Mark, thanks very much for your work compiling these great sources on economic matters. I am humbled that you presented my comment to help frame your presentation, which is excellent.
I think Mercouris did a very good job explaining the EU situation in understandable terms. It isn't pleasant to contemplate Luongo's view that at a high level we are dealing with a "turf war" between the commercial banks, central banks, Davos, and Russia (and that we are the collateral for all of them). Yet it is hard to argue against that. Of interest to me was Luongo noting that the ECB itself is potentially subject to bankruptcy due to its holdings of bonds in Italy, etc. Wasn't there a saying that the first purpose of any organization is its own preservation? There are any number of ways things could go sideways in Europe now. It is no longer a stable environment for investment and as you have noted well, the ECB is seemingly powerless at this point.
So much of the economic health of the West depends on energy and our current governments are doing all they can to make it scarcer and more unprofitable to produce and distribute. Their efforts can only be seen as purposely malicious and destructive. Even more disturbing is that as Denninger notes you cannot just flip a switch to bring more energy back online when the means of production and transportation have been shut down and disincentivized. Very tough times ahead for at the very least a few years.
Mark, your articles are excellent, but I suggest writing Joe and not Zhou- the nickname isn’t funny, it confuses new readers, and no one else has followed you on this.
Hinting at "Selected" QE to help fringe Eurozone members, a k a "friends" who could make things worse for TPTB. TBTF banks in EU did not address a single bad debt actor or loan after 2006-8. The reason why? Their largest "bad loan" customers are municipalities themselves, local, provincial, and state. Everything "government" is by and large financed by the banks. If those banks falter, the entire Eurozone "Project" collapses in on itself.
So spin the plates more is all they have. And why LaGarde announced today that their new "special tool" will be to "limit spreads". This is a subsidization trade on margin at best, and levers it all even worse.
“The dark night of fascism is always descending in the United States and yet lands only in Europe.”
-T. Wolfe
Cash is fungible, so who knows where this new QE will land.
So my wife gets a few bucks from a now deceased Aunt who had “ a few bucks”. We finally get a financial “expert” to care for it. We’re in our mid-50s so not yet retired but getting there. First meeting with the guy he asks “if you lost 10% would you be comfortable hanging in? 15%? 20%? What to do? I sit, reading, watching, thinking, sweating... Feel like I’m falling into an abyss. I’m a former LEO so got a small pension to fall back on - if that’s even there in a few years. Wife is a teacher...
In a previous post you asked "The Crash, The War, And Who Wins?" Nobody wins. I had hopes that President Trump would follow through when he said on December 5, 2020 that he would restore faith in our elections, but public sentiment even among conservatives is that it is time to move on. He is a doer, not a politician, and what would interest him is bringing down the cabal that has destroyed government of, by and for the people, which he thinks is now possible considering all the legal infractions committed and evidence available. Truly terrible people have taken over Washington with whom compromise is impossible, and I doubt that President Trump would be interested in the ceremonial role of President if they still retain power. As for the logic behind what is going on, arrogant people, like Humpty Dumpty in "Through the Looking Glass" truly believe they are the masters of whatever situation presents itself .
https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/france-could-plunge-the-eurozone-into-its-next-crisis
Just found this article. France is in more trouble than I realised.
Mark, thanks very much for your work compiling these great sources on economic matters. I am humbled that you presented my comment to help frame your presentation, which is excellent.
I think Mercouris did a very good job explaining the EU situation in understandable terms. It isn't pleasant to contemplate Luongo's view that at a high level we are dealing with a "turf war" between the commercial banks, central banks, Davos, and Russia (and that we are the collateral for all of them). Yet it is hard to argue against that. Of interest to me was Luongo noting that the ECB itself is potentially subject to bankruptcy due to its holdings of bonds in Italy, etc. Wasn't there a saying that the first purpose of any organization is its own preservation? There are any number of ways things could go sideways in Europe now. It is no longer a stable environment for investment and as you have noted well, the ECB is seemingly powerless at this point.
So much of the economic health of the West depends on energy and our current governments are doing all they can to make it scarcer and more unprofitable to produce and distribute. Their efforts can only be seen as purposely malicious and destructive. Even more disturbing is that as Denninger notes you cannot just flip a switch to bring more energy back online when the means of production and transportation have been shut down and disincentivized. Very tough times ahead for at the very least a few years.
Thanks again for this. Much appreciated!
Mark, your articles are excellent, but I suggest writing Joe and not Zhou- the nickname isn’t funny, it confuses new readers, and no one else has followed you on this.
Was there ever a time when there was not a single leader/statesman anywhere in the world?
You missed the key point. The ECB held an emergency "Ad Hoc" meeting yesterday Before the Fed's announcement::
"European Central Bank holds emergency meeting to discuss market rout"
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/15/european-central-bank-last-minute-meeting-to-look-at-market-conditions.html
Hinting at "Selected" QE to help fringe Eurozone members, a k a "friends" who could make things worse for TPTB. TBTF banks in EU did not address a single bad debt actor or loan after 2006-8. The reason why? Their largest "bad loan" customers are municipalities themselves, local, provincial, and state. Everything "government" is by and large financed by the banks. If those banks falter, the entire Eurozone "Project" collapses in on itself.
So spin the plates more is all they have. And why LaGarde announced today that their new "special tool" will be to "limit spreads". This is a subsidization trade on margin at best, and levers it all even worse.
“The dark night of fascism is always descending in the United States and yet lands only in Europe.”
-T. Wolfe
Cash is fungible, so who knows where this new QE will land.
So my wife gets a few bucks from a now deceased Aunt who had “ a few bucks”. We finally get a financial “expert” to care for it. We’re in our mid-50s so not yet retired but getting there. First meeting with the guy he asks “if you lost 10% would you be comfortable hanging in? 15%? 20%? What to do? I sit, reading, watching, thinking, sweating... Feel like I’m falling into an abyss. I’m a former LEO so got a small pension to fall back on - if that’s even there in a few years. Wife is a teacher...
Things feel very unstable. Yikes 🥵😅
In a previous post you asked "The Crash, The War, And Who Wins?" Nobody wins. I had hopes that President Trump would follow through when he said on December 5, 2020 that he would restore faith in our elections, but public sentiment even among conservatives is that it is time to move on. He is a doer, not a politician, and what would interest him is bringing down the cabal that has destroyed government of, by and for the people, which he thinks is now possible considering all the legal infractions committed and evidence available. Truly terrible people have taken over Washington with whom compromise is impossible, and I doubt that President Trump would be interested in the ceremonial role of President if they still retain power. As for the logic behind what is going on, arrogant people, like Humpty Dumpty in "Through the Looking Glass" truly believe they are the masters of whatever situation presents itself .
KD rants to good effect:
Biden, Threats And Energy
https://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=246142