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Democracy Failure Follows Market Failure
From Nic Lenoir of ICAP
Some very spicy comments from the Hungarian prime minister who basically tells the world to get lost (please admire effort to remain polite on his part). In so many words it's not his fault, it's the previous administration's fault. Sounds familiar? Obama has used it at will, Greece has used it, I heard Sarkozy use it, and just about everybody else! Even Republicans who campaigned to "Drill baby drill!" now blame the BP fiasco on Obama. Needless to say political courage is something that no longer exists, and populism has been the only political program offered to us for now a solid 40 years. The natural extension is for a Prime Minister to just walk in and say: "You know what screw you guys, we will default, I am not taking back tax cuts that got me elected, I am not telling people who were promised early retirement that really it's not feasible, I'm just not going to deal with any of this. Let's just default and keep doing what we were doing". In the same line of thought the French PM declared this morning that there is nothing bad about EURUSD at parity.
If you think it's bad to sell someone a mortgage they can't pay, how about promising them a lifestyle they can't afford! Washington has some nerve to blame the financial industry: "a house for every American" was their idea. Granted there is plenty of blame and jail time deserved at many financial institutions but it is true also for Congress. I used to think that over the past 40 years the commodity that was most devalued was human labor but I have changed my mind. A man's word no longer has any value in most cases. Should the law be changed so that it holds our leaders accountable for their words? Why not, we would get a hell of a clean slate and something to be finally hopeful about. That is change I would believe in for sure.
Leaving philosophical considerations aside, the comments by the Hungarian prime minister are of very dangerous nature. Combined with the IMF declaring they are not properly capitalized to handle further bailouts, then we are left exposed to a possibly deadly riptide in sovereign bonds. If you owned a Hungarian bond here and you found a bid you would hit it wouldn't you? So should everybody, and then comes Romania with a recently failed auction, and then Ukraine which already received one round of bailout and will clearly need more. Then comes Western Europe, even Germany with its exposure to Eastern Europe, Japan... If dominos start falling it will be nearly impossible to stop them unless theree is enough private wealth left at one point to back specific sovereign entity. With the overall leverage in the system that could mean very few people, though Japan has proved resilient for that very reason despite a huge debt-to-GDP ratio. And even though 4 PMs in 4 years shows that public opinion is losing its discipline in the empire of the rising sun, their politicians still have the good taste of resigning.
Either way this is the kind of event that can be the spark of a global systemic crash that would leave very few standing if any. Any optionality in an investment portfolio should be to the downside and there is a good chance a lot of bets would not be honored under that scenario. Cash, Gold, and maybe guns seems sadly to be the answer. Many will say once again that I am not very cheerful and would not make for a very good guest at a dinner or a conference, but it is looking for short term good news at the expense of any critical thinking or hard work that got us there in the first place so that will only help me make my point.
Good luck trading and stay long tail risk,
Nic
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We are fucked, fucked, fucked I tell ya. Fucked.
Sell everything. Head for the hills.
Democracy failure or market failure = chicken or egg.
It is always a political failure, since fiat money is only a political artifact
Well we are fucked but the hills won't save you. Take a look at some of the long standing peak oil sites and survival blogs. You're going to need community around you and have you got the skills needed for day to day survival? Remember the lesson of Sarajevo, Rwanda, the holocaust etc, the Veneer of civilization is very thin.
The first age of globalization ended in 1914 with World War 1 and the gilded age of the 20's ended with WW2. War will come, if the straight of Hormuz is hit, 70% of world oil will be gone overnight. This directly affects global food supply and the production of everything, though I suppose a credit market collapse could do the same thing.
Bringing up scary thoughts-reload mind- scares me.
"70% of world oil will be gone overnight" That is a fkn scary thought.
It would suck to be Europe at that point. Dense population, very dependent on foreign oil, no military to speak of to keep oil flowing, and probably a weak currency(ies) bidding for what's on the market. Maybe they were prescient to stack themselves like sardines, drive tiny cars with tiny motors, and quadruple down on public transportation. Maybe.
Tiny cars and tiny motors is still better than tiny brain. But you must know better.
+1 about community.
Fuken woo-hoo! Nic, it's not maybe. Keep $1,000 and use the rest for glocks and M1As.
Some factors involved in an Israeli attack on Iran:
Time is running short for the Zionists.
"Contractors are working flat out in the United Arab Emirates to build a giant oil pipeline that will divert up to 1.8 million barrels a day of crude exports away from the Strait of Hormuz"
An oil pipeline is a very easy target from the ground or air. Ask the Georgians.
Please keep Ezekiel 33:6 in mind
We are the Watchmen. It is our duty to inform our friends and family of what is to come.
And warn again and again until they get it. So keep blowing that trumpet.
Believe me, I'd blow my own trumpet if I could. Shit, I'd never leave the house...
They do not listen................Life is the same, day to day, for all my friends,and their jobs.
I am weary of being looked at as someone to avoid.THEY do not want to hear it...........
When the SHTF, they will be the first, having MI's, and like JOB, will be piling ashes on their heads, and saying Woe is Me.........
The worst part, is their kids, and immediate families........they will have lost ALL their lifes savings,a hlf empty frig,freezer, and NO REAL money, or Serverly devalued............
They have been warned, their blood will not be on my hands.
Be prepared to have them coming to you, for help.............if your able, prepare for that also.
I attempted to warn some of my friends and family. I tried reason...in a very low tone and volumn...Now I am the bad guy for delivering the message. So, I totally avoid discussing ongoing and upcoming problems with them. When the shtf they are on their own and I will not say 'I told you so' or 'I tried to warn you' or 'I said be a good Boy Scout and Be Prepared'. We do our best and then let it go.
the inlawes have been town they know i have guns ammo fd food they think i am a nut. i said it is insurance just in case shtf. they replied can we play wii said no do not own one. can we go play the lotto yeah knock yourself out
It truly is about beaking through denial, and to break through denial, you have to reach people where they are at.
I usually start by only talking with them about stuff that might be of interest to them. Over time, when big events happen that can help them connect the dots, I help them break through their denial, slowly. If you go too far, too fast, they shut down, and you get the ostrich effect.
Unfortunately, time is running short, and a lot of people are going to get hurt. It's important more than anything else at this point to have your own house in order...
And further on in that same chapter is the answer to our troubles:
13 If I tell the righteous man that he will surely live, but then he trusts in his righteousness and does evil, none of the righteous things he has done will be remembered; he will die for the evil he has done.
14 And if I say to the wicked man, 'You will surely die,' but he then turns away from his sin and does what is just and right—
15 if he gives back what he took in pledge for a loan, returns what he has stolen, follows the decrees that give life, and does no evil, he will surely live; he will not die.
16 None of the sins he has committed will be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he will surely live.
17 Yet your countrymen say, 'The way of the Lord is not just.' But it is their way that is not just.
If you really want to have some fun, start digging into Ezekiel 38 and 39. Somewhat summarized below by Joel Rosenberg, from his blog.
A short note, take it easy on the old Turdman. This is not meant to spark another Israel bad/Israel good discussion. It just is what it is.
JUNE 3, 2010 ISRAELI RABBIS SAY CURRENT EVENTS COULD LEAD TO “WAR OF GOG AND MAGOG”MEDIA ALERT: Joel to be interviewed on the Janet Parshall show on the Moody Radio Network from 6pm to 7pm eastern Thursday. Topics: Israel, Gaza, Ezekiel 38-39, and the 2010 Epicenter Conference.
————————————————-
A pastor friend of mine who is helping us set up the 2010 Epicenter Conference in Philadelphia later this month just sent me an urgent text message with this headline from Israel National News: Rabbis: Flotilla Clash Similar to Gog and Magog Prophecy. As you might expect, it caught my attention right away. Excerpts:
There is growing interest in the Ezekiel prophecies and whether they could play out in our lifetime. I believe it is still too early to say anything definitively. But I agree that current events are strikingly consistent with the prophecies and I believe it is possible that we could see these events unfold soon. The mention of “Gomer” in Ezekiel, for example, refers to the modern-day State of Turkey which will be an enemy of Israel and part of a Russian-Iranian alliance against the Jewish state. I’m not saying the prophecy will necessarily come to pass soon, but I can’t rule out that possibility. We’ve never seen a convergence of geopolitical and spiritual events so consistent with Ezekiel 38-39 in history like we are seeing today. We need to be prayerful, sober, alert and prepared. At the conference on June 25-26 in Philly, I will address the latest developments. But I knew you’d want to see this article.
Like I said the other day.
Here's some more food for thought along these lines...
Israel set to become gas exporterhttp://www.jpost.com/Business/BusinessNews/Article.aspx?id=177428
You are kidding right? Ezekiel?
http://dailyreckoning.com/government-desperate-gold-tax-imminent/
Government Desperate. Gold Tax Imminent?
o show you how things get around, I get this from Ed Steer’s Gold & Silver Daily, which linked to an essay by Adrian Ash, at bullionvault.com, posted over at safehaven.com, and bearing the title “Gold Gets All Political.”
The thrust is that, as Mr. Steer says, “Adrian floats the disturbing possibility that governments, looking around for easy sources of revenue, may decide to tax the private ownership of gold.”
Well, I am happy to be the “go-to guy” when it comes to questions like this, and I am happy that I can put Adrian’s fears to rest.
He can rest assured that the government will tax the private ownership of gold, and everything else, too, highly reminiscent of the phrase in the Declaration of Independence that reads that the government “has erected a multitude of new offices, and send hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance” which, at this point in time since 1789, is 1 out of 5 workers who are paid from the collection of taxes, and a large system of governments which spends more than half of all income, and spends up to two-thirds of all income if the cost of compliance with government regulations is included!
Everything will be taxed, as things are already bad, as easily seen in an essay by Mike “Mish” Shedlock, of Global Economic Analysis, who writes that the government got less tax revenue remitted, spending went up despite it, thus the budget deficit is rising, the national debt is rising, and all in a pretty dramatic way, too, as he writes, “The excess of spending over revenue rose to $82.7 billion last month compared with a $20.9 billion gap in April 2009. It was the second April deficit since 1983.”
In fact, he says, “April marked a record 19th straight monthly shortfall, highlighting the challenges facing the Obama administration,” which shows that Mr. Shedlock is mellowing, as he knows, better than most of us, that we are Seriously, Seriously Screwed (SSS), and calling such an unstoppable horror a “challenge” seems like a joke, and it must be, because it made me smile!
Anyway, more evidence of a certain mellowing in Mr. Shedlock is found when he says, “Deterioration in the government’s balance sheet in coming years raises the risk of higher interest rates even as an improving economy helps lift tax receipts,” which doesn’t even sound like him!
He says “raises the risk” when he knows exactly why interest rates would rise; inflation in prices! The buying power of the dollar will be falling as a result of all that creation of more money, and the buyers of bonds want to be compensated for that loss, and they will demand higher interest rates to get it.
Well, he does not want to get into that “inflation-prediction” swamp with me, and instead said, “The government has reported budget surpluses in 43 of the past 56 Aprils,” which is pretty remarkable, but not as remarkable as the fact that “The last time the US had back-to-back April deficits was 1963-1964.”
1963-1964? Yow! I leap involuntarily to my feet, my Powerful Mogambo Brain (PMB) whirling in shock when I ominously notice that this is exactly when the long bear market of 1964-1982 began! Yikes!
Everything will be taxed...
I'm waiting to see the governments go after organized religion.
Dems too much in fear with elections looming to actually raise taxes now.
Why are religions tax exempt anyway? They should have always been taxed. They tax their followers they should be taxed.
*cough* establishment clause *cough*
Businesses can and should be taxed. That is the important distinction. I agree that a strikingly large number of churches effectively operate as businesses, hellbent on expansion (competing with tax paying land purchasers) and often times not returning to the community what I would consider to be a reasonable portion of revenues.
Further, many churches are leveraged to the gills. This too is a business activity. Looks like a duck, quacks like a duck...
Last, and probably most importantly, when the stomach is empty, so is the collection plate. I think you'll see a lot of churches and charities go belly up when no one can donate. Likewise, you can't get blood out of a turnip and even uncle sam can't tax what churches (businesses) don't collect.
And that is when small groups will congregate to worship and help each other cope.....As intended. That is also when I will become active in a congregation again.
I should add a caveat or two... I don't personally believe in taxation anywhere near the present levels... but, given the current environment, businesses can and should be taxed when duly authorized by requisite representatives (to which the populace agrees) and when uniformly and consistently applied.
It took a little longer to corrupt " the church" debt wise , but most churches are indeed saddled with huge debt of expansions , additions , which many have guilt tripped their members into paying . Even signing "promises" aka mortgages for jesus to give "x" every week . The "church" at large has lost her way , and has grown corrupt as the Gov't that gives the tax breaks . Funny ;aren't the Gov't and the "church" supposed to make a pact - AntiChrist and the Scarlet Whore . Yes all after the true church the body of Christ are gone - No, not left behind fantasy . The rapture . I gave up on mainstream relgion and there loss of doctrine 2 decades ago . Like Romans Ch 1-3 - God gave em over , gave em over , and gave em up ( to the lusts of their own hearts to fulfil them )
Religions are advantaged because they are so politically useful. Their followers are conditioned from birth to follow the priests. This makes them great voting blocs.
Churches made a deal with the Devil when they accepted 501C3 status anyway.I agree their tax free status needs to go away......
Maybe then the REAL truth will be allowed to be spoken..........the church has been silent far too long.
Thinking True Disciples would stop giving without a Tax write off.
Too many White washed seplucures out there,full of dead mens bones.
This Stopped them from DECLARING the truth, and telling the people from Pulpits, what they see going on, and telling the TRUTH.
"a house for every American"
Thats how the very top suck off the lemmings, give them lies. Lemmings have no need to be told the Truth, they enjoy the lie, the lie makes them march for the very top.
We have entire voting blocs who've been convinced by 30 years of feel-good revisionism and affirmative action that they are at parity with those who really actually scored far higher.
Something like this guys? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P36x8rTb3jI
I'm not sure I agree with the proposition that public programs cause anyone on them to march or do anything productive. Rather, social programs seem to act as opiates of the masses... and encourage us to shy away from our own initiative of productive activity.
In large part, I think the lemmings simply have no alternative avenue. They can either take government money and get swept away with the credit collapse or not take government money and get swept away with the credit collapse. In short, their ability to alter their fate in the current environment is nil and no amount of lies or other shenanigans would disincentivize them to take handouts.
We can revolt, but we have revolted before and chosen the same path over, and over, and over again. At least we have infrastructure left from the C.C.C. Maybe our hands can build something that will span the next bust.
here's a lie for ya...
http://voxday.blogspot.com/
What the Baby Ruth said above.
Lenoir's posts have been some of my favorite lately.
"Many will say once again that I am not very cheerful and would not make for a very good guest at a dinner or a conference, but it is looking for short term good news at the expense of any critical thinking or hard work that got us there in the first place so that will only help me make my point."
Nic,
The bearer of bad news, the truth speaker, is rarely welcome at the party of denial. Rather than looking within for the reasons the party's ending, the party goers would rather complain to and cast stones at the truth speaker as the cause for their disappointing reality.
There is no softer easier way out of this mess. In fact, the longer the denial goes on, the harder the fall will be. Keep swimming upstream Nic. There will always be a light on and a warm bed ready at my house anytime you come knocking at my door.
Even if stopped right now, this very moment, those in denial, states and individuals alike, face a fall from the cliff of reality that many will not survive; sorry to say.
Agreed. However, many will not survive by exposing the lies now or later. No matter what we do, many will not survive. I contend that the longer we wait, the more who will suffer and die.
So the argument becomes, are "X" current lives worth more than "X plus" future lives, with future being tomorrow or next week or next month or next year?
There aren't enough plusses to sum that up.
Those that do survive will be pointing fingers, not looking in the mirror.
"It's the Republicrats fault! You hate America!" Wash, rinse, repeat.
Look where telling the truth got Jesus!
Excellent post, CD.
Amen, thank you Nic, no one wanted to associate with the Geeks in school either...............
Poor Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs................etc.
Dudes, speak less at parties! If the day comes those who brought the message will be hanging from the gallows along with the perpetrators.
Guilt by association. The mob will be looking at resumes.
"a house for every American"
Well it seems to me there was a jubilee....for TBTF. The Federal government in collusion with the Fed has basically bought every mortgage in existence with taxpayer funds, but didn't bailout the people actually paying the mortgages. If they wanted reflation they should have just said, the state has paid your mortgage, if you had one good on you it's paid. Couldn't do that though, could they?
"Either way this is the kind of event that can be the spark of a global systemic crash that would leave very few standing if any."
Let's quit yapping and do this thing. Long live the forest let it burn. This is the only way my son gets a fair shake, if we survive. I'll take those odds. We're rednecks, we'll make it if there's a way, and the will is there. It's a free for all, fuck'em all.
A world without government, sounds like paradise to me.
A society needs a functioning economy, and a system of justice; government not so much.
I dont disagree with you Nick, but the situation you describe, where there is "a good chance a lot of bets would not be honoured" would be pretty bad for your enployer I think. Which in many ways makes your views more noteworthy, your Chaiman is after all treasurer of the Tory party and therefore something of an establishment figure. I know he preffers the swashbuckling image that ICAP had back in the Finsbury Circus days but they are surely long gone. Refreshing that you are able to write what you think and not what your big clients would like to hear! Thanks.
To those who are frustrated about the denial, take some comfort in knowing that knowledge is opportunity where others are just drinking the kool-aid. You have to be confident in that saying "things that can't go on forever, don't", or another good one: "In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king".
Don't forget: "If you're gonna be stupid, ya gotta be tough."
After SHTF I want to be invited to the neck stretching parties for gold and silver manipulators so I can cheer their kicking the air.
I often find myself feeling guilty for hoping that the market crashes. But then I just remind myself that it is a actually a blessing because collapse is inevitable and it seems the only way the People are going to wake up and demand a change is if they watch their 401k drop.
Tha DumFucks are runnin GS an AAPL.
Fools...let some air out or it's game over.
August...
What is the substrate of the OP? What does it tell?
Very poor OP, it looks like the ravings of coke sped yuppie.
The Jewish people after WWI bought Gold,Diamonds,Furs,Paintings and any stable currenccy they could find. then waited through the Weimar disaster and ended up owning everything to the point Adolf decided to take it back and make soap. I would say that all these things still make solid investments today with the inclusion of guns and a little lead, I just bought a dandy 1892 winchester so cheap you would think it was still made.
cowdiddly
Adolf never made soap nor lampshades.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap_made_from_human_corpses#Human_soap_pro...
GF, You meant HE didn't.............his minions did.
Well, one cannot borrow forever without at least making interest payments.
As for Obama's brand of Marxist-economics, it does not work. The easy part of printing money is over. Now, it is time to take a bitter medicine but don't expect it for Obama and the Congress. They are just utterly corrupt and incompetent POS.
So, it appears we are heading to a blow out both economically and politically. As the Soviet demise has shown, the best way to survive is to own hard assets and guns (they were very handy to preserve and increase standards of living).
There are another possibility: get a new and bigger war. But Obama is not FDR, Putin is not Stalin, and Merkel is not Hitler. Furthermore, China is about to watch and enjoy an America & EU collapse. WOW!
If this goes down China will be that three story building in Guatemala...
http://images.tmuscle.com/forum_images/6/f/6f22d-guatemala_sink_hole_2.jpg
Don't think they won't be in trouble, their demographics practically spell out revolution and war when hard times come.
Ron Paul said it best. We (America) will be the last one standing.
I don't expect Hussein Hope-n-change to be the one solving this issue. Make your vote in November count, we
probably need to impeach the basterd.
China is hanging by a thread. Mountains of malinvestment. Dwindling export growth threatening to reverse, the value of the foreign debt they own in question, absolutely awful demographic situation. China will get old before it gets rich, but worse things may come even sooner than that.
You know, I think that what is happening is an awareness that debt has now gone asymptotic. Mako is absolutely correct. The equation won. The scary part is that the collapse will be swift and literally overnight.
Now when I say overnight I am talking through 2012. The year is already famous. And the patterns of the cosmos are reacting very CVIX-50 like. And as a musician and reader of all things political and economic, I sense the tempo increasing.
There is clearly not enough private wealth to pay the interest. Period. As the great mugambo would say, We are Freaking Doomed (WFD).
So, where do we go from here?
There are only two paths now. A war or a jubilee.
Jubilee leads to war
Trav, both are inevitable now.
Isn't it just as often a choice between war and dishonor, where the establisment chooses dishonor and gets war too?
Extending the metaphor to the domestic front, the path of dishonor was bailing out the TBTFs, QE, extend-and-pretend, mark to fantasy. They were seeking to avoid depression and instead they've (we've?) set ourselves on the path to collapse.
The scary part?
No. Thanks to the Internet, I am convinced that the fear of many people is not this one. People seem to prefer a quick cataclysmic death to a slow selective agony.
The process will go slowly and will go past 2012.
This is what people fear. To sink while looking around to witness that their former friends have good or even better times.
That is what is coming.
Big move up in the Eur/USD. Wonder who is behind it?
"Laws control the lesser man.
Right conduct controls the greater one." - Chinese proverb
We have neither laws that are obeyed nor greater men - it looks like dark days are looming...
Fix,
While it's a truism, for some, I disagree.
Right conduct is a moral compass, following Law is a by product of those morals.We have a lot of Americans that live both.
We just are treated daily to the demons.
Remember that at the end of the Declaration of Independence, the signers pledged their lives, fortunes, and "sacred honor"--in that order.
That was statement was crescendo, not diminuendo--it came from a time when you weren't always expected to put the most important point first in case King George stopped reading.
The order of the things they pledged are telling. Honor held first place, fortunes second, lives third. Back then people died of all sorts of things, early. But fortunes served a next generation,the continuation of life. Honor on the other hand involved the valuation of one's soul. That used to be a Big Deal.
Also, your honor affected your entire family name, including those outside of the primogeniture-enforced beneficiaries of the fortune.
Wreck your good name and often money couldn't save you because no one would do business with you. Why did Jean Valjean have to tear up that yellow passport -- not because he didn't have any money....
nic, its all relative.....you can come to my house for dinner and market discussions. trust me when i tell you - you will be the cheery one at the table!
Always enjoy reading your stuff Nic.
The following scene from ‘The Simpsons’ reminds me of our Governments way of thinking about the fundamentals of their stimulas package.
Homer, holding $20 in his hand from earnings he made by hiring out ‘Stampe’, Bart’s new pet elephant, for rides around town yells out to the whole of Springfield, “I’m the greatest businessman in the world”.
Marge, his wife, replies, “But I just spent $200 on peanuts to feed the darn thing.”
Homer barks back, “But that’s your money.”
Marge replies, “Yeah, but I get it off you for housekeeping.”
Homer, “Doh”
Later Homer boasts about his negotiation skills by being able to sell the elephant to a voluntary, not for profit organisation that looks after homeless elephants which is run by a Texan ivory dealer.
"All I have in this world..."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qak-fmYlBRc&feature=related
All the ingredients for a world war are moving into the mix. On what would seem to be a precision time table.
Will the societies of the world allow themselves to manipulated yet again by the bankers, military industrial complex, corporations and their media propaganda machines?
Or will they finally say "fuck no!" and end the oppressive regime?
There will be blood. Those in power crave power and wealth in a way beyond any craving that could be described by the most addicted junky.
They will die before they surrender their ways of life.
Let us kill them all.
"Will the societies of the world allow themselves to manipulated yet again by the bankers, military industrial complex, corporations and their media propaganda machines?
Or will they finally say "fuck no!" and end the oppressive regime?"
Both, IMO, and in due course of time.
This war, will be the next to last...and it will be a total nightmare.
WWII, will look like a picnic............
of course ... democracy never really existed. What is failing is capitalism and socialism.
Simple labels acting as scapegoats for massive, systemic corruption. Ask Mako how often it happens. It's inevitable when a society allows itself to be lied to.
+ !!!!
Here's the state of our economy:
http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/6569/slide_6569_96622_large.jpg...
A pre-historic looking bird weighed down by 75 years of oil dependency.
FAIL
Ukraine is fine. They are finally getting their shit together. Russia is literally throwing money at them. Don't forget roughly $40B payout (result of 30% discount on natgas) of the 10 year period for hosting the fleet at Sevastopel - you can tell it's a good deal for both Ukraine and Russia just by reading crap like this http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/europe/--92439844.html
Russian companies are getting ready to retrofit Ukraine's pipelines (they are pretty old) so that boosts export capacity through Ukraine as well. And Ukraine is now out of NATO, so expect more sweet deals.
"All the ingredients for a world war are moving into the mix. On what would seem to be a precision time table."
All in good time.
We are going from shit to worse. Hungary & Eastern Europe are gonna drag down the German block to Latin level, opening the door for unlimited QE in all of EU. Benny will get his way and we are all going to get diluted to oblivion. Politicians are going to get their way and kick the can down another 5 years. The case for gold just gets stronger until they inforce global taxes on gold holdings. Honesty has probably never existed among TPTB, but this is gonna get scary.
QE is becoming ineffective. Everyone knows the game now and how to get around it.
I think it's over. Weeks to months and then boom....
Nic, great post, man - you are right on the money
Good read. Thx.
Sure things suck. But remember there's no debt that can't be papered over with freshly printed money. Maybe a central bank or two announces some more quantitative easing. The power elite must maintain the status quo.
Glad someone said it! Most of the criminal activity falls squarely on the doorstep of congress. Congress could stop the wars, prosecute the crimes of fraud by the Fed, and restore at least an illusion of civil rights.
You know those "feel good" things like habeas corpus, search warrants, not being tortured, and due process before being liberty/property is seized.
Congress, can this MoFo get just a freakin little bit of the bill of rights?
Throw us a freaking crumb! Are we not good little tax producing robots?
Ray DeVoe Jr., long at Legg, Mason wrote the Street’s best newsletter after Marty Zweig stopped his. Long ago in about 2004 Ray wrote one titled ‘Most Dangerous Game’ about Count Zaroff who, in order to attract human prey to his island, re-arranged the warning lights around the island’s shoals and rocks so as to purposely cause ships to crash. Mr. DeVoe has likened the current financial environment of the Fed and the administration to the infamous Count in that manipulating all manner of ‘facts’ and figures’ will inevitably lead the US economy to crash on the shoals of mis or dys-information. Some of these mis-es include the birth-death model of ‘employment gains’, bogus CPI calculations, purposeful intervention in the markets to paint the averages – akin to driving the wrong way down one-way streets while turning the ‘one way’ signs upside down to point in your direction, debt monetization by fictitious entities, suppression of commodities prices which normally act as arbiters of value outside a world of paper, etc.
Oh, very good post. We are either "consumables" or "expendables", depending on whether or not we have something they want.