Middle Class Dismissed

Yellen: How High Is Up?

"Yellen seems to be setting the table for continued monetization not industrialization. The Fed under Yellen, as under Bernanke, is concerned mainly with the 'monetary economy' because that benefits globalist strategies. A healthy 'normal' economy helps working class people. A monetized economy boosts stock markets, upscale real estate, high-end luxury goods, speculative investments, etc. From my point of view, this is no coincidence and it's one reason High Alert continues to present our 'Wall Street Party' meme. A slow economy awash in currency that is gradually trickled into stock and bond markets is an 'investor's' economy." Continue reading →

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Doug French: The Market Is Rigged

"In the end, the controversy surrounding high-frequency trading is likely much ado about nothing. For one thing, the industry peaked five years ago, pulling in $5 billion in profits. In 2012, it pulled in $1 billion. That might sound like a lot, but JPMorgan Chase made $5 billion just last quarter. As far as influencing markets and costing the average person money, HFT doesn’t compare to the Fed’s quantitative easing and zero interest rate policy. A more sound currency, whether metallic or digital, would spread a healthier culture: one not so obsessed with speculation, wealth, material goods, and nanoseconds." Continue reading →

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Bill Bonner: Here’s Proof That Wealthy Elites Control Washington

"We had no proof. Just an observation. But it looks to us as though government always begins and ends as a tool for those who control it. It is not the product of a 'social contract.' It is not an expression of the 'general will.' It is not the 'price we pay for civilization.' It is not 'captured by wealthy special interests.' On the contrary, it is as blunt and stupid as a crowbar. It is used by the elite to pry wealth, status and power away from everyone else. Few victims of the public school system believed us, but now cometh a study from Princeton and Northwestern universities proving we were right." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill Bonner: Here’s Proof That Wealthy Elites Control Washington

Oligarchy in the 21st Century … Get Used to It?

"Alan Greenspan no doubt would have answered in a way that allowed for multiple interpretations. But Yellen took the question with little equivocation. We can see that Yellen is being cautious, even as she is granting the possibility that the US is an oligarchy. Sanders has an agenda, but Yellen is certainly not about to discount it outright. That this question came up at all is the result of a Princeton study on the subject. A TalkingPoints post back in April reported on the study, which asks 'who really rules the US.' The study concludes that in the past few decades America's political system has evolved from democracy to oligarchy." Continue reading →

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Five+ Years of Fed Futility Laid Bare for All to See

"It has been five-and-a-half years since Lehman Brothers, AIG, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and other casualties of the credit crisis imploded! We’ve been subjected to more than a half-decade of the Fed’s supposedly useful and appropriate medicine … Unlimited money printing. Zero percent interest rates. Gargantuan bank bailouts. Deliberate attempts to inflate stock and house prices. And for what? More than $3 TRILLION in extra padding on the Fed balance sheet doesn’t look like it’s done much for the broad economy. GDP grew just 0.1 percent in the first quarter. Even that dismal reading was propped up by a massive surge of $43.3 billion in health care spending tied to the Obamacare rollout." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFive+ Years of Fed Futility Laid Bare for All to See

Retirement Myth Reveals the Possibility of Great Socioeconomic Change

"So now we know: Even a million dollars isn't enough to retire on. Sounds reasonable, given all the obstacles to retirement in the West and especially in the US. But there is a problem with this article that is much bigger than the retirement issues it explores. The problem is – and we can see from the article's feedback – that the readership is a good deal more sophisticated than the article itself. As we've often pointed out, when people cease to believe in the narrative provided to them by their own elites, then inevitably society begins to change in fundamental ways. As we can see, this article glosses over the REASONS for increasing retirement problems." Continue reading →

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Millennials Mired in Wealth Gap as Older Americans Recoup Wealth

"The damage inflicted on U.S. households by the collapse of the housing market and recession wasn’t evenly distributed. For households headed by someone 40 years old or younger, wealth adjusted for inflation remains 30 percent below 2007 levels on average. Net worth for older Americans has already recouped the losses. With fewer young people owning homes, not as many are benefiting from the rebound in home prices. What’s more, heads of households under age 40 aren’t benefiting as much from a boom in equity prices, which have hit record highs this year. About 27 percent of 18 to 29 year olds owned stocks as of April 2013, compared to 61 percent of 50 to 64 year olds." Continue reading →

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Bill Bonner: Debunking the Fed’s Credit Propaganda

"We have no choice but to go ahead. But to where? And how? Hold on. One question at a time, please. To where? Japan! How? By using the same policy tools the Japanese used. It worked there, didn’t it? The Fed is fully committed to staying the course. If credit deflation returns to the US, it will have to be over Janet Yellen’s dead body. Which is not a bad idea. But Yellen is not likely to let it happen… not if she can prevent it. But there’s the rub. If credit is going to keep expanding, someone has to borrow more – a lot more." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBill Bonner: Debunking the Fed’s Credit Propaganda

Cheap Printing vs. Expensive Drilling

"Yellen explained that the Fed helps people secure employment 'by influencing interest rates.' She followed, 'Although we work through financial markets, our goal is to help Main Street, not Wall Street.' Her predecessor used the same rhetoric in 2012. 'This is a Main Street policy. Many people own stocks directly or indirectly. The issue here is whether or not improving asset prices generally will make people more willing to spend.' Oil, unlike the Fed’s fiat dollars, can’t be created out of nothing. And, job or no job, people are driving. Mrs. Yellen tells crowds, Don’t worry be happy, your job will be printed anytime now. Let’s just say, for those with a job to go to, getting there will not be getting easier." Continue reading →

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Argentina inches toward economic crisis, again

"Inflation is accelerating and projected to hit 40% in 2014, according to Sergio Berensztein, director of Poliarquía Consultores. Unofficial estimates put the inflation rate at above 25% in 2013, much higher than the official government rate of 10.9% — a figure few believe, Berensztein says. A study from consultancy Estudio Bein estimates inflation has eroded wages nearly 10% over the past four months. The Argentine peso was devalued nearly 20% in January, further diminishing purchasing power and making imported items more expensive. Moody's downgraded Argentina's sovereign rating March 17 to Caa1, seven levels below investment grade status, Bloomberg reported." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingArgentina inches toward economic crisis, again