The Inflation myth: Biden – “We have brought inflation down to 3% – nearly to the 2% target” – applause – high five … The 3% is on top of 25% to 50% Americans actually experienced each year of the Biden administration. Prices didn’t fall 150% back to where they were 3 years ago, they just stopped rising as much. An exception is gas. Gas prices have fallen – albeit artificially via the government subsidizing from the Federal Strategic Oil Reserves, which are now down 200 million barrels and would cost 300% more to replenish.
Inflation is cumulative and creates new baselines of pricing. Which is why since the institution of the Federal Reserve the value of the dollar is now less than 3cents (unadjusted for inflation) – their comic book reality.
GDP is another fragmented reality. It doesn’t measure profits or prosperity, it measures inflated prices of goods produced, example; 2019 – you sell 10 widgets for $1200 apiece that cost $600 each = profit is $6,000. 2024 – those widgets now cost you $1000 each, you can’t sell 10 because demand has tanked due to pricing, you sell 5. You put 5 widgets in storage/inventory and sell 5. You sell 5 for $1800 – and make a profit of $5,000. GDP goes up because it values the inventory of unsold widgets.
The Federal Reserve decided to not lower interest rates because the Bank of International Settlements told Jerome Powell not to. According to BIS, inflation needs to fall to 2% before they will allow global banks to reduce their interest rates – their calculation states that inflation is 5.5% currently. Their analysis of growth is solely based on oil and oil services. Because nothing else is growing – it is flat.
Axios would have us believe the US economy is strong and growing exponentially! Based on ‘estimates for 2023’. Apparently, the US is leading every other advanced economy in the world – stellar outlook if numbers didn’t lie. According to Axios – The main drivers of this stellar economy were Federal infrastructure and manufacturing “capacity”, as well as immigration which increased employment numbers. WHAT THE FARK?
“Capacity” is now a line item contributing to profit? The US Transportation Department balance sheet as of 2022 reveals that the department is sitting on $301 billion in unspent funding. They were given an additional $69billion in 2023. What infrastructure spending? How can infrastructure spending increase GDP when there is no spending?
Funny Money – we gave Ukraine old worn out weapons that were sitting in inventory while transferring billions to the Military Industrial complex and calling it Ukraine Aid. Thus War Spending increases GDP.
Italy’s Meloni wants to use their climate fund to build oil wells in African colonies. Unfortunately, she didn’t confer with the appropriate African governments first. But the west is calling it Africa Investment – wherein the governments are paid bribes and the oil company, Eni, takes the profits. The project will be funded with an initial investment of $6 billion – Italy’s government owns 34% of Eni.
The purpose of Meloni’s project is to find cheap oil for Eni to transport to Italy which Italy will be sold/distributed throughout the EU for a profit once the project goes online. Chairman of the African Commission chastised Meloni at the summit where she made the announcement, “I wish we had been consulted first”.
The West is desperate to emphasize that the US remains the Empire of the world. Turning every negative situation into a topsy-turvy schematic of positivity and growth based on fake numbers, is all they have left to preserve their hegemony. You can’t be King unless there are peasants to rule. Art of War; keep the peasants happy or they will drop Humpty Dumpty.
Feeding us ‘funny numbers’ does not change reality – it simply feeds empty heads with false narratives that will only fall apart when home owners see their property tax bills and insurance bills double – bill coming this month. Many retirees will be forced back to work to afford the taxes. Young homeowners will take on secondary jobs. But the sentiment will NOT be positive. And in an election year it will be deadly.
Trump is slated to take office in the 2024 election. He will face a severely damaged America. Everyone will demand their particular nightmare be solved. Cronies like Ann Coulter will scream their shrews from the highest tower. But the reality is – Trump cannot do this alone. He will need help – and European governments have already declared Trump persona non grati as they blame him for the Farmer and Trucker protests. Further alienating the US – whose alliances have been damaged by the authoritarian government – particularly in the Middle East and China – .
Detaching from the cloister of agencies that created this global chaos means that America will need to find new allies… Allies that we have been told are our enemies. The BRICS perhaps. To re-establish trade. Because the US is NOT self-sufficient. The transition will not be easy, and the liberal backlash will be dauntingly crude. But we have no choice.
https://helenaglass.net/2024/02/01/us-economy-running-on-empty/