My unpublished (100,000 word) book “The Financial Jigsaw”, is being serialised here weekly in 100 Issues by Peter J Underwood, author
Quote of the Week: “The men whom the people ought to choose to represent them are too busy to take the jobs. But the politician is waiting for it. He’s the pestilence of modern times. What we should try to do is make politics as local as possible. Keep the politicians near enough to kick them. The villagers who met under the village tree could also hang their politicians to the tree. It is terrible to contemplate how few politicians are hanged.” – G. K. Chesterton
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.
Item of the week is of course Coronavirus and Charles Hugh Smith has an interesting take on it – looks like the young, elderly, weak and feeble will be taken out and will save social security – perhaps that’s why they released it?:
http://charleshughsmith.blogspot.com/2020/01/some-practical-questions-about.html
AND – Brandon Smith at Alt. Market has a good article about the virus and speculation that TPTB have possibly engineered this as a cover for the coming collapse – they need someone or something to blame so that they can ride to the rescue and establish an overarching global control system:
http://www.alt-market.com/index.php/articles/4081-how-viral-pandemic-benefits-the-globalist-agenda
Now that Harry & Meghan have agreed with our glorious Queen, Elizabeth II, that they will step down from royal responsibilities and paddle their own canoe, however leaky, this article summarises the final outcome for those interested in such things, personally, I couldn’t give a hoot about them:
“Believe it or not, the two twits had gone and hired a branding agency—the same one that caters to the children’s channel Nickelodeon—and had tried to trademark a Sussex Royal logo. No doubt the Queen’s Bench has put Meghan and her American pettifoggers in their proper place. Once upon a time, a dolt from Tinseltown imagined she was a match for the queen of England!”
https://www.unz.com/imercer/queen-elizabeth-beats-hollywood-and-the-stumblebum-sussexes/
“The U.S. controls the banks and payments systems that process dollar transactions. This leaves the U.S. well positioned to impose dollar-related sanctions.” It is warfare folks by any other name: https://dailyreckoning.com/dont-mess-with-the-u-s-financially/
And let’s not forget DAVOS! The great talking shop BUT it contains the elites’ current narrative: Climate Change and Central Banking – this article is long but describes perfectly how we are being manipulated down ‘The Road to Serfdom’ – hat tip Hayek:
https://www.epsilontheory.com/a-new-road-to-serfdom/
Here is the link to last week: Issue 88
Brexit happened on 31st January 2020. I will continue to provide weekly updates as negotiations with the EU progress over the coming months:
Brexit Day has arrived – 31st January 2020
The Brexit deadline has passed and the government will now embark on trade negotiations with the EU. You may follow a daily run-down on progress from my friend, Dr Richard North, as Brexit negotiations progresses: http://eureferendum.com/
This 5 min video shows Nigel Farage at the European Parliament for the last time – his closing address and follows a short article – very stirring:
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/international-news/britain/brexit-day-has-arrived/
The fundamental reason for this is that while the UK has left the EU, it has not yet established a new relationship. This year is a transition period, during which not much changes. The UK will no longer be a member of the European Union but it will continue to adhere to its rules – including on freedom of movement:
“But negotiating new free trade deals won’t be easy, and suggestions that Britain can simply copy-and-paste existing deals the EU has completed with other nations, such as with Japan, are optimistic at best. Shifting Britain’s strategic focus towards Asia, at the expense of other parts of the world, won’t be easy or cheap, and will likely face some pushback within Whitehall. A more active Indo-Pacific strategy might require a new military base in the area, perhaps in Australia, which appears keen on the idea. Australia’s defence chief suggested last year that Britain should be “more militarily engaged” in the region.
https://www.asiatimes.com/2020/01/article/post-brexit-britain-eyes-new-forceful-role-in-asia/
AND why does Barnier still have a job? He said: “I would have succeeded in my task if, in the end, the deal is so hard on the British that they’ll prefer staying in the EU. Instead, Boris Johnson was elected in a landslide. Yet, Barnier still has his job. He remains the EU’s top negotiator for working out a comprehensive trade deal with the UK.” ‘Mish’ has it nailed:
Parliament is now at work this week. Details of Parliament’s deliberations can be found here:
UK has now left EUROPE so I will continue to comment on relevant EU – UK events:
The UK left the EU on Friday at 11pm; more than three years after the initial poll took place which divided the nation. Since then the UK has had three conservative prime ministers, with the latest finally being able to seal the deal. The next step for the EU is to create a 30-stage process for a full Brexit which Boris Johnson wants to be finalised by the end of the year.
The EU faces a 10% shortfall in its budget without Britain’s contribution – here is a 3 min video describing the EU’s dilemma:
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/international-news/europes-current-economy/the-euro-v-pound/
“Despite “Remoaner” hysteria, leaving the EU is not the end of the world either. I’m sure Britain will be able to get on fine outside the EU and indeed both the British and the Continentals have strong incentives to get along. Perhaps Britain will reinvent itself as a global tax haven. After all, Europe’s share of global GDP has been rapidly declining over the past decades.” This article and short video explains all you need to know about UK and EU relations:
The 3rd edition of The Financial Jigsaw issued recently includes a Preface, Epilogue and Appendices which I publish here in advance. Next come the Appendices continuing with Appendix IV
Appendix IV is provided by kind permission of Jeff Thomas at Internationalman:
APPENDIX IV
FOOD CRISIS – THE GREATEST THREAT TO SOCIAL STABILITY
By Jeff Thomas – https://internationalman.com/articles/authors/jeff-thomas/
Comment:
In 2012, President Barrack Obama signed an executive order entitled, “National Defence Resources Preparedness.” This order gives the US government the authority to seize and redistribute food, should a state of “national emergency” exist. In 2015, Jeff reported on a similar, current crisis in Venezuela (nine meals from anarchy) that provided further insight into what may happen if and when the US faces an economic crisis in the future. I believe that this 2011 article describes the likely events without exaggeration:
Jeff Thomas:
“Recently, I was in a pharmacy and overheard the pharmacist say to someone, “There’s so much unpleasantness on the news these days. I’ve stopped watching.” The pharmacist has my sympathy. I’d love to be able to ignore the deterioration of the First World. It is, at turns, tedious, depressing, disturbing and infuriating.
Unfortunately, we’re now passing through what, before it’s over, will be the most life-altering period in our lifetimes. As much as we’d like to behave like ostriches right now, we’d better keep our heads out of the sand and be as honest with ourselves as we can, if we’re going to lessen the impact that these events will have on us.
I stated in a recent article, “I cannot emphasize too strongly the importance of this (a possible shortage of food). History is filled with examples of cultures that would endure most anything and still behave responsibly. Nothing will cause greater, more unpredictable nor more violent behaviour in a people than a lack of food.
Interesting to note that, whenever I converse with people on the finer points of the ‘Great Unravelling’, when I mention the words “famine” or ‘food riots”, even those who are otherwise quite comfortable discussing the subject, tend to want to discount the possibility that these will be aspects of the troubles that are headed our way. For this very reason, I believe that we should shine a light on this eventuality.
The present state of the ‘Just-in-Time industry
In America, the food industry is not in good shape. Normally, the food industry relies on a low profit / high volume basis, leaving little room for error. Add to this fact that, many business owners and managers in the food industry have given in to the temptation to build up debt over the years. Following the 2008 crash, many have been struggling to get on top of that debt. Inflation has made that task especially difficult. Some have been keeping their noses above water; others have gone under.
Hyperinflation
In future years, [following initial deflation], dramatic inflation is a near-certainty. Those businesses in OECD countries that are already on the ragged edge will find that when they’re paid, they cannot buy the same volume of goods for the same amount of dollars. This will be true throughout the entire food-supply chain.
Of course, little inflationary blips are the norm in business and businesses adjust to them. The problem comes when there are large increases that continue steadily over a period of months. When this occurs, we’ll see a greater frequency of food-supply businesses going belly-up.
In a normal business climate, the failure of some businesses would aid the competition, as they would have new customers to take on, but if the remaining businesses are already having trouble, they will not be in a condition to expand. The disappearance of large numbers of providers will result in a failure of delivery to the next business down the chain.
Nationwide, distribution will become inadequate. This, of course, will not be uniform. Some areas will suffer worse than others. Those types of areas that are already chronically problematic will be hit hardest. Those who are the most likely to go down the earliest will be those that have the highest overheads and the lowest volume. Typically, these are the small stores – the ones on street corners in every city.
These ‘mom & pop’ stores are crucial to the wellbeing of any economy. If a supermarket in the suburbs experiences a shortage, purchasers may drive across town to another supermarket. Not so in the city. If a corner store has empty shelves, or worse, closes completely, the purchasers in that neighbourhood must walk to the next neighbourhood to buy, and they might not be welcome there if the people in that neighbourhood are already having problems with supply at their local store.
Worse, should the second store also close, the number of purchasers is redoubled. When the shoppers from two stores arrive at the third store, physical conflict between shoppers is a near-certainty.
To be continued next Saturday
