My unpublished (100,000 word) book “The Financial Jigsaw”, is being serialised here weekly in 100 Issues by Peter J Underwood, author
HAPPY CHRISTMAS AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR TO ALL MY READERS WHEREVER YOU ARE: CLICK HERE TO PLAY
Quote of the Week: “There is only one kind of shock worse than the totally unexpected: the expected for which one has refused to prepare.” – Mary Renault
NOTE – If anyone would like a free updated, 3rd edition, electronic copy of the complete book, I should be pleased to email a free pdf on request to: [email protected]. The book has many footnotes linking to relevant and explanatory Appendices, websites and videos.
A message to the Democrats from Jeremy Corbyn who is ‘reflecting’ at present:
“Warren is at the top of the list. Like Corbyn, she wants to nationalize everything possible and break up the rest. She wants free healthcare, free education and free shelter. She also wants a wealth tax. In the UK, voters did not believe Corbyn’s plan was remotely possible. Ironically, Corbyn decided his 2017 plan was not radical enough. So he made it even more radical.”
And even without all this turmoil there is a problem in the Repo market:
https://gnseconomics.com/en_US/2019/12/14/repo-market-turmoil-staring-into-the-financial-abyss/
ZH has a short article reporting what has happened to the FedEx results and the global economy:
This week we continue with Chapter 14 and consider what form an emergent New Economy might take and hope that that the Venezuelan experience is not repeated. We also look at the psychological aspects of disempowerment as events overtake us when a sudden crisis occurs.
Here is the link to last week: Issue 82
Now that Brexit is certain on 31st January 2020, I will continue to provide weekly updates as events progress:
Brexit & Election Update – 20th December 2019
The Brexit deadline remains 31st January 2020 and Parliament has agreed his new exit plan (WAB) during this period: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-50125338 . You may follow a daily run-down on the current situation from my friend, Dr Richard North, as Brexit progresses: http://eureferendum.com/ I have said before, Brexit is a process, not an event.
Erratum: I reported last week that the Tories had a 70+ seat majority before the final results were known, the Tory majority in parliament is actually 80 seats.
Post-election results review
Now that the new parliament has settled in we can sit back and think carefully about what this means for the UK going forward. The most recent political ‘sea-change’ events have been the landslides of the Labour Party in 1945 and Maggie Thatcher’s climb to power in 1979 which ushered in the massive neoliberal privatisation programme and destruction of the Trades Unions who had been causing chaos in the 1970s.
The 2019 result is an equivalent moment for UK and we will be seeing amazing changes taking place in the coming years: economic, financial and political. Britain may even regain its international posture by underscoring the supremacy of the Anglo/American Empire; which incidentally is confirmed by prophesies in Revelations Chapter 13 for those of the Christian persuasion who follow such matters.
The angry, leftist Marxists embedded into the Labour Party infrastructure, via Momentum, are already on the streets, rioting and causing chaos as they refuse to accept the democratic vote of the majority of our law-abiding populace. [It is interesting to note that this has been completely ignored by the BBC]. These events merely underline the caustic nature of this unrepresentative group of zealots.
One question will arise concerning the unique British voting system of ‘First Past the Post’ (FPTP) as opposed to some form of proportional representation as practiced in Europe. This means that more people by percentage voted for Remain (52%) against 48% for Leave and yet we have ended up with a Leave result. Some argue that a 2nd Referendum would have been more democratic and resolved UK remaining in Europe; it is certain that much discussion about electoral reform will be witnessed in the coming years.
Here is a good summary of where UK stands now, post-election:
https://macrohive.com/hive-exclusives/my-8-takeaways-from-the-uk-election-result/
A brand new Parliament was formed on Friday 13th December when Boris had an audience with the Queen. Details of Parliament’s deliberations when sitting can be found here (but not up yet):
Now that the UK is definitely leaving EUROPE – I will continue to comment on relevant EU – UK events:
An important issue now will be trade talks during 2020. Mish has a great article about this: https://moneymaven.io/mishtalk/economics/brexit-phase-2-negotiations-far-easier-than-most-think-eC65ycGbkUWIbVjpuGdqSg/
ZeroHedge: “And Europe’s continued slowdown could discredit the “green shoots” narrative that global equity markets have already priced in. Central banks are ploughing in records amount of liquidity into the system to produce a synchronized recovery – though monetary policy has become less effective than ever before as the global economy is out of sync.” https://www.zerohedge.com/economics/europes-economy-records-worst-quarter-2013-slowing-persist-2020
Here are figures for prosperity (or rather lack of it) in EU, just click on the red ‘SEEDS PROSPERITY EUROPE 19th December 2019’ to get an Excel Sheet: https://surplusenergyeconomics.wordpress.com/resources/ You will notice how real prosperity has been declining for a decade and is continuing.
Mike Shedlock (Mish) has an amazing short video about Maggie Thatcher’s predictions on the future of the EU and the euro – and it’s all coming true!
PART 2
CHAPTER 14
Personal Empowerment
“Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge? Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?” T.S. Eliot – “The Rock” 1934
“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” Albert Einstein
What model will the New Economy adopt as the crisis evolves?
In the 2016 American presidential election, Bernie Sanders refused to answer questions about Venezuela during an interview with Univision. He claimed to not want to talk about it because he is “focused on my campaign.”
Many suggested a more plausible reason: Venezuela’s present economy is an example of what happens when a state implements ‘Bernie Sanders-style’ social democracy or in the UK a Jeremy Corbyn-style Marxist leadership.
Similarly, Pope Francis, who has denounced pro-market ideologies for allegedly driving millions into poverty, seems uninterested in talking about the impoverishment of Venezuela in recent years. Pope Francis is not known as someone who holds back in the face of what he regards as gross injustices. On issues like refugees, immigration, poverty and the environment, Francis speaks forcibly and uses vivid language in doing so.
Yet despite the daily violence being inflicted on protestors in Venezuela, a steadily increasing death-toll, an explosion of crime, rampant corruption, galloping inflation, the naked politicisation of the judiciary and the disappearance of basic food and medical supplies, the first Latin American pope’s comments about the crisis tearing apart an overwhelming catholic Latin American country have been curiously restrained.
This virtual silence comes in spite of the fact that the catholic bishops who actually live in Venezuela have denounced the regime as yet another illustration of the “utter failure” of “socialism in every country in which this regime has been installed.”
As with Sanders, it may very well be that Francis has nothing to say about Venezuela precisely because the Venezuelan regime has pursued exactly the sorts of policies favoured by Bernie Sanders, Pope Francis, and the usual opponents of market economics.
It is an economic program marked by price controls, government expropriation of private property, an enormous welfare state, central planning and endless rhetoric about equality, poverty relief, and fighting the so-called ‘neoliberals.’
As Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro has helpfully explained, “There are two models, the neoliberal model which destroys everything, and the Chavista model which is centred on people.” The Chavista model is simply a mixture of social democracy and environmentalism which is easily recognizable as the Venezuelan version of the hard-left ideology espoused by a great many global political elites and misguided celebrities both in the United States and Europe. Neoliberalism, on the other hand, as has been noted before, is a vague term that most of the time really just means a system of relatively free markets and moderate laissez-faire.
Indeed, no other regimes in the world, save Cuba and North Korea, have been as explicit in fighting the ‘alleged menace’ that is neoliberalism. As Venezuela descends into chaos, we are hearing a deafening silence from most of the celebrity left, as even some principled leftists have noticed.
Venezuela was news so long as it was good news and while Chávez could be used as a banner for the left and his antics providing comic relief. But as soon as the country began to spiral towards ruination and Chavismo began to resemble another Latin American authoritarian regime it was better to turn a blind eye.
Nevertheless, as a dedicated leftist, Lange-Chrion unfortunately still mistakenly thinks that the Venezuelan problem is political and not economic. For him, it’s merely an unfortunate coincidence that the implementation of the Chavismo economic agenda just happened to coincide with the destruction of the nation’s political and economic institutions.
In fact, it is a textbook case of a country electing a left-wing populist who reverses years of pro-market reforms and ends up destroying the economy. This has been going on for decades in Latin America where, as explained by Rudiger Dornbusch and Sebastián Edwards, the cycle repeats itself again and again.
It has happened in Argentina and in Brazil most recently, and it unfolds along these lines. At first, a relatively neoliberal regime comes to power, moderately reduces government spending, somewhat restrains government power and ushers in a period of growth. But, even with growth, middle-income countries like those of Latin America remain poor compared to the rich countries of the world and large inequalities remain.
Eventually, populist social democrats convince the voters that if only the regime would redistribute more wealth, punish greedy capitalists and regulate markets to make them more ‘humane,’ then everyone would get richer even faster.
Yet, even better, the evil capitalists would be punished for exploiting the poor. Eventually, the economy collapses under the weight of the new social democratic regime and a neoliberal regime is again elected to clean up the mess. The history of the UK political agenda in the twentieth century follows this pattern perfectly.
Venezuela is in the midst of this cycle right now. After decades of relatively restrained government intervention, Venezuela became one of the wealthiest nations in Latin America. During the most recent twenty years, though, the Chavistas were able to take that wealth and redistribute it, regulate it, and expropriate it for the sake of “equality” and undermine capitalist ‘evil’. However you can only redistribute, tax, regulate and expropriate so much before the productive classes give up and the wealth runs out.
Clearly, a social-democratic model will fail in the coming New Economy. What we hope will emerge is a cooperative, market-based economy based on a sound money system supported by free trade because this is the natural order of the human condition. In UK I believe that the six demands of our ‘Harrogate Agenda’ will offer a sound political basis for a post crisis world: http://harrogateagenda.org.uk/
Reasons for a feeling of disempowerment during emergence of the New Economy
Many people will be feeling a little depressed during the recent political upheavals and uncertainty in UK surrounding Brexit negotiations as they progress. It might be worth considering some aspects of these low feelings and what we can do to transform them into something more positive.
Psychoanalysis teaches that one cause of depression is repressed anger. The rising tide of collective anger is visible in many places such as road rage, violent street clashes between groups seething for a fight and the destruction of friendships associated with holding ‘incorrect’ ideological views promoted by social media forever emphasising ‘political correctness’.
One source of resentment may be our failure to obtain the expected rewards of ‘doing the right thing’ such as getting a degree or working hard which breeds negative feelings and often loss of hope and despair. There is a belief that the system should deliver the financial rewards and security we had been led to expect and when this fails it erodes our confidence when assessing the performance of our leaders and politicians.
It is important for the rising generations to recognise that the troubles of today are not their fault but should be laid at the door of generations past. There has been a constant battle between the socialists on the one hand and the conservative, crony capitalist promoters on the other, ever since World War II ended.
The result has not been pretty. Worse, we neglected to maintain our freedoms or provide our young people with the tools necessary to survive, let alone succeed, in the impersonal jungle that is modern western culture.
We have raised our young people in homes fractured by divorce, distracted by mindless entertainment, and obsessed with the pursuit of materialism and debt. We have institutionalized them in day-care centres and after-school programs, substituting their time with teachers and childcare workers for direct parental involvement and responsibility.
We turned them into ‘test-takers’ instead of thinkers and ‘automatons’ instead of achievers. We have allowed them to languish in schools which not only look like prisons but function like prisons as well, where conformity is the rule and freedom is the exception.
We have made them easy prey for our corporate overlords, whilst instilling in them the values of a celebrity-obsessed, technology-driven culture devoid of any true spirituality. We have taught them to believe that the pursuit of their own selfish ends and personal happiness trumps all other virtues including empathy for their fellow human beings.
We will examine some of the things that you can do to overcome these negative feelings and instil positive thoughts as a preparation for the coming Chapters where many ideas will be presented to help you adjust to the challenges to come.
To be continued next Saturday
Thanks Peter. I will eventually send a request for the entire book, and dedicate adequate time to it.
Good oh, Llpoh, the more the merrier! Best wishes and compliments of the season.
History teaches us that one of the sure signs that a civilization is in its final stages of decline – its ‘death throws’ so-to-speak – is the rudeness and lack of civility its people have for each other. It’s almost like some kind of collective mind that recognizes subconsciously that the whole shithouse is about to burn down.
I would like very much to have a copy of you complete book. It will take me a while to get through it, but if you can extend the effort to write it, I can damned well extend the effort to read it.
I will send an email to you for your book after posting this.
Merry Christmas from Texas.
Steve C.
PS: Merry Christmas LLPOH
You, too, Steve!
Hi Steve, we have spoken and good vibes for your reading. Thank you so much for your support and encouragement, it does mean so much to me to have some approval from my readers and positive feedback – it keeps me going!
Rev 13 mentions a Leopard, Bear, Lion, Dragon and a Beast (no Eagle); the USA could be the Demonic Beast because that is how the Evil NeoCons behave. However, I think the New World Order Plan has been paused by Trump, and the Demonic PTB are desperately trying to eliminate him by hook and crook. I also believe the Evil NeoCons have ignited a global rebellion and their end (after Trump) is foretold in Rev 18. The Democrats have been gaining power by demographics (ignorant illegals), and they will succeed it turning the USA into a Communist Shithole.
Many thanks Robert for your valuable observations. I am currently studying these prophecies with a wise and knowledgeable mentor – I am but a poor student of these things at present so cannot comment further for the moment.
More to come in the New Year when, after my book serialisation, I will be posting my weekly “Letter from Great Britain” to help my friends and colleagues across the pond to better understand events in Europe as they unfold – exciting times!
This subject is both extensive and complex and there are many interpretations – I am keen to settle on the correct one in order to affirm the projections in my book. I am informed that in Daniel 2: 36-43 the feet of iron and clay are in fact the last empire, the Anglo/American one, which is coming together now with the election of Boris and the Tories who will work more closely with USA – forsaking a failing Europe.
Best wishes and have a great Christmas and lets pray for a peaceful New Year.
All the best with that study. I t will be very rewarding. It is not an easy one without a good understanding of many other passages, dotted throughout, that add pieces to the jigsaw, to use someone’s analogy :). If you are in Daniel, an interesting piece to study is Daniel 11:21. Ask yourself why Daniel spent so much time describing this “Vile Person”. It seems to some that this is because he is a prototype of people to follow and we have had some already – Hitler, Mao, etc spring to mind.
This, I believe is important, because in the next crisis, a charismatic leader will “come in peaceably, and seize the kingdom by intrigue.” .. and people will flock to him because he will appear to have all the answers to the economic crisis. The way people are today, they are looking for leadership, and like sheep, will follow such a leader. There is much yet to happen before Rev 13.
Have a great break.
Many thanks Greg for your valuable advice. You are clearly well ahead of me and I am advised that at least two more scrolls are yet to unfold. The journey is an enjoyable one of discovery and learning which I thoroughly enjoy – just need more time!
Hope we can meet some day and I can pick your knowledge. Best wishes. It’s good to have another Brit in our TBP family, you are very welcome. It’s pretty rough and tumble here being redneck American, but honest, sincere and real fun and games.
PS: If the USA and UK don’t get rid of their Central Bank Cartels, that counterfeit all the money their hearts desire, to purchase and control all the levers of power in our once beloved Free Market Capitalistic Democratic countries, nothing but Jesus’ Return will save us from their Evil.
Quite so, Robert, thank you, as in Rev 18 – all the worldly wealth will be worth nothing.
“Neoliberalism, on the other hand, as has been noted before, is a vague term that most of the time really just means a system of relatively free markets and moderate laissez-faire.”
A rather charitable definition. Try Robber-baronism with a wink and a nod. Wiktionary says “A political ideology that espouses economic liberalism, favouring trade liberalisation, financial deregulation, a small government, privatisation and liberalisation of government businesses, passive antitrust enforcement, accepting greater economic inequality and disfavouring unionisation.” With emphasis above all on privatization by a select few of functions, such as prisons, with all the attendant evils. “Passive anti-trust enforcement as in no anti-trust enforcement allowing a situation of a small handful of “too big-to-fail” banks. “Accepting economic inequality ” as in no taxes for Fortune-500 companies (recalling that the IRS Act was sold to the American public in 1913 on the basis that it was only the 1% who would have to pay- now it is the 1% who are the only ones who do not pay. Add a blind eye for rampant polluters where enforcement would cut into profits (and cost jobs!). And, of course, grinding the faces of the poor at every turn, with “rubber bullets” “batons” (sure looked like iron rods), and “pepper spray” (Germany justified the use of chlorine gas in WWI based on France’s employment of tear gas) when they go on strike or even peacefully protest.
Take your “relatively free markets and “moderate laissez faire” and shove it.
That said, Venezuela is indeed proof that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, when the people in charge have no business sense. Here is a question: Why did it happen there but not in Costa Rica?