The Wake Up Call

Thanks, Natasha, for failing to warn us that the Meet-Up Group could not meet yesterday because your restaurant had ‘gone under’. Adrian, our moderator, drove in from Massachusetts and one attendee traveled 5½ hours for nothing and our guest was standing by in Mexico to talk to us by phone. Way-to-go, Natty! Online shopping is putting the iconic mall to sleep. The open spaces are outdated so they cannot be repurposed. Developers are concentrating on Asia these days. We hear Alan Grayson in support of elections for independence in Crimea and for the Russian position. The real issue with obesity. The U.N.’s withering verdict on the U.S.’s human rights record. Sunday’s municipal elections in France, a disaster from President Hollande. The basic cause of societal collapse

The truth behind the ugly Ukrainian situation, instigated, as usual, by the United States. A short history of the country and some perspective on the reality behind the elections in Crimea. Not what you will hear from the main-stream media. All of which goes to show how very dangerous America is to world peace. Existing home sales are showing pronounced weakness, giving the lie to the idea that there is an ongoing recovery in the housing market. More evidence that the American middle class is shrinking. Optimism and resilience. The ability to endure hardships and setbacks has been analysed and leads to some interesting conclusions. You may discover some new ways of seeing and thinking about the world. (Don’t forget the Meet-Up Group on Sunday!

Debt and the absurd hubris and arrogance of the accursed politicians assure our ultimate destruction. Insolvency is everywhere: banks, governments, cities and states, consumers… The concept of the death-wish will kick in once the markets melt down and the 1-percenters have lost their money. There will be no turning back. There will be a cascading sequence of debt defaults, mass poverty, collapsing financial markets and deflation. Nothing can prevent this now: the system is too far-gone. A discussion of the concept of the minimum wage. China is almost ready to collapse, following the example of South Korea in the 1990s. The government lies about its fiscal reality, to be ‘corrected’ by the GAO. Paul Craig Roberts’s take on the Crimea situation. The U.S. has been described as ‘an enemy of the Internet’ for the first time by Reporters Without Borders, in the company of such countries as Russia, Iran, Syria and North Korea. Bill Binney, 32-year veteran of the NSA last week described the U.S. as a police state and said it was within an inch of being a totalitarian one. A Saudi cleric has issued a fatwa on all-you-can-eat buffets in Saudi Arabia. (You’re supposed to know what you want beforehand)

No lessons have been learned from the financial crisis. Debt has soared more than 40% since then. There is no evidence that this debt growth has had any positive effect on economic growth. In fact, quite the opposite. The only unanswered question is as to where this enormous expansion in unproductive debt will lead. Mathematically it is impossible to “outgrow” debt accumulation. The China crisis, the greatest bubble in history. Chinese subprime lending looks just like the U.S. just before its crisis, according to George Soros. The knock-on effects of the collapse will be felt worldwide. The Chinese are spending more and more to create less and less GDP. The defaults have begun. Sit back and watch the fun. David Stockman talking about the absurdities of “tapering” and “QE-this-and-that”. Stock market report. Revisiting Cyprus.

We examine some of the ways in which this is tragically true: incarceration, murder, inadequate health care, teenage pregnancy, infant mortality, education, income inequality, infrastructure… the list goes on. 5.8 million workers are missing. The world’s first pot billionaire. Why banks are still issuing debt and keeping interest rates artificially low. Another clip from the inimitable Nigel Farage. Negativity versus positivity. Consumer confidence dropped unexpectedly. 23 rules for success in business

People simply believe whatever they’re told (about the economy) even if their personal situations tell them the diametric opposite. ‘Belief’ is a powerful force, initiated by Santa Claus. I explain in simple terms why economic growth – or recovery – is impossible. It is a very simple concept to understand but the media will do its best to prevent you from doing so. More on housing and the ridiculous ‘weather-related’ excuses for the poor showing in the housing market. The nightmare bubbling beneath the surface at the European banks. The grim reality is soon to burst forth. The recovery is alive and well – for the country’s millionaires who number an all-time high. A final comment on the housing market, due to collapse as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are ‘retired’. Comment from Bill Bonner. The absurd, outrageous and frightening militarization of the police. How the government creates phony numbers to keep debt and the system afloat. It’s doomed to failure.

Brides in China need to “marry up” in all respects. The real estate bubble there has reached absurd proportions, leading to ghost-towns. The imminent bursting bubble will affect us all. In fact, it may well be the password to introducing the greatest global depression of all time. China will have to withdraw entirely from world trade. However, its economy will thereafter be over $100 trillion, according to Niall Ferguson, while America sinks even further into self-administered mediocrity. Plenty of statistics here to support this contention. More grim news on the housing situation. Stock market report. More on the economy. A touching story about the difference between U.S. and French health care. A word about the euro. Entrepreneurs who massage animals need a veterinary license in Arizona! (But no license needed for humans). Another example of U.S. government arrogance, criticizing China – as usual

Capitalism is now a cult, probably led in essence by Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan Chase. According to this theory, America is led by narcissists wired to self-destruct. There follows a detailed description of what that means. There are no happy endings in this interpretation. The concept represents a fascinating analysis of the human condition where the ultimate conclusion is the fulfillment of the death-wish of the cult of capitalism itself. All negative economic outcomes are described as “unexpected” by the media and the pundits. They say the economic chill is due to cold weather! Update on the U.S. economy. More on Detroit’s looming bankruptcy and that of several other U.S. cities. A discussion of Robert Gordon’s NBER paper, “Is U.S. Economic Growth Over?” P/E ratios explained

I talk about the economics of slavery and how slavery has contributed immeasurably to the capital assets of the United States today. The conundrum of the payment of reparations in the United States. The advancement of medical science through slaves and slavery. All kinds of businesses profited from the use of slaves as active collateral. Wealth and knowledge acquired through slavery is very understated (if stated at all) in the United States. Stock market comment. Margin debt at record highs. A word of warning about the big banks. Bitcoin follow-up comment. The nonsense about a Greek ‘recovery’. (Greece now said to be a ‘surplus nation’!

We all need to learn how to harness negative events into negative thinking as opposed to the usual meaningless ‘positive thinking’. There are numerous examples of failed experiments with ‘positive thinking’ such as the business world moving from hardheaded to feel-good management. The ability to say ‘no’ is a forgotten construct: “no, you can’t be promoted”, “no, you can’t travel club-class”, “no, you can’t have a pay rise”. “No!” is considered demeaning, demotivating, uncreative. Experiments with positive thinking frequently elicit worse results than those involving negative thinking. Stock market report. Massive debt at all levels is being ignored. It is a tsunami rapidly approaching. It is about to crash over us and submerge us economically. And almost nobody sees it coming… More curtailment of freedoms, this time pertaining to the freedom to grow your own organic food. Jogger arrested because she couldn’t hear the police instructing her to stop. Not understanding, she pulled away and was promptly accused of ‘resisting arrest’. Tina Turner has just renounced her American citizenship. More on GDP. An update on Bitcoin

Two passages from newspapers, with tendentious material, some of it completely inaccurate and other parts replete with non-sequiturs and faulty thinking and conclusions. We see how to protect ourselves from getting carried away by this sort of thing. Beware the perfectly true and acceptable statements mixed in with the lies to give credibility to the argument. Sometimes the information consists of outright misrepresentations and erroneous statements of ‘fact’. “Do due dilly”, as they say. OECD plans to incorporate tax and financial data of all its citizens with each other. The excuse is to eliminate tax evasion but corporations do that anyway! It’s just another way to shore up their finances because most of the members are, in fact, broke! (Italy, Japan, Spain, Greece, USA, etc.) A quick rundown of the latest economic reports, showing a very grim situation. Congressional pensions. Another scandal. The world is amazingly more productive than it was fifty years ago. Some examples and figures. 

There is simply no economic support for organic growth in the real estate market. The economy is as moribund as it was four years ago. 57 out of 110 economists believe investors will resell their real estate portfolios “in the next three to five years”. Demand for housing has never been weaker. Zero interest rates, courtesy of the Fed, have merely induced leveraged speculation. There has been a 58% drop in household growth compared with 2012. Home buyers are simply not in evidence. Crushing student loans have taken care of first-time home buyers. Household debt is sharply higher, up by $241 billion in the latest quarter. Inventories are growing again, as well. Stock market P/E is currently at 25 versus an average of 16.5, going back to 1870. More on consumer spending. The U.S. is behind the Ukraine riots, having “invested” $5 billion to achieve U.S. “goals”, according to Assistant Secretary of State, Victoria Nuland. Oil extraction in North Dakota, a success story, for a change

The mainstream media has become such a farcical propaganda machine for vested interests, it’s essential to verify everything they report as fact. Their purpose is to entertain the consciously ignorant with exaggerate threats to keep you fearful and to function as mouthpieces for the ruling class. America has become a delusional state dependent upon fallacies to convince itself that its foolhardy beliefs, ludicrous economic policies, corrupt, captured political systems and preposterously fraudulent financial systems are actually based on sound logic and reason. A personal account of the way in which hospitals have changed since the 1970s by an emergency room physician. Total global debt has passed the point at which it can be reversed. Mathematically speaking, a catastrophic implosion is now all but a certainty. The fate of the emerging markets’ economies, fatally dependent on the developed countries which have now betrayed them with absurdly low interest rates. Why the next global crisis will be unlike any ever seen before. Obama making up laws as he goes along. The decline of the U.S. economy according to the ill-fated demographics with their preponderance of elderly citizens (baby boomers)

Distressed sales (short sales & foreclosure sales) rose to a three-year high of 16.2% of all U.S. residential sales, up from 14.5% in 2012. Prior to 2007 the normal percentage of distressed home sales was less than 3%. The RealtyTrac report reveals that all-cash purchases accounted for 42% of all U.S. residential sales in December. How real is that? Mortgage applications are languishing at 1997 levels, down 65% from the 2005 highs. Real people in the real world need a mortgage to buy a house. But never mind. The masses desperately want a feel good story they can believe. A quick tour of the current state-of-play in various countries. More evidence that “QE” has been a complete and hideously expensive waste of time. I discuss the nature of the global crisis. We hear a whistleblower tell Congress her tragic story of government revenge. The disastrous effect of Bernanke’s QE on emerging markets. Yet another unintended consequence (which the Fed, of course, denies)

The Federal Reserve, along with every other central bank, is powerless to ignite an economy. It is peopled by arrogant, second and third-rate economists who have no idea what makes an economy run. They have singularly failed to predict any important financial and/or economic development. We examine what they have done and why it could never have worked. Yellen is just more of the same. Is the Fed really going to buy every single asset on the face of the earth – to prevent it going down in value? What utter morons! A speaker explains why the government can never cut spending. Stock market comment. Unemployment comment. The misery index. Dollar comment. The future of war in the developed world