There are three socialist armies currently vying for power. These are:
1.Non-Democratic Socialists Non-democratic socialism is my term. You won’t find it anywhere else. I use it because fascism is seldom used to describe an economic system even though that is what it is. Like the other two, non-democratic socialism is a system of economics by force. Continue reading
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As Americans go about their daily lives as individuals, many are brilliant and completely adept at what they do. When they participate in groups or aggregations of people, all but a few are completely stupid.
Notice the discourse in the political arena. Do you hear are read anyone making well reasoned intellectual arguments as to why one way is better than another? How often are attempts made to get you to change your mind or adopt an idea without thinking? Look and read, you won’t find an exception. Politics is the art of getting folks to act according to another wishes without thinking. Continue reading
Natural law has preeminence over any principle derived out of human intellect. This presents a problem for mainstream economists. The best sources of natural law are largely off limits to to academics. The ideal sources of natural law are found in ancient writings. The very best sources for Americans are the Old and New Testaments. Natural law is modeled in the stories contained in both books. When modern day activities parallel the stories in these books, it is easily noticed that there are common outcomes. Persons of antiquity thought very deeply and constantly looked for meaning. Now that knowledge has largely been reduced to letters, deep thinking is not that commonplace. People and institutions are observed according to how they are defined and not how they function. Packaged ideas are the norm. People and institutions are seen in terms of how we would like them to be and not according to the way they really are.
In democracy based governments citizens do not behave as modern thinkers insist they do. In these types of systems ordinary people are charged with controlling their various governments. What actually happens when leaders and representatives are elected? Citizens relinquish control and give it to those they have elected. The assumption is made that the motives of elected officials are pure as driven snow. This is complete fantasy. The practice of worship is not restricted to giving respect to and acknowledging a deity. Humans are far more likely to worship each other than a supreme being. Leaders and representatives are worshiped as if they are in charge of providing essence to the population. In the ancient writings this is called worshiping false idols. Believing or not believing in God is a personal issue. One thing is certain. No living thing on earth is divine. The folly of worshiping false idols is constantly demonstrated throughout ancient writings.
Still mankind is prone to seek essence from higher powers. Higher powers are assumed to be possessed by all who govern whether elected or appointed. There may be no harm in denying the existence of a supreme being. There is great harm in deeming various individuals and institutions as being substitutes for a supreme being. Natural law guarantees that great harm will follow the practice of worshiping false idols. I will paraphrase the words of a very insightful person, Roy Masters. “Wherever you place your faith, there you unwittingly surrender your soul.”
The truth is a hard sell. Fantasy Free Economics gains readers one at a time. Major search engines simply do not list blogs which disagree with their political agenda. As long as folks share the link to this blog and others speaking out against the grain, the truth will at least trickle into the public consciousness.
Government tampering with the financial markets started during the Reagan administration after the stock market crash of 1987. The President’s Working Group on Financial Markets (Plunge Protection Team) was created ostensibly to prevent crashes like occurred in 1987. Notice the word ostensibly. Government initiatives do not begin for apparent reasons. It was true in 1987 just as it is true today. Self interests generates public policy, not concern for the overall population. The President’s Working Group on Financial Markets was created as a means for anointed human beings to make trading profits regardless of natural market forces. Over time, the Working Group became more of a stalking horse that could be pointed to as inactive as a clandestine organization evolved and has been totally active in elevating asset prices.
In today’s trading arena, despite fancy words from Federal Reserve Chairs and others, QE and other named activities have only one objective and that is to elevate asset prices, especially stocks. Government economic policy, especially that of the central bank has been totally focused on that one goal, higher stock prices. Gross Domestic Product has increased for no other reason than artificially created asset values. The result has been government created wealth at the top echelons of economic power. That wealth has translated into high spending by all at the upper end of the food chain ladder.
The incomes and lifestyles toward the lower end of the food chain have suffered just as if the recession of 2009 had not ended. Actually recessions never end until and if markets are allowed to clear. The natural process of out with the old and in with the new never occurred. That doesn’t mean it will never occur. It means that when it does occur, it will be a disaster. Stimulus never serves a purpose other than to enrich a small part of the population at the expense of all others.
As time is rolling forward, the rot at the bottom of the economic ladder has become massive. The only means of generating positive GDP numbers here and in the rest of the world is for the wealth and income of the worlds richest citizens to continue increasing. So, all of the worlds resources are now focused on preventing even a minor correction in the stock market. All other markets which would have cleared had the 2009 recession been allowed to reach completion. Today we still have the imbalances that created the situation in 2009 plus a guarantee that a fall in asset prices, especially stocks, will user in a bigger recession/depression than the first one.
The only way to save the United States is to allow markets to function pristinely. Saving the economy in the short run is not as important as saving it permanently. Just know that creating artificial value in the assets of politically powerful people may have already destroyed both the economy and our political system. If the process is allowed to continue the country and our way of life will indeed be destroyed.
The truth is a hard sell. Fantasy Free Economics gains readers one at a time. Major search engines simply do not list blogs which disagree with their political agenda. As long as folks share the link to this blog and others speaking out against the grain, the truth will at least trickle into the public consciousness.
Fantasy Free Economics recommends the following blogs.
Of Two Minds Liberty Blitzkrieg Mises Institute Straight Line Logic Paul Craig Roberts
Happiness is achieved mostly by viewing the world we live in through the prism of fantasy. Is that all that bad? It doesn’t seem to be. How else is a person to be happy in a universe where all living things must survive in a system of dominance and subservience? The easiest way is to replace harsh realities with euphemisms and more pleasant notions. Decades can go by where it seems not to matter whether a person lives in a dream world or stares cold realities directly in the face. Most of the time it may actually not matter. So, why take a fantasy free approach to live? Very simply, fantasy free is a way to survive in a crisis period.
During a world war, fantasy free is a better approach as it is in a depression or in any number of situations when looking reality coldly in the face puts a person at a distinct advantage. I have studied history for many years and I am not sure I can find a period where the citizens of in any country were as divorced from reality as they are in the United States today. Today, Americans for the most part believe our military is fighting for noble causes when they are in fact fighting for profits for people with enough political power to have troops deployed out of personal interest. Politicians are believed to be representing citizens when they are in fact fleecing their constituents. Government is seen as naturally honest when in fact truth is not used in politics at all unless by accident. Government is seen as a benevolent institution when it is and always has been a play ground for predators. These are what I call reality gaps. The country’s economy and political system are in the process of collapsing and the average person is not even aware there is a problem.
In a different time and place I would not even be writing this blog. At this particular time in history it is of extreme importance, at least for a little while, to shed euphemisms and expose fantasies. The well being of you and your family depends upon it. Your lives may also depend on it. It is time to sober up and face the crisis. You might ask, what crisis?
Your government is not functioning as a government. Your government runs about the same ways as does a crime family. Your economic system has been sabotaged. In a free market, government imposes free market discipline. Today your government creates feeding frenzies for the rich and politically powerful.
The economy in the United States is going to completely collapse. The entire system of government may fail. There is no way a government as corrupt as the one we have today can hold together. Laws no longer apply to everyone. Powerful people do not have to obey the law at all. In other cases laws are enforced according to what is politically profitable. Otherwise intelligent people are walking around repeating sound bites their brains have recorded and insisting they know what they are talking about. I would rather tell you that we are on the eve of a golden age where there will be nothing but peace and prosperity. But the collapse is coming.
In the coming days fantasy free thinking will be a way to survive.
The truth is a hard sell. Fantasy Free Economics gains readers one at a time. Major search engines simply do not list blogs which disagree with their political agenda. As long as folks share the link to this blog and others speaking out against the grain, the truth will at least trickle into the public consciousness.
Fantasy Free Economics recommends the following blogs.
Lets say you have $300,000 cash and you don’t want to risk it in the stock market. Today the highest CD rates in the country are about 1.25%. That pays you $312 per month. If you were not being robbed blind by Federal Reserve policy, you would receive about 3.25% on your savings or $813 per month. This is because no bank in the world will pay you what your money is worth if they can get the same from the Federal Reserve for next to nothing. I ask you, are you happy with that? Everybody has to decide for himself how low he is willing to go.
Are you in awe of Janet Yellen and the other Federal Reserve members? I am telling you, these people are no more honest than crack dealers. They have lower morals than crack whores. But, people love and respect them. For what, God only knows. They have no competence whatsoever. You think they do? All they have done is wreak havoc on the economy and rob you blind. If you love them anyway, you are crazy. A group of astrologers would do better by leaps and bounds. Never in the history of the world has a central bank successfully kick started an economy. But, people love and respect them anyway. Would you respect a thief who broke into your house and stole your silver? Perhaps you would, if you are crazy. O.K., so you are satisfied to earn a paltry 1.25 % on your savings? If you are, you are crazy.
What is worse, Federal Reserve policy has wrought so much havoc on the economy the whole system is going to collapse. Chances are good you will lose the savings on which you’re earning no more than 1.25%. And, will you still love the Federal Reserve? Perhaps, but you are crazy if you do. Do you think Federal Reserve members are good economists? Even if they grasp the concepts, they are too dishonest to be good at anything.
The Federal Reserve System was established by Congress in 1914. During all of its years it has impoverished countless human beings and has not had one successful program. Just since 2008 they have stolen unfathomable amounts from honest hard working Americans. Still Americans love and worship these people. An act of Congress can also eliminate this destructive institution in the same way it was created. The Federal Reserve Members belong in handcuffs, but that won’t happen.
Have I been too harsh? Well, this is as harsh as I can possibly be. If I could be even more harsh, believe me, I would.
Although we don’t know what it is, we know there is a plan to keep stocks moving higher. How do I know? Fantasy free means that we study people and institutions according to how they function and pay no mind to how they are perceived. Government is commonly perceived as a fatherlike benevolent entity that spreads fairness and goodwill across the land. In real life, government belligerently promotes the interests of the most politically powerful citizens.
Representation in government goes to the highest bidder. Representation is easily transferred. Send a representative to Washington and you have in actuality hired a thief. But, the thief is not loyal to you necessarily and you get outbid. You only voted. Money counts for much more than your vote.
Few doubt that for many decades, fiscal and monetary policy have been pointed towards enhancing asset prices on behalf of the highest paying political players. More is done in government with winks and nods that is ever accomplished by legislation. The public normally deals only in short, concise packaged ideas. What government actually accomplishes goes right under the average person’s radar.
From 2006 to present, support of stock prices has been massive. There is great public and private cooperation. The Federal Reserve denies directly buying stocks. They do accept equities as collateral and that amounts to about the same thing. They work with the primary dealers who, with winks and nods, provide assurance that newly created money will support the stock market. With off the record conversations, corporations are assured that if they buy back their own stock, the Federal Reserve has their back. Foreign central banks buy stocks with no reservations or restrictions.
Many lofty reasons are given for Federal Reserve activities but their only real purpose is to move stocks higher. Talk is that the Federal Reserve is out of tools and the market is about to fall under its own weight. It is pointed out that corporate buybacks are waning despite constant coaxing by the Federal Reserve and others. The Federal Reserve actually still has plenty of options and these options will be used. Over the coming weeks expect game changing, unbelievably good news for stock prices. The good news will be repeated despite being manufactured for the occasion.
The last thing the Federal Reserve will do is find a way to directly absorb any excess supply of stock by buying directly. So what if it is illegal. They will do it anyway. There is no limit to how much Federal support is available for the stock market. Honest investors only have access to what they earn. Central banks can buy stock with dollars that are really no different than monopoly money. If more is needed, more is made available.
Don’t automatically expect that the financial markets will finally reset and normal free market conditions will be reasserted. There is no incentive on the part of anyone in power to make it turn out that way. Chances are much greater that central banks will continue buying stocks until the majority of assets in the world are owned and controlled by governments.
There are many paths back to totalitarianism. The most likely one to enslave the world population is for government to control the factors of production, just by buying the institutions which own those factors now. Of land, labor and capital, capital is the hardest to control but there is a process currently in the works by which that task can be accomplished.
In 1987 the Reagan administration began managing the securities markets. Since that time, to varying degrees politicians on both sides of the isle have supported programs to enhance asset prices. Both monetary and fiscal policy have been used since that time for that very purpose. There have been no exceptions. Easy money has had only one purpose and that is to further enrich politically powerful constituents and investors.
Beginning in 2006 efforts changed from simply enhancing stock prices to completely preventing any loss of value. In 2008 asset prices declined in the face of unprecedented preventative efforts.
From 2008 through the present, all government efforts have centered around saving the stock market and elevating asset prices and goosing profit margins. Although they have no idea how or why it has happened, the poor and middle class have been devastated financially by the process.
All increases in corporate profits and GDP are rooted in spending by the super wealthy who are the only group to benefit from the rigging process.
When the stock market declines, the economy will drop into a very serious depression which will make the Great Depression of the 30s look pale. Will Trump rig the stock market?
The stock market is already being rigged. A better question is, will Trump interrupt the process? I would guess not. Trump will do everything possible to continue goosing asset process at least until the second year of his presidency. The Trump tax cut and spending plans are very much a way of passing the rigging baton to congress and taking pressure off the very tired Federal Reserve.
It may not be possible. Reality can impose itself on the world at any time, without warning and without anyone’s permission. Trump’s personal case will be better served by accommodating Wall Street. That is what he will do.
The public is still clueless as to how these things work. In this case, Trump has nothing to do lose by continuing to funnel wealth and income to the upper 1%. People know they have been burned, but are still clueless as to the source of their suffering. Suffering does activate the thinking process but it can take a long time.
The truth is a hard sell. Fantasy Free Economics gains readers one at a time. Major search engines simply do not list blogs which disagree with their political agenda. As long as folks share the link to this blog and others speaking out against the grain, the truth will at least trickle into the public consciousness.
Fantasy Free Economics recommends the following blogs.
Hollywood lost its messiah as have minorities and a few others. Although the elite, Wall Street, international banks and the others supported Clinton they have lost nothing.With Clinton they already had their cake and were about to eat it. Now they have gotten together with Trump and have made a new Cake.
The baton has been passed. Quantitative easing and Federal Reserve stimulus will fade. The Trump team will replace it with corporate tax cuts followed by unprecedented federal spending. The theft will continue most likely until the entire country has been destroyed.
Did I say new messiah? Yes I did. That is because Americans did not vote for a conservative. They did not vote in a way that indicates they are taking control of the country. They elected a new leader to worship. What happens when Americans worship a leader? They end up paying tribute to the leaders friends. Trump’s initial doings look impressive and I cannot disagree that they need to be done. None of these things will have an effect on people’s economic lives.
Economic lives of American are dismal because citizens first and leaders second have rejected free market principles.
Is Trump going to do anything to loosen the grip the claws of fascism have on the country? If any such plans were in the offing, the stock market would not be hitting new highs. Every point the stock averages move higher the more it costs the average American. The costs are stealth in nature so that only a few know how they are being fleeced. Even private investors who own stock, as prices move into the stratosphere. may not come out all that well. There simply are no investments that generate a reasonable income without undergoing enormous risk.
Before the mob gooses the stock market, they always feign weakness, draw in short sellers, then load up on bullish derivatives. The measure I use as an indicator is an index of total ETF volume divided by total Russell 3000 volume which is an ETF-free index. For those unfamiliar with the stock market, we are talking about exchange traded funds. These are not the only derivatives the mob uses but it is an easy indicator to follow. Despite the complexity of the trading algorithms, the actual strategy is always simple.
Get free money from the Federal Reserve, manipulate short sellers into covering and buy enough actual shares to push up the price of the derivatives they trade. Loses on stocks are not a problem because derivatives profits more than offset that, always . Most importantly, anytime this indicator spikes, everything legal and illegal is going to be done to elevate the overall market. Assurance to corporations with stock buyback programs is signaled by the Fed that they have their backs. Success for the mob is not guaranteed but the number of times this has not worked perfectly can be counted with just a few fingers.
The investing public including professionals is extremely naive but they are slowly starting to smarten up. When this stops working, the market will crash like nothing you have ever seen but it is a bad bet that it will on any one occasion. Stock owners will regret having ever heard of the stock market. I have basically been in cash since early 2013.