Guest Post by Doug Casey
International Man: Recently, President Biden acknowledged inflation and its impact on Americans.
But he blamed “Putin’s Price hike” for the rising prices.
What’s your take on this?
Doug Casey: As Milton Friedman pointed out many years ago, inflation is always, in every instance, a monetary phenomenon. In other words, it’s caused solely by printing money. Period.
We have inflation in the United States because the Federal Reserve has been printing money by the ton. Is that going to change anytime soon? No, because the US Government is running one to two trillion in deficits—and that’s certainly going up as the economy goes into collapse over the next few years.
There’s no way that the government can finance those deficits except by selling the debt to the Federal Reserve.
The American people aren’t in a position to buy government debt. The Chinese and the Japanese are selling US paper. The only buyer is the Fed. And when it buys government paper, it monetizes it. It does this by crediting the federal government’s accounts with commercial banks with newly created dollars.
Higher prices are the consequence of this currency inflation. The fault lies with the US Government, not Vladimir Putin.
Currency depreciation is really devastating for any economy—as bad or worse than regulation or taxation. Not only does the average guy fail to understand where inflation comes from, but he’s hurt far worse than the rich. High rates of currency inflation make it much harder for the average guy to set aside capital and thereby improve his state in the world. When money starts losing value at 10%, 15%, or 20% per year, it becomes increasingly pointless to save it. And when there are no savings, capital can’t be built.
It’s a major reason why third-world countries stay poor. Even if people in third-world countries succeed in producing more than they consume, if they try to save the difference in currency, it’s inflated right out from under them. It’s why the lower classes all over the world—including the US—are losing ground.
It’s really serious, not just a “transitory” inconvenience, as the incompetent Powell and Yellen said not long ago. It’s become a permanent structure. The State needs to create massive quantities of currency and credit to feed itself and its minions.
It’s completely dishonest for Biden to blame Putin for the war in the Ukraine and say that’s the cause of inflation. It’s a bit off-topic here, but the war is mostly the fault of the US, expanding NATO to Russia’s border, replacing a Russian stooge in the Ukraine with US stooges starting in 2014, and backing a bloody war against the Donbas republics when they seceded. Putin’s unfortunate invasion is basically just a reaction to US meddling. In essence, it’s just a border war between two shithole countries in a region where frontiers have been moving for many hundreds of years. But US meddling might yet turn it into WW3.
International Man: California has some of the highest gasoline prices in the country.
As a recent attempt to address the problem, the state has agreed to issue “inflation relief” checks of up to $1,050 to about 23 million residents.
What do you think this will accomplish?
Doug Casey: It’s truly bizarre. The ruler of California has deigned to shower the peasants with some of the money he previously extracted from them.
During the 1920s in Weimar Germany, Zimbabwe 20 years ago, or Venezuela today, when the people’s standard of living drops due to inflation, the answer is always to print more money. It doesn’t create more wealth or solve the problem, but extra cash in their pockets makes them feel happy for the moment. Of course, as a governor, Newsom can’t print dollars, but he can ostentatiously distribute tax dollars from other sources for a while. Perhaps he’ll float a $23 billion bond to pay for it, so it’s then the problem of future taxpayers.
Why is Gavin Newsom doing it? He wants to show that his government cares, wants to help, and is anxious to “do something.” He wants people to think that although higher gas prices came out of Washington DC or Moscow, Sacramento can kiss it all and make it better.
My guess is that Newsom wants to run for President in 2024. So this could be his opening gambit. And, considering that Americans were stupid enough to elect people like Biden and Bush, it may work.
International Man: G7 countries have openly discussed “setting a maximum oil price” by capping Russian oil being imported to their countries.
What would this mean for the price of oil, and how will this impact the supply of goods?
Doug Casey: It’s about as stupid as King Canute pretending to order the ocean’s waves not to roll in.
Supply and demand set the price of oil. Putting a cap on prices can only create shortages. What price caps or production quotas do they imagine they can put on Russian oil? But the Jacobins who control the government in Washington are capable of almost any scheme that seems like a good idea at the time. And the more chaotic things become, the more likely they’ll do something radical.
Is $100 dollars a barrel a good price cap? Well, if that’s good, why not make it $80? Why not make it 50? In fact, why not make it $10 a barrel? That ought to solve the problem.
The more government proposes, the more distortions it’s going to create and the more shortages.
In fact, everything Western Governments are doing right now will only make the energy shortage last longer. They say that there won’t be any gasoline-powered cars by 2030 and that the world is going green and electrical. It’s more likely the world is going back to walking and bicycles.
They don’t seem to understand that electricity mainly comes from coal, which they hate, and oil and natural gas, which they also want to ban. Of course, they rabidly hate nuclear power, which is the safest, cleanest, and cheapest source of mass power generation. They’ve misdirected hundreds of billions of investment away from the fuels that are suitable for an industrial civilization and redirected that capital to uneconomic and unreliable wind and solar. This isn’t the place to discuss the relative merits of various power sources, except to say we’re headed for shortages and higher prices of staggering degrees.
It’s not just much higher energy prices that we’re looking at, but the actual availability of energy. These people are playing with civilization-destroying stuff.
International Man: With all the ridiculous, upside-down attempts at addressing inflation and rising prices—is it possible that we’ll also see price controls in the US?
Doug Casey: Some might remember when Richard Nixon was in office. His response to higher prices—consequences of the Vietnam War and massive welfare spending financed by money printing—was price controls. It created immense shortages throughout the economy.
You might ask yourself, “Are they so stupid that they would do a repeat of that?” And the answer is: Yes! This is easily illustrated by watching an old episode of Jay Leno’s Jaywalking. Or go on YouTube and watch Mark Dice. He goes into the streets, talks to perfectly normal, intelligent-looking Americans, and shows them an American flag. He asks them how many stars are on the flag and what do they represent? People can’t even answer questions as basic as that. He offers them a 10-ounce silver bar or a Hershey chocolate bar—they always take the chocolate bar. The average American knows absolutely nothing about economics or history and has about zero ability to think critically or rationally. They apparently know nothing about anything beyond pro sports, the Kardashians, and the current special at McDonald’s.
So, yeah, of course, they can put on price controls again. People will think it’s great. And when shortages occur, they’ll blame it on the butcher, the baker, and the gasoline maker.
My main question at this point is how serious the riots will be later on this summer. And whether or not martial law will be imposed in response to the chaos that’s likely to surround the November elections.
Ultimately, I think we’ll get a man on a white horse, somebody who’ll say, “I can cure all these problems. Just give me enough power, just for a while…” We’re headed for something at least as bad as Mussolini and maybe much worse. Why? Because the economic system in the US at this point is actually pure fascism. It’s state capitalism, a “partnership” between the State and large corporations. Both terms were actually invented by Mussolini. And it’s the way economies are structured these days.
Free market capitalism is a dead duck. The welfare state and socialist values are viewed as ideals.
International Man: What will be the impact of all this be? An economic depression?
Doug Casey: Yes. The best definition of a depression is “a period of time when most people’s standard of living drops significantly.” You can also say it’s “a period of time when major distortions and misallocations of capital are liquidated.” That implies bankruptcies, high unemployment, and a stock market collapse.
The economic consequences of an economic depression are unpleasant. But the political, social, and military consequences can be worse.
But it’s not as if you’re helpless. There are plenty of things you can do to ameliorate the situation, at least for yourself, your family, and your friends.
It is my sincere desire to provide readers of this site with the best unbiased information available, and a forum where it can be discussed openly, as our Founders intended. But it is not easy nor inexpensive to do so, especially when those who wish to prevent us from making the truth known, attack us without mercy on all fronts on a daily basis. So each time you visit the site, I would ask that you consider the value that you receive and have received from The Burning Platform and the community of which you are a vital part. I can't do it all alone, and I need your help and support to keep it alive. Please consider contributing an amount commensurate to the value that you receive from this site and community, or even by becoming a sustaining supporter through periodic contributions. [Burning Platform LLC - PO Box 1520 Kulpsville, PA 19443] or Paypal
-----------------------------------------------------
To donate via Stripe, click here.
-----------------------------------------------------
Use promo code ILMF2, and save up to 66% on all MyPillow purchases. (The Burning Platform benefits when you use this promo code.)
Casey is right the government must continue to spend 2-3 trillion of deficit money. Inflation is here to stay. The deficits may be greater depending on what emergency demands what stimulus spending is deemed necessary. We are screwed this will be the 4T crisis spark. Hang on folks.
If life-destroying lockdowns,
ruling by royal decree who was essential or not,
controlling where you could go,
arresting people for gathering with too many individuals,
destroying children’s education,
explosion in child suicides due to lockdown isolation,
schools grooming children,
schools having hormone blocker parties and telling the kids, it’s our little secret,
gays normalizing sex with toddlers,
crippling inflation,
stolen 2020 election that’s objectively verifiable,
political prisoners in a gulag,
state sponsored racism against whites,
shortage of baby formula that the state cared less about,
purposely destroying the oil industry and
overall callous towards the American people hasn’t created riots, nothing will in my opinion.
I’ve noticed that usually pointing a gun at people typically gets them to do what you want. Shooting is often not necessary…. With that in mind, maybe many Americans are about ready to explode but need a ‘William Wallace’ to unite them and lead them. Then we can point.
Not disorganized riots. Organized ending of tyranny.
I think it’s multiple issues. Gun owners are so concerned with optics and a desire to walk on eggshells that they’re terrified of using the 2A for it’s intended use. When the reality is, government and useful idiots are coming for our guns no matter what.
Also the masses are generally more concerned with the Kardashians, games on their iPhones and the current thing rather than what’s truly effecting their lives.
Look how many are willing to permanently disfigure their kids, just so they can trot around with their chest puffed out saying how progressive they are. These people don’t care about consequences or reality and certainly aren’t interested in rioting for a better life and future. They’re selfish and only live in the now.
Americans will not riot until their electronic amusements are removed. Then maybe that will arouse them. But at that time the electricity will be out permanently and it will be too late for much of anything. See the last chapter of Atlas Shrugged for details.
I think the strong dude on a white horse (ain’t the prick supposed to be on the bottom?) is coming in ’24. Gavin Shitstain or Eric Trump seem to be the most likely candidates.
if this carnival makes it to 2024 without a few thousand heads on pikes then it will end in mountains of skulls and smartphones that some future Chinese archeologists will spend decades sorting through to show how their theories about round-eye’s penchant for plastic and corn syrup drove them insane. Kind of like how the Aztecs tossed kids into volcanoes to change the weather or how smoking three packs a day killed the dinosaurs. And that from a people who killed millions of their own daughters without somehow voting Democrat even once by accident because their State told them that was required to beat round eye in globoeconomics.
Gross income on 2020 taxes
Without dependent
$150,000 or less
$700
With dependent
$1,050
1) Supply and demand set the price of oil. 😂
2) These people are playing with civilization-destroying stuff.
‘These People? deadly earnestness. Been going on since the 8 survivors of the flood.
3) Ultimately, I think we’ll get a man on a white horse, somebody who’ll say, “I can cure all these problems. Just give me enough power, just for a while…”
The Antichrist is symbolized by the rider on the white horse in White Horse (Rev. 6:2),
https://discoverrevelation.com/antichrist/
Recently, in an address to some conference of “educators”, “doctor” Jill Biden let slip one of those truths about how the death cult sees the world and their moral duty to destroy it. These things come out in part because the cult is high on its supply and just can’t resist some tagline cooked up by a gaggle of credentialed beltway bugwomen and nonbinary queer consultants, but it is also the way of the truth. It wants out.
So Jill says, “schools are where we turn policies….into people!”
What does this have to do with economics? Well, that’s just it. What do the policies of globalcapital cabals and their NGO social engineers, administrative state lackeys, and regulatory capture opportunists and value harvesting vampires have to do with “economics”?
Moreso, what does “economics” have to do with the Economy when that economy is not a system intended to serve the interests of a distinct nation of people, but rather its own power over those same people under the guise of the global economy.
What should the economic policies of a Nation-State be if that State has no actual people that it answers to, but instead subjects to be conditioned to indentured servitude of a belief system that serves the interests of a tiny group in power and their favored cronies? And what if that system is not about creating, but rather destroying the very things that make us human?
We are see seeing the real-time destruction of an economy, but that is the natural course of a belief system that has already been long decoupled from the people it has already broken and subjugated and conditioned to enslavement.
How are we still chained to the idea that any of these “economic” policies serve our interests beyond our fleeting ability to maintain a license from the State to extract our pittance from the liquidating collateral of Nation, otherwise known as Heritage America.
Well, if they believe the education of children is to literally convert them into cogs of their policies, it all makes sense. The question I have is whether the System propped up by the demons will devour itself without or without the requisite genocide, war, and famine that history suggests.