I think one of the major problems we have here in our Western culture is that we expect events which appear inevitable to take place immediately. Another problem we seem to have is that we tend to think linearly. As an asset or object moves in a certain direction most people project that same trajectory into the future. Both ways of thinking can lead to more harm than good.

I recall many times making a purchase expecting a good outcome immediately- or at least in the near future- and have had to wait quite a while to get the desired result. I believe that in investing it is better to be far too early than even a minute late.

There is a lot of talk about the BRICS plus bloc and the likelihood of a new settlement currency which has been talked about. The UNIT, as it has come to be called will supposedly be backed by 40% gold and 60% of either commodities produced by members and/or national currencies.

There is speculation that at the meeting in Russia in late October an announcement may be made unveiling this new settlement currency. Keep in mind this is to settle...

This Saturday would have been my grandmother’s 110th. Birthday. She was a member of what we now call the “greatest generation.” I am not sure that is accurate but over the years- knowing many from that generation- I believe it was the greatest generation that we will see in our lifetimes.

They lived through the great depression of the 1930s, World War 2 in the 1940s and the rebuild of America in America’s heydays in the 1950s and 1960s.

What they went through in the 1920s was a classic boom/bust cycle, similar to what we are seeing today. The roaring 20s featured rising stock markets and cheap, abundant money to fuel the upward trajectory. It appeared so easy to get “rich” that many threw caution to the wind and went into debt to get those easy profits. Today, we have “traders” who offer NOTHING to society but game the system to make profits for themselves. Most are just gamblers.

Of course, the leverage used on the way up to goose the returns is what led to the implosion in 1929.

Anyone who bought the DOW near the top in 1929 did not recover their...

Every time I turn on the TV, I am reminded that we are in another election season. As a matter of fact, it seems that those “in charge” want to keep us occupied 24/7 with the idea that if we vote this way or that way, we will be better off. As we approach November, I am sure we will see a nauseating amount of propaganda from both sides.

There are a few common themes that I am seeing in the commercials.

One side wants to raise taxes on the “rich” and make corporations pay more taxes. For those who are unaware the corporations, if taxes are raised, HAVE to pass that cost on to you and me. For the doors to stay open and to keep a profit margin that allows an actual PROFIT, taxes must be accounted for. The result? YOU PAY MORE for whatever you are buying. INFLATION.

I also see ads that bash corporations for price-gouging and shrinkflation. Both may be somewhat true but what can government do about it? Some are proposing price controls which have been shown to destroy supply chains and lead to shortages or unavailability of the goods being artificially priced. If it...

I was listening to a podcast that had Martin Armstrong of Armstrong Economics on it. In it he said something that struck me.

He was talking about some of the “ideas” that are being floated about taxing gains even prior to making them (wealth tax) and price controls- which we have tried in the past and saw first-hand that this does not work.

I will always remember in the 1970s going to the grocery store and my mom wanting to buy American cheese. We could not find ANY cheese. In speaking to the person who owned the store he told us “The government says we must sell cheese for $2.00. The farmer charges us $3.00. Until this changes there will be no cheese. A quick lesson in how absurd this idea actually is.

While all of that is interesting the real subject that hit me was that he mentioned how the government initially established the income tax- taxing only the “wealthy” who earned more than $3000.00 per year.

He said that his grandfather was paid $20.67 per week. (A $20.00 gold coin) A living wage at that time. That means that most were making between 1 and 2...

There are many stories out there that allow us to see the true state of our economy- as long as we do not rely on our “news” outlets to get the information.

While we are distracted by the presidential reality show the world around us is, and has been, collapsing.

I am sure those “in charge” can’t wait for football to start so the masses can be distracted even more with irrelevant stories and either real or manufactured stories of romance between football stars and singers.

I am also sure that they are thrilled that the gambling sites that millions are frequenting will be teeming with young and old alike who will not be worried about working or adding any value to society but will be looking to make quick buck. Another GREAT distraction from reality.

I was sad to hear about the billionaire who lost his life in his yacht off of Sicily but the fact that this would be a front-page story in the Wall Street Journal allows me to see that even a paper that many look at as the financial go-to source is putting out stories that distract us from the real stories that...

The end of last week and the beginning of this week has given us a glimpse of just how bad things are.

I do not say this because of the massive downdraft in Japan (Nikkei down 20% in 3 days) or the beatdown of most “markets” around the world.

The reason I say this is because this was supposedly (and likely) caused by a mere 0.25% raise in interest rates in Japan. It appears to me that the “markets” are so dependent upon cheap “money” that even the slightest jolt can cause shockwaves around the globe.

Since the selloff we have seen a recovery- again just after Japanese authorities met and let the world know that no more rate hikes will be coming anytime soon. I guess when you owe over a QUADRILLION (1000 trillions) even a 0.25% rate is too much to handle.

The Japanese have total debt of 1.3 quadrillion Yen (who has ever heard of that number before?) and the Japanese Central bank owns 753 TRILLION Yen assets on their balance sheet - mostly Japanese Government bonds. If rates rise, can you imagine the scope of their losses? They can, and have, just conjured...

I have made my position known for years that the USA has become no better than a third world country.

It is bad enough that we are following the same path that has led to disaster hundreds of times in history, but we have likely not seen anything yet.

I was watching a video of Glenn Beck where he was making the observation of what is going on in Venezuela and comparing it to what is happening here. He went over the lack of election integrity, the lack of the rule of law and other social problems. Very similar to what we are seeing here.

He also was showing how the politicians and those close to them became extremely wealthy while the masses suffered greatly. (Sound familiar?)

The sad part is that the social problems were caused by their currency collapsing.

Glenn did not go into the circumstances that caused all the social problems. I will.

To start with, we must understand that Venezuela was the most prosperous country in South America just a few decades ago. They also sit on some of the largest oil reserves on the planet. This allowed those...