The Pension Crisis is starting to be noticed in Europe. The German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz is arguing that the federal government has to guarantee the pension level until 2040. He is arguing that the government MUST come up with a plausible financing model which seems actually impossible. The increase in taxes to cover pension that far out would devastate the younger generations. So far, this Grand Coalition in Germany has agreed on stabilization plan by 2025.  We may see the pension issue become a major factor in the next election. There is no solution as long as Germany continues to adhere to austerity. The only way the pension crisis can be addressed is to inflate out so you pay people with a cheaper currency.

The collapse of Socialism is underway because the people rightly expected all governments to do everything they could to live safely and satisfy their promises of bliss for retirement. They are already witnessing that saving for retirement has not worked when central banks use interest rates to manipulate the economy and in Germany, they have had negative interest rates thanks to Draghi and the ECB. Indeed, in Germany, this policy of austerity is in direct conflict with Socialism. The only way the system has held together this long is because of inflation.

The Pension Crisis is one element behind the rise of political unrest, particularly in Italy. In Germany, the Pension Crisis is starting to fuel the AfD and the nationalist populists in their movement. Scholz has warned that without resolving this issue, Germany will see its own version of Donald Trump take command. Political change is coming and the current crop of politicians have no real answers.

The German magazine, Spiegel, reported that according to estimates by the German Pension Fund, the so-called sustainability reserve will reach around €37.3 billion euros by the end of December 2018. The reserve has been increasing of late 4.4% (year/year) because of the strong employment situation in Germany under its export model. Nevertheless, the pension insurance assumes that by 2023, the contribution rate of 18.6% of gross wages must be increased yet again. This is already a hefty percentage of gross income and it is not going to be enough

Erdogan has his boys dressed in suits burning only a handful of US ONE DOLLAR bills as a nice propaganda piece. In truth, the Turkish people have been hoarding Dollars and Euros because they have lost all faith in their own currency. It is nice that Erdogan has a few people burning less than $100 for a video. All it shows is in fact that Erdogan is belligerent and he will put himself before the good of his own people.  He can pretend the people are burning dollars, but they are not cashing them in for lira. He is running around asking for help from France, Germany, Qatar, and anyone else with spare change

QUESTION: It is clear our government seems to be going crazy. I know you use to live here in Sydney. We met many times when you did conferences here. I also know you once said you would like to retire in Australia. Has that changed?

Paul

ANSWER: Well, my dreams of retirement have not been working out. It seems the world is conspiring against me to go quietly into retirement. Yes, I love Australia. I have traveled all over and even went to Kakadu for two weeks and lived off the land fishing for Barramundi. I still keep a painting I love of the gum trees by a local artist. Here is me in the desert in Palm Valley. As always, there is a difference between the government and the people. There are socialists who support the government and others who are upside about stalking their children, creating their  Black Economy Taskforce,  to imposing the burden to collect Australian taxes upon companies mailing things to Australia. These are simply not NORMAL in a free society. No country can order others to collect their taxes and if someone is following your children, they are in plain clothes and readers have expressed concerns about how do you distinguish a pervert from a government agent?

No matter what country we look at, governments are going broke. Consequently, they are all beginning to turn against their people in the hunt for money. Some governments have just completely crossed the line between authoritarian and a free society. This is the confrontation we will face in the years ahead.

The German central bank, the Bundesbank, has significantly expanded its ability to control and access cash transactions in the hunt for taxes. They have required statements and assurances from cash-demanding commercial banks for the purpose of the intended business requiring cash. The Bundesbank has declined to comment on the new policy. The Federal Association of German Banks has also refused to explain. What is clear is that we are witnessing a growing trend to reduce cash and like Australia, just adopt the position that cash is for criminals.

The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s economic policy is a disaster. This is reflected by his plea for Turkish citizens to search under their mattress for foreign banknotes and gold to convert into domestic currency. It has been his economic policies and dictatorship that is driving Turkey into an economic collapse. Of course, the only way to support the lira at this stage requires a change in government. That is unlikely on any voluntary basis. Meanwhile, President Donald Trump responded to the collapse in the Turkish lira by announcing a doubling of tariffs on steel and aluminum. His logic is that the collapse in the lira would allow them to sell steel and aluminum at cheaper prices. But the logic fails as Turkey in moving into hyperinflation and the economy is just collapsing.

Turkey began its meltdown on target in May. The next turning point was August. The Quarterly level shows a Directional Change in the 2nd Quarter of 2018 and that is when the meltdown began. We will update on the Private blog this weekend on the impact of other markets as the Euro has also collapsed by the 115 level. At this stage, there is no hope of restoring confidence in Turkey as long as Erdogan remains in power

People who think that Trump alone embarked on protectionism, really need to look around the World. Australians have been blocked by Amazon from buying anything from their US site because the government has imposed effectively a tariff of 10% on anything an Australian may purchase under $1,000 from the internet overseas. The Australian government is violating international law demanding that anyone selling anything on the internet must collect a 10% tax from an Australian and pay it to the Australian government.

The Australian government has shifted a tax-collecting burden to the entire world. Amazon has now blocked Australians from buying from their sites outside of Australia. They correctly criticized Australia stating that delivery companies such as Australia Post should be made to collect the tax, not the stores. The Australian government is pretending this is to “protect” Australian companies. However, this applies to absolutely everything sent to Australia even if there is NO LOCAL competition. That is a greedy tariff. Simply said, Australia is really becoming the most anti-capitalist country in the West. The Australian dollar has been declining since 2011 and this hunt for taxes continues to expand with the most anti-free market laws in Western civilization. It is only a question of time before the USA turns and looks at the crazy laws coming from Australia and begins to retaliate.

The is absolutely no foundation in International Law that allows a country to impose obligations upon business in other countries and force them to collect taxes. The proper point to collect taxes is when goods are delivered to Australia – not that an Australian buys something overseas requires everyone in the world to collect Australian taxes for them. This is really just insane.