"Into The Abyss We Go…"

Full screen recommended.

"Into The Abyss We Go…"

by Epic Economist

"Why won’t our politicians ever listen? Americans have made it exceedingly clear that they don't agree with vaccination mandates, but the administration has decided to ignore the people and do whatever they want anyway. The nationwide OSHA mandate will go into effect early in 2022, and that is putting millions of workers and hundreds of thousands of businesses on the edge. The OSHA mandate will affect the lives of tens of millions of people, and some economists argue that it could potentially result in a severe shortage of highly qualified workers by the beginning of 2022. New estimates point that the order will apply to approximately 84 million workers. Thankfully, many representatives are noticing the immense absurdity of this measure, and some of them are already challenging it in court.

From an economic perspective, this measure will have absolutely disastrous consequences. Especially considering that we're already in the middle of a severe worker shortage. The fact over 80 million more workers may be pushed out of their jobs is just insane. We're currently facing the worst supply chain crisis in modern history, and forcing all of these people out of the labor market right in the middle of the upcoming winter will take both the worker shortage and the supply chain crisis to a whole new level. But the government is insisting to do it anyway.

Last week, White House officials announced that staff members of companies with 100 or more employees are required to show proof of vaccination until the end of the first week of January 2022. Those who choose not to comply have to get tested for the virus on a weekly basis and show negative results if they want to keep working. To make things even worse, OSHA warned that companies that fail to comply are eligible to pay a fine of nearly $14,000 per violation.

Other Georgia lawmakers added that "millions of American workers will fight against job losses over the vaccine mandate, but many of them are unfortunately bound to tight non-compete clauses. If terminated, these people will be held in workers' purgatory -- they won't be able to earn a living, and they can't find a new job. How are they expected to put food on their table? This is unacceptable!" New York Congresswoman Claudia Tenney said the "OSHA rule far exceeds the boundaries of executive authority": "The President has made the decision to render our constitutional guardrails completely irrelevant," she added. "It is truly the point of no return for this Administration, and the rule will further exacerbate an already disastrous labor crisis."

This is where we're at now: in the middle of a tyrannical uprising led by those who vowed to protect us. Remember the days when America used to be the “land of the free”? Those are far gone by now. The coming months will be incredibly hard. As the new rules push the economy into the abyss, we're about to see the ongoing shortages getting a whole lot worse and prices spiking to unprecedented levels. The administration's obsession with vaccine mandates is clearly making them forget about the issues plaguing Americans' everyday lives. The top concern of our society right now is rising inflation, which economists say will only get worse with the new mandate.

We're being warned to brace ourselves for “sticker shock” when we go to the stores. A wide range of food products is already facing sharp price hikes. For meat-eaters, the increase is absolutely shocking. Some cuts have surged by 25 percent over the past year, and others are reaching near-record prices, which is making meat one of the biggest contributors to food inflation in the US. And industry experts forecast that meat prices will keep going up through the holidays and beyond. It goes without saying that these problems will continue to intensify over the coming year. That's why we always recommend you to stock up while you can because many unpleasant disruptions emerge every day. From now on, food prices are only going to get higher, and if you're amongst those whose job is on the line because of those new mandates, you should start getting ready as soon as you can because very dark days are ahead."

- https://www.epiceconomist.com​

"A Look to the Heavens"

"The small, northern constellation Triangulum harbors this magnificent face-on spiral galaxy, M33. Its popular names include the Pinwheel Galaxy or just the Triangulum Galaxy. M33 is over 50,000 light-years in diameter, third largest in the Local Group of galaxies after the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), and our own Milky Way. About 3 million light-years from the Milky Way, M33 is itself thought to be a satellite of the Andromeda Galaxy and astronomers in these two galaxies would likely have spectacular views of each other's grand spiral star systems. 

As for the view from planet Earth, this sharp image shows off M33's blue star clusters and pinkish star forming regions along the galaxy's loosely wound spiral arms. In fact, the cavernous NGC 604 is the brightest star forming region, seen here at about the 4 o'clock position from the galaxy center. Like M31, M33's population of well-measured variable stars have helped make this nearby spiral a cosmic yardstick for establishing the distance scale of the Universe."

- https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

Gregory Mannarino, "Must Watch! Shock And Awe: The US Dollar Value Is Plummeting! Get Out Of The Dollar Now!"

Gregory Mannarino, PM 11/12/21:

"Must Watch! Shock And Awe: 

The US Dollar Value Is Plummeting! 

Get Out Of The Dollar Now!"

- https://traderschoice.net/

"Are We Living Through the Most Terrifying Experiment in Human History?"

"Are We Living Through the Most Terrifying 

Experiment in Human History?"

by Chris MacIntosh

"Any organized structure is corrupted over time. That is a law of entropy. The "Universe 25" experiment is one of the most terrifying experiments in the history of science. It involves the behavior of a colony of mice, and is an attempt by scientists to explain human societies.

Here is what happened. Between the late 1960s and early 1970s, American ethologist John B. Calhoun created a seemingly perfect utopia for mice. Calhoun built a predator-free, disease-free enclosure, furnished it with limitless food and even an upper level with miniature mouse condos. Essentially, the mice would enjoy all the modern comforts that people in the developed world have come to enjoy and now actually expect today as a "right".

Consider what we are witnessing today. What I call "safety extremists" run the Western liberal democracies. It is as if hall room monitors all got put in charge. No climbing trees for Johnny because he may fall. Safety extremism. You can’t ride your bike without a helmet on. Safety extremism. Warning signs on hot coffee cups, telling you that the coffee is hot. The list of safety extremism is endless. So, you see, we’re like these mice. Now, along comes the hand-wringing lefties who believe it’s everyone's "right" to enjoy all the benefits of a modern world.

Let’s see what happened to the mice because it’s instructive for what is happening to Western societies.

The Experiment: To begin the experiment, Calhoun introduced four pairs of healthy mice into the enclosure. For the first 104 days, the mice explored their new habitat, marked their territory, and began nesting. Then, the population began to increase, doubling every 55 days. All normal stuff.

Interestingly, even when the population was well under 1/4 of the enclosure’s capacity, most of the mice still crowded together in select areas. Eating, for example, was a shared activity, so mice would group together during feeding times even though there was plenty of space to eat by themselves. Just like humans.

By the 315th day, the population reached 620 mice. Crowding behavior discouraged mating, heavily contributing to dropping birth rates. Universe 25 would now begin its slow but steady decline. A prominent social ladder quickly took shape.

Within the male population, the most dominant mice were characterized by their extremely aggressive behavior. The so-called "alpha mice" would often engage in wildly violent bloodbaths, proceeding to attack, rape, and even practice cannibalism at the expense of their peers. Disturbingly, these violent outbursts usually had no clear provocation or motive.

On the opposite side of the spectrum were the least socially adept mice who were completely excluded from mating. They spent their time moving between larger groups of mice, eating, and sleeping by themselves. Occasionally, these mice would also fight one another.

As the social roles broke down, the females took on more aggressive attitudes of their own. Taking care of their nests in the midst of such a chaotic domain was no easy task, so many mothers would sometimes act violently towards their own litters. Others would completely withdraw from their motherly responsibilities, ignoring their litters and quitting mating practices entirely.

Day 560 marked the beginning of the end, the "death phase." The spike in mortality rate fluctuated at around 100%, halting population increase altogether. However, the new generations that did survive had grown up in the tumultuous environment that was the Universe 25. These mice had no perception of the "normal" lives that mice led beyond the enclosure’s walls. "Studies… have consistently revealed that an absence of social stimulus and maternal care leads to a high rate of physical and emotional retardation and mortality."

Now, consider the absence of social stimulus that we’ve all experienced during this plandemic. In the context of the Universe 25, isolation paved the way for a new category of mice that Calhoun called the "beautiful ones." These mice were segregated from the other, bloodthirsty mice and the violence that plagued the rest of the enclosure. Their subsequently unruffled appearances were the inspiration for their name.

Furthermore, being separated from the rest of the Universe 25 mice, the beautiful ones made no contributions to society. The mice gave no help in mating, mothering, marking territory, etc. Instead, they spent all their time feeding, drinking, grooming, and sleeping.

Eventually, the beautiful ones outnumbered the more aggressive mice. Still, rather than mating or creating new roles in the Universe 25 society, the beautiful ones continued to exist solely for their physiological satisfaction. With everything provided for them in the enclosure, the paradox of the beautiful ones reveals the self-destructive patterns that emerge when living a life without purpose. Soon, because of the collective indifference towards mating or building a sustainable society, the mouse population began to die out until there were no mice left at all. Every single mouse died leaving nothing left. Calhoun repeated this experiment multiple times and found the exact same outcomes every time. Chilling.

Implications For Humanity: The Universe 25 experiment offers insight into the demise of humankind. The beautiful ones in particular show us that individuals will not assume a productive role in society if they do not have proper relationships or role models in the environment they grow up in. It is worth noting that the extreme left, which is found in Western society today, rejects family values in favor of multiculturalism and it is an advocate for universal basic income. How is this any different from the mice? It’s not.

The parallels with Universe 25 and humanity are obvious. Clearly we’re a more sophisticated species with the ability to acknowledge, think about, and change course. What gives me optimism for the future is that during times of crisis we see both the worst of humanity but also the very best. As we head into increasingly troubling times humanity has the chance to stop, recollect, re-evaluate and recalibrate what we value, why life is beautiful and worth fighting for. The minds of mice and men are not the same but just as a diamond is only made when put under extreme pressure, so too are people, communities, and societies."

- internationalman.com

The Daily "Near You?"

Kinsman, Ohio, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"The U.S. Is a Powder Keg"

"The U.S. Is a Powder Keg"

by Jeffrey Tucker

"Last night I did my usual grocery run. I don’t shop at stores with philosophies. I go for el cheapo places that don’t have olive bars and don’t play Schubert on the intercom. I just want the stuff I need at the lowest possible prices. Even I was stunned at the 40% increase in my usual bill. I thought I was buying in a minimalist way.

Later I looked more carefully at what went wrong. I bought beef and bacon. Beef price increases are now at double-digit rates, and bacon is even higher. You are paying much more per pound than one year ago. Pork and chicken are less, but that could change. Turkeys are in short supply for Thanksgiving. It will be the most expensive Thanksgiving meal in our lifetimes.

Stores don’t tag groceries based on the percentage increases in prices. Those you have to remember from last week and last month. Indeed, stores have every reason to disguise this. Manufacturers too, which is why packaging these days is holding ever less product. This is called “shrinkflation.” It is an epidemic right now, as manufacturers are struggling to survive huge increases in their own costs.

Biggest Inflation Spike in Over 30 Years: The Consumer Price Index came out this week. It revealed that consumer prices soared 6.2% in October, the biggest inflation spike in over 30 years. And it’s probably even worse than the official figures show. Meanwhile, the Producer Price Index revealed that the year-over-year change in the index for construction materials is up almost 20%.

Now let’s look at gasoline. You experience it daily, the high prices at the pump. Last year at this time, the average price per gallon was $1.81. Now it is $3.40. It is also rising as demand intensifies and supply faces restrictions.

Most important here are the monetary effects, as all the money that the Fed sloshed up in the last 20 months reduces its value or what it can buy. This inflation will never hit all products and all sectors evenly. It moves from sector to sector. These days the toxin is moving so fast and in so many directions it makes one’s head spin.

Not So Thrifty: We keep hoping each month to get good news. Perhaps the Fed will prove correct that inflation is only transitory. Sadly, that is not likely. They have been way off in their predictions. The Producer Price Index is the one to watch because these price increases get passed on to consumer prices as inventory is depleted.

Clothing is a case in point. We are already facing high prices and shortages on the shelves. This is driving people to the thrift stores. The major headlines are starting to show this. Thrift store prices too are on the increase, as I predicted last month. The percent change in the producer prices that go into making polyester clothing is now up 23.6%.

Even if monetary policy is fixed, even if supply chains are repaired, even if the clogs at the dock are unclogged, it will be months before this figures into consumer prices. Sadly, there is almost no chance that any of these good changes happen, meaning that these higher and higher prices are here to stay.

A Broken State: As I’ve mentioned before, there is something about American political culture that is especially averse to inflation. People frankly hate it, especially since we’ve lived 40-plus years without consumer inflation being a particularly pressing problem. Now looking at price trends creates shock and even hatred. It is hitting the Biden administration particularly hard.

A USA Today poll shows that Biden’s approval has sunk to 38%. The trend line here is truly devastating. We can speculate why. Inflation plays a role. But also the vaccine mandate seems to have hit the Biden approval rating very hard. In the coming month, millions of jobs could be affected by this. The protests are growing in every city, and the people protesting are union members, city employees and even tech workers. They are furious that government would presume the right to tell people what medicines they must inject into their bodies.

Some of the protesters are themselves vaccinated against their will. They are bitter and angry about it. The news of adverse outcomes from vaccination is leaking out through family networks and alternative news venues, though it continues to be suppressed by the media. So this mandate is now being seen as a direct threat to individual health. That’s something that will inspire people to take to the streets.

The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a stay against OSHA’s mandate on businesses. The Biden administration attempted a response, but the result was lame. It just said that it stands by the mandate on health grounds, period. Perhaps this won’t surprise you, but the president himself instructed businesses to go ahead and proceed, essentially advocating that they ignore the court ruling. In other words, the Biden administration has gone completely lawless, not just ignoring the U.S. Constitution but also advocating that businesses ignore the courts. That’s dangerously close to announcing that we now live with dictatorship.

It’s no wonder that even Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas is talking about secession from the union. If he is saying this, I truly cannot imagine the kind of anger there is among the citizens.

If you wanted to live in exciting times, you chose a great time to be alive. The conditions are ripe not only for continuing electoral bloodbaths but more street protests, explosive town halls, hate-filled school board meetings and much worse. A more divisive and destructive policy is hard to imagine. Sadly, these policies are dividing friends and family. Some people with vaccinations don’t see the big deal here. Just get the jab, they say, and then you can be free. Others find this idea to be outrageous, an immoral acquiescence to power that can only lead to even worse outcomes.

Powder Keg: I just watched several hours of testimony from big shots at the NIH and the CDC. It might as well have been a paid advertisement from Moderna and Pfizer. Nearly every word out of the bureaucrats’ mouths was structured to push the vaccines that most everyone knows by now have failed to live up to their promise. Indeed, if they were as good and safe as they say, government would not need to mandate them. The mandates, ironically, undermine public confidence. It’s hard to imagine that public confidence in everything could fall further, but it will. To top it off, making all the above much worse, the vaccination is now coming for the kids.

Mandates will surely follow. You want revolution in this country? This is a good way to foment one. The current regime has another year of unchecked power. It seems unfathomable. So far, they have not been deterred by anything, not the courts, not public opinion, not even sinking election prospects. The U.S. has become a powder keg."

- dailyreckoning.com

"Ode to Elon"

"Ode to Elon"

by Bill Bonner

"What men or gods are these? What maidens loth?

What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?

What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?

Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard

Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on..."

– "Ode on a Grecian Urn", by John Keats

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – What a wonderful time to be alive! Wait… A news flash… Our Doom Index has just hit “8”… which is “Crash Alert” level. Details on Monday… Meanwhile, the world is just chock-a-block with marvelous, magical, absurd, and absolutely ridiculous things. Like a city sewer in a flood, we are awash in things best not looked at too closely. But since it’s Friday, let us at least take a look at something that happened this very week.

3,519,252 Financial Advisors: As every sentient being on the planet knows, Elon Musk, the world’s richest – and clearly, cleverest – man decided to guide his financial life via a Twitter poll. That is, he asked the Twitter-sphere if he should sell 10% of his stake in Tesla (TSLA). This is obviously a novel way of making decisions. And perhaps better.

If two heads are better than one… surely, the 3,519,252 poll respondents, including the 2,037,647 who answered “Yay,” raise the quality of the decision at least to a C+. What is most amazing about the whole thing is that 3,519,252 people… all supposedly compos mentis… probably adult-ish… presumably with real lives… actually found the time to weigh in on a financial question that didn’t concern them. The decision would normally be of interest to only one, the very one person who – if results are anything to go on – is the most qualified human being to make the call. After all, if the world’s most successful man can’t decide when to buy or sell his own stock, who can?

Have Your Say: And now that we see that there are so many people ready to help with our personal decision-making… perhaps we should make use of it. Should we have a café latte this morning… or a cappuccino? You decide for us. Where should we invest? In stocks? Bonds? Farmland in Argentina or Nicaragua (prices are low because they are… like… disaster areas)? Tell us, please. Is it time to buy a new pair of blue jeans?https://click.exct.bonnerandpartners.com/?qs=75c5d79c0d6f10e66219d3fe4c19e140d2571345f6c3d1330a6be7eba16686c286f3f425369777396c01bf987d40b8f3c3afff3c6c1184ed Get a COVID booster shot? Wink at the pretty barista? We need guidance.

We invite replies and promise to abide by the results as faithfully as we would if they came from the U.S. federal government or the Papal See.

Twitter Says Sell! So, let’s return to the other curiosities surrounding this story. And don’t worry if we get the facts wrong; they hardly matter. What matters is the cockeyed principle of the thing… which is what we’re trying to figure out. In any event, Musk’s poll was taken. The twitterers rendered judgement. And it was in the affirmative.

This news then had a remarkable effect (but not at all unanticipated… at least, not by Elon Musk’s bro, Kimbal, who sold $109 million worth of shares on Friday). Earlier this week, Tesla stock fell, wiping out nearly $235 billion from the value of the company. That vanished $235 billion represents more than the combined value of GM, BMW, and Ford. In other words… Well… there really are no words that can do the situation justice.

Elon Effect: Investors who judged the stock worth $1,243 on Thursday of last week found it was worth only $1,011 on Tuesday of this week. Same company. Same products. Same earnings. Same markets. Same Joe Biden. Same Elon Musk. Same customers. Same problems. Same weather. Same COVID. Same everything. So why would a share be nearly 19% less valuable? We hope you’re not expecting an answer from us.

As far as we can tell, Elon is sui generis… an economic law all of his own. God? Man? We can’t say. But when he pipes up… investors hear melodies so sweet, they can’t resist. If he buys something, it goes up. If he mentions something, it goes up. Even if he mentions something else by mistake, it goes up, too. So far, the Elon Effect is the most reliable indicator in modern finance.

Enrichment of Elon: And now, Elon is the richest biped ever to walk on the planet. That is odd, too, considering that up ‘til now, his contribution, in goods and services, is worth (net) less than zero. Add up all the money that has been invested in Elon’s projects. Subtract the value of all goods and services (mainly Tesla cars) rendered. Do this for Edison, Ford, Rockefeller, Jobs, even Zuckerberg – almost any really rich person – and the sum will be hugely positive. Their companies make profits by providing goods and/or services that are more valuable than the resources (including capital and labor) that go into them.

We’re not going to do the math for Elon. It’s too much work. But the result must be a staggeringly negative number. His businesses do not make money; they lose it. They destroy wealth; they don’t create it. He is so rich because the Federal Reserve has falsified the value of capital… and rigged the auto market with carbon credits. There is also the mysterious Elon Effect, for which we offer no explanation.

Enrichment of the Elites: The enrichment of Elon, in other words, parallels the growing wealth of the entire elite caste. It is not based on actual output – neither on sales nor on profits – but on fake money and fake interest rates. It favors gamblers… showmen…geniuses, as well as grifters. And as we saw this week, it goes as well as comes."

- www.rogueeconomics.com

"Economic Collapse Will Be On The Thanksgiving Menu - Be Prepared"

Full screen recommended.

Dan, iAllegedly AM 11/12/21:

"Economic Collapse Will Be On The 

Thanksgiving Menu - Be Prepared"

"It is better to be ready than to get ready. There is still time to prepare to stock up on supplies, food, security and have some cash on hand. Economic collapse is on the menu this Thanksgiving."

Gregory Mannarino, "HYPER-Bubble? Is The Stock Market REALLY In A Bubble? And Is It About To Burst?"

Gregory Mannarino, AM 11/12/21:

"HYPER-Bubble? Is The Stock Market REALLY In A Bubble? 

And Is It About To Burst?"

- https://traderschoice.net/

"How It Really Is"

 

Greg Hunter, "Weekly News Wrap-Up 11/12/21"

"Weekly News Wrap-Up 11/12/21"

By Greg Hunter’s USAWatchdog.com

"The Chinese property company called Evergrande has officially gone under and is defaulting on much of its debt. The legacy financial media lied and told investors that the company was making interest payments when it was clearly not. What is going to happen now? It is only a matter of time before the global economy takes a big hit. The knock-on effect will be stunning for the unprepared. This event is something you best take notice of. You have been warned is the take-away here.

The Fed is between a rock and a hard place. It either stops the bond buying and the market crashes or they keep printing cash and inflation will crash the markets. Either way, the markets are going to crash if the entire financial system does not implode first. Again, you have been warned.

One of the few bright spots is gold and Bitcoin prices. They are up and going higher. They smell trouble, and people are running for cover. That move is just getting started."

Join Greg Hunter on Rumble as he talks about these stories and more in the "Weekly News Wrap-Up 11.12.21".  View video here: https://rumble.com/

After the Wrap-Up: Financial and geo-political cycle expert Martin Armstrong will be the guest for the Saturday Night Post.  He will tell us what he sees coming, and it’s not going to be pretty.

Gregory Mannarino, "The Fed. Made A Mistake? They Are Trapped? They Lost Control? How About NO! This Is All By Design"

Gregory Mannarino, PM 11/11/21:

"The Fed. Made A Mistake? They Are Trapped? 

They Lost Control? How About NO! This Is All By Design"

- https://traderschoice.net/

Gerald Celente, "Trends in The News 11/11/21"

Strong Language Alert!

Gerald Celente, "Trends in The News 11/11/21"

"The Trends Journal is a weekly magazine analyzing global current events forming future trends. Our mission is to present Facts and Truth over fear and propaganda to help subscribers prepare for What’s Next in these increasingly turbulent times."

- https://trendsresearch.com/

"Inflation is the Highest Tax - We Are Being Taxed to Oblivion"

 

Full screen recommended.

Dan, iAllegedly 11/11/21:

"Inflation is the Highest Tax - 

We Are Being Taxed to Oblivion"

"Inflation is out of control. This is truly the highest tax that we pay. The worst problem is that there is no control to it. We don’t know when it’s going to end and how high it will go."

Musical Interlude: 2002, "River Of Stars"

Full screen recommended.

2002, "River Of Stars"

"A Look to the Heavens"

"NGC 1333 is seen in visible light as a reflection nebula, dominated by bluish hues characteristic of starlight reflected by interstellar dust. A mere 1,000 light-years distant toward the heroic constellation Perseus, it lies at the edge of a large, star-forming molecular cloud. 

This telescopic close-up spans about two full moons on the sky or just over 15 light-years at the estimated distance of NGC 1333. It shows details of the dusty region along with telltale hints of contrasty red emission from Herbig-Haro objects, jets and shocked glowing gas emanating from recently formed stars. In fact, NGC 1333 contains hundreds of stars less than a million years old, most still hidden from optical telescopes by the pervasive stardust. The chaotic environment may be similar to one in which our own Sun formed over 4.5 billion years ago."

- https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

"An Insider Revealed Containers Piled Up As Far As The Eye Can See As Supply Chain Crisis Deepens"

Full screen recommended.

"An Insider Revealed Containers Piled Up As Far As 

The Eye Can See As Supply Chain Crisis Deepens"

by Epic Economist

"Last year the US economy suddenly ground into a halt. This year, things eventually picked up speed and started moving again, but only to get stuck in the biggest logjam ever recorded in our nation's history. Our supply chains are suffering from extended disruptions and the severity of this crisis is already apparent to the naked eye. Consumers are witnessing empty shelves in major supermarkets all around the country. Car plants are being shut down due to a shortage of semiconductors. Ports remain extremely congested, and millions of containers are now stuck at cargo ships outside the coast of California that can wait up to a month for a berth to finally be able to dock.

The situation is so out of control that things have been similarly chaotic onshore, where hundreds of thousands of containers are being piled up after being unloaded from those massive ships. As one industry insider described, right now, the backlog of containers stretches "as far as the eye can see." In one very revealing video recently posted on social media, a dockworker showed the gigantic piles of undelivered shipping containers sitting at a key US port, exposing the true extent of the supply chain crisis plaguing our nation.

Over the past year, numerous disruptions were recorded. Months ago, a key index for the industry found that shortages caused by supply chain bottlenecks jumped by over 400 percent from 2020 levels. A combination of several issues, including steep imbalances between supply and demand, a slowdown in global manufacturing, rising shipping and logistics costs, and severe worker shortages have all contributed to the worsening situation we're seeing today.In the video released on TikTok, the supply chain worker who said to be in charge of "crane operations" used his smartphone to document the staggering amount of shipping containers stacked and awaiting distribution on the quayside.

The TikTok video uploaded on October 13 has already over 3.6. million views on the social media site. In the 30-second clip, you can also hear the worker complaining about the status quo. The user identified as Stanimal18 has 12 other videos documenting the shipping container industry. In one of them, he says that "one of the reasons everything is backed up is that our container yards are stuffed to the hilt with containers."

Most US retailers did not anticipate the enormous growth in consumer demand, adds the executive director of the Port of Houston Roger Guenther. "When everybody was staying home and they were getting stimulus checks, they started buying. Since they weren't going on vacation and going to restaurants and buying services, they started buying furniture and bicycles and home improvement goods," he said. As they try to make up for the lost sales, some of them increase their orders by up to four times. However, the panic ordering retailers have been doing resulted in an even bigger backlog, and congestion is becoming so acute that shippers are transferring ships that arrive in California to other ports, such as the Port of Houston, New Jersey, or Savannah.

At this point, all available space in the port of Houston is occupied by immense towers of multicolored containers that can get stranded for weeks until trucks arrive to haul them to distribution centers. Even though there's plenty of supply, millions of products remain trapped at ports and out of the reach of consumers due to lengthy delivery delays, which are causing shortages at a national and local level. As the holiday season approaches, Americans are already getting increasingly frustrated with the growing number of out-of-stock items as the crisis threatens to ruin Christmas. In October alone, online shoppers received nearly 2 billion out-of-stock messages -- three times more than during the same period in 2019 -- according to an Adobe Analytics study released Tuesday. The analysis tracked one trillion visits to US retail sites.

The undeniable interconnectedness of our supply chains used to be a sign of strength and resilience for the global economy. Right now, as each and every country faces its own struggles, our reliance on this global system threatens to plunge our economy into another recession - one much worse than what happened in 2020. This time, as the economy slumps, the price of everything skyrockets. And experts are warning that the worst is yet to come for the supply chain crisis, so buckle up and get ready for a bumpy ride."

- https://www.epiceconomist.com​

"Homeowners Tapping Into Equity ATM; Overstimulated Economy Over Heating"

Jeremiah Babe, PM 11/11/21:

"Homeowners Tapping Into Equity ATM; 

Overstimulated Economy Over Heating"

The Daily "Near You?"

Blanco, Texas, USA. Thanks for stopping by!

"Most Expensive Thanksgiving Ever!"

"Most Expensive Thanksgiving Ever!"

by Bill Bonner

"Policy failures will be responsible for tens of thousands of families getting stranded at airports, paying exorbitant gas prices, and encountering grocery store shortages. Americans face the most expensive Thanksgiving on record."

– The Hill

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – "The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report came out just after we filed yesterday’s Diary. The Washington Post broke the news: "Prices rose 6.2 percent in October compared with a year ago, the largest annual increase in about 30 years, as rising inflation complicates the political agenda for the White House and policymakers’ road map for the economy heading into the end of the year. Overall prices rose 0.9 percent from September to October, tying June for the biggest one-month increase since the Great Recession. Only a few categories saw prices fall last month, including airfare and alcohol."

But don’t worry. Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell, who insisted that inflation was only “transitory,” now promises to make it go away: "…we understand completely that it’s particularly people who are living paycheck to paycheck or seeing higher grocery costs, higher gasoline costs, when the winter comes, higher heating costs for their homes. We understand completely what they're going through. And we will use our tools over time to make sure that that doesn’t become a permanent feature of life."

But a 6% inflation rate wreaks havoc. The current yield on the world’s most important asset – the 10-year U.S. Treasury bond – is only 1.46%. The 10-year Treasury is the backbone of pension funds, corporate savings, Social Security, insurance programs, and other institutional holdings. But at this rate, they’re losing 4.54% of their money each year. Who wants to take that deal? That’s why U.S. deficits… like those in Argentina… are now being funded almost entirely by “printing press” money.

No Escape: We keep busy on weekends with DIY projects. Every time we go to the lumber yard, we’re staggered by the price increases. Overall, construction materials are up 31% year on year. Gasoline is running at 62% more than a year ago. Meanwhile, wages are going up at a 5% rate. But subtract the losses from inflation, and the average working man is actually getting poorer. The Wall Street Journal reports that “real wages are down 2.2% since January.” That’s the way the inflation tax works… It falls most heavily on the poor and middle classes, who have no way to escape it.

Clean Getaway: The feds added about $3 trillion in new cash – based on the Fed’s balance sheet – between 2007 and 2019… and then another $5 trillion since then. Those chickens are now descending on the U.S. economy, like a flock of vultures. And so, the inflators are doing their best to lay the blame anywhere and everywhere… except where it belongs.

Joe Biden has already told the Federal Trade Commission to find some patsies. It is supposed to “strike back at any market manipulation or price gouging [in the energy sector],” he says. And yesterday, he came to Baltimore again. He went down to the harbor and pretended to “do something” that will solve the “supply chain disruption” problem, whatever that is…The Washington Post, a “paper of record” for U.S. politics and an all-purpose shill for the ruling elite, eagerly helped mislead the public. Here’s the subhead from yesterday’s article quoted above, pointing the finger in the wrong direction, so the real culprits can make a clean getaway: "It’s unclear when supply chains will clear, especially given how vulnerable the economy remains to the pandemic." Damned supply chains!

From Bad to Worse: According to the servile press, Biden’s $1 trillion in new “infrastructure” spending – almost every penny of which will be financed with more printing-press money – will help fix the “supply chain problem.” We can’t wait to see the follow-up story: "Biden Mends Supply Chains By Printing More Money; Prices Fall." Don’t hold your breath. Not going to happen.

First, because Biden knows nothing about supply chains, he has no clue about what’s wrong with them or how to fix them. Second, because the supply chains are not the real problem. They’re just being used as a “rope-a-dope” by the elite press. And third, because more money-printing will make the real problem – monetary inflation – worse, not better.

And so approaches the moment of truth, when the Fed will have to lay its cards on the table… Raise interest rates to limit inflation? Or let ‘er rip… Blame the supply chain and protect the elite? Stay tuned…"

- www.rogueeconomics.com