Boomerang Kids


Armstrong Economics Blog/USA Current Events Re-Posted Sep 8, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

Boomerang kids is a term for those who moved out of their parents’ home only to return. The number of young adults who were forced to move back home reached historic highs in 2020 when the pandemic began. In fact, three in ten Gen Zers (18-25) moved back home with their parents during the pandemic as school campuses closed down. Around 18% of younger millennials (26-34) and 17% of older millennials (35-41) also moved back in with mom and dad. However, a recent report shows that two-thirds of young adults in the US who moved back home during the pandemic have yet to leave the nest.

Housing and rental costs are at historic highs and continue to rise. Inflation is soaring, rates are rising, and the youth is struggling. The demographic that should be starting families is financially priced out of doing so. Around 31% of boomerang kids said their top focus is saving for a down payment on a home, and nearly 30% of those who did move out managed to purchase a home. Around 39% of those who moved back home said they were focused on paying off debt.

About 73% of those who did move out after the pandemic were only able to rent. Unsurprisingly, states with the highest cost of living host the largest number of boomerang kids. Around 21.6% of adult children live at home in Hawaii, followed by New Jersey and Florida, which host 20.7% and 20.1%, respectively.

Young adults can no longer afford the American dream. Nearly three years after the pandemic, most young adults who moved back home have been unable to leave. Housing costs are usually the biggest expense of any household, and the youth simply cannot afford to buy in this market. This is why the birth rate is steadily declining, and the future workforce will be limited.

Episode 1056: Holiday!


Revenge of the Cis Published originally on Rumble on September 1, 2022

– Gov. Greg Abbott sends busload of migrants from Texas to Chicago
– Reed Coverdale joins us

The Real IRS Hunt


Armstrong Economics Blog/Gov’t Incompetence Re-Posted Aug 28, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

There is NOTHING that the politicians EVER say that is the truth. Hiring 87,000 new IRS agents is NOT to go after billionaires as they claim. There are ONLY 614 billionaires in the United States. Clearly, you do not need 87,000 new agents to hunt down billionaires – they are coming after you!

There is no loose change in taxes the higher you go up in income. You then need professionals to handle the taxes and they cross every “t” and dot all the “i”s. They are targeting anyone with an LLC and will challenge all expenses. Don’t forget, if you go to dinner with a client, you can only write off 50% of the expense. Of course with COVID, we have a whole new crisis in taxes. The commuting costs evaporated working from home. What about writing off a portion of the home now if you no longer go to the office? Suddenly, COVID really complicated things over the past two years. Even if your house burns down, the IRS denies a tax deduction for the loss. Protesters against the IRS are just coincidently targeted for audits – purely coincidental. Obama used the IRS to target the Tea Party. The DOJ waited two years and then quietly dismissed any criminal charges against IRS agents. This is what we will expect for now they will target also protesters in climate change.

They do not need 87,000 new agents, armed to the teeth, to hunt down just 614 billionaires. It made good press, the same as when they introduced the income tax back in 1913 as SWORE on the soul of the dead mother and all their relatives, it would not apply to the rich. Small business and climate protesters will be the people targeted by the IRS.

Remember the cops raided the wrong house, killed the guy, and then they claimed he was an UNDOCUMENTED alien who had no Constitutional Rights, and thus it was OK to kill him. How about the wrong house raid where they kill the man and his dog but then kill a cop responding to a break-in – remember that one? There are so many where the cops storm the wrong house, the resident this it’s a break-in and defends himself only to be shot dead. I’m sure we will all sleep well knowing 87,000 IRS agents, armed to the teeth, are being trained to storm houses and released on society after 3 months worth of training.

In Canada, Trudeau is arming climate change police to do the same thing. Let’s face the facts. We the people are now the enemy – not Putin! This is the consequence of Marxism. We are nothing more than economic slaves.

The Solution


Armstrong Economics Blog/Economics Re-Posted Aug 24, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

Coinbase Crackdown


Armstrong Economics Blog/Cryptocurrency Re-Posted Aug 24, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

Comment: I use Coinbase to hold some crypto. They sent me an email saying that my account that I had for years would be limited to withdrawals only if I do not give them updated government ID and download the latest version of the application. I use this on my PC and do not have the application. I worry they’ll take what is left of my failing cryptos. Luckily I only put “play money” into these holdings but I imagine others will experience losses and frozen accounts in the near future. The deadline they gave me was October – not sure if that is for all. I messaged out to Coinbase for help updating my account but cannot fully verify it after many tries.

Reply: Government hates cryptocurrency. They have always been concerned about their ability to squeeze out every last penny in taxes from crypto. I am not surprised that Coinbase is emailing users for additional documentation days after the Inflation Reduction Act was passed. With nearly 88,000 new IRS agents, there will certainly be teams of hundreds or thousands of accountants who will analyze all crypto holdings.

The initial idea behind the creation of crypto has been lost. I warned in March on our private blog on Socrates that cryptocurrencies may be suspended altogether one day. Biden could sign an Executive Order to regulate cryptos because countries like Russia can use it to circumvent sanctions. Not only is Biden authorizing the regulation of digital currencies, but he is also instructing to move forward with a central bank cryptocurrency. Once that is done, all other cryptocurrencies will be seized and folded into the government’s crypto. There will be no competition.

The Outlier of the West, Japan Core Inflation Rises 2.4% Year Over Year


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on August 19, 2022 | Sundance 

If you have been following along, you might remember the note we made in July about not every country willing to go along with the western agenda on energy reduction, climate change, and raising interest rates to shrink their economy down to the scale of diminished energy development {Go Deep}.

In addition to Russia, China, Iran, Brazil, South Africa, Argentina and India vociferously retaining their own economic and monetary independence, Mexican President AMLO literally blasted the program while visiting the White House and the Bank of Japan refused to join the mantra to raise interest rates.   Essentially, all of the aforementioned nations see the collective Build Back Better program for what it is, a path to poverty.

As a result of their non-compliance with the global bankers, which, not coincidentally I would point out, coincided with the assassination of Shinzo Abe, the government of Japan has been getting blasted by the proverbial ‘west’ (U.S, Canada, U.K, Europe and Australia).

Japan is attempting to deal with inflation by focusing on increasing energy production and security (the supply side); while the rest of the western group have been chasing the false promise of decreased inflation by lowering the demand side, ie. pretending not to know their energy policy is creating the increases in costs.

As a result of the distinctly different monetary approaches, the financial system has been trying to punish Japan and the financial media have been trying to point out every flaw in the Japanese economy as a result of their noncompliance.   However, as you will see in this Reuters article, the July inflation within Japan is moderating.  Inflation in Japan is 2.4% for July (year over year).

TOKYO, Aug 19 (Reuters) – Japan’s core consumer inflation accelerated in July to its fastest in seven-and-a-half years, driven by fuel and raw material prices and adding to the costs of living for households yet to see significant wage gains.

In a sign of broadening price pressure, the so-called “core core” index that strips away not just the impact of volatile fresh food but energy prices, also rose in July at the fastest annual pace in more than six years.

While inflation exceeded its 2% target for four straight months, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) is likely to remain an outlier in keeping monetary conditions ultra-loose with price rises still modest compared with other major economies.

“Food prices and a weak yen were the main culprits behind accelerating inflation,” said Yoshimasa Maruyama, chief market economist at SMBC Nikko Securities, adding that he expects core consumer inflation to reach 3% this year. (read more)

It is funny to see Reuters put out a *shock* styled article for 2.4% core inflation.   In the U.S. Joe Biden would be celebrating 2.4% inflation right now; however, his energy policy is driving that CORE inflation number well beyond 6%.

Japan is still in a tough place with increasing prices for their citizens, but it is nowhere near the scale of Europe and North America.

While their currency is suffering from not following the western agenda, they have several upsides.  First, exports from Japan to the United States and the EU now become even cheaper. With a higher dollar value, Japanese imports into the United States come at a discount.  This will help Japan export goods and retain a strong export economy.

Second, with Japan already a massive investor inside the United States, the dollars that are generated in profit from their operations are delivered back to Japan at a higher value.  A higher dollar value, the outcome of their breaking from the western central bank decision to raise rates, does not hurt Japan.  They bring back high valued dollars from their decades in investment into North America, and they continue exporting to the U.S. at a discount.

So, the nationalist outlooks of Japan, Brazil and even our Mexican neighbors are reflecting a pragmatic self-interest that so far has withstood the pressures from the western alliance to fall into line.  This is how those three countries are positioned to push back against the insufferable BBB agenda.

We can use the example of those western industrialized nations to show that not everyone is in alignment with this globalist multinational finance and corporate takeover.

Teacher’s Union Calls to Fire White Teachers


Armstrong Economics Blog/Education Re-Posted Aug 19, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

Sometimes going woke is just blatant racism against the majority. The Minneapolis Federation of Teachers (MFT) union proposed a deal with “educators of color protections.” Basically, in the event of reducing staff, white teachers must be the first to leave.

“Starting with the Spring 2023 Budget Tie-Out Cycle, if excessing a teacher who is a member of a population underrepresented among licensed teachers in the site, the District shall excess the next least senior teacher, who is not a member of an underrepresented population,” the agreement reads. Seniority is usually considered during teacher layoffs, but now they are blatantly discriminating against Caucasian teachers. This clearly violated the Constitutional protection for equal rights.

The same bleeding heart white liberals who agreed to this contract may think twice once they lose their jobs. Teacher’s unions are historically liberal. The two largest teacher’s unions in America are the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), with over 3 and 1.5 million members, respectively. These agencies are not only openly liberal, but they lobby for liberal candidates.

According to Open Secrets, the National Education Association spent $12,596,440 on political contributions and $2,610,000 on lobbying efforts in 2020. Around 98.22% of their funding for Congressional candidates went to the Democrats. The union supported 198 Democratic House members and only three Republicans. They even put money behind 27 Democratic Senators and just one Republican. These teachers’ unions are notoriously left and are far from impartial when teaching impressionable children.

The Fattish Man of Paralyzing Stupidity Has Been Cancelled by CNN Fake News


Posted originally on the conservative tree house on August 18, 2022 | Sundance 

In the 1990’s U.S. journalists were introduced to the concept of Baghdad Bob by a controlling state regime in Iraq.  It was not coincidental that the introduction of Bob coincided with the rise of a state media enterprise in the United States called CNN.  As we fast forward through the evolution, CNN and CNNi are now recognized domestically and internationally as media for U.S. Dept of State propaganda.

However, as with all pretenses that eventually collapse under the sunlight of reality, there comes a time when Baghdad Bob loses value for the regime.  Once people start openly mocking the propaganda, the clownish efforts of the regime to maintain the ruse become, well, irrelevant.  People start to ignore the messaging en masse.  The value of a fattish man of insufferable stupidity diminishes. Time moves along….

(Via Daily Beast) – Brian Stelter will depart CNN, multiple sources confirmed to The Daily Beast, as the network will cancel his weekly media show Reliable Sources.

As a close ally and friend to former CNN boss Jeff Zucker, Stelter has occasionally appeared to be at odds with the new era of CNN. (link)

And tomorrow is Friday…

US National Debt to Surpass 185% of GDP


Armstrong Economics Blog/Sovereign Debt Crisis Re-Posted Aug 2, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

The Congressional Budget Office warned that US federal debt is expected to rise 185% within the next 30 years. Total debt holdings could double the size of US GDP by 2051. No politician or spender of this debt cares as they have no intention of paying it off. The Congressional Budget Office is calling this an optimistic forecast, given the previous estimate of debt soaring to 202% of GDP by 2051. The fact of the matter is that no one can foresee how much money politicians will continue to spend. Servicing the debt will become more expensive over time, expected to reach 10% of GDP by 2051, 7.4% in 2042, and 5.1% in 2032.

Most do not realize that the national debt is already at monumental levels. US gross federal debt to GDP reached 100% by 2012. The ratio remained somewhat stagnant until capitalism became sick with COVID in 2020, and the GDP to debt ratio rose to 128.1%. The figure stood at 137.2% by December of 2021 and has continued to increase.

China no longer wants US debt and has begun to sell off its holdings. As other currencies decline relative to the dollar, US debt, and all government debt in general, no longer seems like a smart investment. We have reached a point where Congress can continue to pass bills and bribe voters with socialistic promises from their latest puppets because no one cares about the future of America. The US will be the last to fold but expect the inevitable as countries, city-states, and governments are all temporary in the eyes of father time.

Capital Controls in Europe Have Arrived


Armstrong Economics Blog/Tyranny Re-Posted Aug 1, 2022 by Martin Armstrong

COMMENT: Dear Marty,

I was trying to wire money from my bank account in Italy to the one in the UK, just to realise that I can no longer transfer more than 6,000EUR per month.

The Soviet EUSSR is in full capital controls mode. I am missing the beauty of Italy every day, but I am so glad to live in Brexit UK.  Good luck to the old continent.

SB

REPLY: I warned that all my sources were confirming, three very high up, that Europe would quietly impose capital controls on June 30, 2020. That has now taken shape. Europeans and not allowed to send more than 6,000 euros per month to another account outside the EU. Capital has been pouring out of Europe, and they beat not just the war drums but also the Green drums that forewarn of a severe economic decline for Europe.

Even in the United States, we have capital controls in place for a different reason — taxation. You will find it limited to try to wire more than $3,000 to an individual outside the United States. As I reported before, a friend in Singapore found me a service apartment and put down the first month’s rent for me. I sent him a wire, but when I got there, he said he never got it. I called my bank to put a trace on it, and HSBC returned it, saying they would not credit it to that account because they could not verify it was not secretly for me. I had to write him a check. You can wire to a business without a problem, but not to an individual. The hunt for taxes lives.

People have argued with me that I am wrong and it is capitalism that is collapsing. Sorry – socialism has brought us to the very sad end. Politicians can only run bribing voters, saying they will rob the rich to hand it to them. They can no longer borrow endlessly with no intention of paying anything back. That said, they know they will have to default. The question has been HOW?

This is what Schwab’s entire WEF is about. His Great Reset is because socialism is collapsing. I did our Solution Conference in 2015 because I knew what he was advising to world governments. The problem was that his way is that they become dictators, and he is even ending your right to vote. While they call Putin authoritarian, the head of the EU also does not stand for election. They are appointed by EU member politicians. This is what they want — ZERO right of the people to vote. They intend to control what we buy, where we live, and what we are allowed to say. So you can see, in my Solution, we retained democracy, so they were not handed ultimate power. Capital controls are part of this plot to end our freedom.