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 thousand dollars per YEAR. The same is being said about the unrealized gain tax being floated- only the “rich” would be impacted.

This explains a bit how we are losing our liberties by giving in to more and more government overreach. The more we pay in taxes the less we have to invest in productive activities. We are seeing this up close and personal right now. Without “printing and buying” we would see our GDP collapsing. All we are seeing right now is an economic illusion. It is based upon an exponential growth in debt and the debasement of our dollar.

In addition to being a bad idea to tax gains you haven’t made (who is to say they wouldn’t disappear in a market correction or crash?) the idea itself would likely cause that market crash because to raise the funds to pay the phantom tax it is likely that stocks would have to be sold to raise the funds to pay it! A double whammy of higher taxes and a market crash to boot.

While we are being inundated with terrible economic ideas and censorship for anyone who may disagree, I believe that many see the writing on the wall. I believe that this is still a small percentage of our overall population but is growing day by day.

Those “in the know” are concerned about confiscation of assets, promises to repay that numbers say cannot be kept, and the overall perception that governments can’t be trusted anymore to keep any VALUE to their currencies or to keep their promises.

Most of those “in the know” are already selling massive amounts of fiat currencies and bonds and replacing them mostly with gold but also silver and other hard assets like industrial metals, grains, and fertilizers.

Many who are still stuck in the mindset of “The Fed has our back” will say to me “Gold does nothing.” They are correct except in one instance. While our “money” is losing value at a stunning pace, and all means of suppression of gold is being taken to keep the price low to mask the loss of the dollar’s purchasing power gold is trading at $2516.00 at 10 AM on 8-26-2024. I still maintain that based upon all the “printing” gold should be $25,000.00 per ounce. In any case even with manipulation gold holds its purchasing power or in other words maintains it VALUE over time.

Just a few points to hammer this home …

According to Bloomberg …

If the S&P 500 were measured in gold rather than US dollars the GAIN from 1971 to 2023 would be slightly less than ZERO. The point here is that the only gain would be the 2% in dividends earned yearly since then. Basically, all of the “gains” besides the dividends are just a reflection of the dollar FALLING in VALUE. This would also lead to a better allocation of assets rather than having “traders” manipulating prices up and down to create phantom gains that enrich only themselves, companies would be looking to invest in productive assets that could grow over time rather than gaming the stock price for maximum bonuses.

We hear how GDP is GROWING. If our GDP were measured in gold, it would be SMALLER today than in 1960! (Bloomberg)

Oil priced in gold would be 1/3 of the price in 1975. This would mean cheaper energy and more profits. In addition, this would lead to better economic forecasting for the cost of goods and labor.

Most tellingly here is that the price of a home would today be LESS than a comparable home in 1890 if priced in gold. It would be even more discounted since 1971.

Gold levels the playing field. If you are working for a currency that does not hold its value- like all fiat currencies- as they conjure up trillions you need more and more of those fiat (backed by nothing) bills to maintain your lifestyle.

Our young people are being screwed by working for a dollar that someone at the Fed can create in the trillions with a few mouse clicks making our labor worth far less as they can buy assets and resell them to us at a higher price.

Another way to see how gold is more than fair- even with the manipulation:

Let’s say Martin Armstrong’s grandfather was alive today and worked for that same $20.67 per week in a gold coin. While many may wonder “How did anyone survive on that?” They are falling for the illusion of fiat currency.

If we assume a 52-week work week Martin’s grandpa earned 1074.84 per year in income- and could support his family well at that time on ONE income.

Fast forward to today. With gold trading at $2515.00 and assuming a 52-week income Martin’s grandpa would be earning $130,780.00 per year even with gold being in my opinion grossly undervalued.

The gold payment would allow you to live pretty well in most places. I would opine that if gold were to be valued fairly you could live comfortably anywhere with that one gold coin payment per week.

Personally, I started converting a lot of assets to gold and silver a few years ago because, as I see it, if I save in dollars or ANY debt instrument, I will be able to buy far less than I can buy right now. I figured that since I have some assets it would be a good idea to lock-in purchasing power.

A HUGE question. How sure are you that the promises made by governments, corporations, cities, states, and individuals will be kept? How sure are you that even if you get “PAID IN FULL” that payment will buy you anywhere near what you envisioned when the investment was made?

BIG TIME QUESTIONS!

Be Prepared!

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