Posted originally on Feb 22, 2024 By Martin Armstrong
Statistics Canada reported that inflation slowed in January to 2.9%, beating expectations of 3.3%. So why are Canadians still struggling to afford basic necessities like rent and food?
Mortgage interest costs remain the top noted driver of inflation after rising 27.4% YoY, while rentals increased 7.9% during the same period. Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem explained that the central bank cannot fix the housing crisis through cuts. “Housing affordability is a significant problem in Canada but not one that can be fixed by raising or lowering interest rates,” he noted at the beginning of February. The Bank of Canada has voted to raise interest rates 10 times since March 2022, with little to no impact on inflation.
The central bank cannot manage supply and demand. Rentals.ca noted that rentals have been rising by C$373 per month since COVID restrictions and lockdowns decimated the global economy. Demand far outweighs supply, and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. noted that vacancies are at their lowest level since they began reviewing the data in 1988.
Trudeau’s government only cares about the rising debt-to-GDP ratio, and analysts cling to their failed theories of Keynesian economics. What percentage of interest costs are in that deficit, and what happens when they can no longer sell the debt? These are questions entirely overlooked.
The Canadian dollar is simply worth less than it was before the COVID lockdowns, and the Canadian dollar’s decline is contributing to the rising cost of imports.
The Bank of Canada has the same issue with its central bank as many other nations – the government will not stop spending. Total government spending for the 2023 fiscal year through the end of March 2024 is estimated to be C$488.7 billion.
Yet, the Trudeau Administration announced this week that they will be spending another C$300+ million on ammunition for Ukraine as Canada, like all other NATO nations, has been prioritizing spending on foreign wars while ignoring its growing deficit.
Canada’s deficit is expected to hit C$38.4 billion in 2024/25 and C$38.3 billion in 2025/26. Who is the largest buyer of Canadian debt? Foreign investors from the United States who purchased around $13.1 billion of Canadian debt securities. Canada saw a high in foreign share acquisitions in December 2023 to the tune of C$29.4 billion, with non-US foreign share investment reaching C$6.3 billion.
Investors are mainly seeking instruments denominated in USD that are issued by Canadian banks. Now, Canada must make investment opportunities more lucrative for the US buyer compared to domestic investments. Hence, the BoC is moving in line with the Federal Reserve, but both are utterly helpless as they cannot control fiscal policies.
Posted originally on Feb 22, 2024 By Martin Armstrong
The Biden Administration has united a deadly duo – MS-13 and the Tren de Aragua gangs. Most are familiar with the MS-13 gang, an extremely violent transnational crime ring that originated in El Salvador and became prominent in America during the Obama Administration. Tren de Aragua is a violent smaller gang from Venezuela that has spread out across America since the open border policies were implemented. The FBI has reported that the two criminal organizations are working together to terrorize America.
🚨 I sent a letter with 13 of my @HouseGOP colleagues to @SecMayorkas demanding answers about Venezuela releasing violent prisoners early and pushing them to join caravans heading towards our southern border.
There have been countless reports of Venezuela opening its prisons and releasing violent offenders on one condition – get the hell out of our country. Obviously this has yet to be confirmed and the Venezuelan government is praising itself for a recently lowered crime rate that correlated with the repeal of US border security. The Venezuelan government could not control the gang, who made headlines for turning a prison into their version of Disney World. President Maduro had to send 11,000 soldiers to a single prison to take back control. Tens of thousands of these men have since entered the US. Rep Troy Nehls first reported the serious issue in September 2022 and has not received an official answer from either government.
The National Guard has been urged to check migrants for Tren de Aragua tattoos that widely vary. Of course, the National Guard does not have time to check the thousands of people entering each day. Reports of arrests (and releases) in Chicago, Texas, New York City, and other US cities are commonplace.
El Salvador solved its gang problem by arresting ALL gang members. So those solo men seeking “asylum” are attempting to run from political prosecution in their own nation that they nearly ruined. The MS-13 gang is larger and more advanced than Tren de Aragua, and new reports reveal that they are taking the smaller enterprise under their wing and helping them set up their headquarters in NYC.
FBI Agent John Morales alerted the New York Postthat the two gangs had begun a crime spree across all five boroughs of New York. The most recent scam involved stealing cell phones from unsuspecting US citizens in broad daylight. Two men will approach their target on a moped while one snatches the phone and keeps it open. They then bring the cell phones to a hacker who withdraws all of the victim’s money from every account linked to their phone, and then they sell the phones for parts.
Countless vetted and confirmed actual asylum seekers fled Venezuela to the US to escape the gangs that took over their towns. Corrupt Soros-appointed D.A. Alvin Bragg is turning a blind eye to the uptick in gang activity, as is the entire Democratic Party. These migrants are receiving thousands of dollars per month of pre-paid debit cards funded by YOU. There are no consequences for committing crimes, as we have seen with migrants beating police officers, only to be immediately released to re-offend.
THE US GOVERNMENT IS DELIBERATELY DESTROYING AMERICAN CITIES. Wake up America! The government could deport these people at any time instead of building them luxury housing, providing them with more money than they ever made in their country of origin, and allowing them to wreak havoc on the public, all in the name of votes.
Protestors gifted trading extraordinaire Nancy Pelosi with 300 lbs of manure to her personal residence in San Francisco, California. No, this was not an act of violence by the radical MAGA extremists but a message sent by Democrats protesting a ceasefire in Palestine. “NANCY PELOSI ENOUGH WITH THIS S—T” and “STOP ARMING ISRAEL. ARMS EMBARGO NOW,” signs placed outside her home declared.
Code Pink, responsible for this “mostly peaceful” protest, is one of many organizations angered over America’s involvement in the Israel-Palestine war. Taking a page from the farmers in Europe, these protestors dumped manure outside her home, but the media has largely remained quiet about the situation because it does not fit the narrative that anti-government extremists wear red hats and exist only on the right.
Protestors dumped cow poop outside Nancy Pelosi’s home in San Francisco today to demand that she stop supporting Israel bombing of Gaza 🚨
I do not advocate violence of any sort, but this move shows that the people, not the right or left, but the people of the United States, are completely fed up with their government and want their public servants to fear their constituents.
Some believe this act was staged as the activists placed the manure on a tarp. The protestors in Europe do not make clean-up so accessible. Either way, the message has been sent and a select few are facing charges for their involvement.
The war in Palestine has become a breaking point for many on the far left who otherwise support the overall Democrat agenda of climate change, illegal immigration, and socialistic policies. These very people supported the war in Ukraine and accepted that Russia was the evil force pushing America into a foreign war. They ignored the billions sent to Zelensky and cheered as their own nation fell further into debt and closer to world war.
Democrats’ empathies in the Middle East lie with the Palestinians, at 49% versus 38%, based on a Gallup poll. Younger Democrats under 35 are far more likely to sympathize with Palestine, as a Quinnipiac University poll found that 69% disapprove of how Biden is handling the war. Older Democrats over 65 are much more likely to approve (77%) of Biden’s involvement in this war. There was far more sympathy for Israel when the war first broke out, and Hamas was seen as the enemy rather than all of Palestine.
There are fractions among the left due to America’s unwavering support for Israel. As Biden has said throughout his career, if there were not an Israel, America would need to create one. Israel is America’s stronghold on the Middle East and support for the nation will not wane regardless of left v right. This is one of many stories of protests against Democratic politicians that the media does not want to highlight ahead of elections.
Posted originally on Feb 20, 2024 By Martin Armstrong
You are absolutely not safe in New York. Both physically and financially. If the criminals don’t get you, the “courts” and politicians will. Please, please, get out if you can. They will come for you next as they grow more desperate for your money and your business. Get out. Let…
Posted originally on Feb 21, 2024 By Martin Armstrong |
BlackRock CEO & World Economic Forum Trustee Board Member
Larry Fink Turns Bullish on Bitcoin
Larry Fink has changed his tune on crypto, saying suddenly it could “revolutionize finance,” endorsing an industry he once viewed with skepticism. Of course, as a board member of Scwab’s WEF, the crypto zealots cheered. Still, they think that Bitcoin can replace the dollar and end inflation, which they think is the result of paper money. That only reveals their own ignorance of what money is and the role it has played since the dawn of civilization.
Worse still, they are telling people Bitcoin is going to be $60,000+ and fail to comprehend that even assuming that the dollar was replaced with Bitcoin, a rally then in the currency would subject the country to a Depression as took place during the 1930s.
What made the depression so great was that private assets collapsed, and there was a flight to quality being cash. If Bitcoin replaced the dollar, the country would collapse, the debt would be unpayable or serviced, and private assets would decline, including gold. Democrats would no longer be able to run for office, for they could not promise gifts if you vote for them in the spirit of Marx. This is far more complicated than simply replacing the dollar. Even the people constantly calling for the collapse in the dollar do not comprehend that you are really talking about the collapse of the entire government, its debt, and the political system that would most likely fuel the divorce between the Blue & Red States. It was the dramatic rise in the dollar that compelled FDR to confiscate gold and devalue the dollar. It was the high price of the dollar that resulted in protectionism because the politicians did not understand the currency.
They seem oblivious to the fact that the coming Central Bank Digital Currency in the USA would be unconstitutional, and the Federal Reserve will NOT issue one. Instead, the top banks are all moving to create their own and pitch for their version that will be programmable and traceable. The rumor is Fink would love to take over Bitcoin. WHY? Because all the tracing and reporting will be done by the private sector and under CURRENT law, banks MUST report suspicious behavior. So it is the COVID Model where the private sector did the censoring of free speech that the First Amendment ONLY restricts the government – not Facebook, YouTube, et al.
The Bitcoin zealots seem to overlook that the very nature of an ETF is at odds with the original ideals of Bitcoin. ETFs are an investment vehicle that’s categorically different from the original ideals of digital assets and will push the industry in the precise wrong direction into the ultimate way the government can trace everything you do and make sure they tax everything.
Posted originally on Feb 21, 2024 By Martin Armstrong
A recent measure from the Biden Administration touted as a solution to lower prescription drug costs has a more sinister motive. The Bayh–Dole Act or Patent and Trademark Law Amendments Act of 1980 permitted researchers to own the patents of their products developed through government funds. The legislation permitted “march-in” rights that enabled these agencies to grant a license on their patents to third parties. For the first time in four decades, the federal government wants to invoke this measure as they are losing both money and power amid this private wave.
Codified by 35 U.S.C. S 203, the march-in rights permit the federal government to require contractors to hand over “nonexclusive, partially exclusive, or exclusive license” to a “responsible applicant or applicants.” Around 5% of patents were licensed out before the Bayh-Dole Act compared to around 69% today. On the surface, one may view this as an effective way to push back against prescription price gouging but this is an outright attack on private enterprise.
This measure is not limited to prescription medications as it expands to ever patent created through government funds, meaning every single industry could be usurped by Washington. Had the government actually wanted to lower prescription prices, there are countless measures and legislations that they could pass to do so. Instead, they are directly targeting private enterprises, no different from any communist nation.
Seizing private property has never benefitted the people of any nation. It has been attempted and tried countless times and always results in disaster. The Founding Fathers deliberately forbid this from happening in the Fifth Amendment of the US Constitution.
Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Most know the right to remain silent provided by the Fifth Amendment. There is a “takings clause” clearly written in the Constitution that forbids the government from seizing private property.
The US Supreme Court misconstrued this clause in KOHL v. US , 91 U.S. 367 (1875). The government decided to seize private property from landowners in Cincinnati to create public infrastructure. This case is largely cited as the beginning of eminent domain discussions and the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Federal government, so long as they provided “just compensation.” The court ruled that the government may asses the value and pay whatever they wish.
The power provided by the pandemic tipped the scales in favor of the government over the people. Implementing socialism would be the fast-track way to achieve the World Economic Forum’s objective—YOU WILL OWN NOTHING AND BE HAPPY. Dimon suggested using the excuse of climate change to usher in the Great Reset. “The need to provide energy affordably and reliably for today, as well as make the necessary investments to decarbonize for tomorrow, underscores the inextricable links between economic growth, energy security and climate change. We need to do more, and we need to do so immediately,” Dimon added in his message to shareholders.
Then, the US government began quietly seizing farmland, particularly in South Dakota. Summit Carbon Solutions invoked eminent domain to seize private property to build a clean energy solution pipeline. Farmers reported receiving unannounced visits from surveyors who, at times, entered their personal residences without notice. The farmers were threatened and warned not to interfere in the plans to destroy their businesses. Over 80 farmers attempted to sue the company, but many were placed in contempt of court for speaking out. The US government ruled that it was legal and acceptable for Summit Carbon Solutions to seize property in the name of climate change.
History repeats as human nature NEVER changes. Look back at the Roman emperor Maximinus I (235-238 AD) who effectively declared all wealth in the country belonged to the state. He paid bribes to anyone who turned in their neighbor for hiding wealth. Once Maximinus wiped out small businesses in this manner, it led to a collapse in confidence in the economy. Commerce rapidly declined from there on out commerce and businesses did not restart. There was no Great Reset. In that instance, one Pi Cycle marked the bottom of the Roman economy from 237 AD to 268 AD (31 years).
The US government will seize more than just land in this most recent abuse of power. Our liberty is on the line and the government is seizing our rights at a rapid pace. We are entering a period of COMPLETE TOTALITARIANISM as we move toward 2032. Governments are losing control in this private wave, and the old methods of controlling the masses are not working; they are laying out the groundwork to take the utmost extreme measures to force the people to become entirely subservient to the system.
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