COMMENT: Marty; I just wanted to say that this WEC in Rome was one of your best, NOt that Nigel Farage was there calling you the alternative to Davos, but you really do your research and your contacts behind the curtain become self-evident. Nobody in the audience every knew that the German people were denied the right to vote on joining the euro. The most important economy was denied any democratic process.

See you in Orlando

PG

ANSWER: Yes, I was amazed at how even the central bankers who attended were unaware of that fact. This is part of the reason for the rise in the AfD in Germany. From the outset, the theory has been to federalize Europe to prevent a world war. They assumed the people would never vote for it so they hide the real agenda. The people are not those who create wars – it is always those in power.

What they have done is to fuel the flames of history that remind people of the differences that are culturally embodied within the languages.

QUESTION: How were ancient coins placed into circulation?

DR JB

ANSWER: That is actually a very interesting question. As the legend goes, the Gauls (French) attempted to invade the city of Rome quietly, but had frightened the sacred flock of geese that made a lot of noise. This alerted the Romans to the surprise attack giving us the word “monere” meaning in Latin to warn. The Temple of Juno then became popularly known as the Temple of Juno Moneta. Since this is where the coins were minted, we now arrive at the word “money” that springs from the origin of this legend and place that was an ancient mint.

Our term such as capital flow is also derived from the Latin word “currere” meaning “to run” or “to flow” and this is where the money flowed from giving us the word “currency” meaning the flow of money. This is why Juno Moneta is pictured on Roman coins as holding the balance scales in one hand and a cornucopia in the other symbolizing endless bounty or wealth. This is the birth of the term money and currency.

Now, since Rome had no national debt and no central bank, we immediately wonder how on earth did this function? The government-owned the mines and thus they coined money to meet their expenses.  Unlike our modern governments, they did not have a huge welfare state. They did subsidize food. But the coinage was used to pay the troops and government expenses and thus this is how the money was put into circulation. They would increase the output in times of war and decreased it in times of peace for the most part.

QUESTION: Thank you for your great work. I have read this article where Kudlow says: White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow predicted that it is possible the Federal Reserve won’t hike interest rates again during his lifetime: My question is do you think he is right? And what will the consequence be if the interest rate remains where it is – For example, the next 10 or 20 years?
P.S. Of natural causes, we do not know how long time Kudlow lives.
Best regards
L/Sweden

ANSWER: Perhaps he got bad news from his doctor or it is a political statement that is just absurd. What he is really saying is that Quantitative Easing has so destroyed the Keynesian model that there is now no other alternative for central banks to control the economy. If they raise rates, the budget explodes. We are witnessing the end of Keynesian.Monetarist theory.

QUESTION: Hi Martin,
You mentioned in a 2016 blog post that “We will probably see the end of this Social Security program by 2021.772 (October 9, 2021)”. Does this forecast still have a high probability of occurring? If so, won’t this be devastating to retirees, especially those with little or no retirement savings? My employer no longer offers a pension plan to employees, only a 401K plan.
Ref. “Negative Interest Rates Destroying the World Economy”, Apr 17, 2016.
Kind Regards,
DA

ANSWER: I do not see this unfolding as a default. They will have to revise the system one way or another. There is more likely to be a huge split in interest rates from the private sector compared to the public at the federal level. As I have stated before, I tried to would with Congress back in the ’90s in reforming Social Security transforming it into a wealth fund that was allocated out among managers. The Democrats would not vote for it so this is why Social Security today cannot survive. It invests 100% in government bonds. That means it does not even earn a fair interest rate.

When people feared the private sector, AAA corporate rates soared peaking with the bottom of the stock market in 1932 and then declined to bottom with the rally into 1937. What we face now is the collapse of Social Security because it is restricted to buying only government debt where the interest rates are artificially maintained at absurdly low levels. Therefore, Social Security is already constantly being reduced in benefits. It cannot continue in this manner. It will have to be reformed and changed entirely. I do not believe that they will stop paying people. The way they default is reducing payments and the payments will not be enough to sustain themselves. Look at Venezuela. They honor their pensions, but what you get today will buy only a cup of coffee.

The likelihood of Social Security remaining as it is today is ZERO. Private sector rates will rise v manipulated government rates. We have entered into the Great Unknown economically. The Quantitative Easing of the Bank of Japan and the Europeans Central Bank have wiped out the free markets and ended government borrowing as a viable free market. The far more interesting aspect of interest rates will become the spread between corporate and public at the federal level.