The Command Economy Is Failing;  Cease Fiddling . . . With Interest Rates.  Oh, And Happy Constitution Day! (September 16, 2024)

Posted in Economy, Federal Reserve, Inflation, Interest Rates, Unemployment on September 16, 2024 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “Commissar Powell of the Central Planning Committee is directly setting monetary policy and by default substantially shaping fiscal policy.  I never thought I would say that a free market sounds downright liberating.”

J          “Our July discussion about the cooked unemployment and inflation figures is on the money.  They are proceeding from knowingly inaccurate and misleading information and cannot reach the right answer.”

K          “An accurate calculation and evaluation of the facts and figures and understanding of our circumstances would compel a continuation of the current interest rate.  The real economy is either in recession or ready to slide into recession.”

. . .

J          “The Fed is concerned about the compounding interest on the national debt that must be financed day in and day out and the maturing debt on commercial real estate that must be refinanced in the next few quarters.  The Fed is setting policy to protect the well-connected sectors.  As it always does.”

K          “The Fed is owned by the banks and the owners of the Fed do not want their borrowers defaulting when there is mucho money to be made refinancing the loans.”

. . .

K          “The Fed in practice responds to almost every usually self-inflicted crises by transferring trillions to the billionaires.”

J          “And they exacerbate income inequality almost as a matter of policy and with gross impunity.”

. . .

J          “By keeping interest rates so low in the past, the Fed has knowingly punished and harmed honest and hardworking individuals who seek less risk and desire a historically reasonable rate of return on their money.”

K          “By reducing interest rates, inflation will rise even more and partially inflate away the debt.”

. . .

K          “The Fed should announce that interest rates shall remain unchanged for three years.  That is a historically sound rate.  Let the consequences follow.  If there is economic pain, now is the time to address and accommodate the pain.”

J          “Humans do not relinquish power.  They have too much fun tinkering with the rates and playing with the public.”

K          “Agree.  Even this strategic and long term approach would be undermined because the Fed and the Treasury are still able to engage in all manner of machinations to expand and contract liquidity.”

J          “At least make them do so without messing directly with interest rates.  It is time to confront the can.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at the Categories “Federal Reserve” and “Interest Rates” and other related e-commentary.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

It is time to confront the can

Cease fiddling

Zuckerberg: “I did exactly what the Supreme Court refused to condemn or even criticize.  And got away with it!” (September 9, 2024)

Posted in Censorship, Facebook, First Amendment on September 9, 2024 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “That is what I wrote in an e-mail to a friend.  That is not exactly what he said.  Zuckerberg admitted that his company succumbed to ‘repeated’ pressure by the Biden-Harris administration to censor posts.  His actions amount to actionable election interference that no one in power will act on.”

J          “A little friendly censorship of misinformation is a good thing.”

K          “The government is never going to condemn its own interference.  The Supreme Court failed.  I have no doubt that we will all suffer in the intermediate run.”

. . .

[See “Why Did Zuckerberg Choose Now to Confess?” by Jeffrey A. Tucker in “Brownstone Institute” dated August 30, 2024 and “Facebook: A Seneca Collapse Ahead?  Why I’m Gradually Quitting the Beast” by Ugo Bardi in “senecaeffect.substack.com” dated August 12, 2024.]

[See the e-commentary at Murthy v. Missouri:  AMA v. AAPS; Flaccid Amendment v. First Amendment.  The Speakers’ Corner And The Public Square. (March 18, 2024) and “Supreme Court backs Biden administration in social media dispute with red states”  Biden 1; People 0.  Oh, And Happy Canada Day! (July 1, 2024).]

Bumper sticker of the week:

Propaganda is not just about creating fake news.  Propaganda is also about hiding real news.

Oh, And Happy Labor Day! (September 2, 2024)

Posted in Life on September 2, 2024 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “This weekend bookends the summer at the back end.  The sun is setting earlier and the summer is fading faster.  This was the most fleeting summer.”

J          “And on our lives.  The toilet paper observation of the passage of time as you get older is crude but apt.  The roll spins more quickly and the paper flies off faster.  Hold on.”

. . .

Bumper sticker of the week:

Carpe diem

Is The MSM Really The WSM? (August 26, 2024)

Posted in Journalism, MSM, Newspapers, Russia, War on August 26, 2024 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “‘Main’ sounds normal and ‘Stream’ sounds bucolic.  Even the messaging is deceptive.  How about using ‘WSM’ for ‘War/Wall Street Media’ to describe the corporate media.”

J          “The alternative media is shrill, strident and polarizing.  I am not unaware that the legacy media is favorably disposed to promote more war than necessary and to protect Wall Street to the exclusion of Main Street.”

K          “We need an alternative alternative media.”

. . .

K          “One week the NYT proclaims that Russian is running out of bombs and then the next week the NYT screams that Russia is preparing to run into Paris.  Seems inconsistent to me.”

J          “The NYT is part of the message machine.”

K          “After reading the paper for many decades, I concluded a few years ago that any comment in the NYT is presumptively but rebuttably false.  After reading the NYT, I am confident that Russia is not running out of bombs and is not preparing to run into Paris.  After reading independent and credible sources in the alternative alternative media, I am very confident that Russia is not running out of bombs and is not preparing to run into Paris.”   

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

Propaganda is not just about creating fake news.  Propaganda is also about hiding real news.

Be skeptical of the WSM 

U.S.A. And Britain Invade Russia (August 19, 2024)

Posted in Russia, War on August 19, 2024 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “I never thought I would see that headline in my lifetime.”

J          “It had to be done.”

. . .

K          “I remain satisfied that it is a bad idea.”

J          “It had to be done.”

. . .

K          “The phrase ‘crossing the Rubicon’ is such a cliché that I do not believe I have ever used it in this life.  The U.S.A.’s and Britain’s invasion of Russia crossed the Rubicon.”

J          “It had to be done.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at American Foreign Policy:  1945 –  ____ (July 24, 2023), American Foreign Policy: Amoral or Immoral? (June 9, 2014) and World War I (18__ – 1918).  World War II (19__ – 1945).  Planetary Implosion l (Festering For Decades / 2022 – ____) Oh, And Happy Armistice Day! (November 6, 2023).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Did the Russians really win WW II?

Nous étions au bord de l’abîme, mais depuis, nous avons fait un grand pas en avant.

Nixon Reviled; Nixon Resigned;  Nixon Revisited (August 12, 2024)

Posted in Nixon, Presidency on August 12, 2024 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “When he resigned, I felt an immediate shift in the energy level everywhere.  Society went through what scientists describe as a phase change.  Dupont Circle and other circles had to recalibrate their lives.”

J          “Trying to make sense of it at a young age was overwhelming.  Presidents were not supposed to lie.”

. . .

K          “I despised him more than any other individual at the time.  He could have done something about the Southeast Asian War Games.  I despise him less now.”

J          “A ‘time is the great tincture’ development.”

. . .

J          “His efforts to open dialogue with China were prescient.  China is still the number one fear and the number one concern.”

K          “He did sign legislation creating the Environmental Protection Agency.”

. . .

K          “Compared with the rampant corruption deep to the core of both political parties, his antics seem almost sophomoric in hind sight.  Donald Segretti talked about ‘rat fucking’ which is really what they were doing then.  What the Democratic National Committee is doing to harass, threaten and undermine the Kennedy presidential campaign is much more egregious and outrageous than anything Tricky Dick ever did.”

. . .  

J          “Fifty years!  Time how it flies.”

. . .

Bumper sticker of the week:

A crook I am not

Not Derivatives Again: Japan? (August 5, 2024)

Posted in Derivatives on August 5, 2024 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “Percolating.”

J          “Boiling.”

. . .

[Read “How Unelected Regulators Unleashed the Derivatives Monster – and How It Might Be Tamed” by Ellen Brown, the recipient of the Third Annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics (October 8, 2018), at “ellenbrown.com” dated August 4, 2024.]

[See the e-commentary at Special Edition.  Deciphering Derivatives.  Oh, And Happy Saint Patrick’s Day! (March 17, 2023), Strait of Hormuz or Deutsche Bank?  Deriving Derivatives (July 8, 2019) and So It Was The Red Sea And Credit Suisse.  Who’s Counting?  (Strait of Hormuz or Deutsche Bank?  Deriving Derivatives (July 8, 2019)) (February 12, 2024).]

Bumper sticker of the week:

The Derivatives Monster:  Coming To A Town Near You

Bankruptcies?  Layoffs?  Foreclosures?  Evictions?  Inflation? (July 29, 2024)

Posted in Bankruptcy, Economy, Inflation, Kleptocracy, Unemployment on July 29, 2024 by e-commentary.org

. . .

J          “Bankruptcies are up.”

K          “And layoffs are rising.”

. . .

J          “Foreclosures for property owners.”

K          “Evictions for tenants.”

. . .

K          “Washington and Wall Street continue to strip mine the American middle class.”

J          “And do not remediate and reforest the lives and communities uprooted and destroyed in the process.”

. . .

K          “The BLS, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, should drop the pretense and drop the ‘L’ in its name.  The unemployment figures are a fraud.”

L          “The National Bureau of Economic Research would not recognize a recession if it announced itself with flashing lights and marching band.  I can see the lights and hear the band.”

. . .

K          “And inflation is much higher than the figures distorted by the government.  Some say the consumer price index known as the CPI should be called the ‘CP Lie’.”

J          “Yet the thing we call the economy for the wealthy goes on its merry way.”

. . .

K          “Maybe.”

J          “Maybe.”

. . .

[Listen to the discussion titled “The Plunderers Now Run Our Economy” with Gretchen Morgenson interviewed by Adam Taggart at “Thoughtful Money” dated July 22, 2024.  Reflect on the figures on layoffs, quits and hires at “Daily Job Cuts” and on public job cuts at MacroEdge’s “Job Cuts Tracker”.  See the figures on real inflation at “ShadowStats”.]

[See the e-commentary at Is Inflation Inflating!?!? (April 26, 2021) written at a time when those in power insisted that inflation was transitory, Sixth Annual Noble Prize In Eco-nomics (October 11, 2021) acknowledging the work of John Williams accurately tracking the true rate of inflation at “Shadowstats”, Interning For Clio:  Collecting, Protecting And Preserving The Record (April 4, 2022), The Taxonomy Of The American Economy (May 21, 2018) and Does Any Institution In America Function? Oh, And Happy Friday The 13th! (December 9, 2019) discussing, among other institutions, the Bureau of Labor Statistics and its fraudulent employment numbers.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Unemployment:      https://dailyjobcuts.com/ and https://www.macroedge.net/job-cuts-tracker

Inflation:      http://www.shadowstats.com/

Fraud + Fraud + Fraud + Fraud + Fraud = / = Truth

Brother, can you spare a dime?

Joe To Go?  Oh [No] or [Yes]! (July 22, 2024)

Posted in Biden, O'Bama, Presidency on July 22, 2024 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “Last Friday night, I observed that he would step down within a fortnight.”

J          “He had go.  But his policies still trump the alternative.”

. . .

K          “One high-ranking senior Biden official stated without hesitation that Biden was sharp as a tack.  Another high-ranking senior Biden official stated without hesitation that Biden was sharp as a tack.  Another high-ranking senior Biden official stated without hesitation that Biden was sharp as a tack.  Another high-ranking senior Biden official stated without hesitation that Biden was sharp as a tack.  Another high-ranking senior Biden official stated without hesitation that Biden was sharp as a tack.  Another high-ranking senior Biden official stated without hesitation that Biden was sharp as a tack.  Another high-ranking senior Biden official stated without hesitation that Biden was sharp as a tack.  Another high-ranking senior Biden official stated without hesitation that Biden was sharp as a tack.  Another high-ranking senior Biden official stated without hesitation that Biden was sharp as a tack.  Another high-ranking senior Biden official stated without hesitation that Biden was sharp as a tack.  Another high-ranking senior Biden official stated without hesitation that Biden was sharp as a tack.  Another high-ranking senior Biden official stated without hesitation that Biden was sharp as a tack.  Another high-ranking senior Biden official stated without hesitation that Biden was sharp as a tack.  Another high-ranking senior Biden official stated without hesitation that Biden was sharp as a tack.  ”

J          “It was a chorus.  They had to stay on message.”

K          “It was a cacophony.  Of lies.  His condition was obvious years ago.  His sycophants have no integrity and no dignity.” 

. . .

K          “For decades he was a useful obedient puppet.  When he was no longer a useful and obedient puppet, they cut his strings.”

J          “You are not voting for Biden the avatar, you are voting for the people around him.”

K          “The people above him.  This is the third term of the O’Bama Administration.  They were told by those who control them to jettison Joe.”

. . .

K          “So who is in control now?”

J          “Those who are in control now?”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at Impeachment Imbroglio.  Oh, And Happy Saint Nicholas Day! (December 2, 2019).]

Bumper sticker of the week:

Are tacks really all that sharp?

Assassination As A Public Policy Tool.  Oh, And Hope You Had A Happy Bastille Day! (July 15, 2024)

Posted in Culture, Politics, Presidency, Society on July 15, 2024 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “Once again, something is not right about the whole shooting match.”

J          “Assassinations are as American as processed GMO apple pie.”

. . .

K          “Negligent or intentional.  There is not a third explanation, unless you consider gross negligence a third category. Do the math.”

. . .

K          “Someone I trust who is in a position to know said that neither Trump nor Kennedy will be allowed to cross the threshold of the White House as a tenant in an official capacity.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at November 23, 1963; Three Score Years Later (November 27, 2023).]

Bumper sticker of the week:

What happened to America?