their actions suggest. They have kept trying to move forward against Russia and once NATO troops enter, they bring mobile nuclear weapons. For Ukraine to have entered NATO, that would have been the same threat to Russia as when they attempted to install nuclear weapons in Cuba during the Kennedy Administration.

In war, both sides twist the facts to support their own agenda. These Neocons have been pushing US policy regardless of the administration. The only one who stood up against them was Trump which is why they had to ensure he was removed.  Presidents appear to be afraid of the Neocons for they are a government of their own within the government.

Here is that interview where Chuck Schumer confirms that no politician will EVER investigate the intelligence branch or the Neocons for they hold unbridled power to do as they like when they like. The Neocons create the narrative and they direct the country to their agenda.

We must be focused on the weeks of 03/28, 06/06, and 09/12 geopolitically looking ahead and 2023 looks crazy both in geopolitical terms as well as economically.

Mar 16 2022

Producer Price Inflation Sets New Record at 10 Percent, No Relief in Sight


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on March 15, 2022 | Sundance

The “Producer Price Index” (PPI) is essentially the tracking of wholesale prices at three stages: Origination (commodity), Intermediate (processing), and then Final (to wholesale). Today, the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS) released February price data [Available Here] showing a dramatic 10.0% increase year-over-year in Final Demand products at the wholesale level.  This is the highest rate of inflation in the PPI ever recorded.

The single month increase in wholesale prices of 2.4% was driven by inflation built into the supply chain at every level that shows up in the final wholesale price.  Those price increases then get passed along to consumers along with the additional costs for warehousing, transportation and delivery.  I modified Table-A to take out some of the noise.

The January, December and November data was also revised significantly upward, and a sketchy footnote is included in the data. “Some of the figures … in this release may differ from those previously reported because data for October 2021 through January 2022 have been revised to reflect the availability of late reports and corrections.”   Remember that temporary drop in December, yeah, that’s wiped out now.

The reason the total demand inflation number is 0.8% is only because inflation in the service sector is lower than inflation in the goods sector.  Two reasons: (1) energy costs embed in goods first before services; and (2) when inflation on goods squeezes budgeted consumers, less services are demanded.

Unfortunately, there is nothing upstream in the supply chain and manufacturing pipeline to suggest that higher prices at the retail level are not coming.  The price of raw materials, and the wholesale energy costs to process those materials into finished goods, are still rising.  Factually, the recent massive increase in fuel and transportation cost is not included in this data.

You can see clearly in Table-B (again, cleaned up) the wave of inflation that took place in April through October 2021.  Inflation is backward looking, so when prices have already doubled in the previous year and the compounding price goes up another 35% this year, well essentially that’s another doubling when compared to 2020.   Put another way, raw materials (unprocessed intermediate goods) have tripled in price in the last two years.

In my estimation, the massive price increases the bureau quantified through January were the end of the first wave of massive inflation that CTH warned about last October.

“Do what you can do now to start preparing your weekly budget in ways you may not have thought about before.   Shop sales, use coupons, look for discounts and products that can be reformulated into multiple meals or multiple uses.   Shelf-stable food products that can be muti-purposed with proteins is a good start. Consider purchasing the raw materials for cleaning products and reformulate them yourself to avoid these massive increases in petroleum costs.” [October Warning]

The recent announcement of price increases we have discussed, from food producers specifically (Kraft-Heinz, Proctor and Gamble, etc.), in combination with massive fertilizer and farming costs for future yield, is the second wave that has yet to be fully quantified.  The second wave of retail inflation, only just beginning to arrive now in the February results, will extend throughout the spring.

Next month, March data reported in April, the second wave of inflation data should carry the first big jumps in gas and diesel prices.  For ordinary people, this next round of food inflation will be focused predominantly in the ‘Fresh Foods‘ categories.  Fresh produce, vegetables and fruits have short life cycles, and rapid increases in transportation costs hit that segment fast and hard.

On the positive side, our victory gardens are going up in value, very quickly.   A few backyard growing boxes can generate an easy $200 to $500/month in fresh produce as the price of ordinary row crops at the store starts to double and triple.  Mature citrus trees are worth their weight in gold right now.

FJB!

Mar 14 2022

Distrust is the Default


Armstrong Economics Blog/ECM Re-Posted Mar 14, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

Public confidence has plummeted. People across the world have lost faith in their governments, economy, and overall futures. The 2022 Edelman Trust Barometer surveyed 36,000 respondents from 28 countries in November 2021. Similar sentiments are being felt across the world as inflation, civil unrest, and war continues to wreak havoc on our lives with no signs of slowing.

Nearly half of all respondents stated that they viewed the government (48%) and media (46%) as divisive forces in society. “We find a world ensnared in a vicious cycle of distrust, fueled by a growing lack of faith in media and government. Through disinformation and division, these two institutions are feeding the cycle and exploiting it for commercial and political gain,” the poll found. The propaganda propelled by the media is so blatant that it cannot be ignored by anyone regardless of their political standing. Honest journalists are jailed while the others promote an agenda. The media quickly adverted our attention to the war in Ukraine and rapidly downplayed their coverage on COVID. Fauci’s face was an unavoidable daily presence in the press for years until the war began. Where is he now? The same thing happened when the Black Lives Matter riots dominated the news until Joe Biden was elected president as their mission was accomplished. The governments are responsible for changing the narrative provided to the public by the media who have become misinformation peddlers.

However, people are now looking at the private sector to solve societal problems. The private sector is not capable or responsible for doing the government’s job, but people worldwide would prefer it if it were. “We see an even greater expectation of business to lead as trust in government continues to spiral,” the survey noted. Around 49% of respondents want businesses to fix economic inequality, while 46% believe they are responsible for reskilling the workforce. A surprising 52% of respondents believe the private sector is responsible for cyclical climate change.

Conclusion: “Failure of leadership makes distrust the default.” Our model indicates that people will continue to seek refuge from the private sector, with the intensity increasing to a level not seen in our lifetimes.