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One hundred and forty-eight years ago, a day like today was established for remembering all those who gave their lives serving in our nation’s armed forces.
But with markets closed and with the hyperactive news cycle temporarily subdued, it can also be a quiet time to remember today’s megatrends … and to contemplate the fatalities that may lie ahead in the financial or political realms.
We begin with …
The single most impactful megatrend of our era:
Massive, History-Changing Money Printing
By the World’s Largest Central Banks
We’ve talked about this before. I called it The Eight Trillion-Dollar Trap. Today, however, I will connect some dots to help you see it in a new light.
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Since the collapse of Lehman Brothers on September 15, 2008 — the Big Bang of all financial disasters — the Federal Reserve has been expanding its money operations at a mind-boggling pace, creating a mammoth $3.6 trillion virtually out of thin air.
That was over four times more than the sum total of all the money printing since the Fed was founded 94 years and 9 months earlier.
The Bank of England, although smaller, was equally aggressive, expanding its balance sheet by $435 billion since 2008.
After the Lehman Brothers failure, their money printing also went ballistic; and during the European debt crisis, it went ballistic again.
But if you think all of the above is beyond belief, wait till you see what the Bank of Japan (BOJ) has done: Since the Lehman Brothers blow-up in 2008, the BOJ has expanded its balance sheet by a whopping $2.5 trillion. Adjusted for the smaller size of Japan’s economy, that’s the equivalent of a $9.4 trillion expansion in the United States, or over 2½ times more than the Fed’s.
Even excluding all the other central banks of the world, this big-bang expansion is absolutely unprecedented in all of recorded history:
The Fed’s $3.6 trillion … plus … the Bank of England’s $435 billion … plus … the European Central Bank’s $1.5 trillion … plus the Bank of Japan’s $2.5 trillion … add up to a grand total of $8.1 trillion in monetary expansion just since the Lehman Brothers Big Bang.
Here are the hard facts and the simple math:
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For a while, all this money feels very good, like the initial effects of a painkilling narcotic: Cheap money and zero interest rates. More consumer spending. Rising real estate prices. Rising stock prices.
But in the long run, it’s the invisible side effects that are potentially more enduring.
The flood of money pushes investors to take big risks; and among those investors, only a small minority can be consistent winners.
It wipes out the interest income of average American families and retirees who want to live off their savings. Or worse, it transforms them into speculators who wind up losing a portion of their principal.
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It encourages big companies to buy back their own stock … instead of hiring more workers or building more factories.
This is why we’ve seen a surge in stock buybacks by America’s largest companies.
And this also helps explain why we’re now seeing a plunge in capital investments — by those same corporations. (See chart.)
And in the end, all this supposedly free money contributes to …
The second most impactful megatrend of our era:
Extreme Wealth Concentration in the U.S. and Abroad
Consider again the consequences of the massive central bank money printing I just told you about: Zero interest rates. Virtually no safe yield opportunities for investors. A lot of big-stakes speculation. But only a small minority of winners.
All this has been a key factor helping to make the concentration of wealth in the world even more extreme. And now, this concentration of wealth is no longer just about the plight of the poor. Nor is it an issue limited to the nation’s middle-class. It is also hindering higher-net-worth investors from growing their portfolios.
In other words, we’re no longer talking just about the rich squeezing out the middle-class. We’re also talking about America’s billionaires squeezing out America’s millionaires. And as I’ll prove to you in just a moment, this trend has gotten a lot worse since the Fed began printing money in September of 2008.
Of course it didn’t begin in 2008. In fact, to get the full picture, I’ll take you back nearly one hundred years:
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This chart shows how much of the nation’s wealth is held by the super-rich. Not the top 1%. Not the top 0.1%. But the top 0.01%! In other words, the wealthiest one in every ten thousand American households.
Step through time and you’ll see exactly how this progresses:
Roaring ’20s. In the 1920s, their share of the nation’s wealth also rises, from 5% to a peak of 10% in 1929.
1929 Crash and Great Depression. All that is ultimately reversed when the great crash of 1929 wipes out the fortunes of the super-rich, when the Great Depression drives their business enterprises into the gutter, and when World War II helps unite all social classes in a common goal.
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Late 1970s. Now fast forward to 1978. That’s when the concentration of wealth in America reaches an all-time low. And that’s when it begins to rise again — slowly at first, but then with gathering momentum over time … which, again, brings us to that same critical point in history we talked about in the first megatrend …
September 2008. This is not just the moment when Lehman Brothers fails. It’s also the moment when the wealth concentration in America matches the peak levels of 1929. It’s when inequality is close to what history tells us is a potential breaking point. And that also happens to be when …
The Great Recession begins. But there’s a big difference between the Great Recession of our era and the Great Depression of the 1930s. Back then, the Great Depression reduced the wealth share of the super-rich. This time, it doesn’t. Instead, thanks largely to the Fed’s money printing, it continues to grow more extreme. In fact, starting in 2008, the concentration of wealth surges to new, all-time highs, never before seen in this country.
I repeat: For seven long years, the Fed prints money nonstop. For seven long years, the Fed holds interest rates near zero percent. For seven long years the Fed takes away income opportunities for average investors. And for seven long years it encourages high-profit gambits for those who can best afford the risk. All this drives even more wealth share into the hands of the super-rich.
The result is what you see here in my chart — the great social and cultural divide of America today.
Think this is just a domestic phenomenon? Then, take advantage of this Memorial Day to study, with calm and care, our landmark studies — China on the Verge of Volcanic Eruption plus Anti-EU Forces Surging; Euro Doomed.
Everywhere, the big picture that emerges is one of economic extremes. And everywhere, it’s accompanied by equally extreme political schisms.
So regardless of your personal opinion of this megatrend, don’t be surprised if the great social divide fuels powerful emotions in the U.S. and abroad — pride and shame … greed and envy … fear and anger.
And regardless of your political persuasion, you should also not be surprised when this concentration of wealth helps foster …
The third most impactful megatrend of our era:
Extreme Political Division and Dysfunction
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The black portions of this chart are the same ones I showed you a moment ago to illustrate the record inequality in America today.
Now, I’ve added a red line to the same chart — a scientific, quantitative measure of political division and dysfunction in the United States. It’s based on an exhaustive study of voting patterns in the U.S. House of Representatives. (Similar data for the Senate shows essentially the same pattern.)
Here’s the key:
- When this red line is lower, it means that Republicans and Democrats in Congress vote more by the issues. In other words, they cross party lines and draft legislation together.
- When this red line is higher, it means that our elected officials usually disregard the substance of the issues. They vote strictly along party lines. And they accomplish next to nothing.
We used to call that Washington gridlock. I call it the passive-aggressive phase of America’s power struggles. But that was just up until around 2008, when the political division and dysfunction in this country reached the same level as it did in the late 1920s.
Now it’s much worse.
What we’re seeing now is the beginning of outright political warfare that splinters the two major parties … tears apart the fabric of society … and provides the fuel for black swan events in America’s politics.
According to the Pew Research Center, in the last 20 years …
- The share of Americans expressing consistently conservative or consistently liberal opinions has doubled.
- Partisan antipathy has soared. The proportion of Republicans with negative opinions of Democrats has jumped from 17% to 43%. And among Democrats, the proportion with negative opinions of Republicans has more than doubled from 16% to 38%.
- The vast majority on each side now views the opposing party as a threat to the nation’s well-being, almost like enemies of the state.
- The extreme believers on both sides are drowning out the moderates, participating far more actively in every stage of the political process. They speak louder, organize more, vote more often, and donate about double the money of the average American. Plus, they do all of this far more today than in the past.
My Memorial
This column is my memorial for future fatalities in both the financial and political realms. With it, my hope is that you will be neither overwhelmed nor unprepared when shocking or unusual things happen in the months ahead.
Possibly more shocking than the terrorist attacks of 9/11 or the failure of Lehman Brothers in 2008.
Possibly more unusual than the meteoric surge of a self-declared socialist directly challenging the entire Democratic establishment.
Maybe even more unusual than Trump.
Good luck and God bless!
Martin
Dr. Weiss founded Weiss Research in 1971 and has dedicated his entire career to helping millions of average investors find truly safe havens and investments. He is Chairman of the Weiss Group, which includes Weiss Research and Weiss Ratings, the nation’s leading independent rating agency accepting no fees from rated companies. His last three books have all been New York Times Bestsellers and his most recent title is The Ultimate Money Guide for Bubbles, Busts, Recession and Depression.
{ 48 comments }
martin,i live n Ireland,and I have taken you to heart many times.but for the last 4 years,i have spent all my money on physical gold.buying gold coins and 100 gram gold bars every 2 or 3 months,going back for 4 years.i paid heed to KING WORLD NEWS A LOT,ESPECALLY THE LAST YEAR.I HAVE THE GOLD COINS AND 100GRAM BARS IN MY OWN POSSESSION..MAY OUR BLESSED MOTHER KEEP HER MANTLE AROUND YOU,YOUR FAMILY AND ALL YOUR PARTNERS IN ALL YOU DO.GOD BLESS.PATRICK O’SULLIVAN
You do not mention housing. Prices rising .. Forcing buyers out. The majority of homes being bought today buyers are stretching to make payments , lower interest rates makes a lot of buyers stretch ..Causing another asset bubble. It goes from one bubble to another..
When interest rates start to normalize a lot of home owners that bought in the last two years will find it difficult to sell without loosing money because a new buyer will not be able to afford the new payments for obvious reasons ..
The tax payer will be stuck with bailing out Fannie and Freddie like before.
It’s called “bail-in.”
During the G-20 summit last year, obozo signed into the bail-in. So now, when ANY of the G-20 countries “go belly-up”, the other countries can contribute to help them out.
The only problem is that it is not tax money that is being used. Rather, the gov can reach in to your 401K, IRA, Checking, Savings, Money Market and any other “guaranteed bank account” and EXTRACT YOUR MONEY without your permission or knowledge.
Look it up! Another example of a traitorous government in action.
Hi Martin
Thankyou. I couldn’t have put the dilemmas we face better. This is why I’m out of the market because it no longer makes fundamental sense.
Would any retiree, frustrated with low interest rates, take their hard won life savings and go to a casino for a roll of the dice?
Dear DR. Weiss: Thankou for your insightfull article. I firmly believe that the root cause of the disparity of income between the rich, working poor and middle class is fiat money. Our constitution calls for honest money, the gold standard. Going off the gold standard has caused uncontrolled credit expansion by the Fed. Keeping interest rates at abnormally low levels, creates a moral hazard. It encouraages people to over speculate and take risks that we would normally not take. Low interest rates have enabled the Federal government to con
It’s unfortunate that the great majority of us can’t comprehend this article.I’M not sure this failure isn’t worse than the subject matter contained therein.
It’s interesting that the graphic turn begins in 1978 considering that in 1979 when Paul Volcker became Fed chair he “outlawed” lending money for speculation in the commodities market then stood by while junk bonds were used to raise capital for corporate raids often referred to as “greenmail”. Today there is a dizzying array of products offered on commodity exchanges that have nothing to do with physical commodities. Now central banks around the world are buying stocks and commodities to keep prices higher regardless of economic reality and they must print money to keep the game going. Central banks aren’t a quite like Venezuela’s mythical $77/bbl. crude oil while their economy collapses and they refuse to sell at market prices, but they are getting there.
ALL of those periods of economic devastation came as REPUBLICANS were thrust into Dominnance by the wealthiest 3%. This time it was the Koch Brothers and about 18 Billionaires. Soon the voters will rebel and the Repunlicans will be gone and life will improve…
The Republicans haven’t been in power for the past 8 years. You can’t keep blaming Bush!!
Are you for real? What you said was untrue!
The US began foresaking it’s Judeo-Christian heritage in the ’60s, and the culture has been going downhill since then. The economic picture you paint is frightening, but the cultural situation is even more so. Our great land, the shining city of hope for the whole world, is headed for disaster unless God visits us with another Great Awakening.
This is my observation as well. The nation has completely lost its bearings and compass. Founded upon Christian values, peopled by a society that adhered by and large to Christian values and while also adhering to the principal of the separation of church and state, our nation’s core values were not separated from state because the state really reflects the values of the people.
We have virtually eliminated any reverence for or reference to the Almighty, arrogantly bowing before the false gods of Wall Street and exhibiting all the vile values associated with greed and plunder. We have violated the sovereignty of many other nations justifying our meddling and invasions with our brand of freedom. We have caused turmoil around the world to fill the pockets of the military industrial complex, we have cheapened our culture, sent our jobs overseas in order to import cheaper stuff and wonder why unemployment is so high (in spite of the fake numbers from the BLS).
America has lost its bearings and worships money. We have spent ourselves into poverty while a tiny fraction of individuals have accumulated the wealth of the nation that is beyond the tax man. But even if our wealth was spread more widely, we have spent it on frivolous and destructive toys, gadjets, jet skiis, four wheelers, endless video games and as such we have sewn the seeds of our nation’s decline. We have dumbed down education and elevated beyond all reason the incomes of entertainers from the NFL to NBA.
We have lost our way, we have gone to extremes in everthing from government to astronomical salaries for CEO’s to football players while paying next to nothing for those charged with raising the future generations, our teachers.
We have completely lost touch with God and have sold our souls to Baal and the golden calf. We have bowed down to and elevated our false gods and they shall surely prove as empty and as powerless now as they did for the ancient Israelites.
Martin,
Intended or not, do “political realms” cover WAR & REVOLUTION?
Thanks Dr. Weiss. You have managed to convey what many of us feel but may not fully understand. A concise presentation of the world we live in today and how we got there. Politicians and the bureaucracy they legislate are much to blame. We need to stop electing lawyers as they make life too complicated for the average person while the wealthy can hire lawyers to circumvent the consequences; with the average person being forced to defend himself in the end by hiring, you guessed it, lawyers.
Dear Dr. Weiss
Really appreciated your analysis. I read “Money and Markets” on a regular basis.
I understand the argument against continued low interest rates and generally agree with it. And I suspect it has concentrated wealth.
We should dispense with idea that it’s a bad idea that the Fed could create money “out of thin air”: it’s a fiat money system and is much more sensible than mining gold and putting it down in vaults.
But your argument above leads me to completely different conclusions than yours:
1. It is clear that the Fed has actually been removing too much liquidity by buying back securities to keep interest rates low.
2. At current low interest rates, we have a high demand for default-free securities, which means federal debt from a sovereign currency issuer–and there’s a good reason the public wants those default-free securities. The Fed is preventing the private sector from accumulating more of them. It should let interest rates rise.
3. If the Fed were following a policy that allowed relatively high interest rates, a lot of average Americans, directly or indirectly through the fiduciaries that handle their pension funds and savings plans, would be getting income from them that they would likely spend, which would both reduce the income differentials directly and employ more people, especially younger people.
4. Ironically, the Reagan administration, despite dire predictions of the problems of large deficits (from the Democrats, no less!) had no problem keeping the economy humming despite large deficits and high interest rates. Republicans have mostly kept up a fantasy concept of what the Reagan administration actually did.
5. But there’s a lynchpin to all this: the only way the private sector has safe, default-free assets that yield reasonable returns is if the federal government–a currency issuer–continues to run deficits. Personally, I’d tee up a long-term infrastructure program that would allow firms to know they can train and hire lots of people for a significant period of time.
6. This is the opposite of the Paul Ryan plan, which would deliberately reduce the supply of default-free assets for the public to hold and would accelerate the trend you comment on: if the supply of those securities is shrinking from budget surpluses and the public, here and abroad, continues to want them, we will force low interest rates. What we will crowd out is not investment but private safe financial assets, just at a time when rising retirements will probably encourage retirees to look for more such safe assets, precisely because those give them a margin of safety that allows them to maintain consumption and also invest in some real-sector assets with more risk.
As to the Eurozone, yes, it’s been completely wrong-headed with its austerity program.
There a number of nuances that could be added to your well taken points but I think the largest and most significant is the tendency of governments at all levels to more things that polarize people and parties. The corollary to this is that they are now doing fewer things well. There was a reason seventy years ago that northern Republicans and southern Democrats got along well in congress: common interests (ex the racism). Today that sort of coalition in any form is completely absent.
You referred to charts that were not on the pages.
Thank you
Well written and consistent with much I have been reading. Charts are simple enough for the layman to follow.
How can we protect ourselves. Id like to ask how can we get this message out, but I doubt if many would believe it – as Americans seem to be in a state of euphoria, maybe not just Americans, perhaps even all Nations
Thank you, Martin.
A short, concise, easy to read and understand summary. In semi-retirement, I feel the low interest rate pinch.
I have watched the more moderate presidential candidates of both parties disappear in an avalanche of vitriol and ugliness. Only one still stands, and she carries the baggage of a lifetime in public life, easy for many to dislike for that reason alone. At the local level it may be worse. Yet I have hope that Americans will avoid the extremes.
Look forward to your future encapsulations of the megatrends.
Good piece to ponder Dr. Weiss…sehr gut! Ich denke an das. Yes, these are trends that are visible even to the blind.
Danke!
Hi,
Interesting article. You say with respect to “the consequences of the massive central bank money printing” that, “All this has been a key factor helping to make the concentration of wealth in the world even more extreme”. I’m not an economist and so was wondering if you could explain in a bit more detail how expansion of the monetary supply leads to concentration of wealth in the hands of fewer people.
Thanks!
As the chart indicates, the politico/economic divisions now, have become far worse than those of the late 1920s, when this country was hitting an economic peak. Now, we have the political division, along with even greater economic division. Government is becoming more dysfunctional and ineffective, while building greater military power. As infrastructure begins to fail, government is going to use that military power to attempt control of the discontent of the populace. We already have the largest prison population in the world (with the third largest population of people). While we let roads, airports, utilities, electrical grids and such deteriorate, we build more and fancier prisons, and give police more weapons and power. We know that can only lead to totalitarian control of the people, and ultimate revolution or conquest by others. It is happening gradually, at first, but it is happening as we speak. Is it too late to reverse the process? Perhaps, but we must begin immediately, or it will definitely be too late. A vote for the Democrats is a vote for the status quo, described above. A vote for the Republicans is a vote for economic division, and ultimately even tighter government control. I am not sure the Libertarians have an answer, but I am willing to give them a chance. It is the only alternative except revolution, after all.
Chuck,
Dr. Weiss has his charts a little wrong…. The crushing of the Middle Class and the beginning of income Inequity began with Ronald Reagan in 1981 and got worse under H.W. Bush and George Jr. led by Cheney, leading to the Crash of 2007-2009… Whenever we elect the Republicans into a majority, the richest 3% who own them profit and the Middle Class gets screwed… The same thing happened in the 1920’s under the Republicans again, which led to 1929…… The greatest economic success in America for the MOST Americans, occurred under Democratic leadership from 1932-1981…. Until the Republican majority in Congress is gone, the majority of Americans are screwed as the 3% owns them!… :(
As always, very insightful. The missing element was the effect of the federal government’s ability to borrow in order to keep people thinking that everything is all right. Freeways are still full with gas from borrowed money; grocery stores are still selling food produced from borrowed money; Social Security, Medicare, AFDC, food stamps and all the other federal programs are now supporting more than half our population with funds borrowed from lenders who think we are still the safest place on Earth. When those investors finally figure out that we aren’t going to be able to pay them back from our ability to create wealth, they will stop lending and the checks will stop coming. Then what will we do? Print more money! That was the Weimar Republic. We are being led by idiots.
The toxic conditions in the nation are a direct results of the “controllers” in the Republican Party that decided on the week that Obama was elected that rather than compromise and get as much of the conservative view into new legislation as possible, it was going to follow a path of “no, no, no” to everything regardless of the need or the benefit to the nation. Thus the divide in this nation was fed a constant diet of conflict and stalemate. The only positive aspect to Trump is that he just might be the poison pill to the controllers as the voters see the results of what has come to pass from their policy decision in 2008. Not that he will be elected, but he offers another choice for conservatives that are rebelling over what they have been spoon fed for the past 8 years.
In my opinion, Trump is nuts!… :(
Thank you.
This is about as concise and well written a review of recent economic and political events and their intersections as I have seen.
It is like the perspective from 30,000 feet that is totally obscured from the ground level by the daily drumbeat of the hyperactive news cycle.
Well written and thought provoking. Waiting for your forecasts to come true.
Most are in a state of ignorance.
It’s good to clarify that Bernie Sanders is a Democratic Socialist. Many of your readers are stuck in the propaganda that socialism means communism. Socialism is the chosen solution in the Scandinavian countries which are the happiest countries in the world. Most millenniums are more comfortable with socialism than capitalism. The ideal socialist system embraces lots of free markets, similar to capitalism. It just doesn’t allow the extreme inequality that you so bravely illustrated.
Amen…. And TRUE!
I got better things to worry about. Write all you want, nothing is going to change.
Martin,
I appreciate your opinions. But, I suggest that you should have just kept this writing to the actual Memorial Day and remembrance/honoring of the men and women who gave their lives in service to our country. Keep the focus where it belongs today. To compare the deaths of service men and women to financial forecasts, albeit serious and important, was unnecessary. You could have easily published this article last week or the upcoming week without connecting it to Memorial Day.
Kind regards,
Jon
There is a bit of discussions about the different political parties and how far the Democrats and Republican parties are different – but I see not much really – same bed fellows but pretend to be largely different – should form them selves into the United American Party and be done with the pretense. The gods of this world don’t care what party there is as they hold onto the real wealth and power.
Martin – Would like to have seen the source reference of the charts you produced so I could study them.
Why should retirees live in peaceful retirement off their savings? It’s a well known fact that the Popes children born around 35 to 45 years ago are gonna be far worse off financially than what their parents generation were, they may never enjoy the property rights of home ownership, they also may never have the benefits of driving a high performance car. Gold is only worth buying if you wanna be like an ancient Egyptian and buried in a pyramid. Come on human beings are worth far more than lumps of metal.
Well written, straightforward, good charts (a graphic representation of the more or less obvious). Follows the “Keep it simple stupid” ideology well while maintaining accuracy, which is a talent. Unfortunately, what’s the “answer to the question”? Is it going to take a COMPLETE collapse and, if so, what follows- probably something even worse and more sinister. I hate to be cynical, but I guess I am. That cynicism does not detract from my praise for this analysis, however.
Perhaps i missed it but surely the aging of the work force, shrinking pool of labourers to pay for retirement and elder costs, is at least as important a mega trend.
Alan Greenspan, when asked about why the fed did not, under his watch, do something about the housing bubble, was clearly agonized as he spoke of the personal and financial losses that would have been incurred. the feds job, removing the punch bowl, as soon as the party gets started, is remarkably difficult.
I must say that despite all the doom sayers above, the united states enjoy a fabulous standard of living, largely built on the use of expanding money availability and credit. Debt is not so much of a problem, the problem is where to go from here. These are uncharted waters and there will be no simple answers. All we can hope for is thoughtful, cautious, good leaders, in government and the fed. America has been blessed in this regard. Sadly the current slate of demagogic politicians, echoing the impatience of a public that demands radical change, without appreciating how good it really is, and how appallingly bad it can quickly become, if handled with less than deftness is poised to rob us of this intelligent, balanced advantage.
If you do not believe me, quick, point to any nation that is doing it better.
You are correct that America is the best country in the world… I know because I’ve been all over this world and I have always been glad to come home!
That said, our current state of disintegration is not new, as we have been here before. The time was 1929 and the Republican Majority Congress and Republican Hoover had just taken us into the Great Depression after a period of Republican domination…. That got them kicked out of dominance for 60 years….. And, once again a Democrat named FDR and a Democratic Majority Congress stopped. the Crash at a 90% loss and in doing so, saved the economy and the nation…..
60 years later our generation forgot the lessons of our Grandparents and let the Republicans (sill supported by the 3%) back into dominance and within 27 years they did 1929 all over again with the Crash of November 2007! And once again a Democratic President called Obama and a Democratic Majority Congress stopped the Crash at a 60% loss and began repairing the economy and the nation….
Eagle…
You still refuse to comprehend the truth…. Clinton is responsible for the housing bust. HE… signed the bills into law that enabled the bubble to develop and permitted banks to speculate.. Wake up. Like all of the lefties at the office, you people just cannot handle facts but continue to live in a fantasy land. Bush was a liberal RINO.
The big controversy in Ireland today is the planned visit of Donal Trump to Ireland at the end of June. Like the US population theres for and against Mr Trump .
My belief is that his controversial comments have kept him in the media for the past year > If he is elected President he will then switch to his Presidential persona like all politicians>
We have these guys in Ireland as well, but when power becons they change their principles or fimd out that the real politic is different when you are in power and they really dont have all the answers to the real world problems!
Although party ideologues differ in their approaches and methodologies, neither side can exist without the establishment, which collectively is the group of the wealthy individuals, families and powerful corporations that remain systemically powerful even while at each other’s throats. 99% of human beings are just expendable pawns to these financial royalty.
The year I was born,12/29/28 is about the end of the Roarin’ 20s…So we had a little
slap on our head from there to the mid ’40s…However about 1950 I began to see
moral decay set in and it has progressively increased every year since…So in my
reading of the Holy Scriptures I know what we’re about to face and it is not going to
be any fun at all… You can find what i did in the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy !!!
The fiat currency and its basis under Keynesian economics just encourages more and more debt. Eventually that debt reaches a level where it is non payable and a bankruptcy occurs. This happens to people of all natures all of the time. Once any person, State, Country, Municipality, school district, hospital district, or company crosses the line into too much debt territory the end is normally near. No one or no entity can spend there way out of a debt problem. In business, which I have been CEO of a corporation for the last 33 years and have owned and managed that company for a total of 44 years and have served on boards of several other entities, spending must slow or be reversed when times get tough. Lay offs occur and the people left working with the entity must work much harder to salvage what the entity is facing. In some instances pay cuts have to occur.
If the entity does not do these things, as hard as they are to swallow, then they inevitable comes and that being bankruptcy. At that point the assets of the entity get distributed at a fraction of what the entity or being may have been worth prior to the problem. That transfer is a transfer of wealth and that wealth transfer goes normally to the lender who normally will sell it off to someone else making them richer and the already wealthy buyer or person with strong credit the winner. The lack of equality was developed under this scenario. A government is no different other than the fact they cannot technically file for bankruptcy if they have the ability to print more and more money as our government thinks it can on an unlimited basis. All that happens under this scenario is taxes go up, inflation goes up (the silent tax), and the majority become poorer especially when an economy stalls as ours has. This scenario has played out time and time again since 1300 BC with the most notable occurrence in history being the fall of the Roman Empire. That is how long forms of credit have been in existence. The big question, is the United States going to be the next victim. Answer yes if we do not take action. Income inequality is just one of the precursors of this scenario and is a strong signal our country is on its last leg.
I am surprised that a ” doctor ” with all their intelligence would use charts such as these ,which do not clearly have any definitive units in relation to the numbering which is shown. these charts mean nothing without a proper definition of what the numbers written actually represent. (what are the units being referred too on the sides of the chart?
are they potatoes?? people??? number of toilet paper rolls in the white house??
or just pretty things to make the charts look authentic???
without a legend or definition these #s mean nothing!!! thats the way politicians show their charts so they look more impressive and can dupe the reader to belive they mean something but in reality it may mean something totally different..
if your going to use charts or read charts then make sure ALL of the information is there ,otherwise it is just a pretty picture with no real meaning .
What’s a black Swan event?
Irving Weiss mentored me In Economics in the late 1970’s. gold only real money,cannot run any deficits,bring back states rights from,the most useless city in America(Washington D.C). Growth aGDP is anemic.How can we support