Tag Archives: Economic Collapse

Jul 8 2023

Tucker Carlson Discusses President Trump, RFK Jr and American Politics with Russell Brand


Posted originally on the CTH on July 7, 2023 | Sundance 

Former popular Fox News host Tucker Carlson appears for a lengthy interview with British pundit Russell Brand about current events. {Full Video Rumble Link} The interview is well over an hour and covers a wide range of topics [full video below fold]; the segment below is specifically about Donald Trump, RFK Jr and the state of DC politics. WATCH:

“I think looking back on this ten years from now, assuming we’re still around, I think we’re going to see Trump’s emergence as the most significant thing that happened in American politics in 100 years, because he reoriented the Republican Party against the wishes of Republican leaders.”

“I’m struck by his foreign policy views. You know Trump is the only person with stature in the Republican Party really who is saying wait a second why are we sending an endless war in Ukraine. Leaving aside whether Trump is going to get the nomination or get elected President or would be a good President, I can’t even assess that, all I can at this point is I’m so grateful he has that position. He’s right and everyone in Washington is wrong, everyone. And Trump is right on that question and it’s a big question. That war is reshaping the world. It’s reshaping the economy of the world. It’s reshaping populations.”

“Europe will never be the same because of this war and it really matters, and Trump alone among popular figures in both parties understands that and I’m grateful for that.”

“Whether he gets the nomination or gets elected, words really matter. Saying something true out loud matters, and he is saying true things about Ukraine and God bless him. That’s how I feel.”

Full Video Below:

Tucker Carlson and Russell Brand – Streaming Live

https://rumble.com/embed/v2w4cp4/?pub=as0d9
Jul 7 2023

US Housing Prices Push Higher


Armstrong Economics Blog/Real Estate Re-Posted Jul 7, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Fannie Mae admitted their forecast of declining home prices was incorrect. They initially projected that housing would fall by 1.2% in 2023, followed by 2.2% in 2024. Housing prices remain strong because this in an inventory crisis. There are 47% less available single-family houses on the market compared to the start of the COVID crisis. Homebuilders cannot keep up with demand, and the demand for investment-bought rentals is outpacing single-family sales.

Our Residential Index elected a Yearly Bullish Reversal at the end of 2012. That confirmed the long-term trend had changed. However, urban condos and commercial properties were forming a divergence. I assumed that was being caused by the debt and rising taxes in cities. In that regard, I suppose I was only partially correct, for the rest had been the braindead response to COVID and failed QE policies. The failure of QE caused a collapse in confidence in the future. When people fear the future, they save. Increasing the money supply does nothing until the people decide to spend it.

Socrates also selected the precise target for the January 2021 directional change in US real estate. Our index began declining in January 2022, anticipating the first rate hike on March 17, 2022, by a quarter point. The claim that interest rate hikes imply that real estate will decline is very old school, and once more, it presumes everyone is buying on leverage. In 2021, cash sales represented 25% of existing home sales in the key markets, which were a level unmatched since 2016. Nationally, buyers paid cash for almost 15% of the homes in 2021 in markets that were booming from migration from other states.

Real estate is undergoing three separate trends. First, there has been mass evacuation from cities and high-taxed states thanks also to draconian COVID laws. Secondly, we have the flight of capital to flee banks, etc, which is part of just getting capital off the grid. Then thirdly, there has been a flight of international capital fleeing to the United States because of geopolitical instability in Europe.

This market has been LESS impacted by interest rate hikes than any previous booming market, all because of the migration from interstate within the US and the flood of European buyers looking for assets outside of Europe as the prospect of a global war increases. I have warned that real estate will decline in those states where people are fleeing. It has boomed in places they have been migrating to, such as Texas and Florida. Obviously, you can no longer make a blanket forecast in real estate.

Jul 7 2023

Federal Top Men Say Finding Source of West Wing Cocaine Will Be Too Difficult


Posted originally on the CTH on July 6, 2023 | Sundance | 195 Comments

According to federal investigators familiar with the matter and talking to Politico, the person who brought cocaine into the White House is likely never to be discovered.  It’s just too difficult to track down.  There are too many people who walk around the West Wing of the White House willy nilly.  That’s their story and the Top Men are sticking to it.

WASHINGTON DC – Law enforcement officials confirmed on Wednesday that cocaine was found at the White House over the weekend. But one official familiar with the investigation cautioned that the source of the drug was unlikely to be determined given that it was discovered in a highly trafficked area of the West Wing.

The small amount of cocaine was found in a cubby area for storing electronics within the West Exec basement entryway into the West Wing, where many people have authorized access, including staff or visitors coming in for West Wing tours.

Asked what the chances were of finding the culprit, the official said that “it’s gonna be very difficult for us to do that because of where it was.”

“Even if there were surveillance cameras, unless you were waving it around, it may not have been caught” by the cameras, added the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity given that it’s an ongoing investigation. “It’s a bit of a thoroughfare. People walk by there all the time.” (read more)

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Jul 6 2023

WEF Seeks to End Private Car Ownership by 2050


Armstrong Economics Blog/Great Reset Re-Posted Jul 6, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

“Goodbye car ownership, hello clean air: welcome to the future of transport,” the WEF published on its website back in December 2016. The first step is to transition cars to electric under the guise of climate change. This will cause all vehicles to be dependent on the electrical grid, which the government controls. Yet, they never planned to stop at electric vehicles. They want full control over you and where you go. It was announced at the Summer Davos that the ultimate goal is to end 75% of ALL car ownership, including electric vehicles, by the year 2050.

The WEF hopes that the masses will be living within 15-minute cities by 2050. Originally they wanted to accomplish this by 2030 under Agenda 2030, but they need to obtain complete control over the banking system first and usurp our essential resources so that we will be completely dependent on government for survival. “The Urban Mobility Scorecard Tool: Benchmarking the Transition to Sustainable Urban Mobility,” which was released last month, states 70% of the population will live within these urban areas by 2050. The three stated pillars to achieve this goal are governance, resilience, and connectivity. Schwab said it himself that he has already infiltrated government cabinets globally, and they are swiftly implementing regulations to make his dystopian utopia possible. The resilience pillar aims to overtake as much space as possible, which is why BlackRock has been steadily buying residential properties. Connectivity is more than simply aligning with governments, as that was achieved in the first pillar. Connectivity aims to integrate their tools of control into modern society. Digital IDs, currency, and social scores are coming.

Schwab claims that eliminating private car ownership will slash CO2 emissions by 3.9 billion tons per year. As a reminder, everyone flew on private jets and was chauffeured in limousines to Davos – they do not care about the environment in the slightest. There is a much darker motive at play that the public needs to realize. Free transportation will be provided in these 15-minute cities where most of the population will reside. Everyone will have a digital ID and social credit score. This is NOT about climate change — the goal is to eliminate the freedom of movement.

They can simply deny you access to your bank account with the push of a button. Without private vehicles, they can deny people access to public transportation to ensure everyone stays in place. The WEF does not think the human race has the right to freedom of movement. Everyone will be tracked and assigned a score based on how well they obey authority. Say they wanted to implement a climate lockdown for any reason at whim. Well, 70% of the population would then be guaranteed to stay in place with no alternative available. Took more trips on public transportation than your score allows? Entry denied! Didn’t take the latest vaccine? Entry denied! Governments across the globe are already on board to destroy society to BUILD BACK BETTER. They will make car ownership extremely difficult for the average person through taxes and regulations in the coming years. You will own nothing and be happy.

Jul 6 2023

BRICS to Replace the Dollar?


Armstrong Economics Blog/Foreign Exchange Re-Posted Jul 6, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

The goldbugs cling to everything they can to promote gold at the destruction of the dollar. They are pushing the idea that China, Russia, and other BRICS countries are developing a dollar alternative. The truth of the matter is that is more fiction. Even India’s foreign minister S. Jaishankar came out and said, “There is no idea of a BRICS currency.” Foreign minister S. Jaishankar made it clear that the five-member BRICS group – consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – isn’t currently planning to develop a greenback substitute for trade and investments.  “On what we will discuss at the BRICS meeting, we’ll have to see because there are many other issues – but there is no idea of a BRICS currency,” he said, as shown by footage from the Hindustan Times.

To even attempt to do something is absurd to create a BRICS currency like the euro would doom their economies. The #1 market remains the American consumer, and to price things in some alternative currency would undermine their own economies. People need to understand currency.

That was the entire purpose of creating the Euro. German Chancellor Kohl took Germany into the euro for the purpose of eliminating the foreign exchange risk to other European states so that Germany could then sell more products throughout Europe. The euro was to eliminate that foreign exchange rise to increase sales. The propaganda of the goldbugs who just hate the dollar is utter nonsense. They will not create some BRICS alternative to the dollar, surrendering their sovereignty to some central power as all European states did by creating Brussels. Kohl denied the Germans the right to vote on joining the euro, for he knew he would lose. That is why he refused to consolidate the debts fearing the German people would rise up in revolt against him.

The Roman Empire was the financial capital of the Western World. They traded with both China through the silk road and India for spices. Even Alexander the Great attempted to conquer India and failed. Here we have an Indian imitation of a Roman gold aureus of Tiberius. The importance of Indian imitations of Roman gold coins demonstrates that there was a PREMIUM to the coinage of Rome above the metal content, which is why the Indians imitated Roman coinage. Otherwise, they would have minted their own coins in Southern India.

Indian imitations of Roman gold coins continued into the reign of Gordian III (2388-244AD), minted in Southern India that traded spices with the Greeks and the Romans. In Northern India, there was the Kushan Empire which was the first to issue Indian gold coinage. However, the Kushan Empire was not that portion of India that was engaged in the spice trade.

All of this proves a very significant point. The coinage was not simply the metal content. If that were the case, we would not find an imitation of the coinage of the dominant financial capital at that time. Here is a gold imitation of Philip II (359-337BC), Alexander the Great’s father.

We see the same imitation of the silver Athenian Owls (Tetradrachm) minted in Arabia. The same exists in Egypt, which did not issue its own coinage. Imitations of the dominant coinage of financial capital existed throughout the centuries.

Even during the 12-13th centuries, European states also imitated the gold Florin of Florence. All of this clearly establishes that the goldbugs are simply wrong and do not understand the monetary history of the world. There is always a premium to the dominant economic empire. For right now, that is the US dollar.

For now, the dollar will retain that role up to about 2029.

Jul 6 2023

The Least Popular President in 70 Years        


Armstrong Economics Blog/Politics Re-Posted Jul 6, 2023 by Martin Armstrong

Every poll imaginable shows Biden and Harris steeply declining in popularity. Biden’s favorability is now lower than the past 13 presidents. I cannot imagine any sane person supporting him after what he has done to the nation in the past three years. No one can honestly say they are better off under Biden.

This man received more votes than any other president in US history. Despite his rapidly declining poll numbers, he refuses to campaign. His handlers know that they do not need to campaign because the election results have already been decided. They want to keep him far from the public eye because he embarrasses himself at every speaking engagement.

White House physician Kevin O’Connor stated Biden was “fit for duty,” but he clearly is in a state of cognitive decline. A YouGov survey showed 67% of voters, 48% of who identified as Democrats, believe Biden is too old to run for a second term. His age is the least of his worries as there is clearly an underlying degenerative disorder. Biden slipped up and admitted he “sold a lot of state secrets.” Information has been pouring in about Biden’s illegal dealings with Ukraine and China. He campaigned on the Build Back Better platform and has run America into the ground to the point where it will be extremely difficult to ever build it back, let alone better.

It really all comes down to finances. Biden has been on a rampage of a spending spree since he took office. None of his policies eased inflation. Shelter, food, fuel, and all the basic necessities of survival are at unsustainable levels. People may have hated Trump all they wanted, but at least they could afford to fill their fridges and pay rent. Under any other circumstance, the POTUS would campaign as much as their schedule permitted to win over the people. He is not doing that because they know a false flag event will happen before the 2024 US Presidential Election to ensure one of the least capable presidents in history remains in power.

Jul 5 2023

Interesting Court Ruling Against Govt and Biden Administration Prohibiting Federal Agencies from Contact with Social Media on First Amendment Protected Speech


Posted originally on the CTH on July 4, 2023 | Sundance 

A federal judge chose the 4th of July to deliver a key ruling blocking Biden administration agencies and officials from meeting and communicating with social media companies.  [Read 7-page Injunction HERE]

The temporary injunction targets an ongoing legal battle brought by the state of Louisiana and Missouri against federal agencies for collaborating with social media to censor speech content against the interests of the federal government.  The final ruling on govt involved censorship could have profound effects on the First Amendment.

Judge Terry A. Doughty, has not made a final ruling in the case, but he wrote that the Republican attorneys general “have produced evidence of a massive effort by Defendants, from the White House to federal agencies, to suppress speech based on its content.”  The ruling may have implications for tech companies, which have been exposed in recent months/years for regular communication with government officials.

“This Preliminary Injunction precludes said named Defendants, their agents, officers, employees, contractors, and all acting in concert with them from the aforementioned conduct. This Preliminary Injunction also precludes said named Defendants, their agents, officers, employees, and contractors from acting in concert with others who are engaged in said conduct.” (link)

Obviously, trying to stop the government from coordinating with social media groups to suppress information adverse to both their interests is a little like squeezing Jello in a closed fist; they will find an angle out of the limitations.

During my trip to DC in the summer of 2020 there were a myriad of disconcerting datapoints assembled; revelations that made sense of the madness and disappointments found everywhere. However, one of the key notations for future reference was to watch the political evolution of Dept of Homeland Security (DHS) and spot the jump where the ideological outlook turns into specific government action.

With that in mind, this recent discovery of a 2010 to 2015 DHS contract to a very well-known USG defense contractor, General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems Inc., surfaces.

As many are now becoming aware, DHS is the lead agency behind all of the engagements with Twitter and other social media.

[SOURCE HERE]

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), specifically created as an outcome of the post-911 Patriot Act, is the pivot point on the surveillance radar sweep.

Prior to the DNI the general Intelligence Community (IC) surveillance faced offshore and swept foreign adversaries. If any threat was picked up that included the potential for domestic terrorism, the identified contact transferred from the CIA, NSA, DoD into the DOJ and FBI.  The DOJ then used the FISA Court to request transfer of targeting from foreign to domestic.

However, after 911 it was determined the national security surveillance radar needed to sweep a full 360° to include domestic surveillance.  The ODNI was the office created to manage the pivot point.  As a specific outcome of the Patriot Act, American citizens were now under the same surveillance as foreign adversaries.  The new definition of American citizens being threats to the national security state is ultimately what led to our taking off shoes at TSA checkpoints in airports.   TSA is a subsidiary agency of DHS.

Offshore surveillance now flowed from the CIA, DoD, NSA, IC into the ODNI, who then filtered it, and if needed transferred it to the newly created DHS.

As the design was laid out, the DHS would then contact the DOJ or FBI while affording the U.S. person (target) in question their duly constitutional protections against unlawful searches and seizures. The sketchy legal dynamic is what created the need for the DOJ National Security Division (DOJ-NSD).

At the same time, onshore domestic surveillance would be conducted by DHS through new systems like the Transportation Safety Administration etc.  Local, state and federal law enforcement would identify issues or investigative targets, then send the targeting data upstream into the DHS database.  DHS transfers the finding to the ODNI who cross-reference it with CIA, NSA, etc.  This was the original design.

However, it was specifically Barack Obama and Eric Holder who saw an opportunity with the newly created system.  The result, DHS domestic surveillance was weaponized.  The timing of this DHS contract (2010) to General Dynamics for “media monitoring and social media support” fits perfectly in line with the known timeline of how DHS was weaponized.

Barack Obama and Eric Holder did not create a weaponized DOJ and FBI; the institutions were already weaponized by the Patriot Act.  What Obama and Holder did was take the preexisting system and retool it, so the weapons of government only targeted one side of the political continuum.

This point is where many people understandably get confused.

Elevator Speech:

(1) The Patriot Act turned the intel surveillance radar from foreign searches for terrorists to domestic searches for terrorists.

(2) Obama/Biden then redefined what is a “terrorist” to include their political opposition.

Lee Smith makes an important point in this brief podcast excerpt. {Direct Rumble Link Here}  We have outlined his point on these pages for several years.

Essentially, the point Lee Smith drives home is how the U.S. Corporate Media, and the Big Tech monopolies, are the front force of the new national security and intelligence state.  It is a relationship that extends far beyond the customary leanings of media, and now covers a full synergistic relationship.  WATCH:

“We’re all familiar with the fact that the press has historically leaned to the left. That’s not what we’re looking at now. We’re looking at something very, very different. We’re looking at the press as being a part of the intelligence community. They are the ones who is putting these operations out there.”

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The New York Times and Politico are the public relations firms for Main Justice, the DOJ and FBI.  The Washington Post handles the needs of the Intelligence Community (IC) and the Central Intelligence Agency.  Meanwhile CNN is managed by the needs of the U.S. State Dept.   These direct relationships have been discussed here for several years.

Jul 5 2023

Secret Service Find Ziploc Bag of Powdered Cocaine in West Wing of White House, No One Knows How It Got There


Posted originally on the CTH on July 4, 2023 | Sundance 

I’m not sure what is funnier, that a ziploc bag of powered cocaine was found in the working quarters (West Wing) of the Office of the United States President, or that the Secret Service claim they can’t figure out who it belongs to… lol Gee, I wonder.

Obviously, a review of the CCTV video is out of the question, or something.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A white powder found inside the White House late on Sunday was identified by Washington’s fire department and emergency services as cocaine, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

The source said the powder was found in the West Wing, but gave no further details.

The West Wing is attached to the executive mansion where President Joe Biden lives. It houses the Oval Office, the cabinet room and press area, and offices and workspace for the president’s staff.

Hundreds of people work in or come through the West Wing regularly.  The Secret Service said on Tuesday that an “unknown item” had been found in workspace within the West Wing on Sunday, leading to the temporary closing of the White House complex.

“On Sunday evening, the White House complex went into a precautionary closure as officers from the Secret Service Uniformed Division investigated an unknown item found inside a work area,” a Secret Service spokesperson said in an emailed statement.

A second source familiar with the matter said the substance was found during a routine Secret Service sweep of the area.  It was later identified as cocaine. (read more)

It’s a real mystery where it came from.

I’m sure the FBI will dispatch their top men.

[SOURCE]

Jul 5 2023

California Republicans Propose Delegate Plans to Support RNC Corporate Billionaire Agenda and Eliminate Donald Trump


Posted originally on the CTH on July 4, 2023 | Sundance 

Why do you think I focus so much emphasis on reminding people the RNC and DNC are private corporations – two private clubs, under the exclusive control of the billionaires who fund them?   Here’s why…

Laura Loomer is doing a great job exposing how the California Republican Party is changing their delegate rules in order to support the national RNC agenda.  The primary date in California was changed to Super Tuesday; as a consequence, the massive number of delegates that come from the populous state will be distributed proportionately, blocking the “winner take all” haul of Republican delegates that would elevate the main GOP nominee (Trump).

Inside this scheme you will also find out why Harmeet Dhillon was supported by Ron DeSantis as a move to support the primary delegate plans.  All of this is very interesting. First, I’ll first provide the information from Loomer [SEE HERE] and then outline the bigger picture.

[Laura Loomer] – Here is the EXCLUSIVE documentation I obtained which proves what I said below days ago regarding how the [California GOP], specifically CAGOP Chairwoman Jessica Patterson, Harmeet Dhillon and Shawn Steel are trying to amend the bylaws regarding the Presidential delegation process in California as it relates to the RNC’s nomination of the 2024 GOP nominee.

This won’t be good for President Trump. The CAGOP is trying to amend the “winner take all” standard for the CA delegation process (which has been in place for years) so that they can award delegates to the GOP candidate who comes in second place as a way to counter delegate wins for President Trump in New Hampshire and Iowa since California has the most delegates out of any state in the country.

As I previously reported, this is a strategy by CAGOP to transfer delegates from President Trump and move them over to Ron DeSantis in an effort to undermine President Trump and hinder his chances of securing the GOP nomination for President. [House Speaker Kevin McCarthy works closely with Jessica Patterson whose name is on this document.

Jessica Patterson signed this proposed bylaw amendment, which was proposed by McCarthy lapdog Jessica Patterson, and signed by CA RNC national committee members Harmeet Dhillon and Shawn Steel.

The CAGOP is set to vote on this bylaw amendment at their Executive Committee meeting on July 29th in Irvine, CA at the Irvine Marriott Hotel at 9:30 am.

This has been kept a secret from California Republicans, and even today, members of the CAGOP leadership, including Ron Nehring, attacked me on Twitter and called me a liar for what I posted. Little did they know that I have been in possession of the documentation which proves what I have claimed regarding CAGOP’s conspiracy to sabotage President Trump.

The California GOP have been trying to keep this dirty trick a secret, but I’m blowing the whistle on their blatant effort to sabotage President Trump. Their diabolical plan directly traces back to Kevin McCarthy. (read more)

Essentially what the California GOP is doing is keeping a Trump competitor alive by apportioning delegates to him/her regardless of the scale of victory that Trump voters might deliver.  This is part of the Big Club design.

Example (apply to CA’s 52 congressional districts):  There are 3 delegates in each CD up for grabs a total of 156 delegates.  If Trump wins 80% to 20% in the CD, Trump gets two delegates, DeSantis gets one.  Applied to scale, if Trump wins all districts he gets 104 delegates, DeSantis gets 52, regardless of the scale of Trump’s victory.

This approach gives the non-Trump group a bigger footprint in the convention, regardless of the scale of their voting bloc. Even if DeSantis was to only win 5% of the vote, he would still get a third of the CD delegates.

The California crew of the GOP claim it’s not a scheme and not their fault. They claim they’re forced to adhere to the national RNC rules of delegate distribution based on the date of the primary.  All of this is professional RNC obfuscation, delivered under the guise of “plausible deniability”, which is part of the overall RNC corporate manipulation, which is driven by the hidden people who control the RNC – the billionaire donors.

The BIG PICTURE: [TL:DR HERE]

The Constitution of the United States outlines that each state in the republic is responsible for conducting their own elections.

For the BIG CLUB, this constitutional position presented a problem.

In order to control the levers of power, a system was needed to stand atop the election system outlined in the Constitution.

The solution, two political parties. Two private corporations, that could control the process.

Two private corporations, the RNC and DNC, were then created. The billionaire (Big Club) operators would then control the corporations through their money.

Everything the club does is to deliver the illusion of choice. [DATA MAP]

The RNC and DNC then set rules, regulations and bylaws for the state chapters underneath the parent corporation. In essence, state election rules, party rules, now must align with the rules and regs of the national private corporation.

With the party system in place, the constitutional process, the problem the BIG CLUB needed to address, was now subverted. State elections would now have to follow the rules of two private corporations controlled by the billionaire elites.

Now the RNC, a private corporation funded by the billionaires who control it, decide rules, dates and electoral delegate proportions and distribution based on arbitrary calendar dates they themselves create within their national committee processes.

The state chapters of the corporation must then align with the national chapter RNC rules and regulations. In essence, the state voting processes, and the limited delegates therein, now must align with the roadmap of the billionaires in the private club who control the process.

2024:

*The billionaires do not want Donald Trump.

*The billionaires control the RNC rules.

*The billionaires make the rules to design a plan.

*The RNC national rules are adopted.

*The states determine their election dates in accordance with the alignment of the national club.

*The distribution of delegates is contingent upon the dates and rules previously established.

*The people who control the state clubs, then carry plausible deniability to try and obfuscate their adherence to the private corporation design.

The California GOP pretend that everything is being forced upon them by some arbitrary force. However, upstream it is all controlled. The Big Club controls the process, which is designed to deliver a very specific outcome.

Apply the process to the private corporation influence inside every state chapter.

Can you see it now?

Last point.  For the corporations who control the levers of political power, election fraud is their insurance policy.

Can you see now why the RNC does not want to focus on election integrity?

Jul 4 2023

Reinsurance Rates for Catastrophic Coverage Jump as High as 50% to Insurance Companies Effective July 1st


Posted originally on the CTH on July 3, 2023 | Sundance 

As if carrying Homeowners insurance in California and Florida wasn’t already subject to ridiculous increases in premiums, things are about to get a lot worse.

Effective with the July 1st notification, Reinsurance rates, these are companies who insure the insurance companies, are telling their clients there will be up to a 50% increase in cost for underwriting catastrophic coverage.  Perhaps claims in the past few years have been higher; however, I suspect the issue amid the reinsurers is partly connected to the issue that surrounds banks and bond rates.

Back when interest rates were near zero, banks and reinsurers likely scooped up lots of Treasuries and bonds. As the Federal Reserve hikes rates those bonds have declined in value. When interest rates rise, newly issued bonds start paying higher returns to investors, which makes the older bonds with lower rates less attractive/valuable. The result is that most banks, and I suspect big reinsurance houses, have some amount of unrealized losses on their books.

Whatever the reason, the big reinsurance companies are now telling the insurance carriers their catastrophe rates are going up as high as 50%.  Those insurance companies will then pass those rate hikes to the individual policy holders for commercial buildings, residential homes, cars, RV’s etc.  Bottom line, homeowner insurance rates are about to go up again with policy renewals, especially in Florida and California.

LONDON, July 3 (Reuters) – U.S. property catastrophe reinsurance rates rose by as much as 50% at a key July 1 renewal date, broker Gallagher Re said in a report on Monday, with states such as California and Florida increasingly hit by wildfires and hurricanes.

Reinsurers insure insurance companies, and have been raising rates in recent years because of steepening losses, which industry players put down in part to the impact of climate change. Higher reinsurance rates can affect the premiums which insurers charge to their customers.

U.S. reinsurance rates for policies which previously faced claims for natural catastrophes rose 30-50%, Gallagher Re said.

Reinsurance rates for similar policies in Florida rose 30-40%, the broker added.

Some insurance firms have pulled out because of the risk of heavy losses. State Farm said in May it would stop selling new insurance policies to homeowners in California.

In Florida, “all the major carriers (insurers) left and so you ended up with this market which is populated by a large number of very small, very thinly capitalised insurers which is exactly what you don’t want,” James Vickers, chairman international, reinsurance, at Gallagher Re told Reuters. (keep reading)

In Florida specifically, homeowners insurance costs have now generally risen higher than the mortgage payment for a middle-class family.  This is not sustainable.

Not Good !