Trillions for Military; Austerity for Americans

City of Poway looking to ban homeless encampments

The Military Times reports “lawmakers on Capitol Hill are expected to move quickly this month on overdue work on the fiscal 2024 defense budget and annual defense authorization bill…” The debt ceiling deal set out $886 billion in military appropriations for next year, but a “defense supplemental” is being planned to increase military spending even more. [1]

Besides $886 billion for the Military-Industrial Complex (MIC), another $640 billion must pay interest on the national debt. [2]

U.S. budget projections for Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 have outlays at $6.4 trillion, revenues at $4.8 trillion, and deficit at $1.5 trillion, according to the Congressional Budget Office. [3]

Ukraine’s much heralded Spring Counteroffensive may have already begun, with nobody noticing. The Ukrainian military launched what appeared to be the beginning of a counteroffensive on Sunday, June 4th. However Ukrainian forces suffered heavy losses in a multi-pronged attack. [4]

Ukraine is “very well prepared” for its long-anticipated counteroffensive against Russian forces, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley told CNN on Monday, June 5th. [4] Nonetheless, right on the heels of the debt ceiling agreement Kiev immediately demanded another $55 billion from the West for dozens of US-made Patriot air defense system batteries. The total cost of Vladimir Zelensky’s demand “exceeds the amount of money Washington has already spent on military assistance for Kiev.” [5]

Not onboard the gravy train for American dollars are the poor in the United States. Instead, austerity measures are being placed on their backs. The debt ceiling deal for them means cuts and caps on social programs. [6]

Military prowess provides neither peace nor strength, declares Reverend Jesse Jackson. He says our budget for 2022 was $1.7 trillion. This seems to vary from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimate of $6.4 trillion for FY 2023. (I am having trouble tracking down exactly how much the U.S. budget is.) Jackson says just one “baroque F-35 combat aircraft” costs as much as the full budget of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). [7]

According to the Mises Institute, the F-35 is a “$1.5 trillion boondoggle”. The F-35 is “the most expensive weapons system in history”. Yet “Defense News identified thirteen significant deficiencies in one or more F-35 models: from the possibility of a blown tire destroying the entire aircraft, to inadequate vision and sensor systems, to not being [able] to fly too high, too fast, or in certain maneuvers without either apparent or actual major problems. [8]

——- Sources ——-
[1] “After debt fight, Congress turns its attention to defense budget”, by Leo Shane III. Military Times, June 4, 2023. https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2023/06/05/after-debt-fight-congress-turns-its-attention-to-defense-budget/
[2] “Loan Shark Burdens Nation”, Ersjdamoo’s Blog, June 4, 2023. https://ersjdamoo.wordpress.com/2023/06/04/loan-shark-burdens-nation/
[3] “Budget”, Congressional Budget Office. https://www.cbo.gov/topics/budget
[4] “Ukraine ‘well prepared’ for counteroffensive – top US general”, Russia Today (RT), June 5, 2023. https://on.rt.com/cdme
[5] “Kiev demands $55 billion worth of weapons from West”, Russia Today (RT), June 3, 2023. https://on.rt.com/cdjh
[6] “Biden’s debt deal: A bipartisan blueprint for war and austerity”, by Barry Grey. World Socialist Web Site, June 3, 2023. https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/06/03/aavt-j03.html
[7] “Military prowess provides neither peace nor strength”, by Jesse Jackson. Published locally in the Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette, May 21, 2023.
[8] “THE F-35: A $1.5 TRILLION BOONDOGGLE”, by Elijah J. Henry. Mises Institute, September 2, 2019. https://mises.org/power-market/f-35-15-trillion-boondoggle

 

Mannarino: Major Banks in Big Trouble

(Alert). MARKETS A LOOK AHEAD: The MAJOR BANKS ARE IN BIG TROUBLE… DERIVATIVES. Mannarino

Derivatives are “side bets”, says Gregory Mannarino in the video hopefully viewable above. In the description portion of the video he includes a link to a list of banks ranked by their derivative holdings. At the top of the list is Goldman Sachs Bank USA, holding more than $53 trillion in derivatives. This alone is more than the U.S. national debt! [1]

In second place is JPMorgan Chase Bank with over $50 trillion in derivatives, followed by Citibank with over $47 trillion. [1]

There are seven risks associated with derivatives, including market risk, liquidity risk, and systemic risk. The “complexities associated with derivatives give rise to issues of transparency and questions of legal and market linkages that require a higher level of attention.” [2]

The banks are in trouble, says Mannarino, an active/full time trader of the capital markets with a world-wide following. This includes not just smaller regional banks but the larger institutions as well. “The major banks have had the largest capital outflows that have ever been seen in more than 40 years.”

(The outflows are likely from investors having more in the accounts than the FDIC covers. Still, it is a huge outflow.)

Mannarino says you do not even own the cash in your savings account! Even the dollars in your wallet are not owned by you. They are borrowed from an issuing central bank and you owe them back to the issuing central bank – plus interest.

The power of central banks resides in one thing, says Mannarino: Their ability to inflate. By raising the debt ceiling we are promising to borrow more from the “Federal” Reserve. “The debt must continually expand. It can never stop.” If the debt did not keep expanding, the first institution to fall would be the “Federal” Reserve. “You want to kill a central bank? You prevent them from issuing one single dollar of debt – just one, that’s it, and they fall.”

If we had defaulted on our national debt, considers Mannarino, the “Federal” Reserve would have begun to fail. This, in turn, would have caused a domino effect, taking down central banks around the world. True, this would have created a great deal of economic pain if we had defaulted on our debt. “But we’re going to get that anyway! Do you think we’re out of the woods yet!?”

In the last minute debt ceiling deal, while the cuts and caps on social programs are firm, unlimited financing of the US war machine will proceed without interruption, reports the World Socialist Web Site. “The agreement includes caps for fiscal years 2024 and 2025 on non-military discretionary spending, rescission of $30 billion in unspent COVID relief funds, a $20 billion cut in Internal Revenue Service tax enforcement, and an August 30 termination of the moratorium on repayment of student debt.” [3]

Meanwhile, counties across Central Illinois are seeing homeless populations rise. [4]

——- Sources ——-
[1] “Banks Ranked by Derivatives”, US Bank Locations, December 31, 2022. https://www.usbanklocations.com/bank-rank/derivatives.html
[2] “The Risks of Financial Derivatives”, by Kenneth Raisler. IMF eLibrary. https://www.elibrary.imf.org/display/book/9781557755032/ch043.xml
[3] “Biden’s debt deal: A bipartisan blueprint for war and austerity”, by Barry Grey. World Socialist Web Site, June 3, 2023. https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/06/03/aavt-j03.html
[4] “Counties across Central Illinois are seeing homeless populations rise”, by Marlena Lang. ABC News Channel 20, June 2, 2023. https://newschannel20.com/newsletter-daily/counties-across-central-illinois-are-seeing-homeless-populations-rise

 

Loan Shark Burdens Nation

You’ll Never Walk Alone (1956)

The “vig” is a synonym of vigorish, “interest from a loan, as from a loan shark”. [1] Our current annual vig on the national debt is $640 billion. [2]

Judge Rumford Bland collects the vigorish in Thomas Wolfe’s novel, You Can’t Go Home Again. The “game was plainly and flagrantly usurious. The interest was payable weekly, every Saturday night. On a ten-dollar loan Judge Bland extracted interest of fifty cents a week; on a twenty-dollar loan, interest of a dollar a week; and so on… Enough had to be left [the borrowers] for a bare existence or it was no game.” At “some time in the distant past they had got their money, spent it, and had their fling, and… now they must pay perpetual tribute for that privilege.” [3]

BORROWER: “Doan know…Seem lak a long time since Ah started payin’ up—-“

JUDGE BLAND: Harshly, cold as poison, quick as a striking snake: “You’ve never started paying up. You’ve paid nothing. You’re only paying interest, and behind in that.” [3]

On a much larger scale, we are like that borrower. The loan shark has us in his clutches. Enough is left to us for a bare existence or it is no game.

We are supposed to be “celebrating”, according to Associated Press, that the debt ceiling has been raised. [4] In reality, according to the World Socialist Web Site, Joe Biden’s debt deal is a “bipartisan blueprint for war and austerity”. The “two parties of American capitalism united in imposing the full cost of war on working people and youth. They used the debt ceiling and the specter of a ‘catastrophic’ default on US debt obligations to mount an elaborate charade of ‘crisis’ negotiations as the cover for imposing a brutal package of austerity measures.” [5]

A trillion-dollar Treasury vacuum is coming for Wall Street, reports Bloomberg. The US Treasury is about to unleash “a tsunami of new bonds”. Already, money is leaving banks seeking a higher yield. The tsunami of T-bill offerings is likely to accelerate capital flight away from banks. “The [T-bill] sales, set to begin Monday, will rumble through every asset class as they claim an already shrinking supply of money”. [6]

Meanwhile, the “backlash” against the “weaponized dollar” is growing worldwide. Currency experts are leery of sounding like Cassandras, yet they can’t help noticing “meaningful action, however small and gradual”, toward alternative currencies. “Even perennial US ally France is starting to complete transactions in yuan.” [7]

——- Sources ——-
[1] “vig”, Wiktionary, accessed June 4, 2023. https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/vig
[2] “Higher Interest Rates Will Raise Interest Costs On The National Debt”, Peter G. Peterson Foundation, May 3, 2023. https://www.pgpf.org/analysis/2023/05/higher-interest-rates-will-raise-interest-costs-on-the-national-debt
[3] You Can’t Go Home Again, by Thomas Wolfe. Project Gutenberg of Australia. http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks07/0700231h.html
[4] “The Mummy Speaks From Oval Office”, Ersjdamoo’s Blog, June 3, 2023. https://ersjdamoo.wordpress.com/2023/06/03/the-mummy-speaks-from-oval-office/
[5] “Biden’s debt deal: A bipartisan blueprint for war and austerity”, by Barry Grey. World Socialist Web Site, June 3, 2023. https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/06/03/aavt-j03.html
[6] “Trillion-Dollar Treasury Vacuum Coming for Wall Street Rally”, by Denitsa Tsekova and Ksenia Galouchko. Bloomberg (via Yahoo Finance), June 3, 2023. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/trillion-dollar-treasury-vacuum-coming-135944792.html
[7] “Backlash Against Weaponized Dollar Is Growing Across the World”, by Michelle Jamrisko and Ruth Carson. Bloomberg (via Yahoo Finance), June 2, 2023. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/putin-war-ignites-backlash-against-040100975.html

 

The Mummy Speaks From Oval Office

President Biden Oval Office Address on Debt Limit Deal

Gregory Mannarino, an active/full time trader of the capital markets with a world-wide following, jokingly calls Joe Biden “the Mummy”. (The Mummy is a 1932 American pre-Code supernatural horror film. Boris Karloff stars as Imhotep, an ancient Egyptian mummy who was killed for attempting to resurrect his dead lover. [1]) The Mummy addressed the nation from the Oval Office on Friday evening, June 2nd. He said raising the US borrowing limit averted “economic collapse”, in his first Oval Office address to the nation. [2][3]

The Associated Press headline says Biden (The Mummy) “celebrated” a “crisis averted”. [2] Hooray! Let’s all celebrate higher debt, is the sub-text.

Mannarino, in a recent video, noticed a “spin” being put on dramatic stock market gains on Friday. The “spin” by “news” outlets was good employment numbers had caused the rise when it was really a $trillion debt ceiling infusion into the economy which was mostly responsible.

The Mummy’s “crisis averted” is no such thing: increasing U.S. indebtedness means even more money will be needed just to pay interest on the national debt. What is the limit as X approaches Infinity? The limit is CRISIS and there will be increased suffering on the way.

In these times of national despair, a hopeful message was found from the Holy Spirit: The Spirit spoke to Ruthie Counter and told her, “Go in the faith that I’ve given you and walk the path. I will light the way. Real is my love for you and my purpose for you in this. It will be scary but an opportunity for you to grow and bless others.” [4]

(The “Holy Spirit” I take to be the Atma in Atma-Buddhi-Manas: Spirit (Atma), spiritual soul (Buddhi) and the mind (Manas). These are the three aspects of the higher individuality in a human being. [5])

Walk on, walk on
With hope in your heart
And you’ll never walk alone.
You’ll never walk alone. [6]

Having hope in your heart can be difficult though in light of such news as:

• High concentrations of COVID detected at all 14 New York City wastewater treatment plants. [7]
• Shoplifting crisis is so bad shoppers struggling to find non-locked-up items. [8]

——- Sources ——-
[1] “The Mummy (1932 film)”, Wikipedia. Accessed June 3, 2023. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mummy_(1932_film)
[2] “Biden speech celebrates a ‘crisis averted'”, Associated Press. Published locally in the Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette, June 3, 2023.
[3] “Biden says debt ceiling deal averted ‘economic collapse'”, by Chloe Kim. BBC News, June 2, 2023. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65795242
[4] “Higher Calling”, by Dave Hinton. Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette, June 3, 2023.
[5] “Atma-Buddhi-Manas”, Theosophy World. https://www.theosophy.world/encyclopedia/atma-buddhi-manas
[6] “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, first recorded by Frank Sinatra in 1945. https://tinyurl.com/yy4w494a
[7] “High concentrations of COVID detected at all 14 New York City wastewater treatment plants”, CBS New York, June 2, 2023. https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/covid-rebound-detected-new-york-city-wastewater/
[8] “Shoplifting crisis is so bad shoppers struggling to find non-locked-up items”, by Jack Morphet, Steven Vago and Emily Crane. New York Post, June 2, 2023. https://nypost.com/2023/06/02/shoplifting-crisis-is-so-bad-shoppers-struggling-to-find-non-locked-up-items/

 

“Drift” Raises Questions

Photojournalist Exposes Reality of Factory Farms

Drift, by Jon McGoran. New York: Forge, 2013

Drift is a work of fiction, but it makes you think.

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) are also called “Frankenfoods”. Think lettuce with firefly DNA, suggests McGoren.

The “Drift” used as title for the book seems to mean pollen drift. Pollen from one plant drifts and pollinates another plant.

Crops can be genetically modified to create pharmaceuticals. McGoren takes this one step further: Apples modified to create heroin.

A scientist has engineered an anti-fungal drug but government approval is stalled. He comes up with a plan: create a plague which can only be treated with his drug. The scientist admits many will die but people always die, he rationalizes. But the rest of them will pay a fortune for his drug. So the scientist alters bread mold, “creating a designer rhizomycosis” which would infect millions of people. And he has the cure.

Some people are more sensitive than others to increasing chemicals and GMOs which are leaking into the food supply. If they become ill, they go to hospitals which are more worried about germs than about chemical disinfectants.

You may think of rural America as a place isolated from the madness. But McGoran tells us, “It ain’t Rockwell’s America out here anymore.”

Large tracts of land are being quietly purchased in rural areas. What are they up to?

In light of the Sars-Covid outbreak and vaccines rushed out in record time, McGoran’s novel, published in 2013, may have been prescient.

 

Shadows On the Wall

Plato’s Allegory of the Cave – Alex Gendler

Twenty four hundred years ago, Plato, one of history’s most famous thinkers, said life is like being chained up in a cave forced to watch shadows flitting across a stone wall. The shadows are mistaken by us for reality.

Plato favored “Philosopher Kings” as rulers. But how would we wisely choose a Philosopher King?

The Hebrews wanted a king the world could admire rather than the unseen King who could only be known by faith. But Samuel warned his people that if they desired a King they would inevitably have conscription, requisitioning of their property, and taxation. “And you shall cry out in that day because of your king which you have chosen.” (1 Samuel 8: 18)

And so here we are, $31 trillion in debt, taxed by inflation which is like a shadow on the wall of Plato’s cave.

Some of the latest shadows on the wall:

Fewer Americans were able to pay their monthly bills in October 2022 compared to the year prior, according to a new report from the U.S. Federal Reserve. “Price increases on necessities like food, fuel and electricity have caused many Americans financial hardship over the year.” [1]

Billionaire investor Leon Cooperman says the US is going through a “textbook” financial crisis. “It’s kind of like textbook,” Cooperman said. “We have a self-induced crisis by irresponsible fiscal and monetary policy [over] the last decade.” [2]

Someone recently said we are now buying groceries on the installment plan. “America’s credit card balance has passed $1 trillion, or it’s about to, depending on whom you ask.” [3]

Elon Musk warns house prices are set to plunge – and says commercial real estate is in meltdown. “Musk has previously warned that cracks could appear in property markets following turmoil in the banking sector.” [4]

In a recent video, Gregory Mannarino, an active/full time trader of the capital markets with a world-wide following, foresees some sudden big crisis will be coming in from left field. It is impossible to say what it might be. But the “big crisis”, if it comes, might be another shadow on the wall.

——- Sources ——-
[1] “Nearly 25% of Americans Making $50K or Less Can’t Afford Monthly Bills”, by Dawn Allcot. Yahoo Finance, May 30, 2023. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/nearly-25-americans-making-50k-175416766.html
[2] “Billionaire investor Leon Cooperman says the US is going through a ‘textbook’ financial crisis and the S&P 500 won’t hit a new high for a long time”, by Jennifer Sor. Business Insider (via Yahoo Finance), May 30, 2023. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/billionaire-investor-leon-cooperman-says-174658759.html
[3] “Americans owe $1 trillion in credit card debt”, by Daniel De Vise. The Hill, May 30, 2023. https://thehill.com/business/personal-finance/4023009-americans-owe-1-trillion-in-credit-card-debt/
[4] “Elon Musk warns house prices are set to plunge – and says commercial real estate is in meltdown”, by Zahra Tayeb. Business Insider, May 30, 2023. https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/elon-musk-tesla-spacex-twitter-house-prices-commercial-real-estate-2023-5

 

Sign of White Buffalo Appears

All LAKOTA Prophecies Have Come True – Only ONE Left | Elder David Swallow

A rare white bison calf has been born at a Wyoming state park. The birth of a white bison is normally a “1 in 10 million” occurrence. Native American tribes believe when a white buffalo calf is born, it is a sign that their prayers are being heard and that the promises of their prophecy are being fulfilled. [1] A white buffalo calf is considered a sacred omen of change. “Prophetically, it is said that the White Buffalo Calf Woman will return at the end of an age, and she will appear as a white buffalo calf.” [2]

Also in Wyoming is the Yellowstone National Park. World-renowned physicist Michio Kaku just dropped a major announcement: Yellowstone is finally erupting in 2023. [3] Reportedly, a Yellowstone supervolcano eruption “would doom the United States”. A major eruption at Yellowstone’s supervolcano would send a plume of ash with a volume roughly 850 times greater than that of the one observed during the eruption of Mount St. Helens into the atmosphere. That much ash would cause global temperatures to plummet. [4]

The X-Date for government debt ceiling negotiations is June 5th. That is when the U.S. Treasury says it will run out of money. Coincidentally there is a Full Moon in Sagittarius on June 5th. “Fear always has something to teach you,” opines the Yoga Journal regarding the upcoming Full Moon. The vibes are ultimately about truth. Breaking through old patterns is indicated. [5]

The trade deficit jumped 17 percent in April, stated Gregory Mannarino, an active/full time trader of the capital markets with a world-wide following. [6] Double-checking, it is indeed found the US trade deficit in goods widened to USD 96.8 billion in April of 2023 from the upwardly revised USD 84.6 billion in the previous month. [7]

A decline in the real estate market was reported in the previous blog entry, in relation to scary parallels between now and the Great Depression. [8] “Realtor boom ends as housing market slumps”, reports Axios. Tens of thousands of real estate agents are giving up on the profession, thinning their ranks as the housing market comes back to earth. [9]

Legendary investor Jim Rogers is bracing for the worst bear market of his life, de-dollarization, and higher interest rates. It will be “the biggest market downturn in eight decades,” predicts Rogers. [10] That puts it roughly in the realm of the 1929 stock market crash.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has told the “Federal” Reserve “to hike more, and quickly, and then hold ’em high”, reports Forex. The IMF report also foresees, “Unrealized losses from holdings of long duration securities would increase in both banks and nonbanks and the cost of new financing for both households and corporates could become unmanageable”. [11]

A T-Bill deluge is foreseen by Bloomberg subsequent to any passage of a higher debt ceiling. “The concern is that with a tentative deal pending, the Treasury will soon replenish its cash balance by selling more than $1 trillion of bills through the end of the third quarter, according to recent estimates.” [12] To lure in investors, rates on the T-Bills are likely to rise. Already the 10-year yield on T-bills “is screaming at us that there is a big problem”, says Mannarino. [6]

——- Sources ——-
[1] “A ‘1 in 10 million’ bison is born at Wyoming state park”, by Don Sweeney. The Sacramento Bee (via Yahoo News), May 28, 2023. https://news.yahoo.com/1-10-million-bison-born-144455741.html
[2] “Ruth Hopkins: Prophecy of the White Buffalo Calf”, Native Times, June 21, 2011. https://www.nativetimes.com/index.php/life/commentary/5575-ruth-hopkins-prophecy-of-the-white-buffalo-calf
[3] “Michio Kaku: « Yellowstone Park Just Shut Down & Something TERRIFYING Is Happening! »”, Web Education. https://xn--webducation-dbb.com/michio-kaku-yellowstone-park-just-shut-down-something-terrifying-is-happening/
[4] “Yellowstone Supervolcano Eruption Would Doom the United States”, by Eric Zerkel. The Weather Channel, September 3, 2014. https://tinyurl.com/ycktntxy
[5] “What the Full Moon in Sagittarius Means for You”, by Jill Wintersteen. Yoga Journal, May 29, 2023. https://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/astrology/full-moon-in-sagittarius-june-2023/
[6] “Happening Now, Right in Our Faces”, Ersjdamoo’s Blog, May 28, 2023. https://ersjdamoo.wordpress.com/2023/05/28/happening-now-right-in-our-faces/
[7] “United States Goods Trade Balance”, Trading Economics. https://tradingeconomics.com/united-states/goods-trade-balance
[8] “Ill Fares the Land”, Ersjdamoo’s Blog, May 30, 2023. https://ersjdamoo.wordpress.com/2023/05/30/ill-fares-the-land-2/
[9] “Realtor boom ends as housing market slumps”, by Nathan Bomey. Axios, May 26, 2023. https://www.axios.com/2023/05/26/realtor-nar-real-estate-jobs
[10] “Jim Rogers is bracing for the worst bear market of his life, de-dollarization, and higher interest rates”, by Theron Mohamed. Business Insider, May 29, 2023. https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/jim-rogers-stock-market-outlook-crash-dollar-crypto-bitcoin-debt-2023-5
[11] “ICYMI: IMF has told the Federal Reserve to hike more, and quickly, and then hold ’em high”, by Eamonn Sheridan. Forex Live, May 28, 2023. https://www.forexlive.com/centralbank/icymi-imf-has-told-the-federal-reserve-to-hike-more-and-quickly-and-then-hold-em-high-20230528/
[12] “Debt-Ceiling Relief May Be Short as Focus Turns to T-Bill Deluge”, by Benjamin Purvis. Bloomberg (via Yahoo Finance), May 28, 2023. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/debt-ceiling-relief-may-short-133045565.html

 

Ill Fares the Land

Brother, Can You Spare A Dime?

A debt ceiling deal may provide only short-term market relief, reports Reuters. The deal “still faces a difficult path to pass through Congress”, but suppose it passes. At that point, the “Federal” Reserve feels confident about raising rates again. Once “a deal is reached, the U.S. Treasury is expected to quickly refill its empty coffers with bond issuance, sucking out hundreds of billions of dollars of cash from the market.” [1]

Already, the Treasury Department plans to issue $170 billion in T-bills right before the X-date, June 1st. (X-date now moved to June 5th.) [2]

Scary parallels between now and the 1930s Great Depression are seen by New Trader U. The “roaring 1920s came before the Great Depression, and the 1929 end game of that era has a lot of similarities with 2023.” [3]

“In both eras, the spirit of speculation has shown its ability to overheat markets, creating precarious bubbles destined to burst if history is any guide.” [3]

Among the parallels between now and the Great Depression cited by New Trader U:

• Increased homelessness;
• Widespread business failures;
• Bank failures and financial system instability;
• Global economic slowdown;
• Trade war tensions;
• Declining consumer confidence;
• Rising national debt;
• Tightening of credit markets;
• Escalating political and social unrest;
• Decline in the real estate market.

“High-profile financial experts, including ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad’ author Robert Kiyosaki and legendary investor Stanley Druckenmiller, have expressed concerns over the burgeoning unfunded liabilities in the United States, painting a grim picture of the country’s fiscal health.” [4]

Morgan Stanley analysts see a fall for commercial real estate “worse than in the Great Financial Crisis”. They forecast a “peak-to-trough CRE [Commercial Real Estate] price decline of as much as 40%…” [5]

In 1993 a book was published: Bankruptcy 1995: The Coming Collapse of America and How to Stop It, by Harry E. Figgie, Jr., with Gerald J. Swanson. Government has a penchant for central planning and deficit finance and an appalling record of mismanagement and wasted resources. Bankruptcy 1995 was a denunciation of America’s then growing $4 trillion national debt. It forecasted that interest on the national debt, then exceeding $200 billion annually, was likely to soon become the biggest item in the federal budget. [6]

Today the U.S. debt is around $31 trillion and if the new debt ceiling is approved it will grow higher. The Congressional Budget Office projects that interest payments on the debt will total $663 billion in fiscal year 2023 and rise rapidly throughout the next decade — climbing from $745 billion in 2024 to $1.4 trillion in 2033. [7] And that’s just interest payments, what they call “servicing the debt”.

Ill fares the land, to hastening ill a prey,
Where wealth accumulates and men decay:
Princes and lords may flourish or may fade;
A breath can make them, as a breath has made;
But a bold peasantry, their country’s pride,
When once destroyed, can never be supplied. [8]

——- Sources ——-
[1] “Debt deal may provide only short-term market relief”, by Shankar Ramakrishnan, et al. Reuters, May 27, 2023. https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/why-us-debt-deal-may-only-provide-short-term-relief-markets-2023-05-28/
[2] “The Treasury Department plans to issue $170 billion in T-bills right before the X-date as its cash balance shrinks further”, by Fillip De Mott. Business Insider (via Yahoo Finance), May 26, 2023. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/treasury-department-plans-issue-170-001459550.html
[3] “The Scary Parallels Between The Great Depression And Today”, by Steve Burns. New Trader U, accessed May 29, 2023. https://www.newtraderu.com/2023/05/27/the-scary-parallels-between-the-great-depression-and-today/
[4] “Kyosaki and Druckenmiller voice concerns over US economic crisis”, by Bralon Hill. Crypto News, May 25, 2023. https://crypto.news/kyosaki-and-druckenmiller-voice-concerns-over-us-economic-crisis/
[5] “Morgan Stanley analysts see a fall for commercial real estate ‘worse than in the Great Financial Crisis’—BofA disagrees for 3 key reasons”, by Alena Botros. Fortune (via Yahoo Finance), May 24, 2023. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/morgan-stanley-analysts-see-fall-131041771.html
[6] “Book Review: Bankruptcy 1995: The Coming Collapse of America and How to Stop It by Harry E. Figgie, Jr., with Gerald J. Swanson”, by William H. Peterson. Foundation for Economic Education, October 1, 1993. https://fee.org/articles/book-review-bankruptcy-1995-the-coming-collapse-of-america-and-how-to-stop-it-by-harry-e-figgie-jr-with-gerald-j-swanson/
[7] “WHAT IS THE NATIONAL DEBT COSTING US?”, Peter G. Peterson Foundation, accessed May 29, 2023.
[8] “Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey”, by Oliver Goldsmith. https://www.poetrynook.com/poem/ill-fares-land-hastening-ills-prey

 

Happening Now, Right in Our Faces

INFLATION RISING, DEFICIT SKYROCKETS. STOCK MARKET COMPLETELY DETACHED FROM REALITY…

Spain’s meteorologists are being harassed by “conspiracy theorists”, reports CNN. There has been a rapid rise in the harassments recently, coinciding with extreme weather in Spain. And it’s not just Spain: “National weather services, meteorologists and climate communicators in countries from the US to Australia say they’re experiencing an increase in threats and abuse, often around accusations they are overstating, lying about or even controlling the weather.” [1]

In Arizona, COVID-19 “conspiracy theories” are being spread by a group of doctors at hearings at the State Capitol. Panelists lamented lack of access to horse dewormers and antimalarial drugs, claimed the COVID vaccines were not safe, and “alleged that hospitals and public health agencies nationwide suppressed data or manipulated information about the virus for profit.” [2]

Gregory Mannarino, an active/full time trader of the capital markets with a world-wide following [3], picks apart the latest economic statistics in the video hopefully viewable above. Core personal consumption expenditures were higher than expected. Inflation is up. The trade deficit jumped 17 percent in April. Durable goods orders came in better than expected. But with durable goods, if you strip out transportation, such as multi-million dollar aircraft, durable goods is actually negative. Personal income went up 0.4 percent, however taking account of inflation puts personal income at negative growth. Personal spending is higher but that is misleading, says Mannarino: Of course, with the inflation, the personal spending would have to be higher.

“Debts and deficits are ballooning,” says Mannarino. Trade deficit up 17 percent in April.

The numbers are being spun, says the “Robin Hood of Wall Street”. Durable goods, for example, are actually negative if you strip out aircraft alone. We are told, “The consumer is strong because they’re spending more”, but of course, with inflation, they would have to be spending more.

“Credit card debt is at an all-time high, it goes up every month,” says Mannarino. “Defaults are skyrocketing across the board, not just with autos but we’re seeing home loans, credit card defaults – everything, across the board.”

The stock market is detached from reality, says the feisty former naval officer. “It is nearly, if not completely, impossible to trade this market anymore.”

“The 10-year yield [on T-bills] is screaming at us that there is a big problem.” It is at 3.83 percent, says Mannarino.

“Central banks are collectively working together to bring the world economy to its knees, to bring the consumer to their knees. [The central banks] are in a full-blown effort to wipe out an entire class of people on a worldwide scale, a new feudal system here, a lot more control, a consolidation of the system, pulling down the current system piece by piece.” It is all happening now, “right in our freaking faces.”

——- Sources ——-
[1] “‘Murderers’ and ‘criminals’: Meteorologists face unprecedented harassment from conspiracy theorists”, by Laura Paddison. CNN, May 27, 2023. https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/27/world/meteorologists-conspiracy-harassment-abuse-climate-intl/index.html
[2] “COVID-19 conspiracy theories continue in second day of hearings at Arizona Capitol”, by Katherine Davis-Young. KJZZ Phoenix, May 26, 2023. https://kjzz.org/content/1847953/covid-19-conspiracy-theories-continue-second-day-hearings-arizona-capitol
[3] https://traderschoice.net/

 

Nation Held Hostage by Military-Industrial Complex

Jeffrey Sachs: Bipartisan Support of War, from Iraq to Ukraine, Is Helping Fuel U.S. Debt Crisis

The United States faces a default on its debt in early June if a deal on the debt ceiling is not reached. Notably, however, neither Republicans nor Democrats are proposing cuts to one of the biggest drivers of the nation’s debt: the massive U.S. military budget. “We’ve got to get this military-industrial lobby under control, but it’s hard to do, because it’s a bipartisan affair,” says economist Jeffrey Sachs. His recent article is headlined “America’s Wars and the US Debt Crisis.” [1]

U.S. wars since September 11, 2001 (“9/11”) have cost over $8 trillion. The Wall Street bailout of 2008 and the coronavirus panic also added significantly to U.S. debt. Approval for huge military spending is bipartisan, says Sachs in the video hopefully viewable above, yet nobody in Congress is talking about its impact on the national debt.

Why isn’t anyone, Republican, Democrat, or Democratic Socialist in Congress, talking about how our economy is being held hostage by the Military-Industrial Complex (MIC)? The answer could be in Senator Chuck Schumer’s 2017 statement: “Let me tell you, you take on the intelligence community, they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you.” [2]

But is the debt ceiling even the real issue for the US economy right now?, asks Dr. Radhika Desai. The “US faces an even bigger and more immediate threat given its large debt – a crash in the Treasuries market.” [3] Gregory Mannarino has also been warning about this: What has been happening in the bond market is not getting the attention that it should, says Mannarino. There is a global sell-off with the 10-year yield over 40 basis points higher than it was about two weeks ago. [4]

The bottom fell out of the market for US Treasuries at the start of the pandemic in March 2020 and, for over a year now, rising interest rates have also been propping up the T-bills. And all our borrowing, says Dr. Desai, has had poor results: “Even the vast, heavily subsidized US military industrial complex cannot produce cutting edge weapons that rival Russia and China with their hypersonic missiles, and can only supply an endless series of wars that end in defeat.” [3]

——- Sources ——-
[1] “Jeffrey Sachs: Bipartisan Support of War, from Iraq to Ukraine, Is Helping Fuel U.S. Debt Crisis”, Democracy Now!, May 24, 2023. https://www.democracynow.org/2023/5/24/jeffrey_sachs_defense_spending_us_debt
[2] “On the Road to Oil Armageddon”, Ersjdamoo’s Blog, May 26, 2023. https://ersjdamoo.wordpress.com/2023/05/26/on-the-road-to-oil-armageddon/
[3] “Is the debt ceiling the real issue for the US economy right now?”, by Dr. Radhika Desai. Russia Today (RT), May 23, 2023. https://on.rt.com/cd1a
[4] “Debt Ceiling a ‘Staged Crisis’?”, Ersjdamoo’s Blog, May 25, 2023. https://ersjdamoo.wordpress.com/2023/05/25/debt-ceiling-a-staged-crisis/