"We Are Going To See Energy Prices Go Absolutely Nuts This Winter Just As We Plunge Into A Horrifying Global Economic Crisis"

"We Are Going To See Energy Prices Go Absolutely Nuts This

 Winter Just As We Plunge Into A Horrifying Global Economic Crisis"

by Michael Snyder

"How would you feel if your power bill went up by 50 percent this winter? How about 100 percent? Unfortunately, these kinds of price increases are already being announced. The world was heading into a major energy crisis even before the war in Ukraine started, and now that conflict threatens to create an extremely severe energy crunch that would have been unimaginable just a couple of years ago. If some sort of a miracle doesn’t happen, it is going to be a really, really cold winter for countless people in the western world.

The Russians have been trying to use energy as leverage, and on Monday they announced that the amount of natural gas flowing through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline will be reduced “to just 20% of its capacity”…"The Biden administration is working furiously behind the scenes to keep European allies united against Russia as Moscow further cuts its energy supplies to the European Union, prompting panic on both sides of the Atlantic over potentially severe gas shortages heading into winter, US officials say.

On Monday, Russia’s state-owned gas company Gazprom said it would cut flows through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany in half, to just 20% of its capacity. A US official said the move was retaliation for western sanctions, and that it put the West in “unchartered territory” when it comes to whether Europe will have enough gas to get through the winter."

In essence, Vladimir Putin is “turning the screws”, and it may just be a matter of time before he cuts off the gas completely. The Europeans never should have allowed themselves to become so dependent on Russian energy, and now a major crisis is staring them in the face.

Last Wednesday, a modest rationing plan for the member states of the EU was introduced…"The “Save Gas for a Safe Winter” plan announced Wednesday sets a target for the 27 member states to reduce their gas demand by 15% between August and March next year. That reduction is based on countries’ average gas consumption during the same months over the previous five years. The plan is focused on curtailing demand by businesses and in public buildings, rather than private homes. Among the proposed measures, the EU Commission is encouraging industry to switch to alternate energy sources — including coal where necessary — and to introduce auction systems that compensate companies for reducing their gas consumption."

Of course such a plan is going to be almost impossible to enforce, and even if all of the member states meet their goals it still won’t be enough if the Russians stop the flow of gas entirely. The U.S. has been ramping up exports to Europe in an effort to help, and one official is openly admitting that this could cause a dramatic increase in prices here in the United States… “This was our biggest fear,” said the US official. The impact on Europe could boomerang back onto the US, spiking natural gas and electricity prices, the official said. It will also be a major test of European resilience and unity against Russia, as the Kremlin shows no signs of retreating from Ukraine."

Sadly, we are already starting to see the price of natural gas rise to very alarming levels. According to Wolf Richter, the price of U.S. natural gas has “more than doubled” over the past year…"So here we go again. This morning, natural gas futures jumped to $8.29 per million Btu, adding to the jumps over the past week. The price has regained much of the lost spike, and is up about 30% from a month ago, and has more than doubled from a year ago."

Ouch. Needless to say, U.S. consumers are going to be feeling a tremendous amount of pain this winter. For example, just check out the rate hikes that were just announced in New Hampshire…"Electricity bills in New Hampshire are about to get higher. Eversource is raising its energy supply rate by about 50% on Aug. 1. With customers using, on average, 25% more energy in the summer, a typical customer could expect to see a $70 monthly increase, the utility said. The energy service rate for New Hampshire Electric Co-op will go up 77%, Liberty Utilities will jump 100% and Eversource’s rate will rise by 112%.

In the coming months, we will see similar rate hikes all over the nation. So are you ready for your power bill to soar into the stratosphere? And all of this comes at a time when the percentage of U.S. adults that are “having difficulties paying their bills” has just hit a brand new high…"The share of Americans who report having difficulties paying their bills has surpassed its 2020 pandemic peak in a US Census Bureau survey, underscoring the toll of soaring prices on budgets. Four in ten adults said it has been somewhat or very difficult to cover usual household expenses in a poll conducted end of June and early July. That’s the highest since the Census started asking the question in August 2020. It implies that more than 90 million families are struggling, up from about 60 million a year ago."

As I discussed yesterday, a recession in the United States is already here. Will the entire world soon follow? On Tuesday, the IMF warned that we could be on the verge of a major global economic slowdown…"The global economy is already in trouble, yet risks keep piling up. In a report released Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund once again lowered its world economic forecast as it predicted major slowdowns in the three biggest economies: the United States, China and Europe. Those downturns, combined with the ongoing war in Ukraine, inflation surging faster than expected, and tighter monetary policy around the world have continued to slam the already fragile global economy, it said."

It is often said that “energy is the economy”, and global supplies of energy just keep getting tighter and tighter. There isn’t any short-term help on the horizon, and if we stay on the path that we are on this new global energy crisis is just going to get worse and worse. Of course there is also the possibility that something could come along that could greatly accelerate our energy problems. A Chinese invasion of Taiwan is likely to happen at some point, and I have been warning that a war between Israel and Iran will erupt sooner rather than later. In either case, our new global energy crisis would rapidly evolve into a global energy nightmare.

So enjoy this relatively quiet summer while you still can, because I have a feeling that this upcoming winter is going to be quite crazy."

- https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/

Bill Bonner, "Food Fight!"

"Food Fight!"

America sinks deeper into debt as 

costs skyrocket and real wages slump...

by Bill Bonner

Baltimore, Maryland - "All over America, fights are breaking out. In the kitchen. In the bedroom. All over the place. “Do we have to go to such an expensive restaurant,” asks the head of the household. “Couldn’t we stick with Mickey D?” “I just wanted to try something different… a place where we can sit down.” “Uh…I don’t think we can afford to sit down.”

CNBC reports: "Nearly half of all Americans are falling deeper in debt as inflation continues to boost costs. Nearly 40% of consumers cannot put any money at all into savings, according to a recent analysis of household financial health and readiness by the American Consumer Credit Counseling, while about 19% said they had to reduce their savings rate."

The poor family dog. He hears the shouting and cursing… the wife yelling… and the husband using four-letter words. He sees the lamp hit the wall. But he really doesn’t know what to make of it. Maybe she is right; her husband is a tightwad bore. Or maybe he has a point: his wife is a spendthrift flibbertigibbet. He doesn’t know. Neither do we.

Where the Buck Stops: But we know who to blame. Thanks to the Fed, the poor couple has had nearly 10% of its income pruned off by inflation. And now it faces a recession. Can it refinance its house? Forget it. Can it get better jobs at higher wages? Where? Will it get another round of stimmies to fatten its accounts? Don’t count on it.

GM “curbs some hiring” as profits fall by 40%. Spotify says it is laying off 10% of its staff. Employers all over the country are looking carefully at their payrolls…while consumer prices rise. “Major brands keep raising prices as their costs grow,” says the Wall Street Journal this morning. Coca Cola, Huggies, Dove and Big Macs – all going up “as costs increase for everything from wood pulp to wages.”

Meanwhile, we also discover – on the front page of the WSJ – that a “Beijing Spy Campaign Targeted the Fed…” What a waste of time that was. The Fed is no master mechanic, no magician, no expert technician. It knows nothing worth knowing. It produces nothing worth producing. It has no secrets nor “sensitive information” worth protecting. It offers no services. It has no skill… no expertise… no insight.

Every projection it makes turns out to be wrong. Inflation, for example, turns out not to be ‘transitory’… and nowhere near the Fed’s prediction. Every idea it has – from its 2% inflation target… to its ‘neutral rate’– is foolish. And everything it does (mostly, inflating the economy with fake money) is essentially fraudulent. Apart from that, it is a fine organization of wonderful people who only have the best interests of all of us at heart. And what a swell haircut Jay Powell has!

Dust to Dust: The Fed has only one real tool – liquidity (cash or credit) – and only one real decision to make: add to it or subtract from it. Either pour some more liquor into the punchbowl or take the punchbowl away. Either inflate the economy with more credit (by lowering interest rates and ‘printing’ more money). Or kill the credit-based expansion that has been going on for the last 40 years.

After 12 years of heavy inflating, the stock market hit an all-time high in November of last year. But then, consumer prices began to rise. ‘Who could have seen that coming,’ said the Fed. And all of a sudden, the Fed had to stop inflating. And that meant it couldn’t backstop the stock market. Instead of lowering rates, it had to raise them. The Fed quickly realized – about 5 years too late – that it was “way behind the curve,” with its key lending rate far below actual inflation (CPI). It has been trying to catch up ever since.

The flow of money and credit is getting pinched off. Slowly. But relentlessly. Naturally, asset prices are falling… and the black crepe is coming out. Bells are ringing. Mourners are gathering. And trillions of dollars’ worth of assets have already been buried. But it has much further to go. So, as long as the Fed stays on course – with its ‘tightening cycle’ – the ‘primary trend’ will be down. And a lot of ‘wealth’ will drop dead. Stocks have further to fall. Bonds will probably go down over the next 20 years. And the real estate downturn has barely begun.

Meanwhile, inflation cuts into family budgets and sets off the aforementioned arguments. The typical household doesn’t notice or care that stocks are falling. It relies on income for its wealth, not capital gains. And incomes are falling along with asset prices. Note to the Chinese: it’s ‘Inflate or die.’ Everything else is detail. Stay tuned..."

- bonnerprivateresearch@substack.com

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"Weekly Wages (Incomes) Adjusted for Inflation are Falling off a Cliff. 

This Will Hit Demand Harder Than Any Interest Rate Hikes."

Gregory Mannarino, "Be Ready! Today We Hear From 'World Control'; Expect More Lies, Deception, And Propaganda"

Gregory Mannarino, AM 7/27/22:

"Be Ready! Today We Hear From 'World Control'; 

Expect More Lies, Deception, And Propaganda"

- https://traderschoice.net/

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Strange Prices At Target! Empty Shelves, And Rising Prices!"

Full screen recommended.

Adventures with Danno, 7/27/22:

"Strange Prices At Target! Empty Shelves, And Rising Prices!"

"In today's vlog we are at Target and are noticing massive price increases! We are here to check out skyrocketing prices, and a lot of empty shelves! It's getting rough out here as stores seem to be struggling with getting products!"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Canadian Prepper, "Here We Go... 4 Major Conflicts At Once; Total Economic Collapse"

Canadian Prepper, 7/26/22:

"Here We Go... 4 Major Conflicts At Once;

 Total Economic Collapse"

"4 Major conflicts are going to be fought at once and it 

will plunge the world into economic Armageddon."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Musical 2002, "Breathing Light"

Full screen recommended.

2002, "Breathing Light"

"A Look to the Heavens"

"How do clusters of galaxies form and evolve? To help find out, astronomers continue to study the second closest cluster of galaxies to Earth: the Fornax cluster, named for the southern constellation toward which most of its galaxies can be found. Although almost 20 times more distant than our neighboring Andromeda galaxy, Fornax is only about 10 percent further that the better known and more populated Virgo cluster of galaxies.

Fornax has a well-defined central region that contains many galaxies, but is still evolving. It has other galaxy groupings that appear distinct and have yet to merge. Seen here, almost every yellowish splotch on the image is an elliptical galaxy in the Fornax cluster. The picturesque barred spiral galaxy NGC 1365 visible on the lower right is also a prominent Fornax cluster member."

- http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130111.html

"A Parade Of Fools..."

"Humanity is a parade of fools,

and I am at the front of it, twirling a baton."

- Dean Koontz

Gerald Celente, "Only The Deaf And Dumb Can't Hear The Market Mayhem And World War Coming"

Strong language alert!

Gerald Celente, "Trends Journal"

"Only The Deaf And Dumb Can't Hear 

The Market Mayhem And World War Coming"

"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/

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Gregory Mannarino, "It's Really Over, Home Affordability Hits An All Time Low"

Gregory Mannarino, PM 7/26/22:

"It's Really Over, Home Affordability Hits An All Time Low"

- https://traderschoice.net/

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Ranchers Are Selling Off Their Cattle In Unprecedented Numbers As Global Starvation Plan Accelerates"

Full screen recommended.

"Ranchers Are Selling Off Their Cattle In Unprecedented

 Numbers As Global Starvation Plan Accelerates"

by Epic Economist, 7/26/22:

"Thousands of U.S. ranchers are being forced to sell their cattle as grass and water supplies continue to shrink due to extreme weather conditions. A horrific drought is devastating large swathes of the Southwest, leaving ranchers in “panic mode” as they struggle to keep their herds alive. Many of them are rushing to sell all their livestock because they don’t have any other options. The situation is raising major concerns about our domestic meat production, and it’s threatening our ability to feed ourselves in 2023 and beyond.

Local reports describe that North Texas has become the epicenter of this crisis, and thousands of ranchers are being forced to make some really difficult decisions. Thanks to the abnormally dry weather, there isn’t enough grass and water supplies for the herds, and ranchers are selling off cattle by the thousands before conditions get even worse. Typically, when extreme weather starts affecting cattle feed, ranchers usually give them hay instead. But that’s not something they can afford to do anymore. Prices of hay have shot up by 56% over the past year, according to a June report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. Cattle producers are estimated to have lost money in the past two months, according to a cost-and-return analysis from Iowa State University. In other words, even if they can find hay for sale it has become so expensive that it is simply not economical.

Bridgeport rancher Jarrod Montford is one of the thousands who've had to sell his cattle due to the high costs to keep them fed. “It’s gonna hurt and it’s gonna hurt bad,” Montford said. “It’s a strain. And sometimes you have to sell some cattle to keep a few." Others are deciding to sell their entire herds because they ran out of options. In central Texas, the supply of hay is so small that many don’t even have alternative ways to keep their cattle alive, and hot temperatures are making ranchers fear that some of the older cattle may not survive until the end of the season.

According to Bloomberg, this means that in the short term a flood of beef will come into the supply chain. But in the long-term, next year’s meat supply will be compromised by a shortage of cattle. One thing most Americans don’t think about very often is where the meat they eat on daily basis actually comes from. And something we never really think about is the fact that a very small number of ranchers are responsible for feeding the entire country. But as the Texas rancher Jarrod Montford has pointed out, we rely upon a very small sliver of the population to feed all the rest of us. “1.6, 1.7% of the population feeds the rest. It’s not how bad are we at the end of the day,” Monfort said. “It’s the fact that if we don’t survive, our nation fails,” Montford emphasizes.

All of this is happening at a time when the UN is warning about the worst global food crisis in decades. Approximately 24 million Americans are already experiencing food insecurity, and famines are starting to erupt all around the globe while food supplies get tighter and tighter with each passing day. For years, people who worked in the food industry have been raising the alarm about this worsening situation and asking our leaders to take action to reverse or mitigate some of these worrying trends before it was too late. But nobody wanted to listen to what they had to say, and now, this is where we are.At this point, if you can stock up on meat before prices go through the roof, we advise you to do so, because meat prices won’t come back to where they are right now for quite some time."

- https://www.epiceconomist.com/

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Not a Recession, But a Depression"

"Not a Recession, But a Depression"

by Jim Rickards

"All the talk right now is about recession. Are we in one right now? (We’ll have the technical answer on Thursday.) The spinmeisters in the Biden administration and the media are of course trying to redefine a recession in an attempt to get ahead of the news cycle. But today, I want to take the longer view and see the bigger picture. What is it? Here it is: The economy remains stuck in the New Great Depression.

I’ve talked about the New Great Depression before. But I’ve gained a lot of new readers since I last wrote about it, who may not be familiar with the term - or the reasons why we’re mired in a depression. And long-standing readers who may be familiar with the term could probably use a reminder. So let’s dig in…

A Depression? Really? I’ve maintained that the United States has been living through a New Great Depression that began in 2007. It’s part of a larger global depression, the first since the 1930s. This New Great Depression will continue indefinitely unless policy changes are made in the years ahead.

Calling the current economic malaise a depression comes as a surprise to most investors. And I admit that talk of a new depression seems confusing at best. Where are the soup lines? Where’s the 25% unemployment rate? Investors have been told that the economy is in a recovery that started in 2009. It was disrupted by COVID in 2020, but we were back on the road to growth after the lockdowns ended.

Of course, mainstream economists and TV talking heads never refer to a depression. Economists don’t like the word “depression” because it does not have an exact mathematical definition. For economists, anything that cannot be quantified does not exist. This view is one of the many failings of modern economics.

A Conspiracy of Silence: No one under the age of 90 has ever experienced a depression until now. Most investors have no working knowledge of what a depression is or how it affects asset values. And economists and policymakers are engaged in a conspiracy of silence on the subject. It’s no wonder investors are confused.

Other observers can point to the declining unemployment and rising stock prices of the pre-COVID years as evidence that we were not in a depression. But they miss the fact that unemployment can fall and stocks can go up during a depression. GDP growth, rising stock prices and falling unemployment can all occur during depressions.

The Great Depression lasted from 1929–1940. It consisted of two technical recessions from 1929–1932 and again from 1937–1938. The periods 1933–1936 and 1939–1940 were technically economic expansions. Unemployment fell and stock prices rose. But the depression continued because the U.S. did not return to its potential growth rate until 1941. Stock and real estate prices did not fully recover their 1929 highs until 1954, a quarter century after the depression started. So the starting place for understanding depression is to get the definition right. That’s critical.

The Real Meaning of Depression: You may think of depression as a continuous decline in GDP. The standard definition of a recession is two or more consecutive quarters of declining GDP and rising unemployment. Since a depression is understood to be something worse than a recession, investors think it must mean an extra long period of decline. But that is not the definition of depression.

The best definition ever offered came from John Maynard Keynes in his 1936 classic "The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money". Keynes said a depression is “a chronic condition of subnormal activity for a considerable period without any marked tendency either toward recovery or toward complete collapse.” Keynes did not refer to declining GDP; he talked about “subnormal” activity. In other words, it’s entirely possible to have growth in a depression. The problem is that the growth is below trend. It is weak growth that does not do the job of providing enough jobs or staying ahead of the national debt. That is exactly what the U.S. is experiencing today.

The long-term growth trend for U.S. GDP is about 3%. Higher growth is possible for short periods of time. It could be caused by new technology that improves worker productivity. Or it could be due to new entrants into the workforce. From 1994–2000, the heart of the Clinton boom, growth in the U.S. economy averaged over 4% per year.

For a three-year stretch from 1983–1985 during the heart of the Reagan boom, growth in the U.S. economy averaged over 5.5% per year. These two periods were unusually strong, but they show what the U.S. economy can do with the right policies.

Below-Trend Growth: By contrast, growth in the U.S. from 2007–2013 averaged 1% per year. Growth up until 2020 was only marginally higher. Then there was 2020. You could say the severe pandemic-inspired recession of 2020 was a unique outlier, but growth for the preceding decade was below the long-term trend. You can’t count 2021’s 10% GDP growth because the economy virtually shut down in 2020, so that growth came off a very low baseline.

The larger trend we’ve been experiencing is the meaning of depression. Again, it isn’t necessarily negative growth, but below-trend growth. The past decade-plus of sub-2% growth, when the historical growth is 3%, is a depression exactly as Keynes defined it. And now we’re either in, or heading toward, outright recession.

Put aside today’s supply chain disruptions and the inflation that derives in large part to them. Even before they became an issue, growth wasn’t strong because the problem in the economy wasn’t monetary, but structural.

The Economy Needs Structural Changes: That’s the real difference between a recession and a depression. Recessions are cyclical and monetary in nature. Depressions are persistent and structural in nature. What do I mean by structural changes?

Shifts in fiscal and regulatory policies. The list is long but would include things like lower taxes, approval of the Keystone Pipeline (I’m talking to you, Joe Biden!), expanded oil and gas production, fewer government regulations and an improved business climate in areas such as labor laws, litigation reform and the environment. 

They don’t include Build Back Better or a Green New Deal. They’re structural changes, but the wrong structural changes. They would only make things worse. Power to make structural changes lies with the Congress and the White House. Until structural changes are made by law, this new depression will continue and the Fed is powerless to change that.

False Starts, False Dawns: What makes it a depression is ongoing below-trend growth that never gets back to its potential. That is exactly what the U.S. economy has been and is experiencing. The New Depression is ongoing. Growth never seems to get traction. First there are some signs of growth, and then the economy quickly slips back into low-growth or no-growth mode. The reason is simple.

Typically, a recovery is driven by the Federal Reserve expanding credit and rising wages. When inflation gets too high or labor markets get too tight, the Fed raises rates. That results in tightening credit and increasing unemployment. This normal expansion-contraction dynamic has happened repeatedly since World War II. It’s usually engineered by the Federal Reserve in order to avoid inflation during expansions and alleviate unemployment during contractions. The result is a predictable wave of expansion and contraction driven by monetary conditions. So that’s where we are today. Unfortunately, there’s no end in sight to the New Great Depression."

- dailyreckoning.com

○

Related:

Full screen recommended.

The Atlantis Report, 

“The New Great Depression Is Where We Are Now…” - Jim Rickards

The Daily "Near You?"

Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. Thanks for stopping by!

Bill Bonner, "Inflate or Die"

"Inflate or Die"

by Bill Bonner

Baltimore, Maryland - "The news this morning, from Bloomberg: "Walmart Sinks as Inventories, Thrifty Shoppers Hit Outlook." "Walmart Inc. cut its profit outlook again in a surprise warning weeks ahead of its earnings report, sending retailer shares tumbling and raising new questions about US consumers’ ability to sustain their voracious spending habits with inflation at a four-decade high.

Adjusted earnings per share will fall as much as 13% in the current fiscal year as US shoppers spurn big-ticket items and focus on buying less profitable groceries with consumer prices soaring, Walmart said in a statement Monday. Two months ago, the world’s largest retailer said earnings per share would only dip about 1%. In February, the company had predicted a modest increase."

Walmart is where ordinary households buy stuff. But they’re not buying as much as they used to. Because the stimmies have stopped coming… refinancing is no longer an easy way to get more money… and wages aren’t rising as fast as consumer prices.

The Other Leg: Yesterday, we looked at one of the two legs that hold up American family finances – houses. Homeowners can no longer count on ‘taking out equity,’ because there won’t be any excess equity to take out. Nor can they refinance at lower mortgage rates – because mortgage rates are going up. Already, refinancing applications are down 80% and new house plans are being canceled. Soon, house prices should go down too. But today we look more closely at the other leg – income. In short, real incomes are falling… and they can’t get up.

Wages are said to be going up at a 5% annual rate. Prices are rising at a 9% rate. That leaves a 4% gap – which is the rate at which real incomes are falling. Workers will, of course, push employers for wage increases to keep up with inflation. But (thanks to years of Fed-induced malinvestment) productivity is sagging… so the only way employers can pay more is by passing along the costs to consumers – further pushing up prices.

This is the ‘wage-price spiral’ that troubles central bankers’ sleep. Wages go up to keep the working stiffs from losing ground. Then, the extra labor costs force up prices. The higher prices cause workers to plead for higher wages. Wages tend to be ‘sticky,’ say economists. Once a raise is given, it is hard to take it away. So, wage-driven price increases ratchet upwards with no easy way to bring them down.

Vociferous Kibitzers: So, the pressure mounts. The Fed must ‘do something,’ say the kibitzers. But what? In yesterday’s news, Senator Elizabeth Warren came forward with a typically blockheaded comment. The Washington Examiner: "Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) tore into Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, accusing him of threatening to undermine the economy with his efforts to curb inflation by raising interest rate targets.

Warren, one of Powell’s most vociferous opponents, argued against the Federal Reserve’s increasingly hawkish monetary policy in a Wall Street Journal op-ed. She pointed out that the economy has experienced a robust labor market for the past year or so and said that the central bank’s aggressive rate hikes could trigger a “devastating recession.”

Uh oh. The Fed is coming up to its “Decision of the Century.” It’s the most important decision ever made by a central banker… one that will shape our investments, our economy, and even our government for decades into the future. Recently, news items have focused on the challenge. One said it will test “Jerome Powell’s skill” as a central banker. Another noted that avoiding a recession will ‘require careful management’ by the Fed.

The Critical Choice: But it’s all nonsense. The Fed has no skills. It doesn’t manage anything. It just inflates… or it doesn’t inflate. And now it faces the critical choice: inflate or die. An economy based on increasing supplies of credit (lower and lower interest rates) can only survive as long as the credit keeps coming. When interest rates rise and credit gets tight, it dies.

Ms. Warren is already wearing black; she’s complaining because the Fed is tightening up credit. And she’s right; it has probably already put the economy in recession. That’s why Walmart shoppers are pulling back. It’s why stocks and bonds are down worldwide – with a total loss of (fake) wealth of $35 trillion. And it’s why the frothiest part of the market – cryptos, NFTs, money-losing techs – has gone flat.

But there are no tricks or skills that the Fed can use to bring back the good ol’ days. Inflation is no longer a risk; it’s a fact. And the Fed has only two choices. Inflate or die. The Fed now judges the risk of inflation as greater than the risk of a collapsing economy. It has resolved to protect the US economy from inflation… and remains steadfast in its purpose. For now. But our guess is that the collapse has a lot farther to go… and that the moans of the dying will get louder and louder… until the Fed – driven mad by the braying of jackasses like Ms. Warren – changes course. More to come…"

- bonnerprivateresearch@substack.com

"I Know Why You Did It..."

Full screen recommended.

”Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn’t there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission.

How did this happen? Who’s to blame? Well certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you’re looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror. I know why you did it. I know you were afraid. Who wouldn’t be? War, terror, disease. There were a myriad of problems which conspired to corrupt your reason and rob you of your common sense. Since mankind’s dawn, a handful of oppressors have accepted the responsibility over our lives that we should have accepted for ourselves. By doing so, they took our power.

I shall die here. Every last inch of me shall perish. Except one. An inch. It’s small and it’s fragile and it’s the only thing in the world worth having. We must never lose it, or sell it, or give it away. We must never let them take it from us. People shouldn’t be afraid of their government. Governments should be afraid of their people.”

- Alan Moore, "V for Vendetta"

"Do You Believe..."

"Do you believe," said Candide, "that men have always massacred each other as they do today, that they have always been liars, cheats, traitors, ingrates, brigands, idiots, thieves, scoundrels, gluttons, drunkards, misers, envious, ambitious, bloody-minded, calumniators, debauchees, fanatics, hypocrites, and fools?"

"Do you believe," said Martin, "that hawks have always eaten pigeons when they have found them?"

- Voltaire

"You Think Bug Eating Was Bad?"

"You Think Bug Eating Was Bad?"

by Chris Black

 “Oh, wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! 

How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, that has such people in 't!”

- William Shakespeare, "The Tempest"

- https://www.investmentwatchblog.com/

○

Related:

"Let Them Eat Bugs"

One step before cannibalism…

"How It Really Is"

 

"The Economy is in Shambles - Let’s Rename the Word Recession"

Full screen recommended.

Dan, iAllegedly 7/26/22:

"The Economy is in Shambles - 

Let’s Rename the Word Recession"

"You can’t hide from reality. The economy is in shambles and now the Fed wants to rename the word “recession“. People are running out of gas when it comes to the ability to pay their bills. Farmers are selling cattle because they cannot get water to the cows. Michael Burry is furious that the Fed is trying to hide the grim reality that we’re living through."

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Walmart Warning! Catastrophic Layoffs; Consumer Tapped; Sell Your House Now, Don't Chase The Market"

Full screen recommended.

Jeremiah Babe 7/26/22:

"Walmart Warning! Catastrophic Layoffs; Consumer Tapped; 

Sell Your House Now, Don't Chase The Market"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Gregory Mannarino, "The Global Economy Is Crashing At It's Fastest Pace Ever

Gregory Mannarino, AM 7/26/22:

"The Global Economy Is Crashing At It's Fastest Pace Ever; 

Central Banks Continue To Inflate"

- https://traderschoice.net/

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Insane Price Increases At Meijer! This Is Ridiculous! What Now!?"

Full screen recommended.

Adventures with Danno, 7/26/22:

"Insane Price Increases At Meijer! This Is Ridiculous! What Now!?"

"In today's vlog we are at Meijer, and are noticing a massive amount of price increases on groceries! This is getting ridiculous as this is the biggest price hike we have ever seen. It's getting rough out here as stores seem to be struggling with getting products!"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/  

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"State Of The US Consumer: McDonald's Customers Trading Down, 

Buy Value Items As Combos Increasingly Unaffordable"

Canadian Prepper, "A Message I Just Got About WW3... And it's Not Good"

Canadian Prepper, 7/25/22:

"A Message I Just Got About WW3... And it's Not Good"

A message I got from Romania about WW3:

- https://youtu.be/kJzCICEkelk

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

"Get Ready For Sweeping Supply Chain Shortages As Major Threats Emerge At Ports"

Full screen recommended.

"Get Ready For Sweeping Supply Chain Shortages

 As Major Threats Emerge At Ports"

by Epic Economist

"America’s supply chain is facing a series of threats. On both coasts, ports are rapidly getting overloaded, and ongoing rail and trucker strikes are likely to exacerbate disruptions and bring back empty shelves at grocery stores. U.S. consumers are already coping with the highest prices in four decades, but industry executives are saying that the nightmarish product shortages and price increases that have been causing lots of stress for millions of American families are here to stay, and those trends are going to continue to accelerate through the end of the year as U.S. ports face another turbulent shipping season.

Last week, one of the most respected supply chain executives came forward to warn the public that America’s supply chain won’t come back to what it was. Before the pandemic, we had probably one of the most efficient supply chains in history. Consumers were able to score those sweet deals from overseas, and grocers were able to keep the shelves stocked for much longer. Disruptions used to come and go. The system was resilient and adaptable. But over the past couple of years, everything has changed. And according to the CEO of FreightWaves, Craig Fuller, that supply chain is never coming back.

In a recent statement, Fuller said that says “the well-running supply chain that many of us took for granted; that gave us an economy of superabundance, is nothing but a memory at this point”. "I think the golden era is probably over," he stressed. And the latest chokepoints are being created by the twin threats of prolonged rail and trucker strikes just as ports on both coasts are starting to get overwhelmed again. For many involved in our domestic supply chains, the ongoing negotiations between dockworker unions and employees on the U.S. West Coast are causing a lot of anxiety and stress. “The supply chain already is in crisis. This is a huge disruption,” added Peter Friedmann, the executive director of the Agriculture Transportation Coalition.The double threat of road and rail strikes during the peak season comes at a critical moment. New data shows that congestion is growing at the country’s top two ports, Los Angeles and Long Beach.

On the other side of the coast, congestion has been brewing for many weeks too. It goes without saying that business owners are freaking out about this situation. A new poll released last week by QIMA found that 95 percent of U.S. companies felt the impact of port congestion in 2022, and at least two-thirds of them expect congestion to continue, or worsen, by the end of 2022. Americans will continue to see products disappearing from grocery shelves at a time of record consumer prices. Another factor aggravating product shortages is the higher cost of energy supplies. In fact, the President of the National Black Farmers Association, John Boyd Jr., noted that soaring gasoline and diesel prices are likely to break the U.S. vulnerable food supply chain.

He explained that “higher diesel prices impact farmers more than the average American as the farming industry relies on diesel for food harvesting and transport,” and reaffirmed that food storages remain a possibility for the coming months. For low and middle-income Americans, these supply chain bottlenecks are extremely concerning. Abusive food prices are regressive and particularly damaging to them.“This is a troubling time for all Americans. The current inflation acts like a tax on all of us, and it is hurting our quality of life,” Bakst stressed.

All evidence suggests that the stage is set for the total supply chain breakdown experts have been warning about for a long time, and the despair that our society will experience will be extremely severe.We hope that you’re getting prepared this summer for the challenging times that are ahead of us. The rest of the year is not going to be pleasant, and 2023 is going to be even worse."

- https://www.epiceconomist.com/

"Economy Getting Painful For Many - Millions Are One Event Away From A Financial Tragedy"

Full screen recommended.

Jeremiah Babe, 7/25/22:

"Economy Getting Painful For Many - 

Millions Are One Event Away From A Financial Tragedy"

Comments here:

- https://www.youtube.com/

Musical Interlude: Kevin Kern, "Another Realm"

Kevin Kern, "Another Realm"

"A Look to the Heavens"

“The Tarantula Nebula is more than a thousand light-years in diameter, a giant star forming region within nearby satellite galaxy the Large Magellanic Cloud, about 180 thousand light-years away. The largest, most violent star forming region known in the whole Local Group of galaxies, the cosmic arachnid sprawls across this spectacular composite view constructed with space- and ground-based image data.

Within the Tarantula (NGC 2070), intense radiation, stellar winds and supernova shocks from the central young cluster of massive stars, cataloged as R136, energize the nebular glow and shape the spidery filaments. Around the Tarantula are other star forming regions with young star clusters, filaments, and blown-out bubble-shaped clouds In fact, the frame includes the site of the closest supernova in modern times, SN 1987A, at the lower right. The rich field of view spans about 1 degree or 2 full moons, in the southern constellation Dorado. But were the Tarantula Nebula closer, say 1,500 light-years distant like the local star forming Orion Nebula, it would take up half the sky."

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

"We Have Met The Enemy..."

 

Jim Kunstler, "The Wrecking Crew Will Be Overcome"

"The Wrecking Crew Will Be Overcome"

by Jim Kunstler

"We stumble into the horse latitudes of summer feeling trapped in the stillness. The heat disorders minds - and these are minds already scrambled by official propaganda. We are this close to a general recognition that the Covid vaccines were a deadly scam, even while Rochelle Walensky of the CDC keeps pushing boosters on TV and the entire public health bureaucracy stands by silently behind this murderous fakery. When their trials finally come, will they plead that they just didn’t know? How is that possible? (It’s not.)

The crisis of the vaccinated is coming and there won’t be any hiding it. Anyway, nobody expects actual news reporting out of the legacy media. It will get around through the alt.media for sure, and already is, but the real spread will proceed when all the everyday people see themselves and those around them get sick, and realize they have one thing in common: those vaxxes they submitted to. It’s already happening.

In keeping with the principles of mass formation psychosis, the maliciously insane people in charge of our nation’s affairs will expect you to swallow ever-greater absurdities to maintain their control (and protect themselves). But we’re way beyond the “women-with-penises” stage of the mind-f**kery program. Nobody with a functioning brain believes that bullshit anymore - except the people who run the California prison system. Next up, apparently, is a hot little war with Russia or China, a useful distraction from the systematic self-dismantling of Western Civ.

“Joe Biden” has sent troops from the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions to Europe, supposedly to “train” the NATO forces of Euroland. Is this some kind of bluff? Or does “Joe Biden” and Company imagine that they’ll pull off some blitzkrieg counter-offensive on-the-ground in Ukraine and recapture territory secured by Russia painfully since February? If we send troops into Ukraine proper, it would amount to a deliberate sacrifice of our supposedly best soldiers in a meat-grinder. Maybe the purpose is simply to further weaken the US military, humiliate NATO, and hasten the death of the West.

Of course, we have no real strategic national interest in Ukraine. We had no quarrel all the years that the Russian Soviets owned and operated it. We set in motion the current conflict by cooking up the 2014 color revolution. (There followed the fat years for Hunter Biden converting US aid money into revenue for his many shell corporations.) I doubt that a plurality of Americans will fall for another such stupid Hate Russia ploy. We’ve had enough pointless and costly foreign misadventures. This would be a war exceeding the unpopularity of Vietnam and could easily unleash widespread street protests. Only this time the Left will be pro-war and the Party of Chaos will send out its ragtag army of Antifa trannies to make the street protests bloodier. It will be seen for what it is: the ruling regime’s war on its own people. And it will be overcome.

Vying in the absurdity Olympics, the World Health Organization (WHO) just declared Monkeypox a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) - but only after the outfit’s chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, overruled a WHO committee that voted against such a move. Monkeypox, you understand, is a disease spread almost exclusively among the gay population, that is, men having sex with men, exchanging bodily fluids. Outbreaks have been keyed to gay orgies, especially during the recent June “Pride Month” festivities. Do you think it might be more appropriate for the WHO to issue an advisory against gay orgies?

But, really, it’s just another obvious power-grab, an attempt by the Schwabenklausian maniacs to push people around and wreck the economy in order to Build Back Better - that is, to orchestrate a program of severe digital social control for managing its depopulation event. The US Department of Defense (DOD) is now authorized under the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to administer a mandatory vaccine program, while the CDC has bought millions of doses of supposed monkeypox vaccine.

Knowing how deadly the Covid vaxxes were, do you really think that masses of Americans who happen to not engage in gay sex might line-up willingly for these new shots? I kind of doubt it. The idiotic war provocations, the renewed climate hysteria, and dishonest health scares are devices for postponing, cancelling, or screwing around with the US midterm election. If the Left loses the US Congress, then the globalists will lose their main weapon: the Party of Chaos. Meanwhile, Euroland leaders are already falling and whole governments over there will crash and burn in the months to come.

All of this is happening against the background of a wobbling financial system that is making life unaffordable for what’s left of the middle-classes. One way or another, they will be sharply motivated to rescue their own livelihoods and recreate a country under real rule-of-law in the service of liberty. We await “Joe Biden” and Company’s most desperate move: to turn off the Internet so that Americans won’t be able to communicate easily or remain informed about anything. Of course, if they try that, they’ll also destroy everything that is managed automatically by computers in this land and plunge America into battle against the demented bureaucracy that rules us."

- https://kunstler.com/clusterfuck-nation/

"The Frogs Will Boil Themselves"

"The Frogs Will Boil Themselves"

by Jeff Thomas

"There’s a well-known old fable that describes a frog being boiled alive. It states that if a frog is dropped in boiling water, it will hop out. But if it’s placed in lukewarm water, it will be comfortable. Then, if the heat is turned up slowly, it will not perceive the danger and will be boiled to death. In political terms, this translates into a slow increase, say, the slow rise of taxation or the gradual removal of freedoms.

But there’s another way to boil the electorate of a country: have them become willing participants in their own demise. This method is a common practice in many countries, particularly the US. Americans have repeatedly been conned into begging for their second amendment rights to be diminished. The method is to make use of the media to shine a light on the horrific murder of innocents through the use of firearms.

In recent years, this effort has been ramped up through regular senseless massacres of people, particularly children, in public places, such as schools and movie theatres. Whether or not these incidents are actually created by the ruling elite is a moot point. What matters is that their proliferation has been extremely effective in providing the media will the fodder to repeatedly ask, "When is the Government going to make the possession of guns illegal so that the killing will stop?" Many citizens are wary of such suggestions, but countless others quickly take the bait and demand that the Government "do something."

Eventually, this becomes a point of pride for many citizens — a badge of righteousness — for standing up for those who have been victims. Through such efforts, the US constitution has slowly lost its ability to serve as a limitation to Government power. A proliferation of laws that redefine what the Constitution means has, over time, eviscerated the Constitution.

Not surprisingly, those who support this effort are largely liberal, which creates a backlash from those who are conservative and vehemently oppose any erosion of the Constitution. Those who are liberal may reinforce their beliefs by watching propaganda networks on television and regularly pump up the dangers of the Constitution. Likewise, conservatives have their propaganda network, which can be counted on to reinforce their views.

Whichever side Americans take on such issues, they would be wise to keep an eye out for what may be the next development in this wrangle. Those who dutifully watch the liberal "news" networks may soon see pundits despairing that the failings of the aging Constitution must be dealt with. It must be updated if it is to serve changing needs. After all, the Founding Fathers cannot be blamed that they didn’t foresee the existence of AK-47s. Surely, it falls to the present administration to "correct" the failings of the well-intentioned old document.

Conservatives, of course, are likely to be more cautious, but what we may see is for the pundits on their favored network to express frustration that the Left is seeking to erode traditional values and must, at some point be stopped, or the country will be destroyed. There can be no question that the Founding Fathers were correct — that unless the Constitution and its amendments are not clarified once and for all as to what they were meant to express, American liberty is at stake.

Americans, like citizens of most countries, love a good battle between good and evil. Every four years, a massive three-ring circus is staged in which the political leader is decided and both sports teams – Democrats and Republicans – go all out in seeking a victory on the playing field. However, in most cases, neither candidate is trustworthy or qualified for the job, but this is of no importance. The essence of the battle is not to select a wise and capable leader but to win. Similarly, once the populace has been wound up on both sides to believe that only a pitched battle can "re-establish the Constitution" or "modernize the Constitution," the battle shall be met.

At present, this eventuality may seem mere speculation. But then, the media campaign has not yet begun. At present, all that exists is pundits in the media bemoaning the injustice of the present situation. What is needed is the prediction of pundits that, whatever side an individual takes on the issue, his side is sure to win.

On the liberal side, social warriors must come out daily in the media with demands for change and the certainty of success once the battle has begun. On the conservative side, pundits need to guarantee that the battle will be won once and for all, but that the situation is in dire need of immediate attention, or all may be lost. The result will not be immediate, but, with repetition, eventually, the American people on both sides of the fence may well not only suggest, but demand that the matter be sorted.

At that point, the Government may announce that a Constitutional Review will be undertaken. It would not matter that most of those making the demand are the pundits on the media networks. What would be presented would be that "a majority of Americans demand that the review take place as soon as possible."

Although at the time, the propaganda may imply that the review will be focused on one part of the Constitution, such as the Second Amendment, Americans will soon discover that the entire document is up for grabs. Under the terms of the review, all facets of the Constitution may be questioned. Then what would the outcome be?

Each side will hope that their elected representatives will emerge as the heroes, but that is not how politics works. In truth, elected leaders do not seek to serve the public but to dominate them. Invariably, their recommendations for change will be whatever transfers greater power to themselves.

Both Democratic and Republican members will argue forcefully for the rights of the American citizen. However, in the end, a "compromise" shall be made — one in which the rights of the populace are diminished and the Government has new powers to allow it to bypass the electorate in the future. If this does occur, the public will, in effect, "boil themselves." They will have demanded that the Government act, and, when the dust has settled, each side will claim some sort of victory but will fail to understand that they have brought about their own loss of rights.

Economically, politically, and socially, the United States seems to be headed down a path that’s not only inconsistent with the founding principles of the country, but accelerating quickly toward boundless decay. It is hoped that, when the day comes that a Constitutional Review is proposed, Americans refuse to take the bait."

- internationalman.com