The Economy Is Rigged
As is now the practice on many college campuses, I should preface this week’s newsletter with a trigger warning. What you are about to read could give you serious heartburn, especially if you are an economist or a central banker. Or a retiree or just someone who has lived life playing by the rules, and now you find yourself getting no return on your savings, forcing you to save even more and work even longer. Let me be careful to point out that I am not including all economists in my rather sweeping indictments. But if the shoe fits…
I also know that this special letter is a little longer than the average. But I think the topic requires a whole-cloth approach rather than yet another two- or three-part series.
Before we jump in, I want to note that economic chaos is not my only concern. We face a whole different kind of chaos on the geopolitical front. To a considerable degree it overlaps with the economic problems I’ll discuss today. George Friedman has been calling the Eurasian landmass a “cradle of disorder.” It’s home to 5 billion people, and it’s floundering in a sea of accelerating crises.
Regular readers know that George doesn’t exaggerate. He may be the most fact-driven person I’ve ever worked with. He looks at good evidence and draws sound conclusions. And right now he sees evidence in Eurasia that looks chillingly similar to what happened in the years leading up to World War II. I know that’s a strong statement. George doesn’t issue it lightly. He is genuinely concerned – and I am, too.
We decided the best way to share George’s conclusions with you was visually. So, we’re making a short documentary film titled Crisis & Chaos: Are We Moving Toward World War III? George and a film crew are in New York right now, putting it together.
I hope you’ll join me on September 26 at 2:00 PM EDT for the online premiere of this provocative documentary. You can reserve your free, online seat by clicking here.
I devoted my last two newsletters to the Fed’s seemingly unstoppable momentum toward a negative interest rate policy. Here are links in case you missed them:
Six Ways NIRP Is Economically Negative
Monetary Mountain Madness
Those letters brought a lot of responses but one in particular from my friend Newt Gingrich, who forwarded a column from John Crudele with the provocative headline “You’re not imagining things, the economy really is rigged against you.”
Newt asked me a question that was characteristically short and simple: “Where are you on the rigged economy theme and the Fed–big bank alliance against normal people?”