Posted originally on Mar 13, 2024 By Martin Armstrong
COMMENT: I have investigated what you have said about our Western leaders. From the US to Britain, the Balkans, France, Poland, and Germany, they all want war. I am 77 now. My whole life was about creating peace. I remember Richard Nixon opening China and dividing it from Russia. I believe you are correct. There is no explanation for everyone seeking war other than to hide their appalling government mismanagement.
Thank you for your analysis. It is always unmatched.
GKB
REPLY: History repeats, and human nature never changes. We have the model from Rome, the greatest empire ever created. The Pax Romana was achieved by everyone benefiting in their economic relations. Once these people removed Russia from the SWIFT system, they condemned the United States to its demise. The rise of the BRICS has nothing to do with fiat money. All money has always been fiat. From ancient times, we find imitation coinage of the dominant economy being created by other regions, showing that there was always a premium over the metal content if it was a coin of the dominant economy like the US dollar today. Here is an imitation of an Athenian Owl stuck by the Egyptians, who never had coins until they were conquered nearly 100 years later by Alexander the Great. They issued imitation Athenian Owls because they were the currency of international trade.
Even the Celts, when Julius Caesar conquered Europe, still imitated his coinage. The metal was virtually the same, so it was a counterfeit but an imitation. The Celts still used Roman coinage for their monetary system.
Even 300 years before Caesar, when the Macedonians were the dominant economic power of Phillip II and his son Alexander the Great, we find Celtic imitations of Macedonian gold where they at least tried to imitate the design.
Even after Caesar conquered Europe, we find Germanic imitations of Roman bronze coinage. Once more, they could have created their own coinage but imitated the coinage of Rome.
As trade expanded with India, we find a series of Indian imitations of Roman gold coinage running the course of 300 years. We see Celtic imitations of Roman coinage as well as Germanic coinage, which also ran for about 300 years.
The fact that we have hundreds of years of imitations of the dominant economy PROVES beyond a shadow of a doubt that the coinage was NOT based on the metal content; there was always a premium applied to the dominant currency in the world at that time.
This entire nonsense that the dollar is just a fiat currency is absurd. The value of ANY currency is the strength of its economy. The dollar has been the RESERVE currency BECAUSE everyone wanted to sell their products to American consumers.
The PAX Romana took place BECAUSE all the conquered lands found it was beneficial to be part of the empire, for they could sell their products. World Peace was created by allowing free trade as the Romans did. Then, the people would oppose any local politician preaching war, for it would cut off their income. We were on the verge of world peace before COVID-19, when everyone participated in the world economy. Today, that has all been destroyed. Peace is no longer fashionable – it is hatred and war that now define world leaders.
This is a lesson our Politicians Must Learn, and the Neocons in
America – Europe – Russia – China
at really the enemies of the people.
War is never created by the people – only by the elites in power.
Posted originally on Mar 11, 2024 By Martin Armstrong
The June 2022 Supreme Court Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision has left reproductive measures in the hands of individual states. Organizations like Planned Parenthood are now looking to target men in states where abortions are no longer permitted. The rate of sterilization for childless young men in states without access to abortion is rapidly rising.
I have discussed the origins of Planned Parenthood, including its founder and her main objective for the organization. The historical basis of Planned Parenthood cannot be denied, regardless of where you stand on abortion.
States like Indiana and Kentucky are experiencing a rise in Planned Parenthood locations despite the recent ruling because they are marketing their services toward men.
The International Journal of Impotence Researchreported a 35% increase in vasectomy consultations, with around 22.4% resulting in sterilization, since the Dobbs ruling. The median age for vasectomy services in America is now 35. Around 8.6% of men who opted for sterilization were childless pre-Dobbs, but that number has nearly doubled to 16.9%. “Younger men, especially those under 30, as well as childless men were significantly more likely to seek consultation Post-Dobbs compared to the prior reproductive legal climate,” the report found.
The majority of men who opt for vasectomies have children and are done expanding their families. The FDA has numerous forms of male birth control options but has not released any to the public. Planned Parenthood states that although potentially reversible, the goal of the procedure is complete sterilization. “Vasectomies are meant to be permanent. You should only get a vasectomy if you’re 100% positive you don’t want to be able to get someone pregnant for the rest of your life,” Planned Parenthood states on its website.
Now, 10.3% of men undergoing this procedure were under 30 before Dobbs, compared to 23.9% today. White males are more likely to volunteer to undergo this procedure than other races, as it is commonly taboo in various cultures, but celebrated among social justice warriors who believe we must curtail the population to reduce our carbon footprint.
The trend of sterilized, childless young men in America is expected to rise as the family unit is no longer celebrated or valued. There is no information from Planned Parenthood on whether these men can still become pregnant, but it is likely that population replacement will come from migrants rather than new births.
Posted originally on the CTH on March 10, 2024 | Sundance
Gary Cohn appears on Face The Nation to discuss the finance, the economy and the pain felt by consumers. He won’t say it directly, for obvious reasons, but what Cohn describes in terms of political support boils down to Main Street business supporting Donald Trump and Wall Street Multinational Corporations supporting Joe Biden. That is ultimately what is obvious at a macro level.
I’m starting the video at 03:08 for the purposes of emphasizing inflation. What Cohn says about U.S. inflation is essentially accurate and I have a Cliff Notes, tldr, HERE. However, what Cohn says about tariffs creating inflation is not accurate, as outlined by the 2017 through 2020 results of Trump tariff policy. Cohn says, “No one absorbs tariffs, except the consumer,” this is false. As we saw in 2017, 2018, and 2019 China, Asia and the EU essentially dropped their export prices to retain access to the USA market and offset tariff costs. That’s just a statistical reality.
The transcript is HERE; however, I want to draw attention to a geopolitical aspect that is not getting enough attention. Specifically, the cost of FOOD PRODUCTS and the attached inflation.
Why is food inflation continuing to be a problem? Why is food inflation not just a USA problem? Why are the EU farmers protesting? These questions are easily answered, and yet no one in the Western financial press will explain.
The Build Back Better agenda, known in the USA colloquially as the Green New Deal, carries with it massive increases in cost for energy products. Fertilizer, which needs natural gas, and farming, which needs large amounts of fuel, diesel and fuel oil, uses costly energy products. Packaging, plastics (petroleum derivatives) and cardboard also require large amounts of energy.
The manufacturing (heating, cooling, freezing) as well as storage and transportation of food products also use massive amounts of energy. Additionally, and specifically because of the nature of their consumption, the increased energy costs associated with generating food travels quickly through the supply chain.
Food inflation is always the first thing you notice when the prices of energy products skyrocket. This is well known and not subject to debate; everyone accepts this.
In the past 30 +/- years, large multinational corporations known as Big Ag have created a system where the USA generates a massive amount of the global food supply.
The advent of modern farming fertilizer, pesticides, seed genetics and other farming products/equipment that increase crop yield, has also been a big factor in the capacity of the USA and Western farming world to increase production. As the globe became more reliant on the production efficiencies of the Big Ag “Western world,” they simultaneously became dependent on the outcome. That dependency put them at risk of feeling the impact of inflation when you think about the farm products.
The result was that when Western Ag farming costs skyrocketed, the high cost of harvest outcomes were not just felt in the USA and/or Western nations. As food production costs increased, the higher costs of production transferred into all the exported products. Food inflation was exported globally.
The Western Build Back Better and Green New Deal energy policies subsequently meant the world was going to pay a higher price for food globally. That’s what happened.
The Yellow Zone was responsible for a higher percentage of global food production. The Yellow Zone is also the place where energy policy was changed in such a radical format that massive increases in energy costs were created.
The Yellow Zone (geopolitically the “West”) drove up the cost of farming, the Gray Zone pays a higher price. This was all by design and not accidental. The corporations who supported the BBB/GRD agenda all benefit. The citizens who need to eat, do not benefit.
So, when you see EU farmers protesting against the ridiculous ENERGY POLICY changes of the West, you must accept the USA bears a greater responsibility for creating and demanding the increased prices that farmers globally are having to deal with.
In Gray Zone areas, where domestic food production costs are not subject to the changed energy policy, there is little to no food inflation. However, the more dependent the country is to food imports (ingredients or final product) the more they are impacted by rising farming costs.
Grey Zone countries that can self-sustain on the production of food and have no energy agenda have little food inflation.
The more the country is strangling energy production and driving up energy prices, the higher the cost of farming and subsequently the higher index on food inflation. The two metrics are directly related.
Food inflation globally is a big problem. Western energy policy is exactly why!
Posted originally on the CTH on March 10, 2024 | Sundance
By now, most intellectually honest American observers have accepted the United States intelligence apparatuses are the most political and dangerous institutions of government. All recent history shows how the Intelligence Community (IC), identified by Chuck Schumer as the “six ways to Sunday” targeting group, operate as the extra-constitutional fourth branch of government.
The IC conducts surveillance of Americans, and the apparatuses of the FBI, DOJ and DHS operate the enforcement mechanism for the targeting identified by the intelligence apparatus. The public-private partnership between the domestic communication networks, including social media, and the Intelligence Community are well known. DHS operates on behalf of the IC and the legislative and judicial branches defer to the IC. This is a specific outcome of the Patriot Act authorizing the IC to conduct surveillance of all Americans.
In his interview with Meet the Press today, former House Intelligence Committee Chair, and current Senate candidate from California, Adam Schiff, publicly stated his desire that the IC continue their operations against U.S. citizens and control any/all information that is shared with Donald Trump in national security briefings. WATCH (prompted):
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The United States intelligence community is the most insidious threat to the Republic. There is currently an information war taking place that encompasses pushback against the constructs of the IC and the control justifications known as “misinformation,” “disinformation,” and “malinformation.” All of these newly created terms serve the function of controlling, eliminating and censoring activity by a corrupt network of government actors.
There is no such thing as mis-dis-or mal-information – there is only information. Unfortunately, too few Americans have an understanding of how and why these terms were created by the surveillance apparatus in order to control information they deem against their interests.
Lastly, Adam Schiff is likely going to be the purple tie candidate supported by the professionally Republican and communist Democrats in their effort to generate an insurance policy against President Donald Trump. It is easy to predict how Schiff would likely be installed in the Senate Select Intelligence Committee (SSCI) with a specific responsibility to stop, impede and block any intelligence nomination by President Trump.
Posted originally on Mar 7, 2024 By Martin Armstrong
Those who follow this blog already knew that the Federal Reserve would not drop rates in the future due to unsustainable fiscal policies paired with America’s increasing involvement in foreign wars. All of the talking heads were preaching that rates would significantly decline to pandemic levels, as if that were the historical norm. Every fiscal policy in recent years has exacerbated inflation and the Fed cannot keep up with government spending. QE FAILED. The artificially low interest rates of the recent past were completely unsustainable and relied on outdated theories.
The outdated understanding based on Keynesian Economics remains to increase the supply of money and it MUST be inflationary. The Fed raises rates to reduce consumption and lower rates to stimulate consumption. It’s a very nice theory, but when actually tested, it utterly fails. Lower rates will NEVER cause people to invest UNTIL they believe that there is an opportunity to invest. We are watching the big players withdraw from equities, let alone government debt. We are in a private wave where money is running off the grid at a rapid pace.
The peak in interest rates took place in 1899 at virtually 200%. Yet, 1929 was the real bubble top and it peaked with 20% interest rates in call money on the NYSE. In theory, the biggest boom should have been met with the highest interest rate. In truth, the “real interest rate” as I have defined it is when the interest rates exceed expectations. If you think the stock market will double, you will pay 25% interest.
As you can see, while interest rates hit nearly 200% in 1899, the share market did NOT crash percentage-wise anything as it did following 1929. Look, there is a lot more to this than meets the eye. Everything must be addressed on a global scale for it all depends also on the direction of capital flows. There is just a lot more to this than simply the money supply and interest rates.
Now, Powell continues to explain to the public that VOLATILITY and economic conditions are beyond the control of the Fed. “We believe that our policy rate is likely at its peak for this tightening cycle,” Powell said. “If the economy evolves broadly as expected, it will likely be appropriate to begin dialing back policy restraint at some point this year. But the economic outlook is uncertain, and ongoing progress toward our 2% inflation objective is not assured.”
All the news ofinflation waning, including recent data, is inaccurate propaganda intended to calm recessionary fears. Even by the government’s data, inflation is up 3.1% compared to last year. It was an unprecedented moment when Powell broke with Washington and criticized the government for their unsustainable spending. The Fed NEVER criticizes the government, despite the two being separate.
Hence, I say to stop blaming the Fed. They are not the ones creating all the money but are working to match monetary policy with unsustainable fiscal policies. We are looking at trillions in deficits per year. There is no restraint when creating new massive spending packages. Then people blame the central bank with no concept that it’s only a fraction of “money;” the real issue is CONGRESS.
Listen, interest rates cannot decline in the face of war. The 2020 yearly array showed a turning point for a high in 2022 and a possible correction into 2024. I explain this in more detail on the Socrates private blog but buckle up for the year ahead.
Posted originally on Mar 6, 2024 By Martin Armstrong
The Biden Administration implemented a new rule that will cap credit card late fees at $8. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has praised the measure, estimating it will save Americans over $10 billion annually in late fees, or around $220 annually per person as 45 million Americans have experienced these fees within the last year, but this measure may be more harmful than helpful.
Credit card debt in America is at an all-time high of nearly $1.13 trillion and continues to rise as around 56 million Americans carry credit card debt. The typical late fee payment is around $32, but this is merely the fee for missing a payment and does not account for compounded interest. It seems like common sense, but one must realize that the average person is not financially literate. The concept of basic finance is not a mandatory requirement for the public education system, leading many people to live off debt, well beyond their means, with no chance of recuperating. America has the leading median level of credit card debt among all developed nations. There is a widespread belief that one can afford certain goods if they are approved for a line of credit, which only benefits the banks.
Now, the banks are certainly profiting on late fees, which account for about 15% of credit card profits based on the CFPB’s 2021 Consumer Credit Card Market Report. Do these fees deter reckless spending? A 2022 ABA-led survey found that 46% of respondents said they made it a priority to pay off their credit cards on time to avoid late fees. That particular study found that a fee of $10 was enough to redirect one’s attention to their financial obligations. Another study by the Harris Poll and NerdWallet found that Americans were more likely to make a payment of their cards if a $30 fee was implemented.
Again, one must understand that the average person cannot compute the cost of compounding interest. Borrowing money is not a legal right and should be done with the utmost caution. Simply forgetting or dismissing financial obligations has consequences.
The banks will find a way to profit off the people in other ways. It is the nature of banking. Rob Nichols, the president and CEO of the American Bankers Association, explained that other measures could be implemented that will hurt everyone. “The Bureau’s misguided decision to cap credit card late fees at a level far below banks’ actual costs willforce card issuers to reduce credit lines, tighten standards for new accounts and raise APRs for all consumers – even those who pay on time,” Nichols said. This is yet another Biden Admin policy favoring the financially irresponsible at the expense of others.
So, what is the CFPB recommending as an alternative? CBDC. The agency is first suggesting digitizing banking so that consumers have instant access to their credit scores and spending habits. Again, these numbers are disregarded by a portion of the population. The agency is patronizing all Americans by stating we are not intelligent enough to know when to pay off our monthly debts without digital notifications and reminders.
Financial literacy is desperately needed in America. So, while the Biden Administration is breaking its arm patting itself on the back for this surface-level win for the everyday man, the ruling does nothing to combat the growing personal debt crisis.
Posted originally on Mar 4, 2024 By Martin Armstrong
Nikki Haley has finally won none other than the LEFTIST stronghold – Washington, DC. If you get pulled over by a cop there, you may hear that line coming from the new movie Civil War – What Kind of American Are You?
The Democrats have been funding Haley, and anyone with common sense would end their campaign. So why is Haley going endlessly? Because the word is if the Supreme Court or all the legal cases somehow manage some way to prevent Trump from running or he magically contracts COVID version 35 and dies before November, Haley will take the nomination by default. The Democrats will rejoice along with the Neocons, who will be popping champagne bottles for they will get World War III fully on board.
She has already come out and said she will NOT support Trump if he runs in November. If you have children or grandchildren, their future will be uncertain with Haley as President. Victoria Nuland will rejoice.
Posted originally on Mar 4, 2024 By Martin Armstrong
Those outside the US believe we have outstanding health care due to the high price tag associated with every service. Healthcare workers have been leaving the field in droves since the COVID-19 pandemic. The American Association of Medical Collegesbelieves that there will be a shortage of 122,000 physicians, 400,000 home health aides, and 29,400 nurse practitioners by 2025, but that may be an optimistic forecast.
A friend of mine in the area recently needed stitches after an injury and their nearest Urgent Care facility was closed. The second Urgent Care (America’s version of a smaller hospital) had a sign saying that it would not open until late afternoon due to a staffing shortage. The third Urgent Care facility was closed over the weekend, also likely due to staffing shortages. By the time she found the fourth provider, the wait was multiple hours due to only one physician being on staff that day.
These essential care employees are overworked and exhausted. People are less likely to take on hundreds of thousands in student loan debt for a grueling job that they must carefully keep by avoiding litigation while watching patients suffer due to high costs passed down from insurance and drug companies.
Healthcare providers are being replaced through AI programs while others are going remote. Amid hospital closures in small towns, remote nurses and doctors are entering hospital rooms on screen. This means hospital administration can hire fewer people and ask the less experienced employees who cost less to retain to perform crucial functions. The virtual nurse or doctor will not be able to help if the patient codes or something goes wrong.
Nursing job vacancies spiked by 30%from 2019 to 2020 as a direct result of COVID regulations and working conditions. A 2021 Washington Post-Kaiser Family Foundation poll showed that another 30% of healthcare workers considered leaving their profession in general after the pandemic, while 60% said the pandemic negatively affected their mental health. These people were also required to receive the vaccine against their will and promote treatments for the virus that may not have aligned with what they believed to be the best treatments. Estimates vary, but every agency agrees that there will be a serious shortage in the near future. The American Hospital Association believes there will be a shortage of 3.2 million healthcare workers by 2026.
The largest portion of our population is aging and will require health care in the near future. Not many can afford the costs of becoming ill, and sickness remains the leading cause of bankruptcy in the world’s financial capital. An aging population paired with overwhelming staffing shortages will lead to serious trouble in America’s healthcare system in the short term, not to mention the additional 7.2 million and counting new illegal residents who are receiving free health services at the cost of the taxpayer.
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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
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