QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong; Did Donald Trump take your Tax Reform Proposal you submitted to Congress back in the nineties?
RK
ANSWER: I know a lot of people have been asking that since his original corporate tax rate was 15%. What I can say is that the notion to eliminate deductions for State income tax has been bantered around for a long time. I believe that was added to the reform and was not actually Trump’s plan initially out of the gate.
What you have to understand is that if California gets 13.5% and Alabama is 5%, the States have seen this as welfare for California and other high taxes States. Their residents get to deduct that money and it is really a welfare check for the State. To make it fair, there should be NO deduction for State income taxes. That will then force the local politicians to be respectful of other people’s money perhaps for the first time in history.
This is why I knew it would be time to move to Florida where there was no state income tax. I cannot tell you how many friends from New Jersey have already called and want to move their businesses to Florida asking how hard was it.
While the American press keeps pushing the class warfare along with the Democrats, outside the USA there is a major panic taking place on a grand scale. I have been called into meeting in Europe and even in Asia all deeply concerned about the loss of competition with the United States due to the Trump Tax Reform. Naturally, the American press would NEVER tell the truth how cutting the corporate tax rate will upset the powers that be around the globe.
A German study warns that its economy will be among the losers in the face of the Trump Tax Reform, which they warn will fuel the tax competition between America and Europe, but also the study leader, Christoph Spengel from the Economic Research Institute ZEW, came out and told Reuters:
“In addition, competition between EU members for US investment will increase; Germany is the loser.”
German Industry is already screaming. They want the Solidarity Surcharge terminated. That was put on for the unification and was never lifted, as is always the case. Without the surcharge, the German corporate rate would be 28.2%, still well above the EU average tax rate of 20.9%.
To finance the reunification of Germany a surcharge, the government taxed all taxpayers on their income tax withholding and corporation tax. The assessment basis was the income tax or corporation tax. This became known as the Solidarity Surcharge and is currently 5.5 % of the relevant assessment basis. Therefore, the effective corporate tax rate in Germany has been 33.7%. Of course, the Solidarity Surcharge is no longer is really needed to pay for the unification. But as always, once a tax is imposed, the government just can’t let it go.
The taxation levels in Germany were always much higher. When I was working on corporate restructuring helping companies select where to set up inside Europe for the birth of the Euro, I never placed any manufacture in Germany. I sent them to Britain for the net tax was 40% less. If they did not need skilled-manufacturing labor and just the best tax rate, I put those companies in Ireland. Never did I recommend anyone to move to Germany or France.
The advice I gave to those in a position to put the counter-reform in motion was straightforward. I advised them to ELIMINATE income tax completely. The political cover should be that they are adopting the original structure of the United States whereas only indirect taxation was permitted prior to 1913. A few mouths dropped. But they underst6ood the advice I was giving if they really wanted to compete.
QUESTION: I loved your mention of how our money is not “printed”. You are THE ONLY financial expert to mention this. And you can’t understand our economy without understanding Electronic Money. I researched this 3 or four years ago and came up with, .003 physical currency vs the rest as Electronic Money. I later stumbled across an article on the same subject by an economics professor who put the ratio at .0003 physical. SO, who/where/how much/ and by who’s authority is E money created? E money is how the economy is propped up, and the amount is in TRILLIONS UPON TRILLIONS.
ANSWER: That is about correct. However, it is actually much worse. About 40% of the value of the paper currency of the United States circulates outside the USA. In fact, about 40% of the debt is also held outside the USA.
Moreover, the bulk of the money is not just electronic already, but people failed to understand the change in the debt structure. Why do governments even borrow money when they have NO INTENTION of ever paying anything back? Once upon a time, before 1971 under Bretton Woods, it was illegal to borrow against government bonds. That was when the theory emerged that it was LESS INFLATIONARY to borrow than to print. The bonds were not part of the money supply. However, post-1971, you could borrow freely against government bonds. It no longer made any difference to print v borrow.
Today, on average, 50%+ of the national debts of most countries is accumulative interest payments. When Federal paper money began, it was really circulating bearer bonds in the United States. In fact, the reverse of the notes displayed the interest you would earn holding that currency.
When the government switched to DEMAND notes, dropping all interest payments, this is when the dollar was fondly referred to as a “Greenback” meaning there was nothing but green ink on the reverse side and no table of interest payments.
This is when the dollar became paper money and no longer was actually a circulating form of a bearer bond. The government paid interest to encourage people to accept the paper currency and it was introduced during the Civil War to pay for the costs.
All this hype about BitCoin and electronic money is a bit strange since most money is electronic. The only distinction that BitCoin actually has is its claim as an alternative form of money separate from legal tender, which means the government will accept that currency in payment of fines or taxes.
The bulk of all purchasing transactions are by plastic cards which are comprised of 66% of all in-person sales, with nearly half of them, or 31% are made with debit cards. Welcome to the electronic currency economy. It’s here already.
QUESTION: Mr, Armstrong; You said this year your computer is forecasting the coldest winter in a long time. I assume this is cyclical. Is this due to the sun diming?
KE
ANSWER: Yes, that is part of it. We look at correlations and what lines up with that is also a disruption in the Polar Jet Stream. That is how Ice Ages unfold. Pictured here is the normal picture of the Jet Stream. What correlates with the decline in the energy output of the sun appears to be the Polar Jet Stream plunges south even into Mexico.
This was what took place in early December. This will become a more common occurrence this year. Therefore, it will snow in the South and even into Mexico. Florida should escape the plunge, however, it will be unseasonably cooler by probably 10 degrees at the extreme points of reference.
So much for Global Warming. By the time we get to 2024, people will be willing to pay a tax to get warm.
Justice-time for Christmas !! Against revelations of egregious prosecutorial misconduct, and withholding Brady evidence from the defense, Chief U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro has declared a mistrial in the federal case against Nevada Rancher Cliven Bundy.
NEVADA – A federal judge declared a mistrial Wednesday in the case of a Nevada rancher accused of leading an armed standoff against the government in 2014, blaming prosecutors for withholding key evidence from defense lawyers, including records about the conduct of FBI and Bureau of Land Management agents.
Chief U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro in Las Vegas dismissed a jury seated last month for the long-awaited trial of Cliven Bundy, his sons Ryan and Ammon Bundy and self-styled Montana militia leader Ryan Payne.
The decision is the latest in a string of failed prosecutions in Nevada and Oregon against those who have opposed federal control of vast swaths of land in Western states.
Jurors acquitted the two Bundy sons of taking over a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon for more than a month in early 2016 and amid calls for the U.S. government to turn over public land to local control.
In the Nevada case, Navarro faulted federal prosecutors for failing to turn over all evidence to defense attorneys.
“The government is obligated to disclose all evidence that might be favorable” to the defense, the judge said.
[…] The judge had hinted last week that trouble was afoot. She sent the jury home to review sealed documents following closed-door hearings over complaints about the conduct of FBI and Bureau of Land Management agents during the standoff.
[…] A whistleblower memo by a lead U.S. Bureau of Land Management investigator that was released last week alleges widespread bad judgment, bias and misconduct, as well as “likely policy, ethical and legal violations among senior and supervisory staff” in the days leading up to the standoff.
The memo said agents who planned and oversaw the cattle roundup mocked and displayed clear prejudice against the Bundys, their supporters and Mormons.
The investigator, Larry Wooten, said he was removed from the investigation last February after he complained to the U.S. attorney’s office in Nevada.
The judge freed the Bundy sons and Payne to house arrest during the trial after nearly two years in jail. Cliven Bundy refused the judge’s offer, with his lawyer saying the patriarch was holding out for acquittal.
“A mistrial is a very bad result for the government,” Ian Bartrum, a University of Nevada, Las Vegas, law professor who has followed the case closely told the Associated Press.
Bartrum had cast the trial as a test of whether the federal government could enforce its own land policy in Western states where it owns or controls vast expanses. (read more)
The House just passed the tax bill in a final vote after a procedural hiccup relegated the bill back to the floor for a second vote. The Senate passed the bill early Wednesday morning along party lines. The tax bill is on its way to President Trump’s desk now, slating the tax overhaul package to take effect in the new year. This sets up the GOP for its first major legislative win in Trump’s first year as president. They never accomplished anything before even when they had the power.
Our staff in Thailand are reporting – “It’s Cold!” They are wearing coats in a place that is normally 30c (86f). Weather will continue to get strange in a lot of places around the globe. The decline in the energy output of the sun is extremely rapid and far more than anyone expected this quickly (see Bangkok Post).
QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong; I attended your 1992 Zurich Institutional Seminar when the Swiss Market Index was trading just below 200. You gave your projection for the high in 2007 would be 9500.0. We sold that high at the bank and the market peaked at 9548.1. The market rallied back to 9537.9 in 2015 and we sold it again. I left the bank as you know and have retired with your turn in 2015. You have always said that if a market knocks on the door 3 times, it is going to go through. My question is, do you think this will hold true in Switzerland?
Keep up the excellent work. The world really needs you.
ABR
ANSWER: Yes. The next resistance target will be 11000-11200 level if we break through the 2007 high. Enjoy your retirement. Of course we never really stop thinking about the markets and the world. I suppose it is a curse of the trade.
As far as “The world really needs” me; that’s what I am afraid of. Getting drafted at my age is not exactly my idea of retirement. So I hope you are wrong on that forecast.
The danger from the Global Warming crowd is that they are misleading the entire world and preventing us from what is dangerously unfolding that sparks the rapid decline in civilization – GLOBAL COOLING. I previously warned that this is not my opinion, but simply our computer. If it were really conscious it would be running to store to buy heating pads. This year will be much colder for Europe than the last three. It will also be cold in the USA. We are in a global cooling period and all the data we have in our computer system warns that the earth is turning cold not warm.
This cooling is very serious. This decline in the energy output of the sun will manifest in a commodity boom in agriculture as shortages send food prices higher. We will see famine begin to rise as crops fail and that will inspire disease and plagues. We will see the first peak in agricultural prices come probably around 2024 after the lows are established on this cycle. We have been warning that this rise would begin AFTER2017.
Previously, I have reported that NASA confirmed we are going into a cooling period – not warming. They have put out a forecastof declining sunspot activity. Now NASA has come out confirming what our computer has been forecasting. They have reported that as the sun is experiencing a rapid decline in sunspots, it is also dimming in brightness or energy output. NASA’s Spaceweather station has recorded during 2017, 96 days (27%) of observing the sun have been completely absent of sunspots.
I have also previously warned that there is a300-year cycle to this entire phenomenon. This cycle has aligned with the major turning point of the Economic Confidence Model 2015.75. During 2015, there were ZERO days observed without sunspots. The following year, 2016, came in with 9% of the days recorded without any sunspot activity. This jump to 27% here in 2017 is a substantial jump from 2015 that we cannot afford to ignore.
NASA launched a new sensor which is the International Space Station named TSIS-1. Its mission is to actually measure the dimming of the sun’s irradiance. It will replace the aging SORCE spacecraft and NASA has confirmed our computer forecast that the number of sunspots in this cycle will fall rapidly as it plunges into a date with its 11-year cycle minimum.
There was a sharp climate drop in 1916 creating a spike low in temperature. This 1916 spike low in our climate coincided with war and made this a devastating war aside from the poison gas. This was then combined with terrible influenza or flu pandemic of 1918 to 1919, which was the deadliest in modern history. This pandemic infected an estimated 500 million people worldwide or about one-third of the entire planet’s population. It killed an estimated 20 to 50 million victims.
This pandemic began in the spring of 1917 and some sources point to troops in France as being the center of the pandemic. A significant precursor virus, harbored in birds, mutated to pigs that were kept near the front. Others place it with troops in Austria. Nevertheless, influenza ran from mid-1917, became noticeable by January 1918, and continued into December 1920. The unusually deadly influenza pandemic shortened the overall life expectancy by 12 years. This influenza killed the strong rather than the weak since it thrived on the overreaction of the body’s immune system. The strong immune reactions of young adults fed the virus, whereas the weaker immune systems of children and middle-aged adults resulted in fewer deaths, which was very unusual.
Across the entire electromagnetic spectrum, the sun’s output is declining. I personally hate cold. So this is not a forecast I want to see happen. Nevertheless, our computer has correlated this cooling trend with disease and it appears that famine also plays a role in this entire event. Additionally, a simple correlation with the energy output of the sun reveals that all major earthquakes occurred during strong solar minimums, which we are head smack into.
Consequently, there were 7 major earthquakes of 8.0 magnitude moving into the turning point in 2008-2010. Kiril Islands (Russia) twice- 8.1 (November 2006 & January 2007), Peru-8.0 (August 2007), Sumatra-8.5 (September 2007), Sichuan earthquake-8.0 (May 2008), Samoa-8.1 (September 2009), Maule (Chile)-8.8 (February 2010).
There are ways you can prepare. But do prepare. Do not wait until the very last second.
It is very interesting how the 2017.9 (Nov 24/25) turning point on the Economic Confidence Model has marked a most astonishing political event. The House passed their version of the Trump Tax Reform on Thursday, November 16th, 2017 just 8 days before the ECM target. Then on November 29th, 2017, the Senate passed a procedural vote on the Trump Tax Reform bill that allowed debate to begin on the measure with a final vote which came on Saturday, December 2nd, 2017, which was 8 days after the ECM turning point making it the dead center between the two votes.
People have asked me constantly how in the world did I ever discover such a model that has worked amazingly? I have written before how I discovered this list of panics while doing research in the Princeton University Firestone Library. The time span was 224 years and the number of events was 26. I sought to simply see what the average was and that came out to be 8.61538461538. I had absolutely no idea how significant that number would prove to be.
As I observed this cycle, I was blown away by how accurate it had been. It was even accurate to the very day. That to me seemed very unlikely and strange. At first, I believed it was just a stroke of luck – a coincidence. But the more I observed the repetition to the day was taking place around the globe. The number of days in an 8.6-year cycle was 3,141 which was Pi (x 1000). That, of course, was the perfect cycle.
I will be republishing my work on this astonishing discovery. For now, the amazing regularity of this model is simply there for all of us to observe and wonder at the regularity of the world around us.
I have created this site to help people have fun in the kitchen. I write about enjoying life both in and out of my kitchen. Life is short! Make the most of it and enjoy!
This is a library of News Events not reported by the Main Stream Media documenting & connecting the dots on How the Obama Marxist Liberal agenda is destroying America
There was a sharp climate drop in 1916 creating a spike low in temperature. This 1916 spike low in our climate coincided with war and made this a devastating war aside from the poison gas. This was then combined with terrible influenza or flu pandemic of 1918 to 1919, which was the deadliest in modern history. This pandemic infected an estimated 500 million people worldwide or about one-third of the entire planet’s population. It killed an estimated 20 to 50 million victims.
Centinel2012 