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Zombies, Cronies, And The Trouble With Yellen's Future

Tyler Durden's picture




 

Submitted by Bill Bonner of Bonner & Partners (annotated by Acting-Man.com's Pater Tenebrarum),

“As democracy is perfected, the office of the President represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day, the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last and the White House will be occupied by a downright fool and complete narcissistic moron.”

- H.L.Mencken

All over the world, elections allow the people to express their innermost thoughts and feelings. This was a big week in Argentina, for example. Outgoing president Cristina Kirchner is supposed to hand over power to her successor, Mauricio Macri.

But when we looked yesterday, there was dispute as to exactly what time the baton would be passed. And Cristina has let it be known she would not attend the inaugural and would generally make life as difficult for Mr. Macri as possible.

 

meeting

This photo is simply too funny not to show it – it cries out for a caption contest actually. Background: Kirchner asked Macri to visit her in the presidential palace, so she could personally congratulate him on his victory. And she said to him to “come alone”, which immediately spawned the twitter hashtag #VeniSolo (#ComeAlone)

 

CUoS_ZqW4AEcc-5

Image from an #VeniSolo tweet …

 

Deep State in Control

Elections are misunderstood. On the surface they are contests between zombies and cronies. The zombies (leftists, socialists, Democrats) want lots of little handouts. The cronies (rightists, Wall Streeters, Republicans) want fewer but bigger ones.

All the loot comes from the voters – who willingly give up both their money and their liberty believing that, somehow, they are better off for it. But the real winner is the Deep State. It usually controls the candidates… and continues to gain power and resources, no matter which side wins.

But the Deep State is not immune to setbacks. On the pampas, it must be worried that Macri may actually believe in free markets rather than markets controlled by cronies. If so, it may be harder to work with him than they had hoped.

 

Deep State Issue 5

The Deep State meme is really getting ingrained – now there’s even a comic book entitled “Deep State”

Image credit: Matt Taylor

 

And in the U.S., poor Janet Yellen must be having trouble sleeping again. The Deep State, the zombies, the cronies – all turn their black hearts and beady eyes unto her.

Next Wednesday, she takes center stage again. And with the whole world watching, she’ll make a complete fool of herself.

 

The Trouble with the Future … and Yellen’s Next Move

Yellen is supposed to announce a tiny increase in the Fed’s key lending rate… currently sitting at 0.25%. Analysts will examine every word. Commentators will report, confuse, and misinterpret her remarks. And the economy and the markets will react.

But they may not react as the insiders hope.

Each generation has its market myths. Each decides what is important and what is not. The generation of the 1970s and 1980s watched inflation rates and money supply figures.

Investors had been beaten up by the inflation of the 1970s. Then they learned from Milton Friedman at the Chicago School that inflation was “always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon.” So they began to watch the Fed’s M2 money supply figures like scouts looking for early warning of an enemy attack.

The attack never came. The rate of consumer price inflation fell from a high of about 15% in 1980 to its near-zero levels today. Investors are always looking in the wrong direction. They have to be…

“I’m going home to the U.S. to die,” said an old friend the other day.

“If you know you’re going to die at home,” we asked, “why not stay in Paris?”

Likewise, if investors knew what the future held, it wouldn’t happen that way. They would sell their positions before the top was in, avoiding a crash. And they’d buy before stocks hit rock bottom, never allowing a bear market to fully express itself.

 

future

The future remains a mystery … particularly to modern-day economic forecasters

Image credit: Scanpix

 

Surprises would be eliminated. Accidents avoided. If everyone knew where they would have a fender-bender, auto-body shops would be out of business! That is the trouble with the future: It must come as a surprise.

 

Looking in the Wrong Direction

We talk about borrowing as “taking from the future.” But it’s not really possible. Because the future hasn’t happened yet. It’s just a metaphor for understanding what is going on.

Farmers – at least in the old days – saved some of their corn each year as “seed corn.” This is what they would plant the following year. And if they ate it rather than saving it, they would have been “taking from the future.” Next year’s crop would be reduced as a result. More today but less tomorrow.

But it is always a risk to take from tomorrow. Centuries ago, fewer seeds – and perhaps less rainfall, or too much rainfall, or too much wind, or hail, or frost – might have meant starvation. What might it mean today?

We don’t know. The future is always a surprise… especially to people with PhDs in economics. And now we watch Ms. Yellen. Acres of print will be devoted to speculating on how much of an increase she will announce… and how it will be followed up.

 

yellenDoes it even matter?

 

Guessing about the “pace of tightening” (that is, how soon will the first rate hike be followed by another) and positioning portfolios for tighter money – more dollars, less emerging market debt – are already growth businesses.

Could it be that investors are looking in the wrong direction? Has the future moved on… without Ms. Yellen? Have stocks already topped out? Are sales already dropping? Is subprime student, energy, auto, corporate, and emerging market debt already sinking?

Have the trains already left their stations, headed to destinations that investors haven’t even thought of? Could it be that the Deep State’s debt-based financing system is already in trouble? And, after 84 months of zero interest rates and roughly $4.5 trillion of central bank stimulus, can Ms. Yellen save it?

 

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Sat, 12/12/2015 - 18:51 | 6915621 TeamDepends
TeamDepends's picture

Mr. Yellens handlers have no intention of saving the system, as it is chaos time! Behold the New World Order. Now drop and give me twenty!

Sat, 12/12/2015 - 19:09 | 6915682 o r c k
o r c k's picture

Sounds like a good caption for the picture up top. Drop-----

Sat, 12/12/2015 - 19:17 | 6915704 El Oregonian
El Oregonian's picture

"Deep State" sounds like we be in deep sh*t...

No good either way.

Sat, 12/12/2015 - 22:05 | 6916160 Demdere
Demdere's picture

Your assumption is that she could.  Wrong.

There is no technology to control open, evolving, complex systems.

They don't teach people much in college these days, I guess.

Sat, 12/12/2015 - 19:44 | 6915664 duo
duo's picture

I stopped reading at "inflation is at near-zero levels today".  And I used to subscribe to this "insight".

We need a click-saver button.

Sat, 12/12/2015 - 19:05 | 6915665 wanderer9641
wanderer9641's picture

Yellen is going to save everyone - as the waves lap up against the crowsnest she is in.

Sat, 12/12/2015 - 22:42 | 6916006 tom a taxpayer
tom a taxpayer's picture

Breaking News: Grandma Yelling arrested for prostitution

An undercover NYPD officer arrested a 69 year old "Grandma Yelling" prostitute plying her trade in broad daylight in front of the NYSE. The arrest triggered coordinated raids by the NYPD vice squad grabbing hundreds of "johns" in the NY financial district,. In a post-arrest briefing, the undercover arresting officer Harry Hard shook his head and said, "In my 20 years in vice work I've never seen anything this sick. Grandma Yelling keeps promising raises to the Wall Street limp  wieners. Then she doesn't raise them, but they still keep licking her high heels, or even her sensible, comfortable sneakers. I don't get paid to analyze 'em, just arrest 'em." Chief Inspector Frank Luger announced that the NYPD SWAT raid on 200 West Street broke up a world-wide pimping organization (Goldman Sachs aka Gimme Your Pension Fund) and captured the Head Pimp Llyod Blanksarefine. Lugar said the two year sting operation was ultra secret and "we even didn't tell our federal friends because one of them law dogs might open his big yap in a bar  with a NY Times cub reporter cutie."

Sat, 12/12/2015 - 19:09 | 6915675 buzzsaw99
buzzsaw99's picture

you got that rate hike rocket pointed in the right direction.

Sat, 12/12/2015 - 19:09 | 6915677 Sometimes
Sometimes's picture

In 2008 when the going got tough, they just changed the rules.  Are we due for another change in the rules?  Are we going to go back to the "old" rules?  Have they decided the cure is worse than the disease?  Will their actions favor one political candidate over another?  We will learn much in the next 12 days.

Sat, 12/12/2015 - 19:13 | 6915697 lordbyroniv
lordbyroniv's picture

the die is cast

as to whats REALLY happening

'we' dont have a clue

and likely never will

Sat, 12/12/2015 - 19:18 | 6915717 enloe creek
enloe creek's picture

Planning a multi prong escalation in chaos to take over more power and set in motion ever more control on everything that's why they allowed some terrorist events so it stirs up fear next it will be some urban violence ethnically along with market turmoil.  Isn't the interesting times we live in great.

Sat, 12/12/2015 - 19:44 | 6915733 essence
essence's picture

Soon as I saw the article in the headlines I knew it was from Bonner.
The wording & style was unmistakable.

Bill has slowly been edging into calling things as they actually are.

"Deep state" appears to be as far as he is prepared to currently go.
Hey, Old Farts with a ranch in Argentina the size of Rhode Island are conservative by nature.

Speaking of old farts, I see that Martin Armstrong is making baby steps in acknowledging that 9/11 was a false flag (of course, it only concerned the destruction of building 7 and how it affected evidence pertaining to his court case ..... right Martin, the only conspiracies that exist are the ones personally directed against you).

Get back to me if he ever pulls his head out of his conceited ass far enough to acknowledge that PM suppression is real.

 

 

Sat, 12/12/2015 - 20:38 | 6915939 samsara
samsara's picture

Martin; What happens if it turned out the Rothchilds, warburgs, et al. Were responsible at the top...

Would he think there really are people at top planning things?

Sat, 12/12/2015 - 21:46 | 6916095 essence
essence's picture

Everyone, stop for a moment and think about it.

What's the surest method to effect change in a society?
Answer: interject your agents of change into linchpin positions of importance.

Using the U.S. as an example: buy off congress & the presidency. That done, have your direct agents appoint minions as heads of systemically important agencies. e.g. Supreme Court, FED, Defense Dept, SEC,CIA,NSA, FBI, etc. (and the media, but then, the elite have owned the MainStreamMedia for the past 100 years, so that's a long done deal).

Starting to get the picture. It's primarily the heads of the bureaucracies that need to be targeted to control a society. Get those under your wing and all the brown noser underlings looking for nothing more than a paycheck & a pension will fall into line. And hell yes, that definitely includes the military.

Who is better placed to orchestrate this than old money. After all, it takes time to infiltrate and buy off people. It's not like Bill Gates,George Soros or Warren Buffet could act so quickly.

To turn a society one needs to infect universities, think tanks, media, as well as buying off politicians. It's a whole eco-system of corruption. That takes time.

And how did old money come about? The old fashioned way, murder,corruption & graft.
Oh, without doubt, smart,educated and capable, but investigate the quantum leaps in wealth and it comes down to buying off government.

Most of all, by control of the system of money,credit & finance. When you control the issuance of money & credit, control the "overseers" (e.g. SEC), when a percentage,  a "vig" goes to you with every issuance  of a "dollar" or, almost as good, you get free collateral from a Central Bank (cough, QE, cough)  .... why you are on top of the world and in control of a society.

Old money owns the private monopoly known as the FED (the TBTF banks own the FED stock .... who as in individuals/families, owns/controls the TBTFs)?

Deep State my ass. Anyone who refuses to state reality and hides behind the euphemism  "Deep State"  is a coward.

Is it the Rothschild's or that ilk? Man I don't know. It would take the intelligence agencies to ascertain that,  and they have obviously been compromised and no longer work for the common good.

 

 

Sat, 12/12/2015 - 19:34 | 6915768 Itch
Itch's picture

Whenever I hear the phrase "Deep State", I usually know i'm going to be knee deep in bullshit in no time at all. 

Sat, 12/12/2015 - 20:00 | 6915846 V for ...
V for ...'s picture

Behind every yellin', there's a fischer, by hook or crook.

Sat, 12/12/2015 - 20:13 | 6915876 Ethelred the Unready
Ethelred the Unready's picture

If Yellen wanted to surprise the market she could raise rates a smidge, but at the same time announce the Mother of all QE!!!.   T-Bonds, tankers of Oil, Gold,  FOREX.....  the last is important:  the dollar needs to drop big time to bail out commodity producers and emerging markets.  The Dow would rise 1000 points in one day.

(Sadly?)  this will not happen as such a move would provide a huge financial windfall to Vlad the Impaler.  In fact post QE policy and Opec policy has been designed mostly to prevent the reemergence of Russia as a superpower.  And it may work, but don't look back Wolfowitz, China might be gaining on you

Sat, 12/12/2015 - 20:16 | 6915887 DrData02
DrData02's picture

"The future is always a surprise… especially to people with PhDs in economics."

Two types of degrees which all universities should cease to offer: Economics and Criminal Justice.

 

 

Sat, 12/12/2015 - 23:07 | 6916348 Sir John Bagot Glubb
Sir John Bagot Glubb's picture

Don't forget Hispanic Gay-Lesbian Studies.......

Sat, 12/12/2015 - 20:40 | 6915945 Baronneke
Baronneke's picture

It's time now to get the tar and feathers for some folks. Banksters will be a good start to begin with.  Some ropes and lampposts will also do the trick. (maybe even better)

Sat, 12/12/2015 - 22:45 | 6916271 cheech_wizard
cheech_wizard's picture

Bullets. I could care less if they suffer, I just want them gone.

Sun, 12/13/2015 - 04:29 | 6916769 surf@jm
surf@jm's picture

Whats so upsetting to Cristina in Argentina, is that her and her cronys will be cut out of the shear the sheeple loop.....Now, someone else gets to rob the people, and get rich....

Same goes on here in the U.S......Politics is for self enrichment, not public service.....great examples, are Bill Clinton, going from trailer park living in Arkansas, to palace living in New York.....as a public servant...LMAO!....

And then you had Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Spector, who was a democrat, and then a republican, And then a democrat, so he could keep feeding at the trough....And when he got voted off the gravy train, he promptly dropped dead.....Worst case of withdrawel I`ve ever seen......

Sun, 12/13/2015 - 13:04 | 6917613 Winston Smith 2009
Winston Smith 2009's picture

That's an inaccurate Mencken quote. Here's the correct one. Same point, but the actual words:

http://www.snopes.com/POLITICS/quotes/whitehousemoron.asp

The larger the mob, the harder the test. In small areas, before small electorates, a first-rate man occasionally fights his way through, carrying even the mob with him by force of his personality. But when the field is nationwide, and the fight must be waged chiefly at second and third hand, and the force of personality cannot so readily make itself felt, then all the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre — the man who can most easily adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum. 

The Presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.

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