Tag Archives: NWO

Sep 13 2018

Is it Time to Turn the Lights Out on Turkey and just Take Your Losses and Run?


Armstrong Economics Blog/Turkey

Re-Posted Sep 13, 2018 by Martin Armstrong

Just when you thought President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was really off the reservation, he suddenly appears off the planet. Erdogan has appointed HIMSELF as chairman of Turkey’s Sovereign Wealth Fund and got rid of the entire management staff. It looks like Erdogan now thinks he can force the free market to do as he commands if he is also the trader for the Sovereign Wealth Fund.

Of course, Treasury and Finance Minister Berat Albayrak, Erdogan’s son-in-law, will also sit on the board, according to a decree published in the Official Gazette. Anyone who actually thinks that Turkey can recover is out of their mind. The fund was formed to try and capitalize on state assets and put a lid on market turmoil in the wake of a failed coup attempt. This is a guaranteed nightmare in the making. We are witnessing a stubborn politician who has become a dictator and believes there is nothing beyond his power. It is just approaching the time to turn out the lights on Turkey as any viable place for investment. Turkey is now approaching the highest Country Risk for investment on the board

Sep 13 2018

Who is the Fool? Trump or Woodward?


Armstrong Economics Blog/Economics

Re-Posted Sep 13, 2018 by Martin Armstrong

According to CNBC, Bob Woodward reported that Trump told Gary Cohn, the former Goldman Sachs/director of the National Economic Council to just print more money to reduce the national debt. Woodward reports this discussion:

Trump: “Just run the presses—print money.”

Cohn: “You don’t get to do it that way. We have huge deficits and they matter. The government doesn’t keep a balance sheet like that.”

Here is a chart of the US CPI not seasonally adjusted. It has begun its sharp advance since the Floating Rate System was adopted in 1971 with the fall of Bretton Woods. In spite of borrowing, inflation over time has actually advanced more aggressively than if we had just printed instead of borrowed.  Cohn has said the book “does not accurately portray” his experience of the White House. This claimed quote demonstrates that someone is seriously out of touch with economics.  Actually, Trump is correct. Now we have Quartz joining the media calling Trump an idiot confirming they too are clueless about debt and printing. In fact, if you did just print the money and retired the debt, it would be DEFLATIONARY and not INFLATIONARY from the budget perspective because these people are clueless themselves about how the national debt works.

 

Before 1971, the debt could not be used as collateral for loans such as Savings Bonds. If you needed the money, you were forced to cash them in.  Under this system, it was logically less inflationary to borrow than to print. However, post-1971, you buy T-Bills and post them as collateral to trade futures. The distinction between borrowing and printing has been turned upside down. A national debt is now worse than printing because itis money that now pays interest forever. Then there is no intention of ever paying off the national debt.

 

 

The truth is had we printed since 1971 instead of borrowing, there would be far less of an economic crisis compared to what we face today. If we simply printed to pay off the national debt, Social Security would suddenly become a Wealth Fund that actually made money instead of a Slush Fund for politicians. Now, Social Security can only invest 100% in US government debt and then the Fed lowers the interest rate to “stimulate” the economy and Social Security goes broke forcing higher taxes. Up to 70% of the national debt at times has been purely accumulated interest which never benefited anyone.  It competes with the private sector in what we call the “flight to quality” and it forms the bank reserves. What is never discussed is the fact that US debt is also the reserve currency of nations – not paper dollars. That means that the interest we pay is exported and it stimulates foreign economies – not domestic.

So who is crazy here? Trump or Woodward? To keep borrowing year after year is insane. To monetize the debt will be DEFLATIONARY from the perspective of government expenditure. In 2019, interest expenditures even at this low level of interest rates will EXCEED military expenditure.

Woodward is by no means qualified to criticize Trump on such an issue he clearly does not even understand. Trump should really address the nation and explain this problem very simply. I will be glad to supply the charts.

Sep 12 2018

Oh My – Canadian Foreign Minister Left NAFTA Negotiations To Attend “President Trump is a Tyrant” Conference…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on September 11, 2018 by

Jumpin’ ju-ju bones.  Hat Tip to Ezra Levant on Twitter – This is going to go down in the history books of bad diplomacy.  You have to watch the first 2 minutes of this video.  Canadian Foreign Minister took leave during the middle of critically important trade negotiations with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to attend a Women in the World conference in Toronto.

Check out the conference introduction video (first 01:30) “Taking on the Tyrant”, and the visual of Canadian trade negotiator on stage to deliver her remarks (next 30 seconds).  Consider that Ms. Freeland made this decision during the most critical trade negotiations in her country’s modern history.  The outcome of the U.S-Canada trade negotiation will determine the next several decades within the Canadian economy.  Now Watch:

.

Think about the level of ideological tone-deafness here. This is simply off-the-charts echo-chamber crazy. Canada needs a positive trade outcome; their economy is already on the ropes; and Freeland considers this a good idea?  Unreal.

Ezra Levant 🍁

✔ @ezralevant

Holy sh*t.@cafreeland left NAFTA negotiations to speak on a panel called “Taking on the Tyrant”.
Who do you think “the tyrant” was?

Look at the video intro to that panel. And then look at Freeland’s jubilation.

I guess it’s auto tariffs after all.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDKDSqPuODk …

Sep 12 2018

Now we have IREXIT forming in Ireland


Armstrong Economics Blog/European Union

Re-Posted Sep 12, 2018 by Martin Armstrong

There is a new Irish political party emerging in the Republic of Ireland to promote leave the EU, which was inspired by the successful Brexit movement. Theresa May has really messed up the entire BREXIT movement and at the same time, this has exposed Europe for what it really is – a power and money grab that has been resentful of the British probably from inception since without Britain, Europe would be speaking French when they stopped Napoleon and the German when they stopped Germany. Without Britain, Europe might not exist as it does today. Then add the Irish who saved civilization for the barbarians burned everything in Europe creating really the Dark Ages and it was the Irish monasteries who saved the old knowledge along with the Arabs.

So now we have IREXIT Freedom party, which has launched in Dublin who want wants Ireland to “take back control” from Brussels. The party plans to run candidates in next year’s European Parliament elections and the 2021 Irish general election. Meanwhile, the European Union is in “mortal danger” warns the budget Commissioner Günther Oettinger and has stated that member states are not complying with EU budget directives. He warned Ital will suffer huge penalties if it does not comply. In reality, we are looking at the occupation of Europe by the EU which conquered the continent with an idea rather than troops and guns as was the approach of Napoleon and Hitler.

Sep 12 2018

Hoard of Roman Gold Found from the Last Days of Rome


Armstrong Economics Blog/Ancient History

Re-Posted Sep 12, 2018 by Martin Armstrong

There were more than 100 gold Roman coins discovered in a buried hoard in the Cressoni theatre in Como, north of Milan. What I have examined from the photographs supplied to me, is that this is a hoard from the virtual fall of Rome. The coins I identified were from the Puppet Emperor of Ricimer, a Germanic general who ruled Rome through puppet emperors going into the end of the Western Empire. His power emerged in 461AD until his death in 472AD. The official fall of Rome took place in 466AD. After Ricimer’s death, the Germanic King of Italy, Odoacer deposed the last Western Emperor Romulus Augustus in 476AD, which is considered to mark the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

The photographs of the coins I reviewed clearly show the puppet Emperor Libius Severus III (461-465AD) was rather common in the hoard. This established that the hoard is from this period forward meaning it was a stash place for someone during the fall of Rome. Obviously, the person did not live to come back to retrieve his coins. These coins are worth probably $1 million+ depending upon the emperors in this entire batch which might be discovered. It could possibly rise to at least the $2 million valuations.

Sep 12 2018

Canada’s Conservative Split Forming a New Party


Armstrong Economics Blog/Canada

Re-Posted Sep 12, 2018 by Martin Armstrong

Maxime Bernier PC MP is a Canadian businessman, lawyer, and politician, who is currently serving as Member of Parliament for the Quebec riding of Beauce, having been elected four times with a majority of the vote. He has pointed out that it is always the ordinary taxpayers who ultimately have to pay for all these benefits promised by the government. He has argued that the Conservative Party is not doing enough and that it’s just not worth it. He has characterized that people are voting for Trudeau with “rational ignorance” that will lead the nation into disaster. The Globe and Mail reported that 17% of Canadians said they were open to voting for a new conservative party led by Maxime Bernier. Politics is fragmenting everywhere and some see Bernier as Canada’s semi-version of Trump, although he has been a longstanding politician

Sep 11 2018

Who was the Richest Man in Ancient History


Armstrong Economics Blog/America’s Economic History

Re-Posted Sep 11, 2018 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong; You are a history buff. Who was the richest person in ancient times? Has there ever been a trillionaire?

PD

ANSWER: The Roman Emperor August. He is believed to have been worth in current dollar terms nearly $5 trillion. The only other person to have reached the trillion dollars net worth status was King Solomon of Judaea. After Octavian/Augustus defeated Marc Antony and Cleopatra, he then possessed the entire wealth of Egypt. In this respect, the wealth really did belong to him. Some have attributed the entire wealth of nations conquered and argued that Genghis Khan was worth probably 100 trillion dollars. However, the Roman system was rather different. Even taxation for a governor of a province would be owed by the governor to the state so whatever he would collect fell to him personally.

Marcus Licinius Crassus was perhaps one of the richest private men in Roman history. He amassed an enormous fortune through real estate speculation buying confiscated property seized by Marius from the supporters of Sulla. Crassus’s wealth is estimated by Pliny at approximately 200 million sestertii. Plutarch says the wealth of Crassus increased from less than 300 talents at first to 7,100 talents. An Attic (Greek, Athens) talent was the equivalent of 60 minae or 6,000 drachmae. A silver Drachm was generally 15mm in diameter with a weight of 4.20 grams. In Roman terms, this was about 26 kilograms (57 lb). If we take Plutarch’s measurement of wealth, that would be 42.6 million denarii.

A Roman soldier earned 225 denarii a year. Today, the average soldier in the US army earns $48,538 per year. That would approximately be $9.189 billion. If we take Jeff Bezos who is reported to be worth $164 billion based upon his stock in Amazon, that works out to the annual salary of 3.4 million soldiers compared to Crassus’ worth being 189,333 soldiers. However, the real difference is that Crassus’ wealth is cash whereas Bezos’ wealth is the current value of a stock. If he tried to sell it for cash, the value would be significantly less.

Crassus’ son, Publius Licinius Crassus (c 86BC – 53 BC), served under Julius Caesar. He did issue coins during the Republic as a “moneyer” who was a person authorized to issue the coins during the Roman Republic. The Senate actually controlled the quantity of money to be produced. There would be a “State of the Union” type of address to the Senate where they would be given the account of money on hand and what they expected the annual expenses would be. The Senate would then authorize the number of coins to be issued that fiscal year. The Quaestors handed the raw bullion and they would turn that over to the official who was the “moneyer” for that year. The moneyers would decide on the design to be issued which often celebrated his ancestors. The coinage would be struck and then handed back to the Quaestors for the expenditure of the government. The office of a moneyer continued into the Imperial period.

Sep 10 2018

Pattern Repeats – Political Imprisonment followed by Leadership


Armstrong Economics Blog/Greece

Re-Posted Sep 10, 2018 by Martin Armstrong

I really do not think people realize that they are just extras in a political film which is an endless struggle for freedom. There is a book written by Oriana Fallaci which began as an interview of Allesandro Panagoulis. Oriana was a journalist who was interviewing fourteen contemporary political leaders, which included Henry Kissinger, Meir, Arafat, Indira Gandhi, and the Shah of Iran. She sought to understand their personal attitudes and propensities that brought them to such status. She called this an Interview with History.

In the course of her investigations, she wrote A Man about Allesandro Panagoulis who stood up against the dictatorship and oppression of the Greek people. He was imprisoned and tortured for years. Most were stunned that he even survived this treatment. Like Nelson Mandella, the same pattern of imprisonment was followed by the fall of the government and a rebirth back to democracy. Panagoulis took an active role in the fight against the Regime of the Colonels (1967–1974) in Greece. He became famous for his attempt to assassinate dictator Georgios Papadopoulos on August 13th, 1968, and the subsequent endless torture. However, following the collapse of the dictatorship government, democracy was reborn. This is when Panagoulis was elected to the Greek parliament as a member of the Center Union.

Panagoulis discovered that the very people who had tortured him were then pretending to be democrats. Allesandro systematically began to investigate the corruption in the police and the political government. Just two days before all the files of the junta’s military police (the “E.A.T.-E.S.A. file”) he announced would be released, he was assassinated.  One of the methods to assassinate a leader so he is not made into a hero is to create what appears to always be an accident. On the 1st of May 1976, a car accident was staged on Vouliagmenis Avenue in Athens. A car drove extremely fast and directed its path to impact Panagoulis. Without a choice and counting on a human reflex, Panagoulis’ car and forced to divert and crash in which he was said to have been killed almost instantaneously. The files never materialized to support the collaboration of corruption of the police in league with Greek officers who worked with Nazi Germany in World War II. These men who killed Greeks served in the Security Battalions who fought for the Germans in 1943-1944. These very people were those who were the leaders of the Colonels’ Regime of 1967-1974 and were torturing Panagoulis. There are no such coincidences in these types of affairs.

Sep 10 2018

Swedish Elections Shift to the Right


Armstrong Economics Blog/Scandinavia

Re-Posted Sep 9, 2018 by Martin Armstrong

The Swedish election has shifted to the right thanks to the Refugee Crisis. The Social Democrats came in with the worst result in decades and the right-wing populists have risen to their best results since their inception. Although the Social Democrats escaped a complete disaster in the parliamentary elections, they have lost a lot to the right-wing populists. The party of Prime Minister Stefan Löfven appears to remain in place. Meanwhile, the currency still appears lower as we move forward in time.

Categories: Scandinavia
Sep 9 2018

Influence & Ranks


Armstrong Economics Blog/Economics

Re-Posted Sep 9, 2018 by Martin Armstrong

COMMENT: Marty; Did you know that your site is listed in the top 20 economic sites in the world? You are in the top 20 with Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, London FT, and even  Brookings Ben Bernanke’s Blog. The rest of the list includes the Economic Policy Institute, Economics & Statistics Administration, and The Berkeley Blog Business & Economics. You may be a lot more influential than you portray.

JS

REPLY: Perhaps. But keep in mind that your enemies always read you because they need to know what you are saying now to feed their hatred. Aside from that, every intelligence service reads our work. They understand there is a cycle to everything and ever since the London FT reported I warned Russia would collapse just before the 1998 Long-Term Capital Management collapse on Russian bonds, they all pay close attention.