us economy

The Populist Revolution: Bernie and Beyond

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bankEllen Brown – The world is undergoing a populist revival. From the revolt against austerity led by the Syriza Party in Greece and the Podemos Party in Spain, to Jeremy Corbyn’s surprise victory as Labour leader in the UK, to Donald Trump’s ascendancy in the Republican polls, to Bernie Sanders’ surprisingly strong challenge to Hillary Clinton – contenders with their fingers on the popular pulse are surging ahead of their establishment rivals.

Today’s populist revolt mimics an earlier one that reached its peak in the US in the 1890s. Then it was all about challenging Wall Street, reclaiming the government’s power to create money, curing rampant deflation with US Notes (Greenbacks) or silver coins (then considered the money of the people), nationalizing the banks, and establishing a central bank that actually responded to the will of the people.

Over a century later, Occupy Wall Street revived the populist challenge, armed this time with the Internet and mass media to spread the word. The Occupy movement shined a spotlight on the corrupt culture of greed unleashed by deregulating Wall Street, widening the yawning gap between the 1% and the 99% and destroying jobs, households and the economy. Continue reading →

Month-End Geo-Political Financial Review

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Michael Noonan – A proverbial picture [chart], being worth 1,000 words, we will let the charts speak for themselves, with observations/comments attached to each one.

From our perspective, the charts are saying, irrespective of what anyone is reading or following regarding gold and silver, there appears to be no change in trend for the near term.  The state of China’s economy; possible confrontation between China and the US now sending ships to irritate/challenge China’s control over it part of the ocean where she is building new bases; flagging response to the Fed’s ongoing failure of injecting more and more fiat in an already over bloated fiat economy, in fact, world-wide; Russia’s ongoing embarrassment of Washington with Russia’s pinpoint air force accuracy bombing ISIS terrorists, and commensurate challenge of taking control of the Mid East from the flailing Sunni Arab coalition, Western political disarray, etc, etc, etc.

Then there is the never-ending slew of new directly related information as to facts and fundamentals about gold and silver and the ever-missing market interpretations arising from all available information.

As we always maintain, charts are the cumulative distillation of all news and also the input from all buyers and sellers that can impact the market that would otherwise be impossible to assemble and then assimilate in order to make sense of it all.  The charts’ developing market activity accomplishes that.  It then becomes a function of how well the charts can be understood in the message[s] being conveyed for all to see.

The most obvious competition for Precious Metals [PMs], is fiat currency, and no country has been more manipulative in internationally suppressing the price of gold than the US Federal Reserve, aided and abetted by the corporate federal government.  It is a perfect cover for the international elite bankers/globalists pulling the strings behind government, while at the same time, having the masses believe it is the government actually in control. Continue reading →

I Sure Am Glad There’s No Inflation

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inflationCharles Hugh Smith – We are constantly bombarded with two messages about inflation:

1. Inflation is near-zero

2. This worries the Federal Reserve terribly, because stable prices are deflationary and deflation is (for reasons that are never explained) like the financial Black Plague that will wipe out humanity if it isn’t vanquished by a healthy dose of inflation (i.e. getting less for your money).

Those of us outside the inner circles of power are glad there’s no inflation, because we’d rather get more for our money (deflation) rather than less for our money (inflation). You know what I mean: the package that once held 16 ounces now only holds 13 ounces. A medication that once cost $79 now costs $79,000. (This is a much slighter exaggeration than you might imagine.)

Our excellent F-18 Super Hornet fighter aircraft cost us taxpayers $54 million a piece. Now the replacement fighter, the wallowing collection of defective parts flying in close proximity known as the F-35 costs $250 million each–unless you want an engine in it. That’ll cost you extra, partner.
Despite all these widely known examples of rampant inflation, every month we’re told there’s no inflation. Just to reassure myself there’s no inflation, I looked up a few charts on the St. Louis Fed’s FRED database.

I have to say, I’m scratching my head here because the cost of things has gone up a lot since 2000.

The consumer price index is up 38% from 2000. Now if somebody were to give me a choice between getting 10 gallons of gasoline and 10 gallons minus 3.8 gallons of gasoline, I’d take the 10 gallons. So how the heck can a 38% increase be near-zero inflation?

If I took $38 of every $100 you earned, would you reckon I’d taken next to nothing from you? Do you earn 38% more than you did in 2000? If so, congratulations; most people can’t answer “yes.”

inflation

Inflation in Urban Areas Up

Urban-area rents are up 56% from 2000. Now this is even worse inflation, because you just paid $156 for what used to cost you only $100.  Continue reading . . .

Charles Smith is a Guest Contributor for Shift Frequency – August 2015

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Our Spoiled-Brat Economy

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spoiledCharles Hugh Smith – Spoiled brats do not take kindly to being called out as spoiled brats. Since economies are aggregates of individuals, we can anticipate howls of outraged denial at our economy being identified as spoiled rotten.

The two essential characteristics of spoiled brats are 1) a complete disregard for the burdens of those paying the bills and 2) a childishly self-absorbed sense of overweening entitlement. Spoiled brats have no sense of fiscal discipline. Indeed, it is their defining characteristic. They want what they want, and they want it now, regardless of the cost to others or the system as a whole.

In America’s Spoiled Brat Economy, no vested interest is ever allowed to fail. Lost billions gambling with borrowed money? Just throw a K Street temper tantrum and threaten to close all the ATMs when you go broke, and voila, Mommy and Daddy (the federal government and Federal Reserve) come rushing with trillions of dollars to make all the bad things like well-deserved bankruptcy go away.

That tens of millions of savers must be robbed of hundreds of billions of dollars in lost interest to rebuild your banks’ profits and balance sheets–the sacrifices of others are of no concern to spoiled brats.

What does not allowed to fail bring to mind? How about coddled children who are crippled by helicopter parents who do their homework for them and schools that give everybody passing grades and gold stars?

A system that doesn’t allow individuals and enterprises to fail is a system that is simply taking another path to failure. Students who are given gold stars and 9th place ribbons (Meet the Fockers) cannot possibly establish a real sense of accomplishment or learn how to make a realistic assessment of their deficiencies or strengths. They are crippled by all the “help” enablers press on them. Continue reading →

The Flight Back Down To Reality Ahead For The Rich

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Six years ago this month, in the midst of the Great Recession, Lehman Brothers, one of the most well-known investment banks in the U.S. economy, filed for bankruptcy.

At the time, Lehman’s bankruptcy sparked widespread worries…and the U.S. financial system teetered on the verge of collapse. For those of us who remember that time, there was too much uncertainty.

So, the Federal Reserve and the government stepped in to help the crumbling U.S. economy. Loans were made to companies that were “too big to fail,” interest rates fell to historic lows, and trillions of dollars in new money was printed (out of thin air).

Six years later, is the U.S. economy better off now?

Looking at Wall Street today, it looks like things couldn’t be better. The markets are close to all-time highs. The big banks are in better shape; their profits are rising and executives’ incomes and bonuses are big once again.

And speculation is back, big-time. As just one example, Facebook, Inc. (NASDAQ/FB) recently reached a market capitalization of more than $200 billion in hopes that the company will be able to make more money on mobile ads. Facebook is trading at a price-to-earnings multiple of 100! Continue reading →