page-loading-spinner

Premium Archives

Image | How To Oppose the Deep State
How To Oppose the Deep State
 PREVIEW
by JHK

Executive Summary

  • A middle ground approach is best at this stage
  • While the Deep State is threatened by its own dysfunction, a collapse will not be pretty for citizens
  • How not to volunteer for victimhood
  • Where hope lies

If you have not yet read The State of the Deep State, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.

On general principle, the sort of odious operations represented by the Deep State, including warrantless police actions, immersive surveillance, and even assassination, ought to be opposed by Americans who care about their country and the ongoing project of remaining civilized. The Deep State’s totalitarian tendencies are self-evident. Therefore, “we the people” are obliged to dismantle it as expeditiously as possible, ideally by voting for electoral candidates who vow to work toward that end, but by resistance if that fails. Political actions might include getting rid of all the redundant “security” agencies piggybacked around the CIA since 9/11; voting the Patriot Act out of existence; and introducing legislation to re-define the “personhood” of corporations and their putative “rights” to “free speech” as defined by flinging money at elections.

However, the electoral process, being subject to the depredations and manipulations of the Deep State, may itself be too much a part of the problem at the present time. Resistance, on the other hand, can beat a fast path into the perilous realm of revolution and sedition, inviting punishment by the Deep State. For the moment then, the preferable action probably lies in the middle ground: political persuasion, speaking out against the Deep State. There is simply not enough of this now, especially among serious people in positions of authority. This, by the way, was exactly what turned the nation against the folly of the Vietnam War.

It begs the question: where are the Bobby Kennedys, Gene McCarthys, and William Fullbrights of our time? Where are the visible people of stature willing to take a stand, to put their careers on the line? Not just…

How To Oppose the Deep State
 PREVIEW by JHK

Executive Summary

  • A middle ground approach is best at this stage
  • While the Deep State is threatened by its own dysfunction, a collapse will not be pretty for citizens
  • How not to volunteer for victimhood
  • Where hope lies

If you have not yet read The State of the Deep State, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.

On general principle, the sort of odious operations represented by the Deep State, including warrantless police actions, immersive surveillance, and even assassination, ought to be opposed by Americans who care about their country and the ongoing project of remaining civilized. The Deep State’s totalitarian tendencies are self-evident. Therefore, “we the people” are obliged to dismantle it as expeditiously as possible, ideally by voting for electoral candidates who vow to work toward that end, but by resistance if that fails. Political actions might include getting rid of all the redundant “security” agencies piggybacked around the CIA since 9/11; voting the Patriot Act out of existence; and introducing legislation to re-define the “personhood” of corporations and their putative “rights” to “free speech” as defined by flinging money at elections.

However, the electoral process, being subject to the depredations and manipulations of the Deep State, may itself be too much a part of the problem at the present time. Resistance, on the other hand, can beat a fast path into the perilous realm of revolution and sedition, inviting punishment by the Deep State. For the moment then, the preferable action probably lies in the middle ground: political persuasion, speaking out against the Deep State. There is simply not enough of this now, especially among serious people in positions of authority. This, by the way, was exactly what turned the nation against the folly of the Vietnam War.

It begs the question: where are the Bobby Kennedys, Gene McCarthys, and William Fullbrights of our time? Where are the visible people of stature willing to take a stand, to put their careers on the line? Not just…

Image | Japan’s Economy Is Shattering
Japan’s Economy Is Shattering
 PREVIEW
by Chris Martenson

When you are a fully-industrialized island nation that makes its living in the world by importing raw materials, fashioning them into useful exports, and collecting the difference as your profits, then you simply have to run a trade surplus for the model to work.

Which means Japan is in big trouble:
Japan’s Economy Is Shattering
 PREVIEW by Chris Martenson

When you are a fully-industrialized island nation that makes its living in the world by importing raw materials, fashioning them into useful exports, and collecting the difference as your profits, then you simply have to run a trade surplus for the model to work.

Which means Japan is in big trouble:
Image | Why Demand Will Become Even More Scarce
Why Demand Will Become Even More Scarce
 PREVIEW
by Gregor Macdonald

Executive Summary

  • Anemic employment & wages growth depresses the odds of near-term interest rate hikes
  • Why energy costs increases are experiencing a lull, keeping inflation lower than many expected
  • The demographic arguments for deflation
  • Why the US is becoming more vulnerable to a repricing of natural gas — vs oil — in the coming decade

If you have not yet read Part I: When Every Country Wants to Sell, Who Buys?, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.

The most recent US jobs report was once again a disappointment, despite the headline number of 192,000 jobs created. Over the past two years, the economy has reliably created about 150,000 jobs per month. This has been just enough to keep up with population growth, but alas, not enough to put the long-term unemployed back to work. The concerning data in the report came in the details of the jobs created: as usual–and this has been a trend for several years now–mostly in the lower wage sectors. A few wrap-up tweets from Dan Alpert of Westwood Capital summed up the facts rather nicely:

Other notable observations from recent trends in US jobs reports include the fact that job creation in 2013 was no higher than in 2012. Not exactly an encouraging trend for those who would be looking for inflation risk, or strong growth in 2014.

But perhaps worst of all has been the number of workers leaving the workforce. Part of this can be explained, of course, by demographic retirements. It’s no secret that the US has an aging population, and there’s a bulge of retiring workers that will admittedly create some gaps in the labor market over the next decade. But the large numbers of workers exiting the workforce is also explained by discouraged workers, and that unemployment benefits for many have started running out.

What many in the public do not understand, is that workers taking unemployment checks are counted as active seekers of employment. They are added to the composition of the workforce, and when they continue to take unemployment checks but do not find work, they serve to keep the unemployment rate elevated. But when unemployment benefits expire, and workers leave the workforce, the unemployment rate may…

Why Demand Will Become Even More Scarce
 PREVIEW by Gregor Macdonald

Executive Summary

  • Anemic employment & wages growth depresses the odds of near-term interest rate hikes
  • Why energy costs increases are experiencing a lull, keeping inflation lower than many expected
  • The demographic arguments for deflation
  • Why the US is becoming more vulnerable to a repricing of natural gas — vs oil — in the coming decade

If you have not yet read Part I: When Every Country Wants to Sell, Who Buys?, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.

The most recent US jobs report was once again a disappointment, despite the headline number of 192,000 jobs created. Over the past two years, the economy has reliably created about 150,000 jobs per month. This has been just enough to keep up with population growth, but alas, not enough to put the long-term unemployed back to work. The concerning data in the report came in the details of the jobs created: as usual–and this has been a trend for several years now–mostly in the lower wage sectors. A few wrap-up tweets from Dan Alpert of Westwood Capital summed up the facts rather nicely:

Other notable observations from recent trends in US jobs reports include the fact that job creation in 2013 was no higher than in 2012. Not exactly an encouraging trend for those who would be looking for inflation risk, or strong growth in 2014.

But perhaps worst of all has been the number of workers leaving the workforce. Part of this can be explained, of course, by demographic retirements. It’s no secret that the US has an aging population, and there’s a bulge of retiring workers that will admittedly create some gaps in the labor market over the next decade. But the large numbers of workers exiting the workforce is also explained by discouraged workers, and that unemployment benefits for many have started running out.

What many in the public do not understand, is that workers taking unemployment checks are counted as active seekers of employment. They are added to the composition of the workforce, and when they continue to take unemployment checks but do not find work, they serve to keep the unemployment rate elevated. But when unemployment benefits expire, and workers leave the workforce, the unemployment rate may…

Image | Anti-Gold Propaganda Reaches Fever Pitch
Anti-Gold Propaganda Reaches Fever Pitch
 PREVIEW
by Chris Martenson

There are times when the anti-gold propaganda in the western world, or at least the US, becomes just too much to let it pass by. I usually let it roll off but sometimes it needs to be illustrated for what it is.

A deliberate attempt to get people in the west to lose faith in the ability of gold to protect one's wealth, presumably with the side benefit of causing those same people to either not purchase gold at all, or to sell what they already have.
Anti-Gold Propaganda Reaches Fever Pitch
 PREVIEW by Chris Martenson

There are times when the anti-gold propaganda in the western world, or at least the US, becomes just too much to let it pass by. I usually let it roll off but sometimes it needs to be illustrated for what it is.

A deliberate attempt to get people in the west to lose faith in the ability of gold to protect one's wealth, presumably with the side benefit of causing those same people to either not purchase gold at all, or to sell what they already have.
Image | Market Jitters
Market Jitters
 PREVIEW
by Chris Martenson

The global stock markets have been trading as if risk has been entirely removed the equation. Fundamentals have had zero impact on the prices of equities as they have gone up on good news (hey, the economy is improving!) as well as bad (hey, there's more stimulus on the way!).

We saw this same level of rationalization in play in 2006 and 2007. It was as frustrating to those with an eye towards rational thinking then as it is today.

Only today is worse. A lot worse.
Market Jitters
 PREVIEW by Chris Martenson

The global stock markets have been trading as if risk has been entirely removed the equation. Fundamentals have had zero impact on the prices of equities as they have gone up on good news (hey, the economy is improving!) as well as bad (hey, there's more stimulus on the way!).

We saw this same level of rationalization in play in 2006 and 2007. It was as frustrating to those with an eye towards rational thinking then as it is today.

Only today is worse. A lot worse.
Image | The Implications of a ‘War of Elites’
The Implications of a ‘War of Elites’
 PREVIEW
by charleshughsmith

Executive Summary

  • The Deep State, and its dawning realization that Wall Street is a foe vs an ally
  • Why Wall Street's threat to the dollar hegemony is of such concern
  • History gives us many examples to predict a 'war of elites' (e.g. Wall Street vs the Deep State) is highly likely
  • Who will lose? And what implications will it have for the rest of us?

If you have not yet read Have We Reached Peak Wall Street?, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.

In Part 1, I sketched out why the financial sector—the Fed, Wall Street and “too big to fail” banks—pose a strategic threat to the nation, as their policies threaten one key foundation of American pre-eminence, the U.S. dollar.   Should money and credit creation cause the dollar to lose its reserve status, the nation would lose the fundamental advantages that go with being able to print a reserve currency.

I then suggested that the Deep State might eventually wake up to the strategic threat posed by a self-serving financial sector, and this would lead to a showdown between the financial Elites and the Deep State.

The Systems-Level view: the S-Curve works on Wall Street, too

Long-time readers know that I often refer to systems-level dynamics, one of which is the S-Curve, which traces the rise, maturation and decline/crash of systems both natural and human-designed. An astonishing array of systems has been found to follow an s-curve, from the spread of infectious diseases to financial bubbles.

Why would Wall Street be uniquely immune to these systemic forces? I submit that Wall Street’s power has topped out and is about to decline precipitously, just like any other system which has over-reached by sucking its habitat dry.

I think we can chart Wall Street’s S-Curve thusly…

The Implications of a ‘War of Elites’
 PREVIEW by charleshughsmith

Executive Summary

  • The Deep State, and its dawning realization that Wall Street is a foe vs an ally
  • Why Wall Street's threat to the dollar hegemony is of such concern
  • History gives us many examples to predict a 'war of elites' (e.g. Wall Street vs the Deep State) is highly likely
  • Who will lose? And what implications will it have for the rest of us?

If you have not yet read Have We Reached Peak Wall Street?, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.

In Part 1, I sketched out why the financial sector—the Fed, Wall Street and “too big to fail” banks—pose a strategic threat to the nation, as their policies threaten one key foundation of American pre-eminence, the U.S. dollar.   Should money and credit creation cause the dollar to lose its reserve status, the nation would lose the fundamental advantages that go with being able to print a reserve currency.

I then suggested that the Deep State might eventually wake up to the strategic threat posed by a self-serving financial sector, and this would lead to a showdown between the financial Elites and the Deep State.

The Systems-Level view: the S-Curve works on Wall Street, too

Long-time readers know that I often refer to systems-level dynamics, one of which is the S-Curve, which traces the rise, maturation and decline/crash of systems both natural and human-designed. An astonishing array of systems has been found to follow an s-curve, from the spread of infectious diseases to financial bubbles.

Why would Wall Street be uniquely immune to these systemic forces? I submit that Wall Street’s power has topped out and is about to decline precipitously, just like any other system which has over-reached by sucking its habitat dry.

I think we can chart Wall Street’s S-Curve thusly…

Image | Peak Cheap Oil Rears Its Head
Peak Cheap Oil Rears Its Head
 PREVIEW
by Chris Martenson

This is a critical update on the Peak Cheap Oil front. 

Yes, I am talking about that tired old concept that was allegedly slain by American drilling ingenuity. It's back in the news… if you know where to look.

I remain steadfastly interested in the oil outlook because everything, and I do mean everything, in our exponential monetary and associated economic system is hinged upon there being more cheap oil next year than last.
Peak Cheap Oil Rears Its Head
 PREVIEW by Chris Martenson

This is a critical update on the Peak Cheap Oil front. 

Yes, I am talking about that tired old concept that was allegedly slain by American drilling ingenuity. It's back in the news… if you know where to look.

I remain steadfastly interested in the oil outlook because everything, and I do mean everything, in our exponential monetary and associated economic system is hinged upon there being more cheap oil next year than last.
Image | Too Late!
Too Late!
 PREVIEW
by Chris Martenson

Our motto here at Peak Prosperity is we’d rather be a year early than a day late. 

What we mean by this is that by the time the general masses catch on that something is wrong, it’s too late to do much in the way of preparing. 

At least responsibly.

Preparing before a true crisis hits is our very definition of being a responsible adult.

Trying to lay in supplies after the crisis has hit is our definition of being an irresponsible hoarder.
Too Late!
 PREVIEW by Chris Martenson

Our motto here at Peak Prosperity is we’d rather be a year early than a day late. 

What we mean by this is that by the time the general masses catch on that something is wrong, it’s too late to do much in the way of preparing. 

At least responsibly.

Preparing before a true crisis hits is our very definition of being a responsible adult.

Trying to lay in supplies after the crisis has hit is our definition of being an irresponsible hoarder.
Image | What Will Be Different About the Crisis of 2014/2015
What Will Be Different About the Crisis of 2014/2015
 PREVIEW
by charleshughsmith

Executive Summary

  • The Fed's inability to recognize the true dynamics of the 2008 crisis has re-inflated a market bubble and unfairly rewarded the big banks
  • More credit/liquidity cannot solve valuation/collateral crises. But that's exactly what central banks are trying to do.
  • How the Crisis of 2014/2015 will differ from 2008
  • Why this time, failure of the system will collapse under its futility

If you have not yet read Why 2014 Is Beginning to Look A Lot Like 2008, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.

In Part 1, we noted the similarities between early 2008 and 2014, and dismantled Alan Greenspan’s claim that the global meltdown of 2008 was unforeseeable. If markets are fractal, as argued by Benoit Mandelbrot, then we can anticipate more “once in a lifetime” crises than economists expect, and that such crises will be less predictable than expected.

After reviewing some technical charts that suggest trouble ahead in 2014 (or perhaps 2015 if certain cycles hold up), I asked how asset bubbles can be considered a “social good” if the current bubble is not boosting employment or income for the vast majority of Americans. I also wondered how the presumed fundamentals of “growth” (sales, profits, creditworthiness, etc.) can continue expanding if income is stagnating.

In Part 2 of this report, the goal is to examine the policies of the states (central governments) and central banks around the world that have boosted assets such as stocks, bonds and real estate to new highs. What repercussions are they creating, why they are failing, and why they will cause a crisis that will be as damaging as 2008 — yet unfold quite differently…

What Will Be Different About the Crisis of 2014/2015
 PREVIEW by charleshughsmith

Executive Summary

  • The Fed's inability to recognize the true dynamics of the 2008 crisis has re-inflated a market bubble and unfairly rewarded the big banks
  • More credit/liquidity cannot solve valuation/collateral crises. But that's exactly what central banks are trying to do.
  • How the Crisis of 2014/2015 will differ from 2008
  • Why this time, failure of the system will collapse under its futility

If you have not yet read Why 2014 Is Beginning to Look A Lot Like 2008, available free to all readers, please click here to read it first.

In Part 1, we noted the similarities between early 2008 and 2014, and dismantled Alan Greenspan’s claim that the global meltdown of 2008 was unforeseeable. If markets are fractal, as argued by Benoit Mandelbrot, then we can anticipate more “once in a lifetime” crises than economists expect, and that such crises will be less predictable than expected.

After reviewing some technical charts that suggest trouble ahead in 2014 (or perhaps 2015 if certain cycles hold up), I asked how asset bubbles can be considered a “social good” if the current bubble is not boosting employment or income for the vast majority of Americans. I also wondered how the presumed fundamentals of “growth” (sales, profits, creditworthiness, etc.) can continue expanding if income is stagnating.

In Part 2 of this report, the goal is to examine the policies of the states (central governments) and central banks around the world that have boosted assets such as stocks, bonds and real estate to new highs. What repercussions are they creating, why they are failing, and why they will cause a crisis that will be as damaging as 2008 — yet unfold quite differently…

Image | Fed’s Fisher Says Bubbles Might Be Forming
Fed’s Fisher Says Bubbles Might Be Forming
 PREVIEW
by Chris Martenson

In a recent speech in Mexico, Richard Fisher, the President of the Dallas regional Federal Reserve bank, admitted that there are troubling signs that financial markets are being overly distorted by the Fed’s easy monetary policies.

Actually, if you read between the lines just slightly, he flat out said Stock and bond markets are in dangerous bubble territory.
Fed’s Fisher Says Bubbles Might Be Forming
 PREVIEW by Chris Martenson

In a recent speech in Mexico, Richard Fisher, the President of the Dallas regional Federal Reserve bank, admitted that there are troubling signs that financial markets are being overly distorted by the Fed’s easy monetary policies.

Actually, if you read between the lines just slightly, he flat out said Stock and bond markets are in dangerous bubble territory.
Total 1184 items

Community

Top Conversation

 Prep Now for the Coming Winter Challenges
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about the needs and sustainability of our family. We have six young children, our oldest just turned 12 and our youngest just turned 3 months old. I love the considerations that the article had above and thought I would add a few things that I have considered for our situation. My...
Image | hgrootveldgmail-com by hgrootveldgmail-com
36 95
View the conversation
Image | Privacy Academy

Privacy Academy

Learn more
Image | Game Plan Experts

Game Plan Experts

Learn more