Must Reads For The Week 10/26/19
“The coordination of men’s activities through central planning or through voluntary cooperation are roads going in very different directions, the first to serfdom and poverty, the second to freedom and plenty.” – F. A. Hayek
ECONOMICS
What’s Holding Up The Market? by Charles Hugh Smith, at oftwominds.com. Excerpt from the article:
“…..the primary prop under stock valuations are corporate buybacks, which total in the trillions of dollars since the 08-09 Global Financial Meltdown and the Fed’s “rescue of the rich,” which continues to this day.”
“Rather than risk capital in productive investments, U.S. corporations have borrowed trillions of dollars and used the cash to buy back their own shares. The Fed’s suppression of interest rates has incentivized stock buybacks…..”
“When it’s cheap to borrow billions, the biggest bang for the buck is to use the borrowed bucks to buy back shares, which creates an illusion of growth as per-share sales and earnings both rise as shares are withdrawn from the public market.”
“….the company appears to be more profitable, and so its valuation based on its price-to-earnings ratio (P-E) adjusts higher, even tough revenues and earnings have remained stagnant.”
“Fed policies effectively replace capitalism (investing capital productively and accepting risk) with creditism, a debt-dependent speculative system that transfers risk to the Fed and the taxpayers (i.e. profits are private, losses are socialized).
“Fed policies effectively replace capitalism (investing capital productively and accepting risk) with creditism, a debt-dependent speculative system that transfers risk to the Fed and the taxpayers (i.e. profits are private, losses are socialized).”
Our Time/Labor Is Finite, But Money Is Infinite, by Charles Hugh Smith, at oftwominds.com. Excerpt from the article:
“….creating new fiat currency and injecting it into a closed system (our financial system) controls and restrains the value of our time and labor, past, present and future.”
“The near-infinite creation of new currency devalues past labor by destroying the value of pensions and savings, devalues the value of today’s labor and of labor’s future earnings.”
“….. the purchasing power of labor’s earnings are steadily devalued, and much of the remaining earnings are devoted to servicing debt that was taken on to stay afloat financially.”
“Meanwhile, those receiving the central banks’ free money for financiers can use this new currency (i.e. low-cost credit) to buy up income-producing assets and leverage speculations that reap enormous capital gains, as assets are never allowed to drop in value because “the Fed has our backs.”
“And why does “the Fed has our backs”? Because the system implodes once debt and currency creation stop expanding.”
Adverse Consequences of California’s Class-Warfare Tax Policy, by Daniel J. Mitchell, at danieljmitchell.wordpress.com. The laws of economics eventually win out over the plans of central planners. High income earners are fleeing California’s high taxes and moving to no income tax states like Nevada, Texas and Florida. This was totally predictable to everyone except the central planning politicians who run California.
The NBA’s China Problem Due To Political Control Over Markets, by Richard Ebeling, at aier.org. Excerpt from the article:
“The dilemma that the NBA and its affiliates find themselves in with the Chinese government is the latest example of why a free society is not sustainable without a functioning free market that is widely free and independent from the power of those in political authority”
POLITICS
The Conspiracies Are Broad And Deep, at theburningplatform.com. Excerpt from the article:
“No matter where one stands today in regards to American politics, one thing is very clear: We are in the midst of a narrative war.”
Universities Breed Anger, Ignorance, And Ingratitude, by Victor Davis Hanson, at nationalreview.com. Excerpt from the article:
“What do widely diverse crises such as declining demography, increasing indebtedness, Generation Z’s indifference to religion and patriotism, static rates of home ownership, and a national epidemic of ignorance about American history and traditions all have in common?”
“In a word, 21st-century higher education.”
“A pernicious cycle begins even before a student enrolls. A typical college-admission application is loaded with questions to the high-school applicant about gender, equality, and bias rather than about math, language, or science achievements. How have you suffered rather than what you know and wish to learn seems more important for admission. The therapeutic mindset preps the student to consider himself a victim of cosmic forces, past and present, despite belonging to the richest, most leisured, and most technologically advanced generation in history. Without a shred of gratitude, the young student learns to blame his ancestors for what he is told is wrong in his life, without noticing how the dead made sure that almost everything around him would be an improvement over 2,500 years of Western history.”
Make The Truth Irrelevant, by Robert Gore, at straightlinelogic.com. The Main Stream Media no longer is interested in what is true but what advances their narrative. So where do people go to find out the truth if they are fortunate enough to understand that the MSM is not seeking the truth? As busy as most people are do they have the time to seek the truth?
Why Do They Hate Him So? by Victor Davis Hanson, at amgreatness.com. Excerpt from the article:
“….. why the unadulterated hatred? For the small number of NeverTrumpers, of course, Trump’s crudity in speech and crassness in manner nullify his accomplishments: the unattractive messenger has fouled an otherwise tolerable message.”
“Far more importantly, why do the media, academia, the entertainment and professional sports industries, the progressive Left, the administrative state, and most Democratic officeholders despise him so?”
“His brashness bothers them of course. His quirky tweets and name-calling certainly. His loud rallies, his public put-downs, and his feuding are certainly not matched by those of past presidents.”
“But the real source of their antipathy is his agenda.”
“Had Donald Trump in his first month as president declared that he was a centrist Republican ….. and promoted cap-and-trade and solar and wind federal subsidies, tabled pipeline construction and abated federal leasing for gas and oil production, stayed in the Iran nuclear deal and Paris Climate Accord, appointed judges in the tradition of John Paul Stevens and David Souter, praised the “responsible” Palestinian leaders, pursued “comprehensive immigration reform” as a euphemism for blanket amnesties, then Trump would be treated largely as a George H.W. Bush or George W. Bush: hated, of course, but not obsessively so.”
“Had Trump kept within the media and cultural sidelines by giving interviews to “60 Minutes,” speaking at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, bringing in a few old Republican hands to run the staff or handle media relations like a David Gergen or Andrew Card, Trump would have been written off as a nice enough dunce.”
“But Trump did none of that. So, the hatred of the media, the Left, the swamp, and the celebrity industry is predicated more on the successful Trump agenda. He is systematically undoing what Barack Obama wrought,”
MISCELLANEOUS
Brexit Parliament Tethers Britain To A Failing Experiment, at zerohedge.com. The EU is failing because the central planning of economic decisions leads to an eventual collapse. The history of the world is littered with failed experiments of central planning.
Merkel Admits German Multiculturalism Has “Utterly Failed”, at zerohedge.com. She should have known this before the fact.
State Department Probe Of Clinton Emails Finds No Deliberate Mishandling Of Classified Information, by Greg Miller, at washingtonpost.com. Excerpt from the article:
“Overall, investigators said, “there was no persuasive evidence of systemic, deliberate mishandling of classified information.” The report cited “instances of classified information being inappropriately” transmitted, but noted that the vast majority of those scrutinized “were aware of security policies and did their best to implement them.”
The law states that Gross Negligence and not deliberate intent is the standard for breaking this particular rule. If you are interested you can read the statute here (Laws Don’t Constrain Our Ruling Aristocracy)
Will The Democrat Party Exist After 2020 Election? at zerohedge.com. Good Question!
Will The Clintons Destroy The Democrat Party? by Charles Hugh Smith, at oftwominds.com. Better Question?
Polar Bear Expert Purged, by Craig Rucker, at cfact.org. Excerpt from the article:
“The truth is the polar bear population is increasing.”
“It appears that telling the truth about polar bears made Dr. Susan Crockford, a respected, published Canadian zoologist, the victim of an ideological purge. First she was removed from the University of Victoria’s speakers bureau, and then not renewed to her position as an adjunct professor.”
Quotations Of The Day On Climate Alarmism, by Mark J. Perry, at carpediemblog. Here are a few.
– “Controlling carbon is a bureaucrat’s dream. If you control carbon, you control life.” (MP: Of course, you also control people.)
– “When an issue becomes a vital part of a political agenda, as is the case with climate, then the politically desired position becomes a goal rather than a consequence of scientific research.”
Texas Father Blocked From Stopping Gender Transition Of Son James 7, To Girl Called Luna, by Ellie Bufkin, at washingtonexaminer.com. This is child abuse. A seven year old can’t possibly understand gender transition. Let a kid make this decision after he reaches the age of consent, not before.
6 Crazy School Responses To Parents Mad About LBGT Indoctrination, by Joy Pullmann, at thefederalist.com. Indoctrination is the right word.
SATIRICAL HEADLINES
Motorcyclist Who Identifies As Bicyclist Sets Cycling World Record, at babylonbee.com.
Moloch Announced Forcing Your Kids To Become Transgender Is Acceptable Form Of Sacrifice, at babylonbee.com.
Pete Buttigieg Tries Appealing To Moderate Boomers By Announcing He Doesn’t Agree With His Choice To Be Gay But Respects His Decision, at the onion.com.
Groundbreaking Pew Research Study Finds Pews Are Uncomfortable, at babylonbee.com.
Congress Claims Situation In Syria Is Bad But Not Bad Enough For Them To Actually Declare War, at babylonbee.com.
CARTOONS
From theburningplatform.
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Tags: Brexit, Cartoons from The Burning Platform, Climate Alarmism Quotations, Clinton Emails No Deliberate Mishandling, Clintons Destroying Democrat Party, Conspiracies Broad And Deep, EU Is A Failing Experiment, Fed Holding Up The Stock Market, Fed Restarted QE, Make Truth Irrelevant, Merkel Multiculturalism Utter Failure, NBA China, Polar Bear Expert Purged, Political Control Over Markets, Printed Money Is Infinite?, Satirical Headlines, Schools LBGT Indoctrination, Texas Father and Sons Gender Transition, Universities Breed Anger and Ignorance, Why Do They Hate Trump?
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