For millions of us, September 11, only has one meaning. But there’s a few people that like to celebrate a birthday on 9/11 and the birthday I’m speaking of was a woman named Mary Elizabeth Lease.
For millions of us, September 11, only has one meaning. But there’s a few people that like to celebrate a birthday on 9/11 and the birthday I’m speaking of was a woman named Mary Elizabeth Lease.
Born in 1850, Mary made quite a name for herself with the common working man, talking about the inequalities of the rich and poor. By 1890 her involvement in the growing revolt of Kansas farmers against high mortgage interest and railroad rates had placed her in the forefront of the People's (Populist) Party.
She traveled throughout Kansas, as well as the West and the South, for the cause. She was a powerful and emotional speaker; Emporia editor William Allen White, who did not share her political views, wrote on one occasion that "she could recite the multiplication table and set a crowd hooting and harrahing at her will."
But to me, what endeared me to the old gal was a statement she made, that seemed to be well ahead of her time. We’re talking late 1890 here, and she’s noted to have said:
"Wall Street owns the country. It is no longer a government of the people, by the people, and for the people, but a government of Wall Street, by Wall Street and for Wall Street. . . .Our laws are the output of a system which clothes rascals in robes and honesty in rags.”
Bless her heart. And, while she was quite correct that even in her day 130 years ago she knew the Wall Street boyz were the real rulers of the country; had she still had fight in her when the Federal Reserve was formed, she probably couldn’t contain herself. Because as we all know, Central bankers rule the world. Wall Street is simply the mechanical functionary to carry out their evil.
It was none other than Henry Ford, who uttered: It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.
And that’s the way it has been planned from the beginning folks. This misfit band of miscreant bankers, none of whom are elected, call the shots on this planet. Do not be deceived into thinking it is your political leaders that spark the wars, decimate the middle class, rob you of your pensions, and buying powers. No, that’s our banker buddies. And 97% of the American citizens, have NO freaking clue how it all works.
So great their power, that Wall Street will kneel and kiss their feet, as long as the bankers will send them some freshly printed money, and keep their borrowing rates at zero. One might ask, why is it that a banking institution can borrow from the Feds at virtually zero rates, while the average person using his credit card pays 15.9%?
So this week, we saw some interesting data. The NY Federal Reserve now sees inflation at 5.2% in one year, 4% in three years; a series high with "large expected price rises" in food, rent, and medical costs.
Does that sound transitory to you? Me neither. But wait it gets better. Next week, the FOMC will meet again to discuss monetary policy. As always Wall Street quivers with both anticipation and anxiety about what they’re going to do. Are they going to “taper?” they ask in hushed whispers.
So Tuesday we got the CPI report. That’s the Consumer Price Index and it came in hot. Ugly hot. Let’s look:
In August, the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers rose 0.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis; rising 5.3 percent over the last 12 months, not seasonally adjusted. The index for all items less food and energy increased 0.1 percent in August (SA); up 4.0 percent over the year (NSA).
I figure that who ever you are that’s reading this, is something of an average person. Do you think that 5.3% is a wonderful amount of inflation? I don’t. I guess that you don’t. First off, this number is a fantasy. This number, as dark and ugly as it is…was the BEST they could do at minimizing it. Which means the real number is more like 14%.
But anyway, let’s stay on track for a minute. The second the CPI news hit, the market futures went from down 100 points, to GREEN by more than 100. The market LOVED the number. And why did they love it? Drum roll….
“It wasn’t as bad as it could be.”
In a way they’re right. If they told the truth about the inflation numbers, they’d all puke. See, they want the number reported, to be “not so bad it forces the Feds to do something next week.”
Look, they are NOT going to taper. That’s not even a remote possibility. Maybe just to make it look like they even care, “maybe” they jiggle the Fed funds rate a hair. But tapering of the bonds and mortgages? Not a chance. And, because the Feds funds rate doesn’t truly affect interest rates, it would mean squat.
They are not going to taper, until it is time to pull the rug. When the bankers that rule this world have their next monetary scheme in place, THEN they will pull the plug. I don’t know when that will be, but I don’t think they’re ready just yet.
That’s not to say they shouldn’t because they should. Inflation isn’t 5% and you know it. We all do.
Ever since my wife had breast cancer, I have been the grocery shopper. I go every Saturday. Well, the price hikes this past weekend took my breath away. Almost, but not quite every thing we buy each week, went up.
While most of it seems on the surface “not too bad” in reality, it’s huge. There’s a particular Campbell’s chunky soup my kid likes, and I snag one or two each week. At the beginning of the year, it was $1.29 a can. Then hopped straight to $1.59 a can in June. Saturday? $1.79 a can. That’s 38% since January, folks.
The one that really caught me off guard was “bird feed!” I generally buy the “economy” bag, and then mix in the black sunflower seeds that most birds love. Well the economy bag went from 6.79 to 9.97! in a week!
Many years ago, a man named Volker was in charge of interest rates, and to slow down the rampant inflation of the day, he hiked interest rates to almost 20%. It created instant pain, higher unemployment, and many upset people. Houses stopped selling, cars sat on lots. But, It certainly worked. Inflation went from 12+% to 2%. Then and only then, did he start cutting rates back down. So, many ask.. why not do it again? They can’t.
This is a different world than it was 40 years ago. Back then the market wasn’t as invasive as it is today. Today, darned near everything from production, to inventory, to employment, to real estate, to you name it, is connected at the hip to the market. Every aspect of our lives can be traced to a derivative held somewhere, somehow on Wall Street.
If Powell pulled a stunt like Volker did in the day, we’d have an economic implosion the likes of, were never seen before. Hell, he can’t even say the word taper, without the market throwing a tantrum.
He’s in a hard place. He knows inflation is roaring, and if he tries to stop it, all hell breaks. Thus, he will lie, and continue on, damn the bird seed, damn the soup, damn the energy, the show must go on.
Mary Lease was right in her day, Wall Street owned and ran the Country. Now it’s global central banks, all of them unelected evil swine. When you hear them talk about inflation that’s been doctored up to just show 5%, as “not as bad as it could have been” you know you’re in a strange place. And…it’s going to get stranger. Hold on to your hats.