lewrockwell--2020-04-23--The Real Reasons the US Arrived at the Greater Depression

Let ’ s talk about what conditions will be like and about how you can get through the Greater Depression confidently , comfortably , and profitably .
It ’ s not going to be easy or fun , but it ’ s possible .
I am of the opinion that what ’ s happening now isn ’ t just another cyclical downturn that can be papered over by printing up some more money—although that ’ s exactly what the U.S. and other governments are doing , and in unprecedented amounts .
In fact , what the world ’ s governments @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also the opposite of what they should be doing .
Barring the start of another world war—which is not unlikely—the physical world probably won ’ t be changed much by the Greater Depression , but the way people relate to the world will change a great deal .
And not because of the virus , which is about 90 % hysteria ; it ’ s just the pin that broke the bubble .
For roughly a whole generation , the U.S. government ’ s inflation of its currency has been inviting the whole @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Living beyond your means is what consumer debt is all about .
The Five Stages of Col ... Orlov , Dmitry Best Price : $ 4.27 Buy New $ 1.99 Mortgage debt is where it all started , and it allowed people to live in houses much bigger than they could afford .
In the Greater Depression that is now upon us , many people won ’ t be able to pay their mortgages .
In fact , they won ’ t even be able to pay their utilities and taxes ; maintenance @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s just the tip of a very big iceberg .
Detroit is illustrative .
The city is toast , no matter how many billions the government throws at it .
During the serious downturn between 1980 and 1982 , the average car on the road was seven years old , and they were all crappy cars .
Today , the American fleet of cars is not only close to brand new , but today ’ s cars last almost forever .
They ’ re not going to need to be replaced for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that auto sales are going to be in the tank for a long time .
Also , in the same way that many can ’ t afford to pay their mortgages , many will be learning that they can ’ t afford to own a car .
Many vehicles are going to be abandoned in the lender ’ s parking lot .
As late as the ‘ 60s , most people paid cash for a car .
Even in the ‘ 70s , a loan was usually for no more than two years @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is for five to seven years .
And many cars are leased , out of necessity .
The average family may now have several expensive new cars in the driveway but typically with negative equity in every one of them .
Cars have gone from being a minor financial asset to a major financial liability .
The big default snowball won ’ t stop there ; it will pick up all manner of debt as it rolls along .
For instance , everybody thinks he has to go to college , generally wasting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tended by liberal-arts profs .
With the costs skyrocketing , there are over $ 1.6 trillion of student loans out .
They ’ ll mostly be defaulted on when English majors find there ’ s little market for their opinions on social engineering .
Credit card debt will likely be the last crisis to hit .
People keep making the minimum payment at 18 % as long as possible , and they won ’ t default until the last minute , simply because they have no further source of funds .
State and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at serious risk because these folks can ’ t print dollars .
And their receipts from income , sales , property , and every other kind of tax are plummeting .
At exactly the same time , citizens ’ demands are skyrocketing .
The $ 1,200 payments that the Feds are sending out aren ’ t going to help much—especially since the money came from out of taxpayers ’ pockets .
The $ 24 trillion debt that the government acknowledges it owes is actually dwarfed by the $ 135 trillion debt from unfunded @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Medicaid , and such , and this doesn ’ t include contingent liabilities from FDIC , PBGC , and similar insurance programs .
A large chunk of that debt is held by those nice foreigners who , for years , sent us Sonys and Mercedes in exchange for paper .
There ’ s currently a rush to obtain US dollars because they ’ re cash and not overpriced stocks and bonds .
But that ’ s going to not only stop but also reverse in the near future , resulting in a much @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
If there ’ s a way for them—the governmental and federal geniuses who think they know what ’ s best—to get us out of this mess , I simply don ’ t see it .
Beginning with the crisis that started in 2008 , they ’ ve used the final arrows in their quiver of phony solutions—namely , the ZIRP ( zero-interest rate policy ) and quantitative easing ( printing money ) .
The problem is that for quite a while now , the U.S. and much of the Western world has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It ’ s much as though you borrowed a million dollars for consumption .
You ’ d enjoy an artificially high standard of living… for a while .
But when the time came to pay it back , with interest , you ’ d suffer a very real drop in your standard of living for a very long period .
Survival of the Riches ... Donald Jeffries Best Price : $ 7.29 Buy New $ 11.50 The enjoyable part of that process is more or less what the average American has been doing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ stop doing .
But ruinous spending is even more serious in the case of government .
It ’ s a rare American who understands that government debt will eventually reach into his wallet because , in a complex economy , there can be so much delay between cause and effect .
So let ’ s simplify the matter and look at a two-man economy : a peasant and his king .
Let ’ s say the peasant produces three tons of food per year .
He gives the king one for taxes ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ too ) , consumes one himself , and keeps the last ton for seed for next year .
The king would like more , but—barring a breakthrough in production technology—there simply is no more grain to be had .
Perhaps financial technology can provide an answer .
And so , after consultation with an economic soothsayer , the king offers the peasant a great deal .
Lend the extra ton of seed grain to the king , who will pay it back next year , in time for planting , and with interest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ when he comes back to redeem his scrip and the king tells him that the grain was used for something that seemed like a good idea at the time , it ’ s obvious they both have a problem .
Everyone might starve next year .
This is the problem with government debt in particular .
People tend to rely on it as a piece of the cosmic firmament , something with real value .
But is the U.S. government essentially different from that of Zimbabwe ?
The answer is no .
One @ @ @ @ @ @ @ next era is that it ’ s very likely that society will believe that what passed for a free market over the last several decades has been discredited .
Reagan , Thatcher , and many other politicians around the world delivered fairly significant tax cuts , privatizations , and some deregulation .
These things , coming off a very severe recession of the early ’ 80s , resulted in what Herman Kahn correctly predicted would be “ The Long Boom.
” But the boom is now over , definitively .
The question is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s interesting how the world ’ s social mood seems to change almost in lockstep , at least at major turning points .
The ’ 30s and ’ 40s were a horrible time , dominated by statism and represented by characters like Mussolini , Hitler , Stalin , Roosevelt , Peron , Mao , and Franco .
The ’ 60s was the era of hippies .
There were race riots all over the U.S. and student revolts all over the world—the U.S. , Europe , and China .
The ’ 80s , ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ era of the yuppie and his motto : “ He who dies with the most toys wins.
” It was an era of good times and conspicuous consumption—a bit like the Roaring ’ 20s .
That came to an end in 2008 when we entered the leading edge of a huge financial storm .
It ’ s a huge storm , and it had a huge “ eye.
” Now we ’ re going through the trailing edge .
It ’ s going to be much worse , much different , and much @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
I suspect this era will have a lot of anger .
A lot of blame .
Some real poverty .
A good measure of violence .
It ’ s not going to be a mellow time in North America , Europe , or China .
It will be worse in the so-called “ developing ” world , which will stop developing without foreign capital .
Let ’ s focus on the U.S. , the current epicenter .
The Storm Before the C ... Friedman , George Best Price : $ 22.22 Buy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government but the American society itself is bankrupt , and unfortunately , the situation is much more serious than economic bankruptcy .
It ’ s rare for someone to go bankrupt because of one bad decision .
It takes many bad decisions , a consistent pattern , and that ’ s possible only by having the wrong moral philosophy .
America ’ s moral philosophy has degenerated to the extent that Americans think it ’ s okay to invade other countries that have not attacked them .
I ’ m not talking about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , pitiful non-entities on the other side of the world .
The degeneration started earlier with even weaker prey like Granada , Panama , Haiti , and the Dominican Republic—and , of course , Vietnam .
America ’ s moral bankruptcy started with a government policy of inflating the currency , which constitutes fraud , and running up the national debt , which is an obvious swindle because the debt will never be paid .
This bankruptcy started with the belief that an income tax was needed to level out incomes , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Boobus americanus thoroughly approved of all this and so much more .
Economic bankruptcy is almost always preceded by moral bankruptcy .
And it ’ s accompanied by intellectual bankruptcy : in this case , the philosophical acceptance of economic collectivism and political statism .
The exact description of the situation is fascism—which , contrary to the History Channel , has essentially nothing to do with police jackboots , bizarre racial theories , or militarism .
A fascist is simply one who believes in nominal private ownership of both the means of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ control over both .
The word derives from the Roman fasces , a group of rods bound together around an ax .
The bound rods offer strength ; the ax , destructive power .
It ’ s an image that appeals to the type of people who like to control others .
Fascism wouldn ’ t have had any appeal for the founders of America who , for a while , fought under a flag that showed a rattlesnake and the warning “ Don ’ t Tread on Me.
” What made America @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of freedom .
That word has been so corrupted and leached of meaning—another sign of intellectual bankruptcy .
America is now economically , morally , and intellectually bankrupt .
The country has wandered so far from its founding principles that it is now no different from any of the other 200 nation-states that have spread across the face of the earth like a skin disease .
The U.S. no longer stands for anything ; it ’ s now just another piece of geography .
Forget about “ America ” ; it no longer @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by “ The United States ” —not even “ These United States , ” a concept that was interred by the unpleasantness of 1861–65 .
As evidence , I offer you the current state of affairs .
Bankruptcy is a factual matter .
Failing to declare bankruptcy when it has happened only adds to the problem .
Germany and Japan were totally and absolutely bankrupt—economically , morally , and intellectually—in 1945 .
Following the war , should they have tried to continue with their old currencies , policies , ideas , and institutions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had allowed them to ) ?
In a word , no .
They had reached the point where the slate needed to be wiped clean , which it was .
Then , within a generation , they went from being bombed-out wrecks to two of the most prosperous economies on earth .
Aftermath : Seven Secre ... Rickards , James Best Price : $ 22.12 Buy New $ 18.89 Acknowledging bankruptcy is the first step to moving beyond it .
Denying bankruptcy when it is a fact only prolongs and worsens the fact @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of bankruptcy is an increasing reliance on government .
It seems like a cornucopia to the average person , despite the fact that cheese distributions to the poor some years back , the free cell phones , and now $ 1,200 “ alms for the poor ” are among the few tangible benefits it has delivered .
Since the government produces nothing , anything it even seems to provide is at the direct expense of somebody else .
This simple fact evades almost everyone , from the most ignorant voter to the most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wars , pogroms , confiscations , taxes , inflation , and regulation , but people still , idiotically , look to it for salvation—even though it ’ s the cause of their worst problems .
This is why I ’ ve long held that the average person is not as bright as you might hope .
Once you get beyond discussing the weather , the state of the roads , TV programs , and sports , there ’ s often no one home .
And that ’ s the average person .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ population is less than average .
And they all vote .
It ’ s not hard to figure how they ’ ll vote .
I admit to being somewhat removed from life among these people , but it ’ s hard to see how they can even live on so little money .
Maybe they ’ re smarter than I think .
But then , people are tolerably competent at running their own lives ; the problem arises when they try to run everyone else ’ s too .
The problem arises when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s a near certainty that , facing the Greater Depression , the government is going to come up with something like the Newer Deal .
That ’ s because Boobus americanus desperately wants the government—which he thinks is a magical entity that can do anything and solve every problem—to Do Something .
And it will .
But it won ’ t merely fail to do the right things ; it is going to do the opposite of the right things .
That ’ s going to make things quite unpleasant… The Best of @ @

Let’s talk about what conditions will be like and about how you can get through the Greater Depression confidently, comfortably, and profitably. It’s not going to be easy or fun, but it’s possible.
I am of the opinion that what’s happening now isn’t just another cyclical downturn that can be papered over by printing up some more money—although that’s exactly what the U.S. and other governments are doing, and in unprecedented amounts. In fact, what the world’s governments are doing is not only wrong but also the opposite of what they should be doing.
Barring the start of another world war—which is not unlikely—the physical world probably won’t be changed much by the Greater Depression, but the way people relate to the world will change a great deal. And not because of the virus, which is about 90% hysteria; it’s just the pin that broke the bubble.
For roughly a whole generation, the U.S. government’s inflation of its currency has been inviting the whole country to live beyond its means. Living beyond your means is what consumer debt is all about. The Five Stages of Col... Orlov, Dmitry Best Price: $4.27 Buy New $1.99 (as of 03:30 UTC - Details)
Mortgage debt is where it all started, and it allowed people to live in houses much bigger than they could afford. In the Greater Depression that is now upon us, many people won’t be able to pay their mortgages. In fact, they won’t even be able to pay their utilities and taxes; maintenance will be deferred indefinitely. But that’s just the tip of a very big iceberg.
Detroit is illustrative. The city is toast, no matter how many billions the government throws at it.
During the serious downturn between 1980 and 1982, the average car on the road was seven years old, and they were all crappy cars. Today, the American fleet of cars is not only close to brand new, but today’s cars last almost forever. They’re not going to need to be replaced for a long time, and that means that auto sales are going to be in the tank for a long time. Also, in the same way that many can’t afford to pay their mortgages, many will be learning that they can’t afford to own a car.
Many vehicles are going to be abandoned in the lender’s parking lot.
As late as the ‘60s, most people paid cash for a car. Even in the ‘70s, a loan was usually for no more than two years. Now, the standard auto loan is for five to seven years. And many cars are leased, out of necessity.
The average family may now have several expensive new cars in the driveway but typically with negative equity in every one of them. Cars have gone from being a minor financial asset to a major financial liability.
The big default snowball won’t stop there; it will pick up all manner of debt as it rolls along.
For instance, everybody thinks he has to go to college, generally wasting four years grazing at the claptrap smorgasbord tended by liberal-arts profs. With the costs skyrocketing, there are over $1.6 trillion of student loans out. They’ll mostly be defaulted on when English majors find there’s little market for their opinions on social engineering.
Credit card debt will likely be the last crisis to hit. People keep making the minimum payment at 18% as long as possible, and they won’t default until the last minute, simply because they have no further source of funds.
State and city debt represented by municipal bonds is at serious risk because these folks can’t print dollars. And their receipts from income, sales, property, and every other kind of tax are plummeting. At exactly the same time, citizens’ demands are skyrocketing. The $1,200 payments that the Feds are sending out aren’t going to help much—especially since the money came from out of taxpayers’ pockets.
The $24 trillion debt that the government acknowledges it owes is actually dwarfed by the $135 trillion debt from unfunded liabilities for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and such, and this doesn’t include contingent liabilities from FDIC, PBGC, and similar insurance programs.
A large chunk of that debt is held by those nice foreigners who, for years, sent us Sonys and Mercedes in exchange for paper. There’s currently a rush to obtain US dollars because they’re cash and not overpriced stocks and bonds. But that’s going to not only stop but also reverse in the near future, resulting in a much lower standard of living for average Americans.
If there’s a way for them—the governmental and federal geniuses who think they know what’s best—to get us out of this mess, I simply don’t see it. Beginning with the crisis that started in 2008, they’ve used the final arrows in their quiver of phony solutions—namely, the ZIRP (zero-interest rate policy) and quantitative easing (printing money).
What Happened Redux
The problem is that for quite a while now, the U.S. and much of the Western world has been consuming more than they produce.
It’s much as though you borrowed a million dollars for consumption. You’d enjoy an artificially high standard of living… for a while. But when the time came to pay it back, with interest, you’d suffer a very real drop in your standard of living for a very long period. Survival of the Riches... Donald Jeffries Best Price: $7.29 Buy New $11.50 (as of 07:10 UTC - Details)
The enjoyable part of that process is more or less what the average American has been doing for years and is now about to stop doing. But ruinous spending is even more serious in the case of government. It’s a rare American who understands that government debt will eventually reach into his wallet because, in a complex economy, there can be so much delay between cause and effect.
So let’s simplify the matter and look at a two-man economy: a peasant and his king.
Let’s say the peasant produces three tons of food per year. He gives the king one for taxes (after all, kings have to eat too), consumes one himself, and keeps the last ton for seed for next year. The king would like more, but—barring a breakthrough in production technology—there simply is no more grain to be had.
Perhaps financial technology can provide an answer.
And so, after consultation with an economic soothsayer, the king offers the peasant a great deal. Lend the extra ton of seed grain to the king, who will pay it back next year, in time for planting, and with interest.
The peasant buys in, but when he comes back to redeem his scrip and the king tells him that the grain was used for something that seemed like a good idea at the time, it’s obvious they both have a problem. Everyone might starve next year.
This is the problem with government debt in particular. People tend to rely on it as a piece of the cosmic firmament, something with real value. But is the U.S. government essentially different from that of Zimbabwe? The answer is no.
One of the most serious problems of the next era is that it’s very likely that society will believe that what passed for a free market over the last several decades has been discredited.
Reagan, Thatcher, and many other politicians around the world delivered fairly significant tax cuts, privatizations, and some deregulation. These things, coming off a very severe recession of the early ’80s, resulted in what Herman Kahn correctly predicted would be “The Long Boom.” But the boom is now over, definitively. The question is what’s next.
It’s interesting how the world’s social mood seems to change almost in lockstep, at least at major turning points.
The ’30s and ’40s were a horrible time, dominated by statism and represented by characters like Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin, Roosevelt, Peron, Mao, and Franco.
The ’60s was the era of hippies. There were race riots all over the U.S. and student revolts all over the world—the U.S., Europe, and China.
The ’80s, ’90s, and ’00s were the era of the yuppie and his motto: “He who dies with the most toys wins.” It was an era of good times and conspicuous consumption—a bit like the Roaring ’20s.
That came to an end in 2008 when we entered the leading edge of a huge financial storm. It’s a huge storm, and it had a huge “eye.” Now we’re going through the trailing edge. It’s going to be much worse, much different, and much longer-lasting than what we experienced from 2009–2010. I suspect this era will have a lot of anger. A lot of blame. Some real poverty. A good measure of violence. It’s not going to be a mellow time in North America, Europe, or China. It will be worse in the so-called “developing” world, which will stop developing without foreign capital.
Let’s focus on the U.S., the current epicenter. The Storm Before the C... Friedman, George Best Price: $22.22 Buy New $18.90 (as of 03:06 UTC - Details)
Bankruptcy on Several Levels
Not only the U.S. government but the American society itself is bankrupt, and unfortunately, the situation is much more serious than economic bankruptcy.
It’s rare for someone to go bankrupt because of one bad decision. It takes many bad decisions, a consistent pattern, and that’s possible only by having the wrong moral philosophy.
America’s moral philosophy has degenerated to the extent that Americans think it’s okay to invade other countries that have not attacked them. I’m not talking about just Iraq, Afghanistan, or Syria, pitiful non-entities on the other side of the world. The degeneration started earlier with even weaker prey like Granada, Panama, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic—and, of course, Vietnam.
America’s moral bankruptcy started with a government policy of inflating the currency, which constitutes fraud, and running up the national debt, which is an obvious swindle because the debt will never be paid. This bankruptcy started with the belief that an income tax was needed to level out incomes, but predictably, it did just the opposite. Boobus americanus thoroughly approved of all this and so much more.
Economic bankruptcy is almost always preceded by moral bankruptcy. And it’s accompanied by intellectual bankruptcy: in this case, the philosophical acceptance of economic collectivism and political statism.
The exact description of the situation is fascism—which, contrary to the History Channel, has essentially nothing to do with police jackboots, bizarre racial theories, or militarism. A fascist is simply one who believes in nominal private ownership of both the means of production and consumer goods—but with strong state control over both.
The word derives from the Roman fasces, a group of rods bound together around an ax. The bound rods offer strength; the ax, destructive power. It’s an image that appeals to the type of people who like to control others.
Fascism wouldn’t have had any appeal for the founders of America who, for a while, fought under a flag that showed a rattlesnake and the warning “Don’t Tread on Me.”
What made America different was its foundation on a philosophy of freedom. That word has been so corrupted and leached of meaning—another sign of intellectual bankruptcy.
America is now economically, morally, and intellectually bankrupt.
The country has wandered so far from its founding principles that it is now no different from any of the other 200 nation-states that have spread across the face of the earth like a skin disease.
The U.S. no longer stands for anything; it’s now just another piece of geography. Forget about “America”; it no longer exists. It’s been replaced by “The United States”—not even “These United States,” a concept that was interred by the unpleasantness of 1861–65.
As evidence, I offer you the current state of affairs.
Bankruptcy is a factual matter. Failing to declare bankruptcy when it has happened only adds to the problem.
Germany and Japan were totally and absolutely bankrupt—economically, morally, and intellectually—in 1945. Following the war, should they have tried to continue with their old currencies, policies, ideas, and institutions (that is, if the Allies had allowed them to)? In a word, no.
They had reached the point where the slate needed to be wiped clean, which it was. Then, within a generation, they went from being bombed-out wrecks to two of the most prosperous economies on earth. Aftermath: Seven Secre... Rickards, James Best Price: $22.12 Buy New $18.89 (as of 02:31 UTC - Details)
Acknowledging bankruptcy is the first step to moving beyond it. Denying bankruptcy when it is a fact only prolongs and worsens the fact.
One obvious consequence of these layers of bankruptcy is an increasing reliance on government. It seems like a cornucopia to the average person, despite the fact that cheese distributions to the poor some years back, the free cell phones, and now $1,200 “alms for the poor” are among the few tangible benefits it has delivered.
Since the government produces nothing, anything it even seems to provide is at the direct expense of somebody else. This simple fact evades almost everyone, from the most ignorant voter to the most powerful officials.
Government produces nothing but wars, pogroms, confiscations, taxes, inflation, and regulation, but people still, idiotically, look to it for salvation—even though it’s the cause of their worst problems.
This is why I’ve long held that the average person is not as bright as you might hope. Once you get beyond discussing the weather, the state of the roads, TV programs, and sports, there’s often no one home.
And that’s the average person. But by definition, 50% of the population is less than average. And they all vote. It’s not hard to figure how they’ll vote.
I admit to being somewhat removed from life among these people, but it’s hard to see how they can even live on so little money. Maybe they’re smarter than I think. But then, people are tolerably competent at running their own lives; the problem arises when they try to run everyone else’s too. The problem arises when they become politically active.
It’s a near certainty that, facing the Greater Depression, the government is going to come up with something like the Newer Deal. That’s because Boobus americanus desperately wants the government—which he thinks is a magical entity that can do anything and solve every problem—to Do Something. And it will.
But it won’t merely fail to do the right things; it is going to do the opposite of the right things. That’s going to make things quite unpleasant…
Reprinted with permission from International Man.
The Best of Doug Casey


Pandemic Cooking

The Coronavirus Pandemic and the government shutdown of the economy has put tens of millions out of work .
A significant portion of those out of work are lower income Americans often those without a financial safety net .
As of today ( 4/18/2020 ) CNN said 22 million have filed for unemployment compensation .
Lines at food banks have grown incredibly with lines as long as a mile .
This essay is going to talk a little about cost effective nutrition in this time of collective misery .
We are literally all in this together now .
The human @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : protein , carbohydrates and and fat .
Protein and fat are essential without it the body will wither and die .
No one ever died from lack of carbohydrates IF they have stores of body fat .
Body fat is not bad if kept to reasonable levels .
Do not look to professional athletes and supermodels for body image and food eating behavior they are freaks compared to the rest of us .
Living in the Long Eme ... James Howard Kunstler Buy New $ 24.95 A little biochemistry : proteins are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that give us life .
DNA in our cell nucleus performs one simple role it encodes the proteins that the body needs .
Every four nucleic acid bases encodes for one of the twenty amino acids from which proteins are made .
There are many types of proteins but structural , enzymes ( literally the molecules of life ) and regulatory and certainly some whose reason for existence still baffles scientists .
Carbohydrates are broken down into glycogen which the body stores fort short term energy consumption .
Excess carbohydrates are converted into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reduced energy molecules animals can use .
Fats can be converted into energy when all the bodies glycogen has been consumed .
The sensation of hitting the wall is familiar to many marathon runners .
It is that point when all glycogen has been consumed and metabolism shifts over to fat burning .
It is a feeling one does not forget if experienced .
There are many other chemicals the body needs but in much smaller amounts things like vitamins and co-factors as they are called .
A well-balanced diet provides these normally @ @ @ @ @ @ @ state governors mandated this by proclamation many grocery stores started having empty shelves .
I like to shop for food everyday and this habit gave me some insight into purchasing behavior .
The first thing I noticed was rice suddenly began vanishing off the shelves .
Whole milk followed suit as did much of the meat .
Most stores only have a days meat on display and suppliers and the butchering process is designed for just in time delivery which works great until deliveries get interrupted .
The whole process from raising cows/poultry @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this just in time demand .
Interruptions cause shortages and waste .
With restaurants closed excess capacity get destroyed which is the waste .
I had many Mormon friends growing up and I became familiar with their beliefs one of which is survival stores .
The religious dogma demands each Mormon family have a years storage food for each member of the family for times just like these .
Why it is dogma I never understood but it is a plank of their belief .
If you do not have a year of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ elucidate what I have found true regarding nutrition in this pandemic/economic disaster .
The Flat Broke Cookboo ... Luther , Daisy Best Price : null Buy New $ 8.95 The miracle of capitalism and the market economy is that the cost of proper nutrition for a healthy well-balanced diet is about $ 3 per day roughly a third of a single hour of the current minimum wage .
In these trying times I will explain a simple system for doing this .
Cereal grains are the staple of the third world .
Fresh @ @ @ @ @ @ @ world and an essential part of the first world .
Meat does not store well for long periods of time unless frozen .
Beef jerky is an exception to this but who Wants to eat beef jerky regularly ?
A family of four ’ s freezer for their year of storage food would be quite large , expensive and out of range of most families .
Instead we turn to grain .
Bread , butter and a multi-vitamin pill is all on needs in trying times .
Wheat bread , my preferred staple @ @ @ @ @ @ @ need to provide the essential fatty acid the body can not make and without which one will eventually die a horrible malnourished death .
Margarine does not contain this .
Margarine is a product of an oil refinery not a farm .
One of the tenets of the famous Atkins Diet is never eat margarine ; butter .
Butter is much preferred both by palate and nutritional requirements .
The Best of George Giles

The Coronavirus Pandemic and the government shutdown of the economy has put tens of millions out of work. A significant portion of those out of work are lower income Americans often those without a financial safety net. As of today (4/18/2020) CNN said 22 million have filed for unemployment compensation. Lines at food banks have grown incredibly with lines as long as a mile. This essay is going to talk a little about cost effective nutrition in this time of collective misery. We are literally all in this together now.
The human body needs three main kinds of nutrition: protein, carbohydrates and and fat. Protein and fat are essential without it the body will wither and die. No one ever died from lack of carbohydrates IF they have stores of body fat. Body fat is not bad if kept to reasonable levels. Do not look to professional athletes and supermodels for body image and food eating behavior they are freaks compared to the rest of us.
A little biochemistry: proteins are the essential building blocks for the molecules that give us life. DNA in our cell nucleus performs one simple role it encodes the proteins that the body needs. Every four nucleic acid bases encodes for one of the twenty amino acids from which proteins are made. There are many types of proteins but structural, enzymes (literally the molecules of life) and regulatory and certainly some whose reason for existence still baffles scientists. Carbohydrates are broken down into glycogen which the body stores fort short term energy consumption. Excess carbohydrates are converted into fat. Fats are the most chemically reduced energy molecules animals can use. Fats can be converted into energy when all the bodies glycogen has been consumed. The sensation of hitting the wall is familiar to many marathon runners. It is that point when all glycogen has been consumed and metabolism shifts over to fat burning. It is a feeling one does not forget if experienced. There are many other chemicals the body needs but in much smaller amounts things like vitamins and co-factors as they are called. A well-balanced diet provides these normally.
When social distancing was announced many state governors mandated this by proclamation many grocery stores started having empty shelves. I like to shop for food everyday and this habit gave me some insight into purchasing behavior. The first thing I noticed was rice suddenly began vanishing off the shelves. Whole milk followed suit as did much of the meat. Most stores only have a days meat on display and suppliers and the butchering process is designed for just in time delivery which works great until deliveries get interrupted. The whole process from raising cows/poultry and pork is designed to always meet this just in time demand. Interruptions cause shortages and waste. With restaurants closed excess capacity get destroyed which is the waste.
I had many Mormon friends growing up and I became familiar with their beliefs one of which is survival stores. The religious dogma demands each Mormon family have a years storage food for each member of the family for times just like these. Why it is dogma I never understood but it is a plank of their belief. If you do not have a year of storage food please read on I will elucidate what I have found true regarding nutrition in this pandemic/economic disaster.
The miracle of capitalism and the market economy is that the cost of proper nutrition for a healthy well-balanced diet is about $3 per day roughly a third of a single hour of the current minimum wage. In these trying times I will explain a simple system for doing this.
Cereal grains are the staple of the third world. Fresh meat is a luxury of the developing world and an essential part of the first world. Meat does not store well for long periods of time unless frozen. Beef jerky is an exception to this but who Wants to eat beef jerky regularly? A family of four’s freezer for their year of storage food would be quite large, expensive and out of range of most families. Instead we turn to grain. Bread, butter and a multi-vitamin pill is all on needs in trying times. Wheat bread, my preferred staple is loaded with proteins. Butter is need to provide the essential fatty acid the body cannot make and without which one will eventually die a horrible malnourished death. Margarine does not contain this. Margarine is a product of an oil refinery not a farm. One of the tenets of the famous Atkins Diet is never eat margarine; butter. Butter is much preferred both by palate and nutritional requirements.
The Best of George Giles


lewrockwell--2020-04-23--The French Suspend Their Liberty

The French Suspend Their Liberty

France is this strange country that never stopped collaborating with various invaders before revolting with honour ; a country that was at first cowardly , then always brave .
Without thinking about it , as usual , she has just abandoned the motto of her ancestors , which she will no doubt soon regain with glory .
All political regimes , whatever they may be , have no other function than to protect their subjects or citizens from aggressions from which they can not protect themselves .
They can , in turn , limit the freedoms of their constituents , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more than others .
Thomas Hobbes of Britain tolerated to all crimes of the state as long as it protected its subjects from the torments of the civil war he had experienced .
Breaking with him , the Frenchman Montesquieu devised mechanisms to control the national interest .
With him , all the builders of modern regimes considered freedoms to be the ultimate goal of democracies .
The Miraculous Results ... Jeff T Bowles Best Price : $ 4.97 Buy New $ 9.99 During deadly epidemics , some regimes felt it necessary to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ constituents of their freedoms .
It was accepted , until the Covid-19 epidemic , that democracies could exceptionally limit the rights of those infected , or suspected of being infected , in order to protect the healthy .
It is now accepted that they may also limit the freedoms of the latter , or even place almost the entire population under house arrest .
This new standard has never been democratically discussed .
It was imposed on governments in an emergency and was accepted by their constituents as a lesser evil .
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a temporary change of political regime , since in a democracy political decisions are only legitimate if they have been debated in representative assemblies .
In the light of this momentum , the exceptional regimes are now working on the design of compulsory protective clothing , which until recently prohibited the burkha .
As well as mobile applications that can warn their citizens of the presence of an infected person in their vicinity .
This is not an apocalyptic fiction , but the reality in which we are now living .
This development @ @ @ @ @ @ @ information .
According to Professor Neil Ferguson in the European Union and the United Kingdom and Professor Anthony Fauci in the United States , the Covid-19 epidemic is expected to kill a total of at least 55 million people worldwide .
So far there have been 170,000 , more than 300 times fewer .
Jabbed : How the Vaccin ... Wilcox , Brett Best Price : $ 13.02 Buy New $ 13.05 The fear of epidemics is ingrained in us .
We know that at certain times , in certain places , they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ know that medical progress will not help us in the face of new viruses , precisely because it has not yet been able to study them .
However , we also know that the worst viral epidemics , such as smallpox in the Americas , have not been able to destroy civilizations .
Pre-Colombian states were only destroyed because smallpox helped the conquistadores to do so .
Plagues , such as Justinian ’ s plague in the 6th century or the Black Death of the 14th century , are bacterial diseases that can @ @ @ @ @ @ @ antibiotics .
From the beginning of modern democracies , Benjamin Franklin , who was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and a “ brother ” of Voltaire , declared : “ Those who would give up essential Liberty , to purchase a little temporary Safety , deserve neither Liberty nor Safety ” ; a maxim that undoubtedly also applies to epidemics .
We must take note of this : the house arrest of healthy populations “ for their own good ” is incompatible with the democratic ideal .
It is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of our democracy , in the face of terrorism for example .
They concerned only some of us and did not bother the majority .
But to note that we have just , temporarily at least , put an end to democracy simultaneously in many countries .
A decision that affects us all and imprisons us at home for an indefinite period of time .
Dissolving Illusions : ... Suzanne Humphries MD , ... Best Price : $ 19.24 Buy New $ 17.17 Opposing good President Macron , who protects the health of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump , who favours the economy , is just a smokescreen .
The sad reality is that we have just successively abandoned the use of our Freedom , then our entire Freedom .
It is neither an economic crisis nor a war that caused this upheaval .
Covid-19 is a far less deadly epidemic than many of its predecessors .
The Hong Kong flu in 1968-70 killed more than a million people , while AIDS , over a period of 40 years , killed more than 32 million people .
These viruses have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is therefore likely that our political response to the current epidemic is a reflection of a prior evolution to this reality .
Widespread containment has been justified in all countries where it is practised as a response to the fragility of the hospital system .
Even if this is not true , the use of this obvious argument that we consider our Health to be more important than our Freedom when our forefathers always claimed that their Lives were less important than their Freedom .
By suspending democracy until further notice , we @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of our heroes .
The Best of Thierry Meyssan

France is this strange country that never stopped collaborating with various invaders before revolting with honour; a country that was at first cowardly, then always brave. Without thinking about it, as usual, she has just abandoned the motto of her ancestors, which she will no doubt soon regain with glory.
All political regimes, whatever they may be, have no other function than to protect their subjects or citizens from aggressions from which they cannot protect themselves. They can, in turn, limit the freedoms of their constituents, which some regimes believe they must do more than others.
Thomas Hobbes of Britain tolerated to all crimes of the state as long as it protected its subjects from the torments of the civil war he had experienced. Breaking with him, the Frenchman Montesquieu devised mechanisms to control the national interest. With him, all the builders of modern regimes considered freedoms to be the ultimate goal of democracies. The Miraculous Results... Bowles, Jeff T Best Price: $4.25 Buy New $6.99 (as of 01:50 UTC - Details)
During deadly epidemics, some regimes felt it necessary to limit or even deprive some of their constituents of their freedoms. It was accepted, until the Covid-19 epidemic, that democracies could exceptionally limit the rights of those infected, or suspected of being infected, in order to protect the healthy. It is now accepted that they may also limit the freedoms of the latter, or even place almost the entire population under house arrest.
This new standard has never been democratically discussed. It was imposed on governments in an emergency and was accepted by their constituents as a lesser evil. In doing so, they have brought about a temporary change of political regime, since in a democracy political decisions are only legitimate if they have been debated in representative assemblies. In the light of this momentum, the exceptional regimes are now working on the design of compulsory protective clothing, which until recently prohibited the burkha. As well as mobile applications that can warn their citizens of the presence of an infected person in their vicinity.
This is not an apocalyptic fiction, but the reality in which we are now living. This development is based exclusively on two sources of information. According to Professor Neil Ferguson in the European Union and the United Kingdom and Professor Anthony Fauci in the United States, the Covid-19 epidemic is expected to kill a total of at least 55 million people worldwide. So far there have been 170,000, more than 300 times fewer. Jabbed: How the Vaccin... Wilcox, Brett Best Price: $13.02 Buy New $13.05 (as of 03:50 UTC - Details)
The fear of epidemics is ingrained in us. We know that at certain times, in certain places, they have carried away civilizations. We also know that medical progress will not help us in the face of new viruses, precisely because it has not yet been able to study them. However, we also know that the worst viral epidemics, such as smallpox in the Americas, have not been able to destroy civilizations. Pre-Colombian states were only destroyed because smallpox helped the conquistadores to do so. Plagues, such as Justinian’s plague in the 6th century or the Black Death of the 14th century, are bacterial diseases that can be fought with hygiene and defeated with antibiotics.
From the beginning of modern democracies, Benjamin Franklin, who was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and a “brother” of Voltaire, declared: “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety”; a maxim that undoubtedly also applies to epidemics .
We must take note of this: the house arrest of healthy populations “for their own good” is incompatible with the democratic ideal. It is not a question of lamenting certain setbacks of our democracy, in the face of terrorism for example. They concerned only some of us and did not bother the majority. But to note that we have just, temporarily at least, put an end to democracy simultaneously in many countries. A decision that affects us all and imprisons us at home for an indefinite period of time.
Dissolving Illusions: ... Bystrianyk, Roman Best Price: $38.50 Buy New $21.60 (as of 11:00 UTC - Details) Opposing good President Macron, who protects the health of his fellow citizens, to bad President Trump, who favours the economy, is just a smokescreen. The sad reality is that we have just successively abandoned the use of our Freedom, then our entire Freedom.
It is neither an economic crisis nor a war that caused this upheaval. Covid-19 is a far less deadly epidemic than many of its predecessors. The Hong Kong flu in 1968-70 killed more than a million people, while AIDS, over a period of 40 years, killed more than 32 million people. These viruses have not changed anything politically speaking. It is therefore likely that our political response to the current epidemic is a reflection of a prior evolution to this reality.
Widespread containment has been justified in all countries where it is practised as a response to the fragility of the hospital system. Even if this is not true, the use of this obvious argument that we consider our Health to be more important than our Freedom when our forefathers always claimed that their Lives were less important than their Freedom.
By suspending democracy until further notice, we have given up following in the footsteps of our heroes.
The Best of Thierry Meyssan


lewrockwell--2020-04-23--Revolutionary Times and Systemic Collapse

Some have queried how it could be that President Putin would co-operate with President Trump to have OPEC+ push oil prices higher – when those higher prices precisely would only help sustain U.S. oil production .
In effect , President Putin was being asked to underwrite a subsidy to the U.S. economy – at the expense of Russia ’ s own oil and gas sales – since U.S. shale production simply is not economic at these prices .
In other words , Russia seemed to be shooting itself in the foot .
Well , the calculus for Moscow on whether @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ) was never simple .
There were geo-political and domestic economic considerations – as well as the industry ones – to weigh .
But , perhaps one issue trumped all others ?
Since 2007 , President Putin has been pointing to one overarching threat to global trade : And that problem was simply , the U.S. dollar .
And now , that dollar is in crisis .
We are referring , here , not so much to America ’ s domestic financial crisis ( although the monetisation of U.S. debt is connected to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but rather , how the international trading system is poised to blow apart , with grave consequences for everyone .
The Great Influenza : T ... Barry , John M. Buy New $ 13.99 In other words , Covid-19 may be the trigger , but it is the U.S. dollar – as President Putin has long warned – that is the root problem : “ We ’ re looking at a commodity-price collapse and a collapse in global trade unlike anything we ’ ve seen since the 1930s ” , said Ken Rogoff @ @ @ @ @ @ @ IMF , now at Harvard University .
An avalanche of government-debt crises is sure to follow , he said , and “ the system just can ’ t handle this many defaults and restructurings at the same time ” .
“ It ’ s a little bit like going to the hospitals and they can handle a certain number of Covid-19 patients but they can ’ t handle them – all at once ” , he added .
More than 90 countries have inquired about bailouts from the IMF—nearly half the world ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to avail themselves of World Bank programs .
The two institutions together [ only ] have resources of up to $ 1.2 trillion ” .
Just to be clear , this amount is not nearly sufficient .
Rogoff is saying that $ 1.2 trillion is a drop in the ocean – for what lies ahead .
The health of the global economy thus has attenuated down to a race between dollars flooding out of this ‘ complex self-organising ’ system amidst the coronavirus pandemic , versus the very limited resources of the IMF @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Simple ?
Just ramp up the dollar flow into system .
But whoa there !
This would mean the U.S. providing a flow of dollars sufficient to meet ‘ rest of world ’ needs – ‘ during the biggest collapse since the 1930s ’ ?
There is $ 11.9 trillion of U.S. denominated debt out there alone , plus the dollar float required to finance day-to-day international trade ( usually held as national , foreign exchange reserves ) .
That however , is only a fraction of the dollar-denominated debt ‘ problem @ @ @ @ @ @ @ debt takes the characteristics of a distinct ‘ currency ’ used in international trade , called Eurodollars .
Mostly ( but not exclusively ) , they present themselves as if ordinary dollars , but what distinguishes them is that they are overseas dollar deposits that exist outside of U.S. regulation , in one sense .
Human Diversity : The B ... Murray , Charles Best Price : $ 26.84 Buy New $ 28.58 But which – in the other sense – they become the tools extending U.S. jurisdiction ( think Treasury sanctions ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ use of U.S. dollars , as its medium of trade .
That is to say , this huge Eurodollar market serves Washington ’ s geo-political interests by enabling it to sanction the world .
Hence , the Eurodollar market is a main tool to the U.S. ’ covert ‘ war ’ against China and Russia .
Eurodollars just ‘ emerged ’ , ( initially ) in Europe after WW2 ( no-one is sure quite how ) , and they grew organically to huge size , by the European banking system simply electronically creating @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Heel is that it lacks any Central Bank to supply it with liquid dollars , as and when , payments into the U.S. sphere are sucked out of it .
This happens especially in times of crisis , when there is flight to the onshore dollar .
Oh , no .
Oh yes : It ’ s another self-organising dynamic system that can only ‘ grow ’ under the right conditions , but will be prone to dynamic de-construction if too many dollars are withdrawn from it .
And now , with the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in a near panic for dollars : liquid dollars .
The U.S. Fed does ‘ help out ’ , at its own discretion , but mainly through offering to swap other currencies for dollars , and by extending short term dollar loans .
But this ‘ swap bandage ’ can not of course staunch full-blown global trade blowout – in the same way that the Fed is ‘ supporting ’ U.S. domestic financial system – by throwing trillions of dollars at it .
President Putin saw this eventuality long ago , and predicted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as a result of the world ’ s trade becoming too large and too diverse to be sustained on the slender back of the U.S. Fed .
And because the world is no longer ready for the U.S. to be able to sanction it , willy-nilly , and at will .
In Defense of Deflatio ... Bagus , Philipp Best Price : $ 120.03 Buy New $ 119.98 And here ‘ is ’ that moment – very possibly .
So , the collapse in the oil price is a piece to this much @ @ @ @ @ @ @ surprisingly – thus cooperated with Trump ’ s OPEC initiative , no doubt guessing that the attempt to ramp prices higher would never ‘ fly ’ .
Putin may not want to see the dollar hegemony renewed , but nor would he want Russia to be viewed as a main contributor to a global blow-out .
The blame being heaped on China over coronavirus serves as a potent alert in this context .
This – emphatically – is not an essay about barely-understood Eurodollars .
It is about real global risk .
Take @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Oil is trading currently at $ 17 ( Friday ’ s WTI ) .
No producer state ’ s Middle East business-model is viable at this price level .
National budget ‘ break-evens ’ require a price of oil to be at least three times higher – maybe more .
And this , comes on top of the collapse of the Gulf air-travel hub business and tourism .
The northern tier of states additionally , is being pressed hard by U.S. sanctions , with the latter tightening the sanctions tourniquet , as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Lebanon , Jordan , Syria – and Iraq .
All have national business-models that are bust .
They all require bail-outs .
And into this bleak picture , coronavirus has gripped precisely that class of expatriates and migrant workers that sustain the Gulf ‘ way of life ’ and its business model .
NGOs presently are scouring the UAE for empty buildings , and Bahrain is re-purposing closed schools in order to re-house migrant-labourers from cramped accommodation where one room with bunk-beds would sleep a dozen workers .
The virus has also @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cities , where many expatriates share housing to save on rent .
Many have lost jobs and are struggling .
The authorities are trying to deport the migrants home ; but Pakistan and India both are refusing them immediate entry .
These victims have lost their livelihood , and any chance to escape their misery .
Just to be clear : Gulf élites are not exempt from Covid-19 .
The al-Saud have been particularly hit by what they sometimes call the “ Shi ’ i virus ” .
The situation is turning explosive @ @ @ @ @ @ @ expatriates , migrant workers and domestic help , and coronavirus has upended the pillars of their economies .
The state looms large over the financial sector in the Gulf , and this makes financial institutions especially vulnerable , because the proportion of loans that local banks extend to the government or to government-related entities , has been rising since 2009 .
As the authorities draw further on these institutions , so the Gulf economies will prove more vulnerable to Eurodollar stress – absent huge Fed bail-outs .
The Tragedy of the Euro Philipp @ @ @ @ @ @ @ global impact of Covid-19 is only beginning , but one thing is abundantly clear : Middle Eastern states will be needing a great deal of spending money , just to fend off social disorder .
An economic breakdown is more than just economic .
It leads quickly to a social breakdown that involves looting , random violence , fraud and popular anger directed at authorities .
Global trade is going to be hit hard , and U.S. imports are going to tumble , which threatens one of the main USD liquidity channels into @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a systemic dynamic destruction of the trading system has led the BIS ( Bank for International Settlements : the Central Bankers ’ own Central Bank ) to insist that : “ … today ’ s crisis differs from the 2008 GFC , and requires policies that reach beyond the banking sector to final users .
These businesses , particularly those enmeshed in global supply chains , are in constant need of working capital , much of it in dollars .
Preserving the flow of payments along these chains is essential if we are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ This is a truly revolutionary warning .
The BIS is saying that unless the Fed makes bail-outs and working capital available on a massive scale – all the way down , and through , the supply-pyramid to nitty-gritty individual enterprises – trade collapse can not be avoided .
What is hinted at here is the concern that when multiple dynamic complex systems begin to degrade , they can , and often do , enter into a spiralling feedback-loop .
There may be agreement in the G7 on the principle of a limited debt @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but an approach à outrance – on the BIS lines – apparently is being blocked by U.S. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin ( the U.S. enjoys a veto at the IMF by virtue of its quota ) : No more U.S. cash is being offered to the IMF by Mnuchin , who prefers to keep the U.S. Fed front and centre of the USD liquidity roll-out process .
In other words , Trump wishes to keep intact the scaffolding of the ‘ hidden ’ dollar-based , sanctions and tariff ‘ war ’ against China @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be able to determine who does , and who does not , get help in any ‘ liquidity roll-out ’ .
He wants to continue to be able to sanction those he wants .
And he wants to maintain as large an external footprint of the dollar as possible .
Here then , is the crux to Putin ’ s complaint : “ At root , the Eurodollar system is based on using the national currency of just one country , the U.S. , as the global reserve currency .
This means @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that it can not create as needed ” .
When a crisis hits , as at present , everyone in the Eurodollar system suddenly realizes they have no ability to create fiat dollars , and can rely only on that which exists in national foreign exchange reserves , or in ‘ swap lines ’ .
This obviously grants the U.S. enormous power and privilege .
War with Russia ?
: From ... Cohen , Stephen F. Best Price : $ 8.99 Buy New $ 8.50 But more than subjecting the world to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ point is made by Professor Rogoff : “ We ’ re looking at a commodity-price collapse – and a collapse in global trade unlike anything we ’ ve seen since the 1930s .
An avalanche of government-debt crises is sure to follow , he said , and “ the system just can ’ t handle this many defaults and restructurings – at the same time ” .
This simply is beyond the U.S. Fed , or the U.S. Treasury ’ s capacities , by a long shot .
The Fed is already set @ @ @ @ @ @ @ debt issuance .
The global task would overwhelm it – in an avalanche of money-printing .
Does Mnuchin then , believe his and Trump ’ s narrative , that the virus will soon pass , and the economy will rapidly bounce-back ?
If so , and it turns out that the virus does not rapidly disappear , then Mnuchin ’ s stance portends a coming , tragic débacle .
And with further massive money issuance , a collapse in confidence in the dollar .
( President Putin would have been proved right , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , being proved right in such a destructive manner ) .
In a parallel sphere , the global trade plight is being mirrored in the microcosm by that of EU states , such as Italy , whose economies similarly have been racked by Covid-19 .
They too , are beholden to a currency – the Euro – that Italy and others can not create as needed .
With this crisis hitting Europe , everyone in the Euro system is experiencing what it means to have no ability to create fiat currency , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the Eurogroup , which – like Mnuchin – simply says ‘ no ’ to any BIS-like approach .
Again , it is about scale : this is not business as usual , as in some neo- ‘ Greek ’ eruption , to be countered with EU ‘ discipline ’ .
This crisis is much , much greater than that .
The absence of monetary instruments – in crisis – can become existential .
Some muse might recall to Mnuchin and the Eurogroup , Alexander del Mar ’ s 1899 Monetary History , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the British Crown , in constricting the export of gold and silver ( i.e .
money ) to its American colonies , led to the Crown ’ s ‘ war ’ on the paper monetary instruments – Bills of Credit – issued by the Revolutionary Assemblies of Massachusetts and Philadelphia , to compensate for this British monetary starvation .
Finally , it left the desperate colonists with but one resort : “ to stand by their monetary system .
Thus the Bills of Credit of this era … were really the standards @ @ @ @ @ @ @ They were more than this : They were the Revolution itself !
” The views of individual contributors do not necessarily represent those of the Strategic Culture Foundation .

Some have queried how it could be that President Putin would co-operate with President Trump to have OPEC+ push oil prices higher – when those higher prices precisely would only help sustain U.S. oil production. In effect, President Putin was being asked to underwrite a subsidy to the U.S. economy – at the expense of Russia’s own oil and gas sales – since U.S. shale production simply is not economic at these prices. In other words, Russia seemed to be shooting itself in the foot.
Well, the calculus for Moscow on whether to cut production (to help Trump) was never simple. There were geo-political and domestic economic considerations – as well as the industry ones – to weigh. But, perhaps one issue trumped all others?
Since 2007, President Putin has been pointing to one overarching threat to global trade: And that problem was simply, the U.S. dollar.
And now, that dollar is in crisis. We are referring, here, not so much to America’s domestic financial crisis (although the monetisation of U.S. debt is connected to threat to the global system), but rather, how the international trading system is poised to blow apart, with grave consequences for everyone. The Great Influenza: T... Barry, John M. Buy New $13.99 (as of 02:52 UTC - Details)
In other words, Covid-19 may be the trigger, but it is the U.S. dollar – as President Putin has long warned – that is the root problem:
“We’re looking at a commodity-price collapse and a collapse in global trade unlike anything we’ve seen since the 1930s”, said Ken Rogoff, the former chief economist of the IMF, now at Harvard University. An avalanche of government-debt crises is sure to follow, he said, and “the system just can’t handle this many defaults and restructurings at the same time”.
“It’s a little bit like going to the hospitals and they can handle a certain number of Covid-19 patients but they can’t handle them – all at once”, he added.
More than 90 countries have inquired about bailouts from the IMF—nearly half the world’s nations—while at least 60 have sought to avail themselves of World Bank programs. The two institutions together [only] have resources of up to $1.2 trillion”.
Just to be clear, this amount is not nearly sufficient. Rogoff is saying that $1.2 trillion is a drop in the ocean – for what lies ahead. The health of the global economy thus has attenuated down to a race between dollars flooding out of this ‘complex self-organising’ system amidst the coronavirus pandemic, versus the very limited resources of the IMF and World Bank to pump dollars in.
Simple? Just ramp up the dollar flow into system. But whoa there! This would mean the U.S. providing a flow of dollars sufficient to meet ‘rest of world’ needs – ‘during the biggest collapse since the 1930s’? There is $11.9 trillion of U.S. denominated debt out there alone, plus the dollar float required to finance day-to-day international trade (usually held as national, foreign exchange reserves).
That however, is only a fraction of the dollar-denominated debt ‘problem’, since a part of that debt takes the characteristics of a distinct ‘currency’ used in international trade, called Eurodollars. Mostly (but not exclusively), they present themselves as if ordinary dollars, but what distinguishes them is that they are overseas dollar deposits that exist outside of U.S. regulation, in one sense. Human Diversity: The B... Murray, Charles Best Price: $26.84 Buy New $28.58 (as of 05:11 UTC - Details)
But which – in the other sense – they become the tools extending U.S. jurisdiction (think Treasury sanctions), across the globe, through the use of U.S. dollars, as its medium of trade. That is to say, this huge Eurodollar market serves Washington’s geo-political interests by enabling it to sanction the world. Hence, the Eurodollar market is a main tool to the U.S.’ covert ‘war’ against China and Russia.
Eurodollars just ‘emerged’, (initially) in Europe after WW2 (no-one is sure quite how), and they grew organically to huge size, by the European banking system simply electronically creating more of them. The Achilles’ Heel is that it lacks any Central Bank to supply it with liquid dollars, as and when, payments into the U.S. sphere are sucked out of it.
This happens especially in times of crisis, when there is flight to the onshore dollar. Oh, no. Oh yes: It’s another self-organising dynamic system that can only ‘grow’ under the right conditions, but will be prone to dynamic de-construction if too many dollars are withdrawn from it. And now, with the Covid-19 pandemic, the Eurodollar market is in a near panic for dollars: liquid dollars.
The U.S. Fed does ‘help out’, at its own discretion, but mainly through offering to swap other currencies for dollars, and by extending short term dollar loans. But this ‘swap bandage’ cannot of course staunch full-blown global trade blowout – in the same way that the Fed is ‘supporting’ U.S. domestic financial system – by throwing trillions of dollars at it.
President Putin saw this eventuality long ago, and predicted the dollar’s ultimate collapse, as a result of the world’s trade becoming too large and too diverse to be sustained on the slender back of the U.S. Fed. And because the world is no longer ready for the U.S. to be able to sanction it, willy-nilly, and at will.
In Defense of Deflatio... Bagus, Philipp Best Price: $120.03 Buy New $119.98 (as of 02:55 UTC - Details) And here ‘is’ that moment – very possibly. So, the collapse in the oil price is a piece to this much bigger story. Putin – not so surprisingly – thus cooperated with Trump’s OPEC initiative, no doubt guessing that the attempt to ramp prices higher would never ‘fly’. Putin may not want to see the dollar hegemony renewed, but nor would he want Russia to be viewed as a main contributor to a global blow-out. The blame being heaped on China over coronavirus serves as a potent alert in this context.
This – emphatically – is not an essay about barely-understood Eurodollars. It is about real global risk. Take the Middle East, as one example. Oil is trading currently at $17 (Friday’s WTI). No producer state’s Middle East business-model is viable at this price level. National budget ‘break-evens’ require a price of oil to be at least three times higher – maybe more. And this, comes on top of the collapse of the Gulf air-travel hub business and tourism. The northern tier of states additionally, is being pressed hard by U.S. sanctions, with the latter tightening the sanctions tourniquet, as Covid-19 strikes, rather than relaxing it. Lebanon, Jordan, Syria – and Iraq. All have national business-models that are bust. They all require bail-outs.
And into this bleak picture, coronavirus has gripped precisely that class of expatriates and migrant workers that sustain the Gulf ‘way of life’ and its business model. NGOs presently are scouring the UAE for empty buildings, and Bahrain is re-purposing closed schools in order to re-house migrant-labourers from cramped accommodation where one room with bunk-beds would sleep a dozen workers.
The virus has also spread to densely populated commercial districts of cities, where many expatriates share housing to save on rent. Many have lost jobs and are struggling. The authorities are trying to deport the migrants home; but Pakistan and India both are refusing them immediate entry. These victims have lost their livelihood, and any chance to escape their misery.
Just to be clear: Gulf élites are not exempt from Covid-19. The al-Saud have been particularly hit by what they sometimes call the “Shi’i virus”. The situation is turning explosive. Gulf economies are held aloft by expatriates, migrant workers and domestic help, and coronavirus has upended the pillars of their economies.
The state looms large over the financial sector in the Gulf, and this makes financial institutions especially vulnerable, because the proportion of loans that local banks extend to the government or to government-related entities, has been rising since 2009. As the authorities draw further on these institutions, so the Gulf economies will prove more vulnerable to Eurodollar stress – absent huge Fed bail-outs. The Tragedy of the Euro Philipp Bagus Best Price: $17.05 (as of 02:55 UTC - Details)
The global impact of Covid-19 is only beginning, but one thing is abundantly clear: Middle Eastern states will be needing a great deal of spending money, just to fend off social disorder. An economic breakdown is more than just economic. It leads quickly to a social breakdown that involves looting, random violence, fraud and popular anger directed at authorities. Global trade is going to be hit hard, and U.S. imports are going to tumble, which threatens one of the main USD liquidity channels into the Eurodollar system.
This fear of a systemic dynamic destruction of the trading system has led the BIS (Bank for International Settlements: the Central Bankers’ own Central Bank) to insist that: “… today’s crisis differs from the 2008 GFC, and requires policies that reach beyond the banking sector to final users. These businesses, particularly those enmeshed in global supply chains, are in constant need of working capital, much of it in dollars. Preserving the flow of payments along these chains is essential if we are to avoid further economic meltdown”.
This is a truly revolutionary warning. The BIS is saying that unless the Fed makes bail-outs and working capital available on a massive scale – all the way down, and through, the supply-pyramid to nitty-gritty individual enterprises – trade collapse cannot be avoided. What is hinted at here is the concern that when multiple dynamic complex systems begin to degrade, they can, and often do, enter into a spiralling feedback-loop.
There may be agreement in the G7 on the principle of a limited debt moratorium to be offered to struggling economies, but an approach à outrance – on the BIS lines – apparently is being blocked by U.S. Treasury Secretary Mnuchin (the U.S. enjoys a veto at the IMF by virtue of its quota): No more U.S. cash is being offered to the IMF by Mnuchin, who prefers to keep the U.S. Fed front and centre of the USD liquidity roll-out process.
In other words, Trump wishes to keep intact the scaffolding of the ‘hidden’ dollar-based, sanctions and tariff ‘war’ against China and Russia. He wants the Fed to be able to determine who does, and who does not, get help in any ‘liquidity roll-out’. He wants to continue to be able to sanction those he wants. And he wants to maintain as large an external footprint of the dollar as possible.
Here then, is the crux to Putin’s complaint: “At root, the Eurodollar system is based on using the national currency of just one country, the U.S., as the global reserve currency. This means the world is beholden to a currency that it cannot create as needed”.
When a crisis hits, as at present, everyone in the Eurodollar system suddenly realizes they have no ability to create fiat dollars, and can rely only on that which exists in national foreign exchange reserves, or in ‘swap lines’. This obviously grants the U.S. enormous power and privilege. War with Russia?: From... Cohen, Stephen F. Best Price: $8.99 Buy New $8.50 (as of 02:15 UTC - Details)
But more than subjecting the world to the geo-political hegemony of Washington, the crucial point is made by Professor Rogoff: “We’re looking at a commodity-price collapse – and a collapse in global trade unlike anything we’ve seen since the 1930s. An avalanche of government-debt crises is sure to follow, he said, and “the system just can’t handle this many defaults and restructurings – at the same time”.
This simply is beyond the U.S. Fed, or the U.S. Treasury’s capacities, by a long shot. The Fed is already set to monetize double the total U.S. Treasury debt issuance. The global task would overwhelm it – in an avalanche of money-printing.
Does Mnuchin then, believe his and Trump’s narrative, that the virus will soon pass, and the economy will rapidly bounce-back? If so, and it turns out that the virus does not rapidly disappear, then Mnuchin’s stance portends a coming, tragic débacle. And with further massive money issuance, a collapse in confidence in the dollar. (President Putin would have been proved right, but he will not welcome, assuredly, being proved right in such a destructive manner).
In a parallel sphere, the global trade plight is being mirrored in the microcosm by that of EU states, such as Italy, whose economies similarly have been racked by Covid-19. They too, are beholden to a currency – the Euro – that Italy and others cannot create as needed.
With this crisis hitting Europe, everyone in the Euro system is experiencing what it means to have no ability to create fiat currency, and be entirely subject to a non-statutory body, the Eurogroup, which – like Mnuchin – simply says ‘no’ to any BIS-like approach.
Again, it is about scale: this is not business as usual, as in some neo-‘Greek’ eruption, to be countered with EU ‘discipline’. This crisis is much, much greater than that. The absence of monetary instruments – in crisis – can become existential.
Some muse might recall to Mnuchin and the Eurogroup, Alexander del Mar’s 1899 Monetary History, in which he observes how the manoeuvres of the British Crown, in constricting the export of gold and silver (i.e. money) to its American colonies, led to the Crown’s ‘war’ on the paper monetary instruments – Bills of Credit – issued by the Revolutionary Assemblies of Massachusetts and Philadelphia, to compensate for this British monetary starvation.
Finally, it left the desperate colonists with but one resort: “to stand by their monetary system. Thus the Bills of Credit of this era … were really the standards of The [American] Revolution. They were more than this: They were the Revolution itself!”
The views of individual contributors do not necessarily represent those of the Strategic Culture Foundation.


lewrockwell--2020-04-23--Vimeo Bans Documentary Exposing Big Pharma’s Influence Within the World Health Organization

I recently published a piece about Wikileaks regarding recent posts they made pertaining to documents they released nearly a decade ago .
The documents highlight the influence that pharmaceutical companies have on health policy set by the World Health Organization ( WHO ) .
Towards the end of that article , I wrote about a documentary that ’ s recently been removed by Vimeo , and I wanted to publish another article that specifically shines light on this matter .
Vimeo deleted “ trustWHO ” , a film directed by Lilian Franck .
Vimeo stated that they do not support @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , falsely claim that mass tragedies are hoaxes , or perpetuate false or misleading claims about vaccine safety.
” According to the filmmakers , the claim from Vimeo is “ Both misleading and false .
“ trustWHO ” has been thoroughly researched for 7 years ; it has been fact-checked and approved by lawyers , experts in the medical field and even by key executives of the WHO itself .
The documentary simply investigated how efficiency and transparency of the WHO are undermined by both corporate influences and a lack of public funding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on facts and far from what Vimeo makes it out to be .
This is our full statement on the matter , presented by Robert Cibis ( Filmmaker , Co-author and producer of “ trust WHO ” ) .
Pharma : Greed , Lies , a ... Posner , Gerald Best Price : $ 26.77 Buy New $ 21.49 In our world today , there is the powerful presence of a digital Orwellian “ fact checker ” that ’ s going around the internet and social media deleting any evidence that threatens corporate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , or information that simply highlights the corruption within agencies that have been tasked to safeguard us .
The elimination of content from various platforms , like Vimeo , Youtube , Facebook and more is being done so in an immoral and unethical manner .
This is why we here at Collective Evolution are concerned that our Facebook Page will be deleted , so we are encouraging all those who want to continue to receive and be able to find our content to sign up for our email list .
The more that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it ’ s simply going to contribute to the awakening of more people , and more people are going to seek out that censored information and evaluate it for themselves .
Below is a message from Oval Media , producers of Trust WHO .
In the video you can see a snippet of the documentary .
It features a number of scientists and doctors , and former officials from within the World Health Organization .
If you ’ re interested in watching the full version , you can support them and do so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
They are also currently fundraising for a documentary they would like to produce on the current COVID-19 pandemic .
You can contribute here and find out more about that if interested .

I recently published a piece about Wikileaks regarding recent posts they made pertaining to documents they released nearly a decade ago . The documents highlight the influence that pharmaceutical companies have on health policy set by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Towards the end of that article, I wrote about a documentary that’s recently been removed by Vimeo, and I wanted to publish another article that specifically shines light on this matter.
Vimeo deleted “trustWHO”, a film directed by Lilian Franck. Vimeo stated that they do not support “Videos that depict or encourage self-harm, falsely claim that mass tragedies are hoaxes, or perpetuate false or misleading claims about vaccine safety.”
According to the filmmakers, the claim from Vimeo is “Both misleading and false. “trustWHO” has been thoroughly researched for 7 years; it has been fact-checked and approved by lawyers, experts in the medical field and even by key executives of the WHO itself. The documentary simply investigated how efficiency and transparency of the WHO are undermined by both corporate influences and a lack of public funding. It is a journalistic investigation based on facts and far from what Vimeo makes it out to be. This is our full statement on the matter, presented by Robert Cibis (Filmmaker, Co-author and producer of “trust WHO”). Pharma: Greed, Lies, a... Posner, Gerald Best Price: $26.77 Buy New $21.49 (as of 02:57 UTC - Details)
In our world today, there is the powerful presence of a digital Orwellian “fact checker” that’s going around the internet and social media deleting any evidence that threatens corporate, political, financial or elitist interests, or information that simply highlights the corruption within agencies that have been tasked to safeguard us. The elimination of content from various platforms, like Vimeo, Youtube, Facebook and more is being done so in an immoral and unethical manner.
This is why we here at Collective Evolution are concerned that our Facebook Page will be deleted, so we are encouraging all those who want to continue to receive and be able to find our content to sign up for our email list.
The more that sound information is censored, the more it’s simply going to contribute to the awakening of more people, and more people are going to seek out that censored information and evaluate it for themselves.
Below is a message from Oval Media, producers of Trust WHO. In the video you can see a snippet of the documentary. It features a number of scientists and doctors, and former officials from within the World Health Organization. If you’re interested in watching the full version, you can support them and do so here while it’s still up. They are also currently fundraising for a documentary they would like to produce on the current COVID-19 pandemic. You can contribute here and find out more about that if interested.

Reprinted with permission from Collective Evolution.