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Tag Archives: of two minds
The Race to the Bottom Accelerates
The Race to the Bottom Accelerates When competence, transparency and accountability are all punished, the Race to the Bottom accelerates. Race to the Bottom describes the process of competitive devaluation, where value is gutted to remain competitive with those who are grabbing market share by stripping out quality, value, durability, transparency, accountability and competence. We see the global Race to […]
Contrarian Thoughts on the Petro-Yuan and Gold-Backed Currencies
Contrarian Thoughts on the Petro-Yuan and Gold-Backed Currencies Rather than cheer the concept of a new currency, we’re better served to look at the velocity of that currency and the cycles of investing that currency in assets denominated in that currency for a low-risk return. Longtime readers know not to expect me to rubber-stamp anything, […]
Want to Know Where the Economy Is Going? Watch The Top 10%
Want to Know Where the Economy Is Going? Watch The Top 10% Should the wealth effect reverse as assets fall, capital gains evaporate and investment income declines, the top 10% will no longer have the means or appetite to spend so freely. Soaring wealth-income inequality has all sorts of consequences. As many (including me) have noted, […]
Who Will Save Us From Ourselves?
Who Will Save Us From Ourselves? We have the capacity to learn from previous civilization’s errors–rising inequality, hubris, over-reach, decay of production and trade, parasitic elites, and so on–yet we go right ahead and repeat those same errors. After listening to my explanation of the many cycles human civilizations track first to glory and then […]
It’s a New Era
It’s a New Era This dynamic–making problems much worse by forcing more of whatever worked in the previous era into a saturated, increasing unstable new era–receives little attention or understanding. Eras may last decades, and only those who’ve lived long enough to recall previous eras have experienced the transition from one era to the next. The […]
My One Prediction for 2023
My One Prediction for 2023 The question that should be on our minds is: how are my household’s buffers holding up? Lists of predictions for the new year are reliably popular. Here’s 10 predictions, there’s 17 predictions, over here we have 23 and a half… let’s strip it all down to one prediction: everyone’s predictions will be […]
How Things Fall Apart
How Things Fall Apart That’s how things fall apart: insiders know but keep their mouths shut, outsiders are clueless, and the decay that started slowly gathers momentum as the last of the experienced and competent workforce burns out, quits or retires. Outsiders are shocked when things fall apart. Insiders are amazed the duct-tape held this […]
I Used to Be Disgusted, Now I’m Just Tired
I Used to Be Disgusted, Now I’m Just Tired The midterm elections, the “most important elections of our lifetimes,” are over. Whoever won, it wasn’t really going to change much. Today’s system is simply too deeply entrenched. While the much-touted differences between America’s political parties get obsessive, hysterical attention, the sameness of Imperial corruption, waste […]
The “Oil Curse” and Splashy PR Announcements of Oil Production Cuts
The “Oil Curse” and Splashy PR Announcements of Oil Production Cuts It’s not just the price of oil that matters: how much disposable income consumers have left to buy more goods and services matters, too. The Oil Curse (a.k.a. The Resource Curse) refers to the compelling ease of those blessed with an abundance of oil/resources to […]
Regardless of Who’s Elected, Imperial Corruption Rules the Nation
Regardless of Who’s Elected, Imperial Corruption Rules the Nation But in the meantime, enjoy the political theatrics down on the sand-strewn floor of the Coliseum. While the much-touted differences between America’s political parties get obsessive, hysterical attention, the sameness of Imperial corruption, waste and squalor regardless of who’s in power gets little notice. Scrape away the […]
The Unintended Consequences of Unintended Consequences
The Unintended Consequences of Unintended Consequences Decades of central bank distortions and regulatory / market-share capture by cartels and monopolies have completely gutted “markets,” destroying their self-correcting dynamics. Unintended consequences introduce unexpected problems that may not have easy solutions. An entirely different set of problems are unleashed as unintended consequences have their own unintended consequences. This is the problem with complex […]
Everything’s Fixed–Except What’s Broken
Everything’s Fixed–Except What’s Broken Everything’s fixed except what’s no longer profitable to plunder. Underfunded, ignored, mismanaged by incompetents, it breaks. Everything’s fixed–except what’s broken. Hmm. Maybe we need to read that again. Everything’s fixed means it’s been “fixed” like a game or match has been fixed–rigged to benefit insiders while the unwary onlookers and punters have been […]
The EU’s Crisis Is Global: Neocolonialism, Hyper-Financialization and Hyper-Globalization Come Home to Roost
The EU’s Crisis Is Global: Neocolonialism, Hyper-Financialization and Hyper-Globalization Come Home to Roost The EU’s crisis isn’t limited to energy. It is a manifestation of the global breakdown of Neocolonialism, Financialization and Globalization. The European Union (EU) was seen as the culmination of a centuries-long process of integration that would finally put an end to the […]
The Fed Can’t Stop Supply-Side Inflation
The Fed Can’t Stop Supply-Side Inflation The Fed and other central banks have zero control of supply-driven inflation, period. America’s financial punditry is bewitched by four fatal fantasies: 1. Inflation is demand-driven. If the Federal Reserve (or other central banks) reduce demand with monetary tools like raising interest rates, inflation will cool. 2. Substitution of […]
Rather Than Focus on What You Don’t Control (“The News”), Focus on What You Do Control: What You Grow, Eat and Own
Rather Than Focus on What You Don’t Control (“The News”), Focus on What You Do Control: What You Grow, Eat and Own Now that globalization and financialization are finally unraveling, people are slowly awakening to the national security foundations of localizing production. What exactly is “the news” other than an inducement to passivity, despair and […]
