Posted originally on Sep 9, 2025 by Martin Armstrong |
Vietnam has erased and/or frozen 86 million unverified bank accounts as the nation surrenders to the globalist Great Reset. Anyone wishing to function in society must surrender their biometric data to maintain a bank account. The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) claims that the measure was a system cleanup aimed at preventing fraud. In actuality, the measure is one step closer toward a national ID system that enables the government to control its citizens’ every move.
“This is a data-cleansing revolution,” said Pham Anh Tuan, Director of the Payment Department. “While the total number of bank accounts remains 200 million, by September 2025, once the legal framework is complete, all accounts without biometric data will be closed to prevent scams and fraud. After seven years of promoting non-cash payments, we are moving toward real efficiency.”
Vietnam recently implemented a nationwide digital ID (e-ID) system called VNeID that requires both citizens and foreign residents to surrender to the matrix and permit the government to store their personal information in a centralized database. Fingerprints, facial biometric data, photographs, passports, nationality, criminal records, and even medical records will be stored in the government database. Participation is not optional.
Project 06 launched in January 2022, hailed as a technological revolution to digitize the country. Project 06’s full name is the “Project on Developing Data Applications on Population, Identification, and Electronic Authentication to Serve National Digital Transformation in the 2022-2025 Period (Vision 2030),” which aligns entirely with the World Economic Forum’s plans for the Great Reset. The concept has been sold to the people as a convenience measure, but in truth, the aim is centralized, unrestrained control over the entire population.
Everything from banking to renting an apartment is linked to the digital ID. One wrong move and the government can completely erase someone from the system. One glitch in the power grid and the nation will come to a standstill. The Vietnamese government has the power to halt a person’s life instantaneously.
High-level Vietnamese officials met in Davos in January 2025, and shortly after, began voicing concern for bank accounts that were unverified through biometric data. Vietnam has been actively seeking OECD membership and signed a Memorandum of Understanding, citing that Project 06 will enable the nation to meet the OECD’s guidelines for regulatory reforms. Vietnam was one of the last nations disconnected from the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) that requires members to share banking information under the pretense of preventing tax evasion.
Vietnam signed the Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters (MAAC) with the OECD in March 2023, enabling automatic exchange of tax and financial information with over 146 jurisdictions. In early 2025, shortly after Davos, Vietnam joined the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) for Country-by-Country Reporting (CbCR), broadening its commitment to AEOI and international tax transparency. In February 2025, Vietnam activated CbCR exchange relationships with 29 jurisdictions including the entire European Union.
Globalist entities defy democracy and demand the complete surrender of national sovereignty under the belief that the world population must be controlled by one centralized force. The majority of world leaders have willingly surrendered, unaware of the full extent of power a small unelected few will yield if the Great Reset succeeds.
Posted originally on Aug 11, 2025 by Martin Armstrong |
QUESTION: Your model has projected a recession into 2028. ZeroHedge publishes “If everything is going to be just fine, why are thousands of stores closing all over the country? So far this year, the total amount of retail space that has been permanently closed has surpassed 120 million square feet. We have never seen anything like this before. Store closings spiked during the early days of the pandemic, but in 2025, stores are being permanently shuttered at an even faster pace.”
Do you agree with this? You have also written that in part this is a paradigm shift like Schumpet’s waves of Creative Destruction. Could you address this paradox?
Ronnie
ANSWER: Zero Hedge’s statement is a little misleading, but certainly not intentional. Yes, we have a recessionary trend globally into 2028, which has also been set in motion within the EU by the pounding of war drums. The EU is more likely to experience a DEPRESSION, whereas the USA will have a recessionary atmosphere with STAGFLATION, more like the 1970s, with inflation outpacing GDP growth primarily due to rising costs and wars globally.
Our computer is demonstrating that volatility in Unemployment will rise from 2026, peaking first in 2028 with a Panic Cycle in 2029. This also confirms our War Cycles for 2026. What we MUST come to grips with is that there is far more to understanding the economy from a single statistic perspective. However, we are also undergoing two significant factors that the classic economic models fail to incorporate, aside from the fact that 99% of the rhetoric and the economic models overlook the leverage in the banking system that creates money outside of the Federal Reserve through lending:
TWO SIGNIFICANT FACTORS OMITTED IN CLASSIC ECONOMIC MODELS
(1) a shift to independent contractors/freelancers thanks to COVID, and (2) a wave of Creative Destruction.
(1) INDEPENDENT CONTRACT:
I stumbled into this issue when the Florida Revenue Department wanted to audit our company. Florida has no income tax, so I was a bit befuddled. I discovered they were auditing to see if we had independent contractors or freelancers who would qualify as a full-time employee, and as such, we were not collecting unemployment taxes, etc. I have NEVER had such an audit – EVER!. So I began to investigate why I was being audited for such an issue. It turned out that the COVID-19 pandemic significantly contributed to the rise in independent contractors and freelancers.
1. Job Losses & Economic Uncertainty
Many traditional employees were laid off or furloughed during lockdowns, pushing them into gig work or freelancing to make ends meet. Companies downsized and relied more on contract workers to reduce long-term labor costs.
2. Remote Work & Digital Acceleration
The shift to remote work made location-independent freelance roles more viable. Platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, and TaskRabbit saw increased demand for freelance services (e.g., digital marketing, programming, consulting).
3. Business Adaptations
Small businesses and startups turned to freelancers for flexibility instead of hiring full-time staff. The “Great Resignation” led many workers to seek autonomy, choosing self-employment over traditional jobs.
4. Government & Policy Influences
Stimulus checks and unemployment benefits (e.g., PPP loans, CARES Act) provided temporary support, allowing some to transition into freelancing.
In some states, labor laws evolved to accommodate gig workers (e.g., California’s Prop 22 for ride-share drivers).
Upwork (2021) reported that 59% of freelancers started during or after COVID. MBO Partners (2021) found a 34% increase in independent contractors in the U.S. compared to pre-pandemic levels. OECD data showed a global rise in gig economy participation, especially in delivery (e.g., Uber Eats, DoorDash) and remote freelance roles.
Long-Term Impact:
While some workers returned to traditional jobs post-pandemic, many stayed independent due to flexibility, higher earnings potential, and hybrid work trends. The shift toward a more contract-based workforce is likely here to stay.
States with Higher Unemployment Than Pre-COVID (Feb 2020)
Nevada
Pre-COVID (Feb 2020): 3.7% Mid-2024: 5.2% (fluctuating due to slower tourism recovery) Reason: Heavy reliance on hospitality and leisure sectors.
California
Pre-COVID: 3.9% Mid-2024: 4.8% Reason: Tech layoffs, high cost of living, and slower rebound in entertainment/hospitality, illegal aliens, and the highest income tax in the nation.
California Income Tax – 13.3% (on income over $1,000,000)
New York
Pre-COVID: 3.7% Mid-2024: 4.5% Reason: Slow office sector recovery (NYC), reduced business travel, and Wall Street moving to Florida.
New York Income Tax – 10.9% (on income over $25,000,000)
Pre-COVID: 2.4% Mid-2024: 3.8% Reason: The economy is highly dependent on Tourism and high taxation
Hawaii Income Tax – 11.0% (on income over $200,000)
States with No Income Tax:
Alaska, Florida, Nevada, South Dakota, Tennessee (repealed investment income tax in 2021), Texas, Washington (but has a capital gains tax over $250,000), Wyoming
States That Have Recovered or Improved
Texas, Florida, Utah, Idaho, and South Carolina have unemployment rates at or below pre-pandemic levels due to strong job growth in tech, manufacturing, and migration trends.
Remote Work Trends: NYC and San Francisco, more than the Sun Belt states, have lost office work. This, in part, has also resulted in the commercial real estate crisis that was part of the objective of the COVID Scam to force people to work from home and stop commuting to save the planet.
Migration Shifts: States like Texas and Florida gained workers, while some Northeast/Midwest states lost population. This is the Great Migration from the BLUE to the RED states. I met people who moved to Florida because their children were becoming suicidal in the Blue States as they shut down sports, and many children thought their dreams in life were over.
Because of that strange audit that still costs you $25,000 in legal and accounting fees for something we did not owe, I began to dig. I found that the rise in independent contractors and freelancers was a side-effect of COVID, in addition to the Great Migration. States were looking for spare change. I would not have been surprised if they didn’t start searching cars for coins left in the ashtrays.
(2) Waves of Creative Destruction:
Simultaneously, the plot behind COVID was to create 15-minute cities and have people work from home, virtually ending commuting. What also took place was that people were locked down, and instead of shopping or even going out for dinner, they ordered from Amazon and took out from restaurants. COVID set in motion a new dynamic that the economic models are failing to comprehend. Unemployment can rise while commerce expands. Just look at the sale of Amazon. In the past 10 years, Amazon has expanded by 625%. I know a guy who had a camera shop. I closed after 30 years because he could no longer compete with online sales from Amazon. This is the story nationwide. But COVID was clever. The goal was to save the planet, and that has resulted in a cascade of small stores and even some chains closing stores. Now you have UBER.EATS, Door Dash, etc, to facilitate food being delivered to you within minutes. People closed offices and employees shifted to home, and commercial real estate is going into crisis liquidation. This is not all part of a normal recession – it is a Creative Destruction Wave where unemployment rises, but commerce can expand.
My firm became the highest-paid analyst ever, and we were an institutional advisor with some individuals who had a ton of money. Our reports used to go out by telex, and the cost could be up to $75 in telex fees per report, which would go out 3 times a day per currency. That was why I began opening offices around the world so we could reduce costs for clients by sending one set of reports to our London, Geneva, or Asian offices, and they would then redistribute it to the clients in that region. This would reduce costs from $200,000-$300,000 per client just in communication costs. We were Western Union’s biggest client.
In 1983, the Wall Street Journal wrote a piece that I was charging $2,000 an hour for phone advice. The journalist, after talking to our clients who agreed to participate in their review, told him that if I charged $10,000 an hour, they would pay it. He called me back and was stunned. I was advising on a billion-dollar transaction in 1983. $2,000 or $20,000 did not make much difference.
By the mid-to-late 1980s, fax machines were a standard office appliance, peaking in the 1990s before email and digital scanning began replacing them. We started sending reports out by FAX, and that reduced the communication costs dramatically. So personally, I have lived through the technology cycle of Creative Destruction and saw the price of transmitting a report from $75 to email, which is now basically free. That took the business away from Western Union, and has been a wave as Schumpeter envisioned.
When the East and West Coasts were connected by train in 1869, the Railroad era put out of business the wagon train industry. The United States expanded, and as train tracts were laid around the country, it was first the Railroad Boom which really came to an end with the Panic of 1907.
The Industrial Revolution expanded, and the Industrialists, led by the auto stocks, drove the 1929 bull market. The invention of the combustion engine led to tractors for farmers, disproving the theories of Malthus that humanity would starve as population increased. He never understood the cycles of technology, yet he influenced Gates and the Rockefellers. As farmers had tractors, production increased while employment declined.
The horse & buggy was replaced with automobiles. As they expanded, so did the suburbs come alive. Suddenly, people could live in places without trains. The town I grew up in flourished because we had a train station, which enabled people to buy land and move out of the cities. The town I grew up in expanded further from the train station with the automobile.
The first commercial airline was the St. Petersburg–Tampa Airboat Line, which began operations on January 1st, 1914. They flew a Benoist XIV, a small flying boat (seaplane). The distance was only 23 miles (37KM). It reduced the travel time from 2+ hours by boat or car to just 23 minutes.
Therefore, while the ECM has turned down, such forecasts that focus on ONLY one aspect or statistic are always wrong and/or lead to misinterpretations and confusion. Economists omitted from their models not only the creation of money by the banking sector through lending money, thereby leveraging the money supply. Those who believe shutting down the Fed and handing money creation to the Treasury will cure inflation do not know their monetary history.
Even a gold standard did not prevent inflation. The discovery of gold in the New World flooded Europe and resulted in massive inflation. during the 15th-16th centuries. The gold-silver ratio has always fluctuated because the discovery of silver relative to gold has never been confined simultaneously.
The vast gold discoveries in California, Australia, and Alaska created waves of inflation, as did wars. Just because gold is money does NOT eliminate inflation. All the nonsense about paper currency is FIAT, and that is the problem, it is just stupid sophistry. It has NEVER mattered what the money is from gold, cowrie shells in China, to sheep skins, Bronze, or cattle.
Assets rise in value regardless of what the money might be, and the purchasing power of money declines even when it is gold. This is the business cycle that DID NOT simply appear when paper money started in the USA.
The economic models are DOMESTIC because economists want a job to advise governments that they are all-powerful if they listen to them. I am sorry. As a trader, you lose your shirt, pants, your house, and your family if you trade based on economic theories. They are entirely useless. They never consider external factors.
(1) All banks create money with loans (I deposit $100 and they lend you $100, and both our accounts reflect a money supply of $100) (2) They have never been able to account for sudden increases in the money supply that have been caused by: (a) new gold or silver discovery (b) A war in another region diverted capital seeking shelter as European money flowed to the US for WWI & WWII (c) Capital concentration where foreign capital sees a profit in another economy driven by currency values (d) Capital flight from your economy based upon a sudden collapse in confidence, be it mismanagement or war (3) Economic technological evolution (trains, cars, airplanes, internet, etc…)
This is not even a complete list. I only met one academic who thought outside the box, and that was Milton Friedman. Milton came to listen to me at a trading convention in Chicago. I was explaining capital flows and currencies. When I was finished, Milton stepped forward to shake my hand and said I was doing what he had only dreamed about. We became friends, and then I understood what he was talking about. He had theories that a floating exchange rate system would impose checks and balances upon the fiscal policies of the government. He had written that theory down in 1953.
While I explained the Great Depression and the Sovereign Debt Defaults in 1931 in Europe, even Canada suspended debt payments, you can see the capital was taken back to its home countries, ending the Roaring ’20s. Everyone politically blamed Hoover and then tariffs, but nobody understood international capital flows.
I explained HOW the G5 intentionally lowered the value of the dollar by 40% to reduce the trade deficit. As idiots, they never understood that doing that means you were devaluing everything held by a foreigner. Japan owned up to 30% of the US National Debt, and they dumped it as the capital flows revealed.
It was World War I and World War II that made the US the financial capital of the world because all the gold fled to the USA during the wars. There was ABSOLUTELY no political decision made by any domestic politician that stood up and proposed making the US become the new capital for finance, taking that title from Britain.
There is absolutely no historical evidence that repeated wars have ever benefited any country. Britain got into World War I when it was not threatened, all based on treaties, as NATO is doing right now. Those treaties shifted the financial capital from London to New York, and World War II led to Britain’s full displacement of the British pound with the dollar. Even Canada rejected the British monetary system and shifted to the Canadian dollar.
War destroys the economy, as evidenced by Lydia, which invented coinage and fought Persia. Athens became the financial capital of the world after the Battle of Marathon, and they were compelled to debase their coinage and lost in the Peloponnesian War to Sparta.
The favorite phase in economics is: “Assuming all things remain equal.” Of course, that never happens.
We have the socialists always claiming the problem is wealth disparity. They hate people who have more than they do – that’s all. Both China and Russia tried Marxism’s wealth disparity solution – confiscate all private wealth to create material equality. The people learned that you had no right to be individual. When everyone was equal, and they needed a floor swept, you were next in line – here is your broom.
All things NEVER remain equal, and the wildcards always come from external sources. Just as no US politicians set out to make the dollar the reserve currency, that only took place at Bretton Woods after two World Wars.
My old PA used to have a man figure on her desk, which said – Shit Happens!
Larry Sanger, one of the founders of Wikipedia, states plainly that it is now all propaganda.
PS: That is why the government (Bankers & Neocons) work hard to try to keep people away from reading this site because they want to rule the world and expect to manipulate markets for their guaranteed trades and never want people to understand the truth. Just as they called the media and were directing them to cancel anyone who told the truth about COVID and were debanking people who told the truth, sold guns, or gold, the government has seized control of Wikipedia and ensured their fake news is always at the top of the list.
NEVER DONATE TO WIKIPEDIA – YOU ARE SUPPORTING THEIR PROJECTS TO UNDERMINE OUR FREEDOM
Posted originally on Jul 30, 2025 by Martin Armstrong
The Environmental Protection Agency determined in 2009 that greenhouse gases were endangering life on our planet. The agency put forth a study to promote the passing of the Clean Air Act, enabling the government to regulate energy. The EPA under Trump is now seeking to overturn this study as scientists now believe that greenhouse gases are not harmful to humans.
The Supreme Court ruled in Massachusetts v. EPA that the government is required to regulate and monitor carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions, as mandated by the Clean Air Act. The EPA under the Obama Administration declared in 2009 that greenhouse gases posed a serious risk to public health and welfare. In May 2009, Obama implemented the first national policy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks. Since then, every sector using any form of fossil fuel has been targeted by government. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act under Obama, a much smaller-scale version of the Inflation Reduction Act under Biden, allocated $7 billion to the EPA to clean up the environment. The EPA experienced record-breaking funding in 2010 when it was awarded $10.5 billion to address climate change. The government has since gained control over the entire energy sector, weaponizing an allegedly potential threat to gain control.
The ”endangerment finding” from 2009 may be overturned. “This long-overdue finding cements 2009’s place in history as the year when the United States Government began seriously addressing the challenge of greenhouse gas pollution and seizing the opportunity of clean-energy reform,” then-EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said in announcing the decision. Reversing the 2009 decision would reverse regulations that the president stated has “imposed trillions of dollars of costs on Americans.”
“The Obama administration said that carbon dioxide, when mixed with a bunch of other well-mixed gasses, greenhouse gasses, that it contributes to climate change. How much? They don’t say… they say that climate change engenders human health, so because of these different mental leaps… then there were all sorts of vehicle regulations that followed,” Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin stated. “This has been referred to as basically driving a dagger into the heart of the climate change religion.”
Zeldin said that the Democrats used climate change scare tactics to “basically regulate out of existence” fossil fuels. He projects this massive regulation effort will save American taxpayers $1 trillion.
“Even if the United States eliminated all of its greenhouse gas emissions, it would have little to no measurable effect on global temperatures,” Daren Bakst, director of the Center for Energy and Environment at the Competitive Enterprise Institute admitted.
Look how far the agency was willing to go to stifle the production of emissions. They were seeking to limit our individual freedoms from banning cars to stoves and far-left climate zealots suggesting the government monitor everyone’s carbon footprint. America lost its energy independence between Obama and Biden and it was all tied into the globalist agenda of the Great Reset. Every nation that has adhered to climate change policies is experiencing an energy crisis for which they have no solution. You simply cannot eliminate fossil fuels without a reliable alternative and you definitely cannot significantly limit carbon emissions without changing life as we know it.
Critics believe the measure is merely to support Big Oil and permit coal and gas plants to pollute the environment. Trump did declare an energy emergency at the start of his presidency, famously saying “drill baby, drill,” as a nudge to begin extracting oil once more. The truth of the matter is that fossil fuels are essential for our survival. The EPA deliberately exploited the threat of greenhouse gases to grant the government authoritative power over energy.
Posted originally on Jul 28, 2025 by Martin Armstrong
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), a supervolcano is any volcanic center that has explosively erupted at least 1,000 cubic kilometers (240 cubic miles) of fresh volcanic material in a sudden, violent manner. Yellowstone is a supervolcano, one of the largest and most active volcanic systems in the world. It has produced some of the most massive eruptions in Earth’s history. The Yellowstone Caldera was formed by a series of catastrophic supereruptions over the past 2.1 million years.
Huckleberry Ridge Eruption (2.1 million years ago) was one of the largest volcanic eruptions ever recorded. It ejected about 2,450 cubic kilometers of material. It managed to form the Island Park Caldera (the first Yellowstone caldera).
Then there was the Mesa Falls Eruption (1.3 million years ago). This was a smaller but still massive eruption that ejected about 280 cubic kilometers of material. That created the Henry’s Fork Caldera.
Then came the Lava Creek Eruption (approximately 640,000 years ago). This was the most recent supereruption, ejecting approximately 1,000 cubic kilometers of material, which formed the Yellowstone Caldera (approximately 30 x 45 miles wide).
Based on these estimates, the cycle of a supervolcano would be about 486,000 years. I would suspect the real number may be 430,000 since this Pi frequency governs the universe. The precession of the Equinoxes is approximately 25,800 years, which is 3 times 8,600 years.
The volcanic activity is never confined to a single volcano. They correlate to activity. Yes, there were significant volcanic eruptions between 150 AD and 200 AD. One of the most notable was the 186 AD eruption of Lake Taupō (New Zealand), also known as the Hatepe eruption. That was a big one, VEI 7, one of the most powerful eruptions in the last 5,000 years. This produced massive pyroclastic flows and ashfall that caused global climatic effects and a volcanic winter. The Chinese recorded red sunsets and Roman texts around this time. Of course, Mount Vesuvius (Italy) made its famous 79 AD eruption, and Vesuvius remained active, with possibly more minor eruptions around this time of 150AD.
In more modern times, Yellowstone has experienced smaller eruptions and lava flows, with the most recent one occurring approximately 70,000 years ago. A massive reservoir of molten rock currently lies beneath Yellowstone, fueling its geysers and hot springs. The volcano is perhaps overdue for an eruption. If it erupted, it could be catastrophic (global climate effects, ash fallout), but the most likely activity would be smaller lava flows.
The supervolcano eruptions were the Yellowstone Lava Creek eruption (USA, ~640,000 years ago), which ejected about 1,000 km of material, and the Youngest Toba eruption (Indonesia, 74,000 years ago), which ejected about 2,800 km of material. The most recent supereruption (defined as ejecting at least 1,000 cubic kilometers of volcanic material) was the Oruanui eruption of Taupō Volcano in New Zealand about 26,500 years ago (during the Last Glacial Maximum). That ejected approximately 1,170 km (280 cubic miles) of material and had a VEI of 8 (Volcanic Explosivity Index).
There are several supervolcanoes around the world, and perhaps the most recent one to erupt was in Italy. The term “supervolcano” has been popularized by the BBC and the Discovery Channel’s 2005 story on Yellowstone. Campi Flegrei qualifies as a supervolcano due to its past eruptions exceeding 1,000 km³ of ejecta (when combining its largest events). Currently, Italy’s Campi Flegrei volcano has been showing signs for the first time in nearly 400 years that it is still active and capable of causing significant disruption, potentially affecting a large number of people. It is one of the most dangerous, given its proximity to the population. Campi Flegrei is experiencing heightened activity, including increased seismic activity and ground uplift. Scientists are closely monitoring the situation due to the potential for phreatic (steam-driven) explosions and the region’s history of volcanic activity.
Aside from Yellowstone, the largest volcanic eruption in the Northern Hemisphere in the past 100,000 years has been attributed to a Supervolcano, which erupted some 39,400 years ago in what is known as the Phlegraean Fields near Naples, Italy. This has been documented from several sources. The ashes from this eruption were dispersed over the entire eastern Mediterranean and as far as central Russia. This was a huge event that also triggered a Volcanic Winter, and that is the worst thing for the rest of the world, which resides at a safe distance from the actual Supervolcano.
Naples, Italy, is situated near the Campi Flegrei (Phlegraean Fields), a vast volcanic region that encompasses a supervolcano. While not a single mountain-like volcano, Campi Flegrei is an enormous caldera system formed by massive eruptions. Campi Flegrei is still active and considered one of the world’s most dangerous volcanoes.
The Campanian Ignimbrite Eruption (39,000 years ago) is one of the most significant volcanic eruptions in European history. This resulted in a volcanic winter. This most likely impacted Neanderthal populations and early modern humans. This may have even contributed to the extinction of the Neanderthals around 40,000 years ago. Perhaps their loss in numbers allowed the arrival of modern humans in Europe. Neanderthal-derived DNA has been identified in the genomes of most contemporary populations, with notable variations by region. It accounts for 1–4% of modern genomes for people outside Sub-Saharan Africa. This suggests that perhaps the survivors did interbreed with modern humans, suddenly, due to a volcanic eruption. Who knows, if Yellowstone erupts, the survivors may witness interbreeding between Democrats and Republicans – something unthinkable today.
We then see the Neapolitan Yellow Tuff Eruption (15,000 years ago), which was smaller but still significant eruption (40 km of material). That one formed much of the volcanic landscape around Naples.
Anyone who has visited the catacombs in Rome will notice that they are carved out of tuff, a soft type of rock formed from consolidated volcanic ash. This material comes from ancient volcanic eruptions in the region, particularly from the Alban Hills volcanic complex (Colli Albani), located southeast of Rome. The most significant eruption responsible for the tuff used in Roman catacombs and other ancient constructions is believed to be the Pozzolane Rosse eruption, which occurred around 456,000 years ago.
The Pozzolane Rosse eruption was a volcanic event associated with the Colli Albani (Alban Hills) volcanic complex, located about 20 km southeast of Rome, Italy. A distinctive red-brown pyroclastic deposit (ignimbrite) that covers parts of Rome and its surroundings. The Romans later used the material as pozzolana, a key ingredient in hydraulic cement.
The ancient Romans were pioneers in developing concrete, utilizing volcanic materials to make it exceptionally durable. Their concrete, known as opus caementicium, was a key factor in the longevity of Roman structures, such as the Pantheon, Colosseum, and aqueducts, many of which still stand today.
The Romans mixed:
Lime (from heating limestone)
Volcanic ash (from regions like Pozzuoli, near Mount Vesuvius)
Water
Aggregates (rocks, broken pottery, or brick)
This combination created a pozzolanic reaction, forming a strong, water-resistant binder. The volcanic ash (called pozzolana) reacted with lime to produce a cement that even hardened underwater—crucial for Roman harbors and bridges. Cracks could “re-seal” due to ongoing chemical reactions with water. However, it was this invention of concrete that is the reason their structures have lasted 2,000+ years. Modern concrete often degrades in decades and is unmatched by the Roman formulas.
When we correlate all the data, what is striking is that approximately 90% of the world’s earthquakes, including most of the world’s largest earthquakes, occur along the Ring of Fire. I have personally experienced it in Vancouver, Tokyo, Australia, and New Zealand, all on one trip. It seemed to be following me with the first one hitting in Toronto. The Ring of Fire is home to 75% of the world’s volcanoes and 90% of its earthquakes. We’re talking about a massive 24,900-mile horseshoe-shaped zone that basically wraps around the Pacific Ocean like a geological death grip. In 2024, a total of 1,374 earthquakes with a magnitude of 5+ or more were recorded worldwide as of December that year.
Running that through Socrates revealed a cycle low was due in 2022 following the major high in 2011. This filtered it down to earthquakes that were 6.0 or higher. There were the 2004 (Sumatra M9.1), 2011 (Japan M9.0), and 2010 (Chile M8.8), which all saw spikes due to mega-thrust earthquakes.
The Ring of Fire typically experiences 150–170 M6.0+ quakes annually. The Deadliest Events were as follows:
2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami (M9.1) – 230,000 deaths.
2011 Tohoku Earthquake (M9.0) – 16,000 deaths.
2010 Chile Earthquake (M8.8) – 500 deaths.
We observed slightly lower activity in 2022, but large quakes still occurred (e.g., the 2021 Alaska M8.2 earthquake). (Data Sources: USGS Earthquake Catalog (USGS.gov))
We warned back in 2022 that we had a string of Directional Changes between 2022 and 2025. We may be looking at rising volcanic activity into 2025. Our computer has identified a rise in volcanic activity during solar minima, which then produces more gamma rays that tend to penetrate the Earth’s surface. This current Solar Wave 25, which our model still shows ideally should peak perhaps here in July, then from here on out we will see a move into 2028/2029 for solar minimum. We are witnessing large ejection flares from the sun that were greater than most expected.
Initial predictions suggested a relatively weak maximum around July 2025. However, observed activity has been significantly stronger than predicted. Sunspot numbers, solar flares, and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) have consistently exceeded forecasts. Based on this intense activity, the peak (maximum) is now expected sooner and potentially higher than initially thought. The Sun has been very active recently, with frequent sunspot groups, powerful solar flares (including numerous X-class flares), and significant geomagnetic storms causing widespread auroras (even at unusually low latitudes) in May 2024.
What we must understand about cycles is that, given our entry into this high in July 2025, we have witnessed much higher volatility than expected. This suggests that, as we turn back down into solar minimum, ideally reaching the bottom of the ECM in 2028 or early 2029, the resulting decline should be lower than expected. Whenever you rise with greater volatility, it is like a market that crashes harder. That said, if we are to experience a similar event to the Sun falling into a Maunder-minimum-like (inactive) state (1645-1715), which created the mini-Ice Age, it appears that we must be concerned, as it has been 309.6 years since that event in general. If we observe an equally violent contraction, then we should expect greater activity from the Ring of Fire, and that 2022 marked a significant low in earthquakes.
Solar Minima appear to be occurring close to a 309.6-year cycle. There have been many studies on the impact of UV and gamma radiation during solar changes and events. Gamma rays are a form of electromagnetic radiation, as are radio waves, infrared radiation, ultraviolet radiation, X-rays, and microwaves. Gamma rays can be used to treat cancer, and astronomers study gamma-ray bursts. What becomes concerning is the potential for a pole shift. The poles on the sun shift every 11 years, meaning it takes 22 years to complete the cycle. The Moon does not have a global magnetic field today, so it doesn’t experience regular pole shifts like the Sun or Earth.
My concern on a correlation basis is that what we do know is that the Earth’s magnetic field has been weakening over the past 160+ years (by about 9% per century since 1840). Then there is the South Atlantic Anomaly (a region over the Atlantic where the field is unusually weak), which some scientists suggest could be an early sign of instability, and this is growing. Studies of past reversals (like the Laschamps Excursion, 41,000 years ago) show that field strength drops significantly before a reversal.
It appears that as the field weakens, this should result in greater volatility in volcanic activity as we enter solar minimum. That raises the risk of a catastrophic volcanic winter period after 2029, which would extend into our computer target for 2032. This is why I suggest that you should have 2 years of food in reserve. What correlates with all of this is the disease cycle. Plagues follow volcanic winters for food production declines, and as malnutrition rises, so does disease.
I believe that people prefer to assume uniformity rather than a catastrophe. When people raise the question of a pole shift, they write it off as a Y2K Alarm Bell and thus a conspiracy theory. A stalagmite-based paleomagnetic record of the post-Blake excursion reveals that repeated polarity drifts have occurred during periods of low geomagnetic field intensity, approximately 100,000 years before present, around the time of the Naples Supervolcano eruption. One surprisingly abrupt centennial reversal transition occurred in 144,000 years, providing unprecedented evidence that raises fundamental questions about the speed of geomagnetic field shifts. Such rapid polarity changes could severely affect satellites and human society in the future if the current geomagnetic field intensity continues to decrease.
We have a pole shift, climate change, and volcanic eruptions seem to be interlinked on a correlated basis. Our correlation models have indicated that this is something that warrants further investigation. For the first time, laying out this record yields a single geological archive, establishing a precise chronological order. These types of events can occur, perhaps even instantly. Scientists for decades argued that such earth changes were slow, gradual events. Then the discovery of the frozen woolly rhinos and mammoths ignited the Enlightenment era.
The discovery of frozen woolly mammoths with food still in their stomachs is one of the most fascinating pieces of evidence supporting the idea that a sudden, catastrophic climate shift in the past may be the norm, not the exception. Many mammoths (like the famous Beresovka mammoth) were found with undigested food in their stomachs and mouths, including grasses, buttercups, and other temperate plants. This suggests they died suddenly, with no time to digest their last meal. Some specimens were so well-preserved that their flesh was still edible when discovered.
The traditional gradual ice-age theory cannot explain how mammoths froze so quickly that their stomach contents remained intact. A sudden, extreme drop in temperature possibly due to a cosmic impact, volcanic activity, or a geomagnetic shift. Some have suggested that there was massive flooding or mudslides from melting permafrost or glacial outbursts that buried them rapidly before scavengers could decompose them. A pole shift or rapid climate change could cause Arctic regions to freeze almost instantly. This is the catastrophic view of panic-like cycles in a sudden market crash versus the uniform belief that the government can control the economy. Mainstream science often favors slow climate change, but the frozen mammoths suggest a rapid, catastrophic event was the outcome. This Gradialism/Uniformity view vs Catastrophism simply does not hold up with the evidence and is more like Marx and Keynes, who defy the business cycle and argued that government can control the economy and lead us to the land of utopian economics.
The Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis (around 12,800 years ago) suggests a comet impact triggered abrupt cooling, possibly explaining the mammoths’ sudden demise. But would a comet spark instant cold to freeze the mammoths before they swallowed their meal? The frozen mammoths with food in their stomachs indicate a near-instantaneous freezing event, challenging the idea of slow climate change. Whether due to a pole shift, cosmic impact, or another catastrophic event, these findings suggest that Earth’s past may have experienced abrupt, violent changes rather than gradual processes.
Consequently, the discovery of the frozen mammoth in 1787 following the woolly rhinoceros in 1772 sparked the imagination that truly contributed to the “Age of Enlightenment” where there was a burst of knowledge erupting in every field of inquisition. Such finds of frozen mammoths in Siberia continue to this day. This has challenged theories on both sides of the debate to explain how such catastrophic events can occur. These frozen animals in Siberia suggest strange events are possible. This is what sparked the entire consideration that perhaps cycles existed in nature, as well as in economies and societies.
Posted originally on Jul 24, 2025 by Martin Armstrong
Over 8,000 bank branches are expected to close worldwide in 2025. Approximately 3,200 of those closures will take place in the United States. Q1 experienced 148 net branch closures in the US, with all major banks slated to close branches throughout the year.
These are merely bank closures and not bank failures, although two smaller US banks did fail this year. People simply prefer online banking as we have made the switch from relational to transactional banking.
Bankrate conducted a survey that found 77% of Americans prefer online digital banking, yet other surveys believe the figure is closer to 89%. Digital banking has been rising in popularity in recent years, up from 203 million domestic users in 2022 to the 216.8 million projected users in 2025. The survey found that 34% of consumers use online banking on a daily basis, consistently checking their account and transactions. There has even been a 19% increase in use among the 65+ crowd who is least likely to use digital services.
The total number of bank branches across the US fell below 65,000 in Q2. Texas, New York, and California saw the largest decrease in brick-and-mortar locations. Many branches that chose to remain open are only offering drive thru services. One in three banks has closed in rural areas as there is no demand, and the Federal Reserve noted in its annual Banking Access Report that the number of “banking deserts” across the Midwest is rising.
Banks have no overhead with digital banking services and they do not need to hire staff. The cost-per-transaction for in-person banking is $4.00 compared to only $0.04 for digital. AI is rapidly replacing bank tellers with a 3 to 1 ratio.
The trend is global. The United Kingdom anticipates 370 to 450 branch closures this year. Germany and France are facing 1,100 closures combined. The Asia-Pacific region of the world saw a 16% reduction in bank branches from January to May 2025. Certain nations like Malaysia and Thailand also offer branchless micro-banking kiosks to substitute relational banking.
The money in your bank account is already just an electronic book entry. Not only is there less demand for face-to-face banking, but they are also preparing for CBDCs as bank branches are unnecessary without physical paper money. You can deposit a check on your phone or at a kiosk, but e-checks are rising in popularity. The only thing left for a branch is safe deposit boxes, and the government assumes you are hiding cash there anyway. Relationship banking is becoming a thing of the past, the latest casualty in the cycle of creative destruction.
Posted originally on CTH on July 11, 2025 | Sundance
Traveling with President Trump to visit the families and those devastated by the recent floods in Texas, Melania Trump delivered a message to those in the region. WATCH:
Full video of the roundtable discussion and remarks below.
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