Category World Economic Form

Sep 16 2017

Trump Tower Meeting & Half Truths – Another Untold Story


Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics

Re-Posted Sep 16, 2017 by Martin Armstrong

Bloomberg News is reporting that there is an ongoing criminal investigation into a client of the Russian lawyer, Natalia Veselnitskaya, who met at Trump Tower with Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law and adviser, and Paul Manafort. The attorney  Veselnitskaya also had a client with  and undisclosed a U.S. criminal investigation into possible Russian Money laundering, which began back in 2013 but went nowhere. The statute of limitations has run out by now, which is 5 years. The twist is how they say she met with Trump’s people and thus somehow she met for all her clients – not just one.

Hermitage_Capital_Management

The Money laundering was involving Hermitage Capital, which Edmond Safra was the main share holder. That was the company Safra and his Republic National Bank was trying to get me to invest in but I declined.

 

This involved the attempted takeover of Russia, Yeltsin was shown how to steal $7 billion from the IMF loans and wired the money to Geneva. Republic National Bank steered the wire through Bank of NY and then ran to the Feds to report Bank of NY did a $7 billion Money laundering. The Feds rushed in and quickly found themselves trapped. I had a meeting with the prosecutors on that whole mess.

They were played for fools. I even told them it was the minister of the Russian Interior who was blocking them from getting information because it led to Yeltsin. That why the case never really went anywhere but went quietly into the sunset with nobody going to jail.

Safra-Berezovsky

 

I believe it was Safra with co-conspirators who were blackmailing Yeltsin to put Bereszovsky in as President of Russia and Yeltsin would step down. When Yeltsin realized it was a set up, he turned to Putin and that is how Putin became the head of Russia. Putin seized Hermitage Capital, which I believe was really a front to try to takeover Russia and the core of their Russian scheme to get the gold, oil, and diamonds. Safra’s connection with the US government have left a dark cloud over how far the US government was involved in interfering in the Russian election of 2000.

 

When you look at the plea of Bank of NY, the cover-up becomes obvious.  The two Bank of NY people were given house arrest. The $7 billion Money laundering they said was the ransom for a Russian business man and the judge never asked any name.

William Felix Browder seems to have obtained a political favor from Congress to try to get his money back by passing the Magnitsky Act. 

 

Now Bloomberg is spinning this loosely to try to implicate Trump based upon the fact that one of  Veselnitskaya’s clients is prejudiced by the Magnitsky Act. This is really getting very low and once again it is a half-truth to keep the fake news flowing.

Sep 7 2017

Is the German Election Being Rigged to Save Merkel & EU?


Armstrong Economics Blog/Germany

Re-Posted Sep 7, 2017 by Martin Armstrong

The German website Votebuddy is openly looking to match people who have a right to vote but don’t vote with aliens who want to vote but cannot. What this site is promoting in Germany would in the USA be voter fraud. Here it is looking to arrange people for the Bundestag election to ensure Merkel wins. A very interesting twist to rig the election?

Sep 6 2017

“Uncle” – Russia’s Vladimir Putin Calls For “Talks” With North Korea…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on September 6, 2017 by

More Bigly winning.  This announcement must be contextualized with timing and prior knowledge of discussions between Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping.   Remember, the BRICS group (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) just held their economic meeting.

(link) 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for talks with North Korea, saying sanctions are not a solution.

Putin made the remarks Wednesday after meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Vladivostok, Russia.  North Korea says it detonated a hydrogen bomb in its sixth nuclear test on Sunday.

Putin, speaking in China on Tuesday, had condemned the nuclear test as provocative, but said that Russia views sanctions on North Korea as “useless and ineffective.” (link)

During last week’s BRICS forum, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin agreed with the larger principle that “denuclearization” of the Korean Peninsular was now an acceptable goal for China and Russia.  However, the U.S. didn’t flinch on announcing the possibility of UN Security Council sanctions beyond the DPRK, specifically targeted toward North Korea’s economic enablers (Russia and China).

That Trump administration approach puts Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin in a precarious position on the world stage.  They don’t want to be seen voting against sanctions placed upon North Korea – it would remove their enabler masks.  They cried “unfair”.

Adding to the economic pressure, after the BRICS meeting India’s Prime Minister Modi essentially stated he was exiting the assembly due to significant geopolitical conflicts with China.  President Trump and PM Modi have been forming an economic alliance as the U.S. looks to leverage India as a possible economic replacement trade partner for China.

Again, the request by Xi Jinping for “six party talks” (China, Russia, N-Korea, Japan, S-Korea and the U.S.) is the signal everyone should be looking for to determine when China finally acquiesces to the geopolitical economic pressure President Trump has artfully assigned.

This announcement today by Russia’s Vladimir Putin, after meeting with South Korea’s Moon Jae-in, is a strong indication Putin and Xi Jinping have discussed and are likely to make that announcement.  Beijing knows such a call by their President would indicate weakness, and it makes sense China would utilize Russia to break the ice and allow the appearance of their failed economic strategy to fall under the guise of diplomacy.

Accept this call by Russia for what it is, Russia and China crying “uncle”.

President Trump winning.

Remember, China is seeking conquest through economic power. China must be confronted economically. China must be defeated economically. The moment China sees economic defeat, it will act differently. China will eventually call for six party talks.

Communist Beijing has boxed themselves into this inescapable trap.  The reason they keep authorizing Kim Jong-un to take action is simply because China has no alternative leverage to use against President Trump.  China has nothing in their economic arsenal they can use to hit back against President Trump, so Beijing keeps using North Korea in an attempt to create leverage.

However, President Trump doesn’t play along with the bluff, he knows every card China is holding. Trump knows China has no substantive economic leverage against the U.S., and Trump also knows China has boxed themselves into this cycle.  It’s a ridiculous three step process.

¹China tells DPRK to do stupid thing.  ²DPRK does stupid thing.  ³Trump hits China with economic punishment for stupid thing.

This cycle has been ongoing for months now, yet the media apparently doesn’t notice it. Each time Kim Jong-un does a stupid, Donald Trump slaps Xi Jinping.  The only way out of this cycle is for Beijing to concede and lay the DPRK defeat at the feet of Kim Jong-un.  The conceding will evidence itself when Beijing inevitably calls for ‘Six Party Talks‘.

President Trump can play out this action/response dynamic as long as it takes to reach economic victory. There is no substantive downside in the economic battle for the U.S.

Everything is proceeding according to the intensely predictable plan:

AUGUST 13th […]  So we can safely predict that sometime in late fall, most likely before the ASEAN visit timeline in November, President Trump and Rex Tillerson will be engaged in a new round of Six Party Talks, initiated by request of the increasingly desperate China.

China will structure the DPRK talking points to set up the meetings.  This is a part of how China is allowed to save face and sets up the magnanimous Panda narrative.

The six party talks will be essentially a Marshal Plan of sorts for North Korea.  Japan, South Korea, The United States, China, Russia and North Korea will enter into a set of negotiations publicly sold as engaging in diplomacy and reducing tension.

President Trump is going to win this geopolitical battle against China/N-Korea through the effective use of economics as geopolitical leverage to ensure national security objectives.  Trump will also position Xi Jinping as magnanimous panda as part of the plan.

However, the funny thing is, the media, having paid no attention to how President Trump has utilized economic leverage for months, will be oblivious to how this victory was actually achieved.

Sep 6 2017

The Insanity in Korea – But Is it Logical?


Armstrong Economics Blog/North Korea

Re-Posted Sep 6, 2017 by Martin Armstrong

The South China Post reported that Chinese scientists fear that a mountain in North Korea under which the last five bombs detonated as tests, may collapse crumbling into a crater. They fear that the radiation underground would then leak across region.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that the escalating crisis concerning North Korea’s weapons program is placing the world at risk of developing into a “global catastrophe” with massive casualties. Putin has UNREALISTICALLY said that the only way to resolve the crisis was through diplomacy. For that to be even a possibility, it requires talking. Kim Jong Un has not even met with the leader of China – its once closet Allies.

Let’s put this is perspective. Why is Kim pushing the world to the brink? Kim Jong Un looks at this differently He believes that the survival of his regime depends on possessing nuclear weapons. He is most likely NOT interested in starting a nuclear war for he cannot be so stupid to believe he would win. Yet, Kim also realizes that the prospect of the USA sending a nuke to North Korea is also not likely for that would antagonize China and risk pollution drifting to South Korea and Japan, not to mention China. So with all the saber rattling, Kim is not stupid and realizes that the USA cannot launch a first strike.

Now, why is the goal of Kim? To be honest, Kim Jong Un does not trust the USA for from the outsider perspective, he has watched how American intervention in Iraq ended in the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, his execution as well as family members, and left the country ravaged by war and a puppet of Washington. Obviously, Kim has made the determination that had Saddam truly possessed nuclear power then the USA would never have intervened. This logic is understandable for it creates the stalemate between USA, China, and Russia. The USA invading Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria with the objective of regime change creates the image that one must protect themselves and this is Kim’s perspective.

Sanctions will never work because Kim would starve his people before giving up his power. Also, as long as he appears to be strong, then there is little risk of an internal coup. If he backs down and appears weak, the prospect of being overthrown becomes probable from within.

Sep 5 2017

Bigly


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on September 4, 2017 by

Bigly

Sep 5 2017

Looming Economic Sanctions Split China and Russia From U.N. Approach – Geopolitical Economic Warfare Increasingly Likely…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on September 4, 2017 by

As you might remember, in response to a thermonuclear atomic weapons test by North Korea Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is now in the process of writing additional sanctions he will guide into the hands of U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.

Ambassador Haley will then create a U.N. Security Council resolution containing further economic sanctions toward North Korea using treasury department guidance.

However, as a direct result of the escalation from the DPRK, we can easily predict the final draft will not just target North Korea, but will more substantively target North Korea’s economic enablers.

This is where things get super interesting because all prior U.N. action has built upon itself to these specific ‘enabler’ state sanctions.

Through two rounds of Security Council resolutions both China and Russia have supported the economic sanctions, knowing they would use various workarounds to continue their duplicity.  However, now those sanctions become a risk to the economies of China and Russia because Secretary Mnuchin is likely to use the weight of the dollar in trade contracts as the trigger for sanctions against China and Russia.

Here’s where the real fun begins.

There’s no way China is going to stop supporting their proxy province, North Korea.  The entire Beijing approach (to fighting Trump’s economic battle against them) has been through the use of Kim Jong-un to try and gain some economic leverage.

As a consequence there’s no way China will support sanctions against DPRK enablers; that would essentially be against Beijing itself.

So now, with sanctions anticipated to target the enablers, China must break away from supporting the Security Council; but they can’t break away freely without running the risk of dropping the panda mask.  So they need Russia to keep up pretenses on their behalf.

New York – The United States on Monday flatly rejected a proposal from China and Russia on how to lower tensions on the Korean Peninsula, which is likely to make it difficult for the United Nations Security Council to agree on a response to North Korea’s hydrogen bomb test over the weekend.

U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley said the U.S. would be circulating a proposed resolution on North Korea this week, and would push for a vote next week.

While it’s not clear what that language will say, both China and Russia made it clear they were unlikely to support more sanctions, and instead played up their joint call for North Korea to stop its military aggression in return for both South Korea and the U.S. to stop their military exercises.

Haley called that idea “insulting.”

“The idea that some have suggested, a so-called freeze for freeze, is insulting,” she said. “When a rogue regime has a nuclear weapon, and an ICBM pointed at you, you do not take steps to lower your guard. No one would do that. We certainly won’t.”

Instead, she hinted at the idea of tough sanctions that would be imposed on any country that does any business with North Korea.

But after she spoke, both Russia and China made it clear they don’t like that idea. (read more)

“Halp”

Communist Beijing has boxed themselves into this inescapable cycle.  The reason they keep authorizing Kim Jong-un to take action is simply because China has no alternative leverage to use against President Trump.  China has nothing in their economic arsenal they can use to hit back against President Trump, so Beijing keeps using North Korea in an attempt to create leverage.

However, President Trump doesn’t play along with the bluff, he knows every card China is holding. Trump knows China has no substantive economic leverage against the U.S., and Trump also knows China has boxed themselves into this cycle.  It’s a ridiculous three step process.

¹China tells DPRK to do stupid thing.  ²DPRK does stupid thing.  ³Trump hits China with economic punishment for stupid thing.

This cycle has been ongoing for months now, yet the media apparently doesn’t notice it. Each time Kim Jong-un does a stupid, Donald Trump slaps Xi Jinping.

The reason this Trump economic approach is so effective is because there’s an endless supply of economic things President Trump can do to punish China (closer economic ties and better trade deals w/ India; removal of China’s MFN trade status; recognition of Taiwan; increased economic relations with ASEAN, etc.), and yet virtually nothing China can do economically in return.

Communist China’s geopolitical economic relationship with the U.S. can be replaced with Democratic India and/or a host of ASEAN allies (S-Korea, Japan, etc.)

Remember, China is seeking conquest through economic power. China must be confronted economically. China must be defeated economically. The moment China sees economic defeat, it will act differently. China will call for six party talks.

President Trump can play out this action/response dynamic as long as it takes to reach economic victory. There is no substantive downside in the economic battle for the U.S.

Beijing is referencing what has worked for them in the past without realizing they are not up against the same adversary. The resulting economic damage in this cycle hurts China more each time by weakening Beijing’s economy.

Sep 3 2017

Two Seismic Events In North Korea are a Suspected Nuclear Test – Possibly: One Explosion, One Collapse…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on September 3, 2017 by

Two seismic events happening in North Korea are suspected to be a nuclear test.  The first event was reportedly measured at a 5.6 Richter Scale magnitude. The second event is being reported at 6.3.  Both seismic events are potentially related to a nuclear detonation:

SEOUL (Reuters) – An earthquake 5.6 was recorded on Sunday in North Korea near the country’s known nuclear test site Punggye-ri, Yonhap news agency reported, citing South Korea’s meteorological agency.

The quake appeared to have been man-made, Yonhap quoted the agency as saying, suggesting the isolated country had conducted a sixth nuclear test. (read more)

(Via CNBC) KCNA via KNS | Associated Press –  North Korea was struck by strong tremors on Sunday, with the South’s officials saying it could be due to a nuclear test.

The USGS initially reported the first tremor as a 5.6 magnitude, but later raised it to 6.3, while China’s earthquake administration said it detected a 6.3 magnitude earthquake in Northeastern North Korea, calling it a “suspected explosion,” Reuters reported.

The depth of the first quake was recorded as zero kilometers, the China earthquake administration said, according to Reuters.

The report cited the USGS as saying the first tremor occurred at around 12 noon North Korea time.

China’s earthquake administration later said it detected a second quake of magnitude 4.6 at a depth of zero kilometers, which it called a “collapse,” Reuters reported, noting the second tremor came eight minutes after the first at nearly identical coordinates.

A South Korean military official told NBC News that the first quake was artificial, while Yonhap reported the military said the first tremor was located near the North’s nuclear test site.

South Korea’s Blue House, the country’s equivalent of the White House, said that the North may conducted another nuclear test, its sixth, the South’s official news agency Yonhap reported.

The South’s President Moon Jae-in has called a National Security Council meeting, while the country’s military raised its alert level, Yonhap reported.

Previous tremors in the reclusive country have been caused by nuclear tests. The wave form signal for an explosion and an earthquake are different, allowing geologists to distinguish a man-made tremor.  (read more)

Sep 3 2017

Macron wants a Federal Budget for All of the Eurozone


Armstrong Economics Blog/European Union

Re-Posted Sep 3, 2017 by Martin Armstrong

French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron is coming out arguing for the total federalization of Europe proposing that there should be a budget for the Eurozone of hundreds of billions of euros. Macron’s position is that this budget should represent several points of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the Eurozone. It should be possible, Macron said, to collect money together in the markets and “allocate it with sufficient force” for all.

He also has made it clear that the GDP of all euro area countries was €10.7 trillion in 2016 according to Eurostat. He makes it clear that the Eurozone is far too restrictive in its budget policy when compared with the policies of China, Russia or the United States. He has made it clear that this is the cause of the high unemployment in Europe among the youth.

France has very high unemployment as is the case in most Eurozone countries. The debt of the Eurozone countries has escalated and as in France there is a growing gap between expenditure and tax collection. Some fear that the creation of such a common euro budget will lead to even more government debt as countries pump out debt to try to stimulate their economies.

Macron is correct that there is a huge problem that is eating away at the Eurozone. The restrictive policies are because of Germany’s fear of inflation that they went through during the 1920s. They wrongly attribute inflation to the increase in money supply and ignore the fact that it was a collapse in confidence given the 1918 revolution led by Communists in Germany.

Macron wants to push forward with his proposals for a further development of the monetary union after the German Bundestag election. Merkel will certainly not entertain any such proposal before the election. Still, Macron is way off the mark. Increasing the spending and debt with rising taxes will still fail to reverse the economic decline. The Eurozone must be restructured or it cannot survive.

Sep 2 2017

Putin Warns We Are on the Verge of a Major Conflict


Armstrong Economics Blog/North Korea

Re-Posted Sep 2, 2017 by Martin Armstrong

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Friday writing in an article published on the Kremlin’s web site that the emerging standoff between North Korea and the United States over its nuclear missile program bringing the world to the edge of a large-scale conflict. He further warned that it was a mistake to try to pressure Pyongyang.

Putin will attend the summit of the BRICS nations in China next week. This article he posted was clearly taking a position ahead of his trip making it known that he favored negotiations with North Korea.  He wrote:

“It is essential to resolve the region’s problems through direct dialogue involving all sides without advancing any preconditions (for such talks).”

Aug 31 2017


When Will People Learn Career Politicians Are Anti-Democracy

Blog/France

Posted Aug 31, 2017 by Martin Armstrong

It is amazing that people keep voting for career politicians every time and then are dissatisfied every time. Now Reuters is reporting that most French voters are now dissatisfied with Emmanuel Macron’s performance. The latest poll shows a sharp decline for Macron who won a landslide. The poll revealed that Macron’s “dissatisfaction rating” has risen to 57%, from 43% in July.