Friday, February 23, 2018

Claiming We're in an Economic Recovery is Absurd


Nevertheless, that's what the Corporate Media, the Fed Reserve, DC politicians, and the rest of the Establishment are doing.  It goes back to the last part of the Obama Era, and now includes Trump & Crew.  Let's examine several of the reasons why such a claim is absolutely false...at least, false when it comes to the overwhelming majority of Americans.  Not all, but much of the info below is taken from the U.S. National Debt Clock... usdebtclock.org

[NOTE:  Number 1 below was edited on 2-24-18.  Number 3 was edited 3-14-18...the amount of our National Debt, now just a hair away from $21 trillion.]
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1.  The current median income for individual workers is $31,654 per year; in the year 2000, it was $31,229.  Wow, what a booming increase... not.  For those who may have forgotten parts of their old math & statistics courses, "median" gives a better sense of things than does "average".  With "average", the millionaires & billionaires skew the results.  When we use "median income", that means half the workers make less than $31K+change.  HALF.  There was a time when $31K/year was a decent income; that's long gone.

2.  The current number of unemployed is more than double the number claimed by the Feds/Trump.  [See the piece/post immediately prior to this one... and the Debt Clock.]

3.  The National Debt was $2.6 trillion in 1988, and the Debt to GDP ratio was 49%.  Currently, the National Debt is $20.96 trillion (edited 3-14-18), and the Debt to GDP ratio is about 105% (the last number is for 2017).  [In 1980, our National Debt was only $906 billion, not even one trillion.  The Reagan Era more than doubled that number.]  The point being:  these numbers are a major reason for the world losing confidence in the Dollar... with fiat currency having no intrinsic worth, the only reason people value it is because of confidence.  Trump & Crew are well on their way to increasing the National Debt by trillions more.  Don't believe the Propaganda that all will balance out because of increased jobs resulting in more income tax revenue.  Reagan said the same thing, but the Debt almost tripled.

4.  The IMF has launched a ten-year program/plan that will replace the Dollar as the world's reserve currency.  The negative impact on our economy will be significant.

5.  The Establishment touts the claim that wages have risen 2.9%.  [I don't recall over what time span.]  Never mind about half of that is lost to the hidden tax known as price inflation.  With the current median income (see number 1 above), the increase comes to $76 per month... not too exciting.  With the minimum wage, the increase comes to 21 cents per hour... appreciated, I imagine, but not cause for celebration.

6.  Toward the end of March (next month),  several countries will start accepting Chinese Yuan in exchange for oil.  That will be the beginning of the end for the almighty PetroDollar.  Within a very short time, the Bretton Woods international monetary system will be no more.  The Dollar will suffer significantly; because of increased inflation, it will lose even more of its purchasing power than it already has lost.

7.  The overall worldwide Debt Bubble (public & private debt) is at a record high level.  All financial bubbles burst; in all of history, there hasn't been one that didn't.  The Debt Bubble dwarfs all the others; that's true even if only public debt is considered.

8.  The U.S. Bond Market is collapsing.  It's not the only one in the world doing so.  Bond markets collapse because of approaching insolvency... at least, that's one of the major reasons.

9.  Bizarre financial derivatives still are running at full speed.  They have only window dressing restraints from the Feds.

10.  When the Establishment reveals the monthly Jobs Report, it never gives important details:  how many of those jobs are minimum wage, and/or part-time, and/or temporary?  Currently, there are over 27 million part-time workers in the USA.  The Debt Clock doesn't indicate how many of those would prefer a full-time job... but I suspect that most would.

11.  Trump & Crew are making it easier for the Fed and Mega Banks to transfer wealth from the majority of Americans to those in the Upper Crust.

12.  In general, the permanent Tax Cut gift given to the Rich by Trump & Congress will not result in capital expansion of business enterprises.  The Rich and Super-Rich will put those tax break savings elsewhere.  I suspect every one of them knows that a Crash is coming... and that it's unavoidable.  Their primary concern is to protect their families & their wealth.
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Not only my opinion.  Be Well

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