Posted originally on Jun 16, 2024 By Martin Armstrong
While we must first go through some hard times, we will NEVER reform until most people see that this is NOT going in the right direction. It is unbelievable. I was willing to give the benefit of the doubt to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who rose to power from virtually nowhere. People were fed up with the BS of career politicians and the collapse of so many businesses and turned to a fresh face who was not a fascist or even a neo-fascist. She’s a right-wing populist-nationalist of a type who seems to be naive and has been conquered by the Neocon agenda. She is more likely to engulf Italy in World War III, but that seems to be the European Agenda as a distraction from the crisis unfolding, and the Euro is drowning in fiscal mismanagement.
The Italian share market began to crash one week after the turn in the Economic Confidence Model on May 7th. The major resistance stands at the 35000 level, and that is where the bounce effectively hits a wall of resistance. Meloni’s insane comment that Russia will be forced to surrender if the Kremlin does not agree to the terms of peace that the EU dictates to Russia is just unimaginable. According to Meloni, she made this comment during the broadcast of the second plenary session of the peace summit.
“Defending Ukraine means uniting all the efforts of the international community to protect Ukraine. If Russia does not agree to Ukraine’s terms, we will force it to surrender. We need to set the minimum conditions for this discussion.”
Her total lack of experience is precisely what the Neocons have counted on. She has joined the cheerleaders for World War III and the audacity, if not total ignorance, of the fact that it was the West and Kyiv that started this war intentionally to force Putin into World War III so they could conquer Russia and engage in genocide. Ukraine is the MOST disgusting, corrupt, and untrustworthy country on the face of this planet, and they WILL use whatever means to start World War III.
I apologize to those in Rome that I could not stay longer to meet with Meloni, which many wanted to arrange. But based on her recent comments, it is clear that the Neocons would have told her not to meet with me anyway. She has joined the warmongering crowd. I just hope this was not the last time I will ever see the Roman Forum.
These failed leaders, who are clearly incompetent to drive a taxi, are steering the world into World War III. This insane confrontation with Russia appears to be heating up in July. Putin is the ONLY adult in the room. He desperately keeps warning is this where you want to go?
I have always loved Rome. I was surprised at how many restaurants I used to go to have been closed and driven out of business thanks to COVID-19. Sorry to inform Italian readers, but you are headed into a recession, and with Giorgia Meloni taking directions from the Neocons instead of addressing the economic issues, we have the worst crop of leaders in modern history around the globe all hell-bent on creating war. Instead of being neutral, she has thrown Italy into the target zone.
Posted originally on Jun 6, 2024 By Martin Armstrong
COMMENT: Marty, I attended your Toronto Institutional session when the Bank of Canada had a table of 10 people. People would ask you what the central banks were looking at, and you would respond. Everyone then turned to see if they flinched. They were the best of times, as they say.
For us long-timers, it was no surprise that the Bank of Canada was the first to cut rates in turn with the ECM. I know you do not like to court the mainstream press, but one of these days, somebody has to have the guts to stand up and say that there is a business cycle.
Your legacy has made a difference. I share your goal to purge our governments of political manipulation that causes more harm to the people and the economy than anything else.
It was refreshing to see the Bank of Canada act with the ECM. You even put on the blog that June would be the opportunity for the central banks to cut rates. Well done, as always.
KW
REPLY: Yes, they were simpler days. It’s nice to see you are still active. Most of the major central banks know the Economic Confidence Model. It was good to see that the Bank of Canada acted in advance for the first time until waiting for the crash. It would be better if they could purge the fiscal side of these insane pretend experts like Janet Yellen and the Neocons. Then there will be a future worth leaving our grandchildren.
We now have universities inquiring about buying quantities of the books I have been publishing. It is great news that they are starting to introduce students to reality. I am working hard to finish the major book on the Economic Confidence Model, the New Yorker Magazine, called The Secret Cycle.
Posted originally on May 24, 2024 By Martin Armstrong
In an interview on May 11, 2014, I explained on USAWatchdog that confidence always outweighs reality. “It’s basically what you believe. There have been all sorts of studies on fundamentals that say if interest rates go up, stocks go down. It is simply not true. The stock market has never peaked with interest rates twice in history. If you think you are going to make 25% in the market, you’ll pay 10% interest; but if you really think the market is only going to go up 10%, you won’t pay 10%. So, it’s always the difference between what you believe and reality.”
The people have lost all confidence in government. There were rumors of a “soft landing” from the Fed, but the situation can no longer be controlled by the central bank. Washington maintains that everything is stable as banks continue to fail and inflation rages on. There can be no price stability when war is at play. Government spending has reached a new high, as have taxes which are not counted in any major data report. I explained in 2014 that great empires all come crashing down after piling on massive debt. People believe hyperinflation would cause such a scenario, but debt is the major player. Once the government accumulates enormous debt, it targets its citizens aggressively. That is what we are seeing today.
So where should you put your money? I said in 2014: “One of the number one questions I get all the time is where do I put my money? If the banks can just take whatever they want now, there will be bail-ins rather than bail-outs. People are afraid. What do you do with the cash? So, people are buying things like real estate and stocks, just trying to get money out of the banking system.” Smart money has been trying to escape the banks for years. There was no incentive until very recently to park money in the banks due to artificially low rates. The hunt for taxation is causing people to flee from the banks. The downturn in government trust has caused everyone to run from government debt for fear that it will not be repaid.
I also explained that the Fed would only bail out deposits and had been asking institutions to change their models. “Everybody knows I advise some of the big institutions around, and I can tell you that they have told me directly that the Fed went to them and told them they will not be bailed out for proprietary trading. It will be only on deposits. That’s it,” I stated. “The Fed has been going around telling them, ‘hey, you better change your models.’ They don’t think it will be a flight to quality as it was before. You buy the long-term (Treasuries), and that saves you. They don’t think that’s going to happen. It’s quite interesting. . . . It looks like the long-term (Treasury bonds) is going to end up starting to rise.”
Sound familiar with the current situation? People have moved from the public sector into the private sector. We are well into a private wave, and the public will not go back to the public sector for many years to come. By that time, the government will have transformed into a new model that is far different from what we have today. My warning from 10 years ago was derived from the computer models, who never relies on mere opinion and are unable to factor in bias.
When I say that the computer is honing in on a new target or date, often, we must simply look at what unfolds on that target to understand the full forecast. We are waiting for the CONFIRMATION. The computer will give us that signal and we just have to go with the flow. It may be worse than trying to give a 5-year-old cough medicine. Yes, it tastes horrible, but it is necessary for the cure. The majority will not be able to make that transition thanks to their preconceived ideas and preconditioning. Many pilots who flew prop planes could never fly a jet because they could not make that transition to faster travel requiring quicker reaction times. This is the type of transition we face. We just have to abandon all prejudice and go with the markets. May 7 marked a major shift in the geopolitical landscape that ensures major conflicts with both Russia and China are on the horizon. I trust the trends in motion to forecast the future. As they say, the trend is your friend.
COMMENT: Mr. Armstrong, I have been impressed by your Economic Confidence Model. You said there would be no recession until after 2024. You were really the only one who said that. Now Bloomberg reported that the forecasters who “were first out of the box to predict a US recession” are now hedging their bets. They mention Deutsche Bank Vice Chair of Research Peter Hooper and Fannie Mae chief economist Doug Duncan. However, Nomura Securities International senior economist Aichi Amemiya still says a recession is coming, but “it’s getting to be a close call.”
Not one of the significant houses seems ever to get it right. I just wanted to say your model shines a light on the whole analysis field. I can’t wait for your Geometry of Time.
DF
REPLY: Thank you. It has been a most interesting experience. As I said, this is something I bumped into. I did not go looking for such a model. It was something that found me, as many say it was my destiny, even growing up in a house with the address of 314 South Lippincott Ave, in Maple Shade, New Jersey.
These are the books I am trying to get out this year. The Geometry of Time will be next year. The Mark Anthony book should be on Amazon and Barnes & Noble in a couple of weeks. That is, using the coinage to demonstrate what the real story is behind Cleopatra. She was certainly not black as NETFLIX presented to rewrite history for the WOKE agenda. This is very similar to the USA using Ukraine in a proxy war to destroy Russia. Here, Cleopatra funded a war that the coinage was so massive; it still accounted for 20% of the money supply 100 years later.
The Modern Analysis is nearly finished. This goes precisely to the subject you have brought up. This is a reference book on my version of technical analysis, which is different from the mainstream, but it goes into the whole problem of analysis used by academics, which is blinding us to the reality of our actions.
The De-Dolarization demonstrates how this entire nonsense that hyperinflation is caused by just increasing the money supply, which is like saying the Great Depression took place simply because the stock market went down. Here too, the lack of any real investigative analysis has doomed the Eurozone because of the distorted view of the real cause of hyperinflation.
The Geometry of Time will be the companion to Modern Analysis for the 21st Century. This will deal with cycles from the how to the why. It has been academia’s refusal to embrace cyclical analysis and any form of technical analysis that prevent any worthwhile forecasting. This is why people like Larry Summers admit they cannot forecast the economy’s future.
QUESTION: Marty, nobody has done such intense research geopolitically than you. This theory of a one-world government seems absurd with so many languages and cultures. Looking at Ukraine, Kyiv is demanding the people in the Donbas speak only Ukrainian and they must surrender their religion to the Patriarch in Kyiv. This is at least a parallel to the French seizing the Vatican and moving it to Avignon. I believe you have said that was the exact opposite of how Rome built an empire.
So, my question is straightforward. While Rome may have lasted for a thousand years, there were civil wars and uprisings like the Spartacus Rebellion. Can you elaborate on the cycle of civil wars in Rome? Is this our fate?
PL
ANSWER: This arrogance that a one-world government will end war is absurd. The Roman Empire was one government and it had numerous rebellions and civil wars. So much for this their intent to make the UN and the WHO rule the world. Nobody ever seems to refer to history and just ask – has this been tried before? What was the outcome?
The Social War, also called Italic War, or Marsic War, (91–88 BC) was a revolt of Rome’s Italian allies (socii, hence ‘Social War’). This was the first real civil war following the birth of the Republic in 509 BC. The allies in central and southern Italy had fought side by side with Rome in several wars. But the Romans looked down on them as aliens and denied them equal rights. They rose up against this autocratic rule and demanded Roman citizenship and the privileges it conferred. Then in 91BC, the Roman tribune Marcus Livius Drusus tried to solve the problem by proposing legislation that would have admitted all Italians to Roman citizenship. The response was to assassinate him. This resulted in the once-Italian allies rising up in revolt.
The Peloponnesian War was effectively the city-states that were once the allies of Athens rose up and joined Sparta against Athens also for their arrogance. I believe you will see the same unfold with Europe starting to split from the United States and turn against it also because of the arrogance of our Neocons. Remember Victoria Nulan’s comment ” F the EU!”
During this Italian Social War against Rome, we find the Coinage of the Marsic Confederation (90-88 BC) (90 when they began producing coins), which opposed Rome. They issued Denarii perhaps striking the coinage at a Bovianum mint. We see the laureate female head of Italia wearing a single drop earring and pearl necklace; viteliú (in Oscan) in both a left and right configuration. These coins were clearly a political statement that it was Italia against the tyranny of Rome. These coins are known as the Marsi Confederation named after the Marsi who were especially prominent in this movement.
The main fighting was in the years 90-89 BC and the rebellion assumed alarming proportions when both consuls (generals) for 90 BC were defeated by rebel armies. Rome appeared to be in serious danger of defeat, but the movement collapsed as suddenly as it had begun. The victory was probably achieved largely through the political concession of granting Roman citizenship to the enemy. Thereafter, all of Italy south of the Po was united by this common bond. The coinage of the Marsic Confederation is of great interest, consisting principally of silver denarii, some of which bear the names of the rebel generals.
The first coin ever issued with the name of Julius Caesar was issued by Sextus Julius Caesar (c 209-208BC) and they are very rare. It was actually the consul Lucius Julius Caesar (134-87BC) who stepped in and helped pass a law granting Roman citizenship to all Italians who had not participated in the revolt and probably also to all who had but were ready to immediately lay down their arms.
Despite championing the rights of Italians, Lucius and his brother Gaius Julius Caesar Stabo Vopiscus were murdered by Gaius Marius (c. 157-86 BC) sought to increase his prestige with marriage into an old, but impoverished patrician family, the Julii Caesares. He married Julia, aunt of Gaius Julius Caesar (100-44BC), around 110BC since his son was born in 109/108BC.
Marius was actually acclaimed for saving Rome from the brink of collapse at the Battle of Vercellae, fought on July 30th, 101 BC in Northern Italy when a Germanic-Celtic confederation invaded. Yet his conflict with Sulla the Dictator (138-78BC) has overshadowed his significance in Roman history. It was Sulla who forced Julius Caesar (100-44BC) to flee. It was Sulla who said he saw another Marius in Caesar – a man of the people.
When the Social War began in 91 BC with the uprising of the Republic’s Italian allies against Rome, the Senate turned to Marius being an accomplished military general to lead Rome’s troops against the Italians. Marius at first complied and competently commanded legions throughout the first year of the war in 90 BC. However, he retired perhaps being forced out of power by his senatorial enemies as he clearly disagreed with fighting against the rest of Italy.
As the Social War was nearing an end, the King in the East, Mithridates of Pontus, rose up against Rome. Marius wanted the command. This really revealed that it was Marius’ disagreement with the Senate to wage war on their Italian Allies. Yet, Sulla was ultimately given the Mithridatic command. Marius plotted with the tribune, Sulpicius, to introduce a motion to transfer the Mithridatic command to Marius, which he did. It passed, but instead of obeying the Senate, Sulla treacherously turned his troops on Rome itself in 88 BC and marched with it on Rome. Sulpicius’ measures were rescinded, and Marius was exiled.
In 87, Lucius Cornelius Cinna (130-84BC) became consul. When he tried to register the new citizens (acquired at the end of the Social War) in all 35 tribes, rioting broke out. Cinna was driven from the city. He went to Campania where he took over Sulla’s legion. He led his troops toward Rome, recruiting more along the way. Meanwhile, Marius gained military control of Africa. Marius and his army landed in Etruria (north of Rome), raised more troops from among his veterans, and went on to capture Ostia. Cinna joined forces with Marius; together they marched on Rome.
Cinna revoked Sulla’s law against Marius and the other exiles when he took the city. Marius then took revenge executing his enemies which included fourteen prominent senators. Cinna and Marius were both re-elected consuls for 86 BC, but a few days after taking office, Marius died.
After briefly attempting to repel Sulla’s invading legionaries, Marius was forced to withdraw. Sulla then seized control of the Republic becoming a true dictator.
Spartacus Rebellion was during the Republic 73-71BC, 15 years after the Social War. Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon on January 10th, 49 BC which came 22 years after the Spartacus Rebellion. The next Civil War came following the assassination of Caesar in 44 BC. That lasted for about 4.3 years. In the process, Brutus (85-42BC) was killed.
Then we have a civil war instigated by Cleopatra using Mark Antony. That culminated in the Battle of Actium and then Augustus (27BC-14AD) invaded Eqypte and both were dead in 30BC. That concluded 14 years following the death of Caesar.
The last of the Julio-Claudian line of emperors who followed Augustus (27-14AD), was Nero (54-68AD). Nero dies June 9th, 68AD, and that unleashed the next civil war which lasted about 2.15 years.
This brings us to the assassination of Commodus (177-192AD) in 192AD which set off another Civil War after the Praetorian Guard, the Deep State, actually auctioned off the crown to the highest bidder – Didius Julianus (Jan 30th-June 1st, 193AD). That created such outrage it cause many generals to march on Rome. Septimus Severus (193-211AD) emerged as the victor.
The son of Septimus Severus was Caracalla (198-217AD) who killed his own brother Geta so he would not share the throne and was assassinated. That set off another civil war which lasted again for at best 2.15 years. The women of the family were very dominant and they managed to seize power and keep family members on the throne until 235AD and the murder of Severus Alexander (222-235AD).
This is where the monetary system really begins its Waterfall Event when Maximinus I (235-228AD) comes to power. He enlists spies to target people with wealth. Executes them and seizes all their assets. Many historians claimed he was a barbarian who pretended to be Roman to destroy the empire. He effectively was doing what Karl Marx advocated centuries ago.
The Senate tried to seize back power by appointing Gordian Iand his son Gordian II (238AD) to defend Rome. That became the year of 6 emperors. The troops demand Gordian III(238-244AD) to take the throne and the Senate had no choice.
Philip I (244-249AD) overthrow Gordian III and is known as Philip the Arab. This sets in motion a number of usurpers in 244AD including Silbannacusand again usurpers appear in 248AD – Pacatian and Jotapian.
Yet it is Trajan Decius (249-251AD) who emerges as the victor. He was the first emperor to be killed in battle with the barbarians. This sent shockwaves through the empire causing many to begin to realize that perhaps they were not invincible.
He has one young son who survived, Hostilian, who was taken in by the next emperor – Trebonianus Gallus (251-253AD), who tried to buy peace with the Goths. They took the money and violated the agreement. Aemilianus (253AD) defeated some Goths and then marched on Rome. The Goths also brought with them the Plague. This resulted in Gallus and his son Volusian being murdered by their own troops.
Aemilianus was challenged by Valerian I (253-260AD) and rather than do battle, they decided to kill Aemilianus. Valerian raises his son Gallienus(253-268AD) to be his co-emperor.
It was Valerian who was captured and turned into a royal slave by the Persians. This was a tremendous humiliation for Romans. The monetary system simply collapsed. People began hoarding their currency on a grand scale. This created a shortage of silver which then resulted in the debasement of the coinage in just 8.6 years.
This collapse in the monetary system brought with it political instability. Once Valerian was captured in 260AD, this is when the Roman Empire splits into three – the Gallic Empire in Europe was the result of Postumus (260-268AD) and Zenobia (271-272AD) takes Asia.
There were a few other generals who declared themselves upon the capture of Valerian – Macrianus (260-261AD), Quietus (260-261AD), and Regalianus (260-261AD). Interestingly, Gallienus is assassinated in 268AD and so is Postumus in the Gallic Empire. In Rome, Claudius II(268-270AD) comes to the throne but he dies of the plague which was brought in by the invading barbarians.
Aurelian (270-275AD) come to power and sends an army against the Deep State which was controlling the mint and keeping all the silver for themselves. He also builds the defensive wall around Rome since the barbarian invasions make it into Italy itself. He was assassinated by his own officers on rumors that he would accuse them of corruption. The troops rebelled against the assassins and asked the Senate to appoint a new emperor. They installed Tacitus (275-276AD) who was 75 years old. He died on the campaign of old age.
Upon the death of Tacitus, his half-brother Florianus (276AD) claimed the throne. He face another general who claimed the throne Probus (276-282AD). The troops killed Florianus to avoid battle. Probus was in turn murdered by his own troops for having to build public works.
This led to Carus (282-283AD) being proclaimed emperor by the troops. He was struck by lightning and killed by the gods. He was succeeded by his son Numerian(283-284) who was murdered by his troops. There was a usurper named Julian of Pannonia (284-285AD) which was in the region of Yugoslavia, He was defeated by Carus’ other son Carinus(283-285AD). He was then killed by his own troops which seemed to becoming a common practice.
Now the empire fell into the hands of Diocletian (284-305AD) the Great Reformer who even reintroduced silver coinage. He established the Tetrarchy to try to end the chaos of usurpers. Diocletian also introduced wage and price controls attempting to bring inflation under control.
That lasted until Constantine (308-337AD) used Christianity to justify that if there was one God, then there should be just one Emperor. He created his own dynasty after defeating Maxentius in 312AD. The Constantine Dynasty lasted for 51.6 years.
The true fall of the Constantine Dynasty came in 350AD with the rise of Flavius Magnus Magnentius (350-353AD) who many considered was of barbarian descent. The last technical emperor related to the Constantine family was the Pagan Julian II(360-363AD).
While many simply list Six major Civil Wars, this really is just a gloss-over concerning the true depth of history. What we truly discover for this entire period between the Social War up until the fall of the Constantine Dynasty in 350AD. Thus, from 90 BC to 350AD, divided by 8.6 reveals an average of
QUESTION: Marty, You are the only worthwhile analyst. You were alerting us a year ago that the IMF was creating its own digital currency. We have all these people claiming this will kill the dollar just as they proclaimed the euro when that was created. It is also well known that you were called in about revising the world monetary system numerous times. I heard that you were called in on this one and refused to assist them. You warned back in May of 2021 that the IMF was creating a new reserve digital currency.
Is this all part of the rise of the United Nations, World Bank, and IMF all becoming this one world government? I that why you declined to get involved?
LW
ANSWER: I am not at liberty to speak to issues where I am solicited. Suffice it to say, I took no part in creating this currency. This is part of what I have been warning about digital currency. They can restrict its use and anyone who thinks that somehow Bitcoin will be some independent white knight rushing in to save the day, they have drank too much of the cool aid.
Look, try depositing $10,000 in cash. Watch what happens. I have a friend who owns a bar in a college town. He takes in a lot of cash because the customers often do not have credit cards. Some banks did not even want to accept an account from him. Others required inspection and monitoring because cash CAN BE a way to launder money. Europe has been restricting cash to transactions capped at €1,000.
There is serious talk of restricting purchases for cash or CRYPTOCURRENCY and the way they enforce it is precisely restrictions on businesses and noncompliance means you are out of business when no bank will accept your account. That eliminates business in credit cards as well. This is why I say, they will create a black market through their sheer authoritarianism. Human rights will no longer be respected. This is point 8 of Schwab’s Agenda.
Back in 1980, the press was all over my firm. NPR came in with cameras rolling and could not believe we had just paid a woman $6,000 for a heavy silver serving plate. We had lines all day long at all my locations in addition to the fact I was making markets for all the stores nationwide. Whatever they bought that day they sold immediately;y to us and shipments were coming in from everywhere. I had a team just handling that and we would bundle it all up and send it out in Armored trucks to be refined at Engelhard which was 30 minutes away.
Because of all the publicity, the IRS came in and declared me to be a bank under the theory that Nixon only closed the gold window and gold was never demonetized. Sure, it was a novel theory that just because I was one of the 3 largest gold dealers in the country, that made me a bank without applying for a banking license. They claimed I had to report every transaction of $10,000 or more buying for selling. They sent in their stormtroopers and began going through every transaction. They then went out and audited over 3,000 clients. I decided to retire. That was it. I was not about to become a rat on everyone that walked in the door.
The point is this. They can declare everyone mining cryptocurrency to be a bank. Already, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 (IIJA) requires any transaction of $10,000 or more to be independently reported to the IRS. The government can declare you to be anything. You can fight them in court and you will lose and it will take years. In the meantime, you will have to comply. They can do ANYTHING they want. It is then your burden to argue that what they are doing is illegal. Good luck. We are no more living in a free country than Russia or China. The government can do anything it desires. It will always be your burden to say they are acting unconstitutionally.
You will NOT be able to travel internationally with even gold coins. You may not even be able to hop on a plane domestically with gold or cash. Over the past several years, a common question for U.S. taxpayers across the globe is whether or not a foreign-based virtual currency such as Bitcoin that is held overseas is reportable for FBAR (Foreign Bank and Financial Account Reporting) or FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) purposes. The Treasury was already pushing since 2021 for any transaction of $10,000 or more in cryptocurrency must be reported to the IRS.
Whether you are a visitor to the United States or a U.S. citizen arriving in the United States, you must complete one or more entry forms.
At the end of the day, they want their pound of flesh and they want absolutely everything to be restricted and monitored. Welcome to the new law of totalitarianism.
Comment: You know, mask wearing in japan was officially ended 5 weeks ago. And there has been no change of practice whatsoever. Mask wearing continues at close to 100pct.
Especially among young people mask wearing seems to be here to stay, possibly forever. Somewhere a psychologist will write a book about this phenomenon. Never in my life could I have imagine that the great nation of japan would adopt this practice like people wearing shoes. People driving in their cars on their own are wearing masks for god Sake. Mask wearing is now the primary method of signaling that the wearer is careful, thoughtful and considerate of others.
Reply: The pandemic will go down as the greatest mass social experiment in history. Face masks have become an everyday essential item for most Japanese. Implementing the face mask mandate was seamless in Japan as masks for allergies and disease were already commonplace. Mask sales rose during flu outbreaks years before COVID, especially in high-density cities. Some people wore masks as a fashion accessory or to limit approachability in social interactions. A 2011 poll from News Post Seven found that 30% of those who wore masks did not cite health concerns.
It took three years, but the Japanese government no longer mandates masks. Yet, it has become embedded in the culture. The Japanese culture values respecting one’s community. The government has never admitted that masks did not prevent the spread of COVID in a meaningful way. Instead, politicians continue to wear masks at public appearances, and the prime minister is encouraging people to continue wearing masks around vulnerable individuals. “We are not forcing anyone to wear it or take it off,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida told reporters after the mandate ended. “I think there will be more occasions when I will take my mask off.” It is now seen as a respectful gesture for one’s neighbor.
Research institute Laibo conducted a study in February to determine why people are choosing to stay masked. Only 5.5% of 561 respondents said they would not wear a mask. Over half (50.2%) said that wearing a mask simply became a habit, while most (53.4%) said they are still afraid of catching the coronavirus. About 27.8% of respondents said they will wear their masks “unconditionally.”
Masks may have become a cultural norm in Japan. Everyone should have the ability to act on their own free will, but I suspect many feel the need to conform. The studies citing the ineffectiveness of mask usage have been swept under the rug. As the original commenter stated, masks now signal that the wearer is considerate of others. If only the government would come out and let the people know it is safe for both them and their neighbors to breathe in the air.
QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong; Who is being irrational? The markets or the analysts?
KE
ANSWER: That’s simple. It is the analysts. The markets are ALWAYS correct. When you have bank failures unfolding, people will withdraw money out of caution. It is the very same reason there are ancient hoards of coins. You find coins in times of economic stress and uncertainty. This is a purely RATIONAL human response to uncertainty. It consistent for thousands of years. For any analyst to claim the markets are acting “irrationally” only proves they should look for another profession.
Sir Thomas Gresham began his career in 1543 working at Mercers’ Company at the age of 24 years old. He left England for Antwerp/Amsterdam which was the financial center of the day much like Wall Street. That was where he became a merchant businessman which was where banking existed in those days. He became an agent for King Henry VIII in the Antwerp/Amsterdam market. He became a trader and in so doing, he began to observe how capital moved.
The interesting aspect was that he was called in as a sort of crisis manager as I have been during financial upheavals. In 1551, Sir William Dansell, who was King’s Merchant there in the markets, ended up putting the English Government into a financial crisis thanks to his mismanagement. The English turned to Gresham for advice since he became quite astute at trading. They adopted his proposals. It was then that Gresham proposed a very ingenious tact. He advocated a FOREX intervention to push the pound higher on the Antwerp change. His intervention proved so successful that in just a few years King Edward VI had discharged almost all of his debts. By pushing the pound higher, he was able to repay the previous debts by devaluing them.
Therefore, the English Crown sought Gresham’s advice in all their finances until Mary came to the throne in 1553. Gresham was instantly pushed aside for Alderman William Dauntsey, who lacked trading experience and quickly sent the Crown into financial stress. Gresham was called back to deal with the mess once again.
Under Queen Elizabeth’s reign (1558–1603), he continued as a financial agent of the Crown and also became the Ambassador Plenipotentiary to the Governor of the Netherlands. This was the period of civil unrest in Antwerp which compelled him to return to England in 1567. This is also when the English had the founding of the Royal Exchange to compete with the Netherlands. It was Gresham who made the proposal to build, at his own expense, a bourse or exchange. This demonstrated that Gresham was a trader and understood how capital flowed. Apart from some small sums to various charities, Gresham bequeathed the bulk of his property (consisting of estates in London and around England giving an income of more than 2,300 pounds a year) to his widow and her heirs, with the stipulation that after her death his own house in Bishopsgate Street and the rents from the Royal Exchange should be vested in the Corporation of London and the Mercers Company, for the purpose of instituting a college in which seven professors should read lectures, one each day of the week, in astronomy, geometry, physic, law, divinity, rhetoric and music.[1] Thus, Gresham College, the first institution of higher learning in London, came to be established in 1597.
Gresham’s Law (stated simply as: “Bad money drives out good“). He concluded this from his observations that foreign exchange back then was based on the metal content and weight of the coinage. Therefore, as debasement took place, people would hoard the old coinage of higher quality and spend the debased. Thus, the bad money drove out the good and actually shrunk the money supply in circulation.
He urged Queen Elizabeth to restore the debased currency of England. In so doing, you got to repay old debts with debased currency. Governments to this day practice that same trick. Repaying a 30-year bond today the bondholder cannot buy what the money was once worth 30 years ago. The interest does not really compensate for the loss of purchasing power over long periods of time.
To Check out the video click here to view my most recent interview with Outer Limits: “The Perfect Storm.”
Commentary from Ryan McCormick:
Legendary economic forecaster and pro-freedom advocate Martin Armstrong once again appears on the Outer Limits of Inner Truth Podcast to discuss: The neoconservative agenda and the likelihood for war with Russia, Political corruption in Ukraine and the impact on global perception of the United States, And why the 2023 Financial Crisis is colliding with important cyclical targets regarding war, which may result in a two-prong panic of unprecedented significance. Marin also shares his perspective on Alan Turing's groundbreaking work on the mathematical order behind Morphogenesis and offers an updated outlook on how the US will breakup.
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