Get ready for the big bomb of inflation.......by me.......... V

[Ponce]

Predicting the future in the economy is like predicting the future in a marriage......you really never know what lays down the road...... or even if there will be a sink hole. A sink hole could be anything, from a war to bug that will kill many.

V

[palani]

http://www.gifbin.com/bin/320sw0sw7847.gif

When life hands you a sinkhole you gotta' fill it with something.

[Sparky]

Geez, you guys. The actual numbers aren't important, and I don't care beyond the next two decades. But the point is that we are a year or two away from the beginning of a decade in which the demand for government obligations will be growing dramatically, which will require significant and sustained money creation, unlike the 1-3 year bursts that we have seen in the past to avert crises. This is a built-in, known demand, and not some black swan event that is difficult to anticipate. I'm just saying when we talk about timing of inflation, the writing is there on the wall. There are two things that can delay this for another generation (20-30 years): 1) Government "borrowing" from retirement assets (pensions and 401Ks), or a massive shift in classification of illegal immigrants. (Immigrants tend to be much younger than retirement age, which changes the shape of the revenue/outlay curves.)

[mick silver]

The End-State of Western Capitalism—People as Cash Cows

Source: New Eastern Outlook



America is proud of capitalism. Proud of the competition which has produced a dazzling array of inventions and consumer products. Any incursion resulting in government control of the “free market” is generally met with outcries of that old bugaboo: “Communist infiltration!”

The activities of the United States abroad have become redolent of resource grabs. Under the banner of “Making the world safe for democracy,” her aggression has resulted in an amalgamation of other countries’ resources. Oil and minerals top the list.

Far from protecting her own citizens’ property and economic interests, however, the domestic activities of the US increasingly reveal finely honed mechanisms resulting in asset seizure and transfer of wealth.In order to accomplish these aims, certain established checks and balances have been nullified or bought off. Government regulatory agencies are thus high on capitalism’s “Enemies List.” Many of these regulatory agencies were rendered largely ineffective under former President George W. Bush. The EPA, the FTC and other agencies pledged to protect the public went under administrative chiefs who were unfriendly to regulation and believed that their best governance would be to subvert the regulatory agencies they they were appointed to oversee.
As detailed by Thomas Frank, in his 2008 book, The Wrecking Crew, “… Fantastic misgovernment of the kind we saw during the Bush era was not an accident….It was made possible by the triumph of a particular philosophy of government, of a movement that understands the liberal state as a perversion and considers the market the ideal nexus of human society.”
There is a quasi- religious aspect to the worship of the free market. The free market, we are told, will inherently provide for the crème de la crème to rise to its proper altitude. The invisible hand of the free market will enable only the best products to succeed. And the devotees will tell you that this is in everyone’s best interest.
However, consumerism has a dark side. Where everything is commodified, everything becomes gaged by its monetary value alone. Other considerations—truth, beauty and emotional attachment come to mind—may suffer under a bottom line valuation system.
And this brings us to a recent manifestation of trading people for money—selling Granny to the nursing home. Cash for Granny is exactly what Sunrise Senior Living is offering. The verbiage is slightly spun in an effort to obscure its crassly predatory intent, but the facts are in evidence: Sunrise will pay you $2000 for a successful recommendation of a vulnerable and elderly individual to its nursing facility.
The commodification of human beings is sometimes termed “human trafficking.” Americans were shocked and dismayed back in 2008 when the judicial scandal known now as “Kids for Cash” unfolded in the news. Two Pennsylvania judges were charged and subsequently found guilty for accepting kickbacks when they ordered juvenile offenders into private detention facilities. As it turned out, the judges had struck a backroom deal with Robert Merckle, the builder of two Pennsylvania detention facilities and were being handsomely remunerated in remanding children, including first time offenders with such minimal violations as mocking a principal on Myspace or trespassing in a vacant building, into extended detention in Merckle’s facilities.
The scandal rocked the nation. After an investigation determined that the two judges received over $2.6 million from PA Child Care and its sister facility, Western PA Child Care, and after an initial plea agreement did not produce what a federal judge determined to be satisfactory conduct on the part of the two judges, a criminal trial ensued.
Presiding Judge Mark Ciavarella was subsequently convicted of racketeering and sentenced to 28 years in federal prison. Senior Judge Michael Conahan was convicted of racketeering conspiracy and sentenced to seventeen and a half years in prison.
However, the business of judges adjudicating cases in gross self interest and contrary to statutory code continues. It is not only kickbacks from detention centers that constitute the pay off for judges fracturing the law and trafficking in the futures of those who trust in their impartiality.
According to sources within the legal system, the mechanism exists to pay off amenable legal professionals with the income from nursing home beds. A judge or an attorney who throws a case can be rewarded with the income from an assigned bed. According to sources, this is fairly widespread.
Retired attorney Ken Ditkowsky recalls when he was offered such a sweetheart deal, several years back. Ditkowsky, states that he was approached at one juncture and offered payment for his legal services with a nursing home bed. He states that he declined the offer.
Ditkowsky explains how this works:

“The nursing home industry generates very substantial profits. To maintain those profits I’ve found that United States currency is not the only currency used. In the course of my practice I had occasion to represent a lawyer who had interests in a number of nursing home ventures. Part of the fee he earned was paid in cash, but, a substantial portion was paid in nursing home beds. In the industry the beds had a fixed price and were traded very much like stock – except the nursing home operators participating in the industry created the market for the trading of the beds. The ownership of a bed entitled the owner to a limited partnership interest equal to a certain portion of income of the nursing home bed.

“To clarify, if there were 350 beds in the facility the ownership conveyed was 1/350th of the net operation. The 1/350th was determined after deductions for all expenses including sinking funds, contingent costs, etc. One of the facilities that I examined the books of during litigation had the following breakdown: set price for a bed $3500. This price was a set price that could be ascertained by any of the participating operators. The bed paid a yearly dividend of 15%. This dividend was declared by the managing partners each year and was in some manner based upon profit or loss. The bed could be redeemed by the liquidation of the facility which usually occurred after a fixed number of years of operation.”

Bribery is not as easy as you may think. Sudden and suspiciously large deposits into a public official’s bank account may raise red flags. Accordingly, dirty politicos and hungry public servants look for new and innovative ways to launder their bribes. The big, fat envelope stuffed with about $300,000 in cash turned out to be an embarrassment for former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. Mulroney, who was nailed for receiving the bundle, remained unrepentant. “I shouldn’t have taken it,” he declared. But he wouldn’t return the money.
Riverside County Presiding Judge Harold Hopp in Southern California seems to have hit on a pretty good deal. His wife, Sherry Lyn West, runs a “wealth management” advisory office in Palm Desert, which is a satellite for one of the largest financial management companies in the US, LPL.
According to the dictates of mandated financial disclosure law, Hopp should realistically cough up some evidence that West’s business is not servicing the attorneys and other officers of the court who appear in Riverside County Courthouse.
Has he? Nope.
West has facilitated her hubby in hiding some of his financial transactions. Previous reports detailed the issue of the use of home loans to launder bribes and payoffs. It’s a stunningly simple scam: Mr. X takes out a loan and Mr. Y pays it back.
Hopp’s name dropped off his loan history back in 2006, following his appointment to the bench in 2005. According to the records, he still owns his personal residence along with West. But since 2006, all the loans appear in her name only.
And quite a loan history it is! In the last ten years, over fifteen transactional documents show up on their loan history. In the time that Hopp has been on the bench, he has reconveyed six loans.
In response to concerns raised about West and their home loan history, in a fax sent to this reporter on September 24 Judge Hopp replied:
“I have no obligation to provide any personal financial information that you request, nor any inclination to do so.”
Hopp has been caught repeatedly covering for unconstitutional decisions by judges in his courthouse, as well refusing to investigate judicial decisions which violate the California statutory code. Through these actions, Hopp’s judges have been sending vulnerable and dependent adults off to early graves and also have participated in sacking their estates.
But for we mere mortals, who do not have access to such high tech ways of grabbing some extra dough, rest assured. You can always sell Granny to Sunrise.
Sunrise operates nursing homes in 29 states and the District of Columbia, as well as in Canada and the UK.
The home office of LPL Financial did not return this reporter’s calls.
http://journal-neo.org/2016/02/22/the-end-state-of-western-capitalism-people-as-cash-cows/



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[BarnkleBob]

TPTB are attempting to revalue currencies using the POO as the benchmark to devalue against. Which is logical in a petro-based system, but it is wholey illogical when UST's, not POO sit as the reserve financial asset.... This is known as "Triffins dillema," if the derivative currencies of the U.S. $ devalue, it will send the $ sky high, essentially crashing the service based U.S. economy.... "Checkmate!"

[Sparky]

TPTB are attempting to revalue currencies using the POO as the benchmark to devalue against. Which is logical in a petro-based system, but it is wholey illogical when UST's, not POO sit as the reserve financial asset.... This is known as "Triffins dillema," if the derivative currencies of the U.S. $ devalue, it will send the $ sky high, essentially crashing the service based U.S. economy.... "Checkmate!"

This sounds interesting, but I need more explanation. Against the Price of Oil, the value of the US Dollar has increased 4x over the last couple of years, so it's not being "devalued". Is this what you mean by the dollar going sky high? Aren't US Treasuries essentially a proxy for USD, since they are only redeemable in USD? Where is the conflict between USD and UST? I understand how a high USD hurts international trade, but why the domestic service based economy? Valuation of the USD is only an international metric. As the USD increases its international buying power, inflation decreases its domestic buying power. This is a concept many still have not grasped.

[Ponce]

Like I said...... gas goes down and food goes up......is ok, one balances the other.......gas goes up and food goes up more because gas goes up...WE ARE FUCK...people look at the outside of an old car but they don't check the engine.

V

[mick silver]

Stagflation Sweeps Canada, Threatens US
By Daily Bell Staff - February 22, 2016

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Retail sales in Canada fell 2.2% in December from November on a seasonally adjusted basis, but not adjusted for inflation, to C$43.2 billion … But just because retail demand is crummy doesn’t mean that retail prices can’t power higher. Stagflation comes to mind. Now happening before our very eyes. And forget deflation, however much central bankers bandy the term about like a cudgel to justify their monetary policies. -WolfeStreet

Central bankers are always warning about deflation when the real danger for consumers is inflation, and more specifically stagflation – a combination of price inflation and low growth or no growth.
We’ve long argued that stagflation is the reality of the US economy right now, even though no one reports on it.
Shadowstats, which provides government statistics without government censorship and tweaking, shows us that inflation has run 4-8 percent since 2012. During much of this period, the US economy has been in recession.
Eight percent inflation plus low or no growth? Sounds like stagflation to us.
Really, no one should be surprised.
The central bank has printed literally trillions of dollars, and though these may not have begun circulating aggressively, they will sooner or later.
We’ve never believed central bank’s wailing about deflation. Despite their claims, deflation is not bad for the economy. It’s not bad for us. It’s only bad for the government and banks.
Famous Austrian economist Murray Rothbard never much believed in deflation as a danger in the modern era.
After all, how could deflation be a threat in an environment where banks regularly print billions if not trillions of dollars?
While there may be a time lag, inflation is the inevitable consequence of printing. And now apparently, it’s hitting Canada.
Here’s more from the article excerpted above:
Retail sales dropped in nine of the 10 provinces and in all 3 territories. Only exception: tiny Prince Edward Island, where retails sales were flat.
… But then there’s inflation … Statistics Canada reported … that the Consumer Price Index jumped a hotter than expected 2.0% in January from a year ago, even though energy prices still plunged …. Inflation is now at the highest rate since 2011
Now, what are the implications for the US?

The Fed had supposedly planned four rate hikes for the US this year to dampen down growing price inflation. But market reaction to the first hike has been so bad that Janet Yellen herself has taken to making soothing noises about additional hikes.
In other words, it is just as likely that some form of additional quantitative easing is on the table.
The larger point is that the Fed and other central banks have printed too much money. Sooner or later that money or part of it begins to circulate and price inflation takes off.
Yellen and the rest of her crowd are certainly aware of this and no doubt it was a motivating factor in getting the first hike done.
But what about the next three? They sound fairly doubtful.
And what about the vaunted US recovery? In our view the whole construct of the US “recovery” was flawed.
The US has been in a recessionary environment since 2001 when the dollar began to move down against gold.
The Fed revved up the printing presses at that time and created a series of asset bubbles, including the great sub-prime bubble that collapsed in 2008.
Looking back we can see there really was no “recovery.” The economy was goosed in the 1990s and again in the early 2000s – and the resultant monetary debasement was so significant that the whole world was plunged into a quasi-depression.
It’s as if they want these serial crises, and perhaps they do. Each crisis brings the economic environment closer to a terminal breakdown.
And no doubt once it reaches that point, we’ll suddenly be exposed to elaborate plans for a more centralized monetary and banking system.
In the meantime, central banks have taken to buying gold and so have many Wall Street types.
What do they know? Obviously that price inflation is on the horizon. It’s the same thing that Janet Yellen knows.
And it’s something that YOU should take into account as well. The economy is not recovering. Deflation, going forward, is surely not going to be an issue.
Conclusion: What we’re looking at, just as in the 1970s, is stagflation. Then gold scaled the heights to $800 an ounce and silver traveled up to $50. Where precious metals could go this time is anyone’s guess. But if you own some, you may be happy to find out.

Posted in STAFF NEWS & ANALYSIS

[Neuro]

Yes Canada's economy is very natural resource dependent, main exports are oil, paper, minerals, all plunging in price the last couple of years. As Can $ is a small non-world reserve currency, it's value plunges when trade balance goes sour, which means that imports become more expensive in Canadian Dollars= higher consumer prices. While general economy stagnates. Very similar situation in Norway now. Norwegian Krona has plunged 25% or so vs Swedish Krona, the last couple of years, and everyone here knows Sweden isn't living the dream either...

[Spectrism]

For a while it seemed that Canada had a pretty strong automotive and manufacturing sector. I think much of that has gone away, just like the American manufacturing has gone largely to China.

Stagflation, inflation, deflation.... depends much on the value of your currency. Right now the USD is seen as the strongest. We have a grace period, watching the world go off the cliff first. It is a warning to us that we shouyld not consider ourselves immune to the problems.... just delayed. Our perception by world standards is that we are the safe haven- USD and US$ denominated assets. This will give us a chance to buy things cheaper- for a while. Don't count on it indefinitely.