9 Comments

I think Z is soon going to be resuming his former piano "playing" career, as he will be designated the head terrorist otherwise.

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Huh. Well, can't blame Xi for appealing to external alliances to help him uphold his authoritarian "status quo," I suppose. He must feel he is in worse shape than anybody in the western press is telling us. Interesting.

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I suspect the status quo he'd like to maintain is with Taiwan, whereas the US is pushing confrontation. I think his remarks are aimed at Central Asia, where the US/UK have already attempted color revolutions against the shaky regimes there.

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Can't argue against that. As expansive as the BRI has become it is still pretty fragile in the supply line sense - and "people" know that.

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Sep 18, 2022
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Here's a question: How much longer will the collective West have a functioning economy and revenue stream--to the degree that it will be able to afford the luxury of pouring seemingly endless billions, soon to be trillions, into that totally dysfunctional country, Ukraine?

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It would be fascinating for a journalist to ask McConnell how long he thinks the US can simply print USD's to fund our profligacy--with $31 trillion in hard debt, $150 trillion in unfunded liabilities, and in the face of inexorably rising inflation? Are these guys whistling past the graveyard? Grabbing a few more millions in kickbacks from Ukraine before the party ends? Do Mitch and Elaine have bug-out bags packed for Taiwan?

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Sep 18, 2022
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Agreed. I do believe the Fed's intent is to isolate us from Europe (as per Luongo). And that is generally a good thing for us. That said, the middle class in the U.S. is in for a lot of pain because of the Fed's rising interest rates here and a failure to address the underlying causes of inflation (although this will be nothing like the Europeans will face). There WILL be continued inflation, along with a recession, fewer jobs, tighter lending, and lessened corporate bottom lines due to increased labor costs, increased delivery costs, and the increased cost of debt obligations (all of this resulting in lower P/E ratios and and an additional stock market correction over time as per Denninger). As long as the threat of higher interest rates remain the bond market will provide no respite. Can't blame some for speculating that the powers that be are intent on bleeding the middle/working class out.

The USD remains strong for the time being and it will be seen as a safe haven in the short term, although emerging market countries have already de-dollarized to a large extent. Does that help us peons? Maybe the few of us who eat sushi and drink Bordeaux. But in the longer term, capital investment will flow out of the U.S. toward the BRICs and their "allies" and the non-Petro Dollar will lose value against imported goods, commodities, and Gold (and likely Bitcoin). The race for CBDCs is on. That race will be against Bitcoin, the value of commodities, and the value of precious metals. Who will win? Not us workers and savers, it seems.

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The implications that all of these accumulated negatives will have on the social fabric of this country scares me the most. People who are afraid will agree to anything that they feel will provide safety and security, no matter what it means for their personal freedoms in the long run.

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