We're All Pawns in an Enormous Financial Experiment

It is the modern(?) tactic of applying a negative label to anything you want to discredit rather than disproving it with facts, they don't have.

Veering slightly off topic:

Don't like something, label it. This is "religious dogma," and "woke" is a religion. ​

Everyone who thinks differently than you is a "racist" and everything they belive is based on a "conspiracy theory."​

While I did imbellish for dramatic effect, for the most part I only pointed out that history repeats itself.

You should wonder why the powers that be never learn from their prior mistakes, and repeatedly ignore warning signs, within the span of 25 years.

The powers that be are extremely unlikely to lose their job, house, and life, but those of us in the trenches may, during the next crash.

When rioting breaks out (sheeple and zombies running amuck causing death and destruction), how often has it affected the managers of monetary policy and the ultra rich, who are hidden within gated homes and protected by private security?

Conspiracy theory or fact?

 

Article of interest, especially for those in the UK,

Who Else Bought BlackRock's LDI Swindle Products?

"The recent collapse of the United Kingdom (UK) gilt market’s long maturities, which required Bank of England (BOE) purchases of tens of billions of pounds of long gilts to stem a Lehman moment, shined a spotlight on something called liability driven investing (LDI)."​

 

"This combination—excess money, growing government spending, and falling production—is the exact recipe for a ravaging inflation.

"The real tragedy is that we have had all the knowledge necessary to avoid the creation of vast asset market bubbles and fast inflation, but our leaders have refused to listen to the (true) experts, economics and economic history. Now, if our policymakers in Europe, or elsewhere, push us into a hyperinflation, we don’t have to wonder anymore about the question I posed above.

Because in that case, our political leaders are either utterly incompetent or they are deliberately trying to destroy our living standards."
​

On The Path To Hyperinflation

 

PayPal Reverses Course, Says Company Will Not Seize Money From People For Promoting 'Misinformation'

 

On the theme of Conspiracy Theories. Is the following fact or fiction?

"The real mandate of the Fed is serving its masters, the political elites, by financing government spending and debt, bailing out cronies, and supporting the political process, including the Fed’s own interests."​

The Fed's Real Mandate

Only insiders know!

"TA: You stated above that the bubble economy has transferred wealth from the middle class to the wealthy. This reminds us that bubbles affect different groups differently. When the bubble finally bursts, which groups stand to lose out the most and why?

"MT: The general pattern is that capitalists gain from cheap credit and labor is hurt by price inflation on the upside of the cycle. On the downside capitalists and the wealthy lose the most as asset values, like stock prices, collapse, while labor is relatively better off from lower price inflation or even deflation, e.g., lower home prices. "​

The Fed's Confidence Game - published 01/06/2018


At present, homes prices are starting to decrease in some markets, but just about everything else is increasing in price, and I don't believe they will decrease anytime soon, if at all.

The more the government subsidizes prices, the more likely they are to increase; the government will simply print more money, which has been the practice in recent years. Europe is subsidizing energy prices. If increasing numbers of people receive food subsidies, is there downward pressure on prices? I've learned food subsidies have increased significantly during Covid and more recently as well, locally.

(You may eat better living on food subsidies than working a forty hour work week.)

At the beginning of the COVID "crises" a man I was talking to didn't believe that if the price of bread became $10 a loaf, that would compel the government to print more money, causing the bread to become even more costly. He didn't believe the price of bread would ever approach that fictitious number.

The only way for prices to come down is for people to be unable to pay for them at the current prices. Only businesses that can produce a less expensive product will survive. At present most people are willing and able to pay the inflated prices, driving up inflation. The truly poor...

 

More Conspiracy Theory:

"Consider this: What if the goal of the Fed is the destruction of the middle class? What if they are using the false hopes of small time investors in a return to QE? What if they are luring investors into markets with rumors of a pivot, tricking those investors into pumping money back into markets and then triggering losses yet again with more rate hikes and hawkish language? What if this is a wealth destruction steam valve? What if it’s a trap?"
​

Markets Are Expecting The Federal Reserve To Save Them – It’s Not Going To Happen


I read a book by a woman who was raised on an Australian sheep ranch. She said banks intentionally over extended credit to the ranchers. When a drought occurred, the banks ended up owning all the ranches. We can disagree on whether it was intentional, but the outcome was the same.

Immediately following the 2008 economic crises, thousands of homes transferred from private ownership to institutional investors.

Institutional investors have bought hundreds of thousands of homes, many in Black communities. Critics say it’s creating a ‘generation of renters’


Most people are likely to preoccupied with daily living and personal interests to have any time for or interest in the big financial picture. I was that way when I was younger. It wasn't until after the 2008 financial crises was officially over, and everything was now reportedly okay, that I got an inkling that something wasn't right.

The official recession was Q3-2008 until Q2-2009. It was at the beginning of 2010 that my three income streams seemed to disappear in the space of a month. I like to say, I survived the great recession, but not the recovery. It was then that I began looking into the bigger financial picture, and came to the conclusion that the US economy would crash before 2020. I was wrong only because the Federal Reserve printed trillions of dollars and made money free to large institutional investors. Now it is time to pay the piper.

 

Repeat After Me: Conspiracy Theory, Conspiracy Theory, Conspiracy Theory! /s

And when there is no power?

Even knowing this I usually have very little cash on me; I do have savings but am reluctant to convert it into physical cash, for security reasons. If it is stolen I have nothing.

My bank tracks everything I buy, and categorizes it and even keeps track of the physical store I visited, and displays it on a map. I have no privacy if I use my bank card. At times I have mostly used cash, but it is less convenient.

I presume the poor have very little cash, unless they are using check cashing services, which will become obsolete.

My debit cards are now touchless, because they want to encourage impulse buying with zero thought behind them. An advertisement I saw for this service even demonstrated this.

Historically speaking black-markets around the world have used US currency, often $100 bills. That is one reason they want to get rid of physical currency. Of course, the wealthy use digital currencies for their illegal trades today.

In the event of a crash or apocalypse, how will you buy anything?

The only ones to survive any major global or regional catastrophe are those who are 100% self sufficient and 100% invisible.

The remaining 99.99% might as well party like it is 1999!

That is why I suggest being kind to your neighbors as long as possible.

 

A little off topic, but indirectly relevant:

Inching closer to a physical WW3:

"He's a legitimate military target... he needs to know that he's on our target list at this point."

I haven't read it, but it is a quote from this article on ZeroHedge.com

Watch: John Bolton Calls For Putin Assassination, Regime Change

Biden is the one shaking the nuclear war rattle, to keep the people afraid. People who are afraid are always looking for someone to identify the enemy (the Devil: Putin) and to protect them from it, and are easier to control.

COVID 19 is a case in point, as it was known from day one it primarily affected the elderly and those with existing health issues. Our actions were supposed to protect our medical facilities and personnel, but many of workers are burned out and have left their jobs.

I didn't see any to references published in 2022, but as of October last year:

"Nearly 1 in 5 [20%] Health Care Workers Have Quit Their Jobs During the Pandemic
"Medical workers cited COVID-19, poor pay and burnout as reasons for layoffs, resignations"

https://morningconsult.com/2021/10/04/health-care-workers-series-part-2-workforce/

 

We have to keep funding the military industrial complex, and every state likely has a defense contractor, and/or military personnel, who vote depending on whether they get to keep their jobs and have new fancy weapons to produce or use.

Politicians have to buy votes, as they are more interested in staying in office than doing the right thing. If politicians did the right thing, they would likely be voted out after one term.

Voters always want "free stuff" until there is no free stuff left to give, which we are rapidly approaching(*). That is why democracy is its own worst enemy, in the end. Of course it doesn't say much about voters if they actually believe they are getting something for free, that someone is always paying for it. What goes around, comes around.

* The government will ultimately default on its debt, cancelling treasury bonds sold prior the the date of default.

 

It is difficult to know if many of the alarming economic articles published recently are factual, or trying to force the US Federal Reserve to pivot back to free money for the ultra-wealthy so they can become even more wealthy, by the "Everything Bubble" becoming ever larger.

But make no mistake, things are changing, and may change with increasing speed, like during the early days of the Great Financial Crisis.

One clear fact is that as the US Federal Reserve has created bubbles, they become increasingly big, and the resulting crashes larger and more painful. On paper for the wealthy and retirees, and in day to day existence for the middle-class and poor.

Recession 'led to 10,000 suicides' BBC 2014​

"Bernanke served as chairman of the Fed between 2006-14 and famously unleashed a tidal wave of debt monetization by the central bank during the GFC over a decade ago to save the so-called 'too big to fail' banks. At the time, the Fed's balance sheet was approaching $2.5 trillion. Multiple rounds of money printing later and a massive expansion during the Covid crisis, the balance sheet stands at around $9 trillion today."



https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/b...ers-win-nobel-prize-economics-crisis-research​

You don't hear progressive politicians talking about Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) anymore because it was implemented during the COVID crises, and we see the predicted result. MMT basically says you can print an unlimited amount of money to pay for everything as there is no possible downside. We are obviously learning that isn't true, once again.

Once the government begins printing lots of money, it supports the increase in asset prices. In the US people were paying more than asking price on new and used cars, and homes. Trillions in COVID stimulus allowed people to buy new and expensive, marked up because of shortages, material goods, and forgo rent, student loan payments, utility payments, and maybe even mortgage payments. Party time, if not scared to death and cowering in the corner.

Because workers stayed home out of fear, became burned out, or because the government paid them to, employers got into a bidding war for employees, which requires them to increase the price of their products and services. If you cheer wage increases, you are also cheering for increased prices. Nothing is free.

Locally, a huge minimum wage increase goes into effect January 1, 2023, pushing local prices up even more. I've already experienced 30-60% price increases.

Inflation feeds on itself, and is hard to control all its manifestations, I am told.

Now add in war in Europe, energy shortages, possible significant human migration out of a war zone into resource (energy) scarce regions, and increased tensions and opportunity for civil unrest.

We are in a textbook situation, and the powers that be are pushing us further into them rather than trying to avoid them. Accident, planned, or simply what politicians do because they are politicians, and politicians never change at their core, though the flavor of their message may.

She hasn't changed, her party did:

I can no longer remain in today’s Democratic Party that is now under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness, who divide us by racializing every issue & stoke anti-white racism, actively work to undermine our God-given freedoms, are… pic.twitter.com/oAuTnxZldf Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard October 11, 2022​

(This paragraph has nothing to do with above paragraph.) The danger lies in voting for change, as we are apt to vote for another Hitler like person, who rallies the masses, to their doom. They sound good on paper or in speech, not in practice. If they identify an "enemy" the "devil" beware; that is any group different from yourself, based in skin color, religion, economic status, gender, etc. The more they increase your pulse rate, the more you should beware. They love to manipulate your emotions, regardless of political party.

And again, please be kind to your neighbors for as long as possible.

 

Her full 28 minute video explaining why did has done what she did.

 

It says the "uploader" removed it, perhaps the BBC objected, as I took it to be a BBC video clip in the beginning.