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2019: Fragmented, Unevenly Distributed, Asymmetric, Opaque
2019: Fragmented, Unevenly Distributed, Asymmetric, Opaque Add up Fragmented, Unevenly Distributed, Asymmetric and Opaque and you get a world spinning out of centralized control. Here are the key dynamics of 2019: fragmented, unevenly distributed, asymmetric, opaque. Want to know what’s happening with inflation, deflation, recession, populism, etc.? It depends on what you own, when you […]
Could Stocks Rally Even as Parts of the Economy Are Recessionary?
Could Stocks Rally Even as Parts of the Economy Are Recessionary? It’s not yet clear that the stock market swoon is predictive or merely a panic attack triggered by a loss of meds. We contrarians can’t help it: when the herd is bullish, we start looking for a reversal. When the herd turns bearish, we […]
Commoditization = Deflation
Commoditization = Deflation The other deflationary pressure is the stagnation of wages for the bottom 90%. Apple’s slumping sales growth in China re-energized discussions on the commoditization of smart phones: the basic idea is that once devices, services, goods, platforms, etc. are interchangeable and can be produced/generated anywhere, they are effectively commodities and their value […]
A Couple of Thoughts on 2019
A Couple of Thoughts on 2019 The story of the 21st century is debt is soaring while earned income is stagnating for the bottom 95%. Best wishes to all my readers and correspondents for a safe, healthy and productive 2019. Thank you, longstanding supporters, for renewing your financial support at the new year without any […]
The Crisis of Capital
The Crisis of Capital These three dynamics render capital increasingly vulnerable to catastrophic losses as backstops and distorted markets fail. The undeniable reality of the 21st century economy is that capital has gained while labor has stagnated. While various critics quibbled about his methodology, Thomas Piketty’s core finding–that capital expanded faster than GDP and wages/salaries […]
When Certainty Frays, Capital Gets Skittish
When Certainty Frays, Capital Gets Skittish The net result is capital is impaired in eras of uncertainty. As we look ahead to 2019, what can we be certain of? Maybe your list is long, but mine has only one item: certainty is fraying. Confidence in financial policies intended to eliminate recessions is fraying, confidence in […]
Why I’m Hopeful
Why I’m Hopeful A more humane, sustainable world lies just beyond the edge of the Status Quo. Readers often ask me to post something hopeful, and I understand why: doom-and-gloom gets tiresome. Human beings need hope just as they need oxygen, and the destruction of the Status Quo via over-reach and internal contradictions doesn’t leave […]
Why Everything That Needs to Be Fixed Remains Permanently Broken
Why Everything That Needs to Be Fixed Remains Permanently Broken Just in case you missed what’s going on in France: the status quo in Europe is doomed. The status quo has a simple fix for every crisis and systemic problem: 1. create currency out of thin air 2. give it to super-wealthy banks, financiers and […]
Neofeudalism Isn’t a Flaw of the System–It’s the System Working Perfectly
Neofeudalism Isn’t a Flaw of the System–It’s the System Working Perfectly Fakery is always precarious: the truth about the asymmetries of power might slip out and spread like wildfire. I’ve been writing about neofeudalism and its cousin neocolonialism for seven years: 500 Million Debt-Serfs: The European Union Is a Neo-Feudal Kleptocracy (July 22, 2011) The […]
France in a Nutshell: “The Government Stopped Listening to the People 20 Years Ago”
France in a Nutshell: “The Government Stopped Listening to the People 20 Years Ago” The elites’ clever exploitation of politically correct cover stories has enthralled the comatose, uncritical Left, but not those who see their living standards in a free-fall. A family member who has lived in France for decades summarized the source of the […]
The Conflicting Forces of Modernism: Kafka and Kierkegaard
The Conflicting Forces of Modernism: Kafka and Kierkegaard We seem to be heading into a confrontation between the two forces of Modernism: the primacy of the individual versus the increasing technological and economic might of the central state. In Kafka’s Nightmare Emerges: China’s “Social Credit Score” (May 7, 2018), I wrote about Kafka’s vision of […]
Are We in a Recession Already?
Are We in a Recession Already? The value of declaring the entire nation in or out of recession is limited. Recessions are typically only visible to statisticians long after the fact, but they are often visible in real time on the ground: business volume drops, people stop buying houses and vehicles, restaurants that were jammed […]
The View from the Trenches of the Alternative Media
The View from the Trenches of the Alternative Media What’s scarce in a world awash in free content and nearly infinite entertainment content? After 3,701 posts (from May 2005 to the present), here are my observations of the Alternative Media from the muddy trenches. It’s increasingly difficult to make a living creating content outside the […]
Truth Is What We Hide, Self-Serving Cover Stories Are What We Sell
Truth Is What We Hide, Self-Serving Cover Stories Are What We Sell The fact that lies and cover stories are now the official norm only makes us love our servitude with greater devotion. We can summarize the current era in one sentence: truth is what we hide, self-serving cover stories are what we sell. Jean-Claude […]
Bearish on Fake Fixes
Bearish on Fake Fixes This systemic vulnerability is largely invisible, and so the inevitable contagion will surprise most observers and participants. The conventional definition of a Bear is someone who expects stocks to decline. For those of us who are bearish on fake fixes, that definition doesn’t apply: we aren’t making guesses about future market gyrations (rip-your-face-off […]
