The Feds Created a Counterfeit Economy

We read the news. We are appalled.

We saw that, soon, it may not be only Blacks who want to set fire to police stations.

Since the bottom of the Crisis of ’08-’09, the 20% of the population at the bottom of the heap — largely young and/or Black — has lost 25% of its wealth.

The next and biggest group, those with more than the bottom 20% but less than the top 40%, are essentially even. That is, they hit bottom in March ’09…and never recovered.

That makes 60% of the population worse off than it was in 2007. Meanwhile, the top 1% has seen an increase in its wealth of nearly 150%.

Were these developments just the free market at work? Did they ‘just happen’? Is this ‘okay’?

Counterfeit economy

According to press reports, poor George Floyd was handcuffed…and then killed…because he tried to pass a $20 bill that was counterfeit.

On that same day — as on every day for the past three months — the Federal Reserve has passed out $1.5 billion worth of them.

And now, fueled by the pure oxygen of $3 trillion in new counterfeit money, the S&P 500 has been boosted back up over 3,000.

Meanwhile, the U.S. economy in which Mr. Floyd tried to make a living has been struggling for air.

The Fed’s giveaways to Wall Street — including its artificially low interest rates — discouraged saving and stifled the kind of real business investment that might have created good-paying jobs.

Instead, corporate boards decided to borrow…pay themselves bonuses…and buy their own shares to jack up their prices.

Often, in times of war, counterfeiters will print up billions in fake currency, to try to destroy the enemy’s economy and promote civil unrest. Now, we do it to ourselves.

In short, the feds are operating the biggest, most destructive counterfeiting ring in all of history.

But there have been no arrests. No perp walks. No trials. No demonstrations. No window breaking and no looting.

The average man knows nothing about it. And who would tell him? Wall Street? The president? The Fed? The press?

Instead, he is told that the geniuses at the Fed are doing their best to ‘stimulate’ the economy.

And both sides — Democrat and Republican…The New York Times and Fox News…support the counterfeiting rip-off. They want to keep it going as long as possible.

And for the moment, the feds can pass out trillions of dollars…to their crony friends and to the voters…with no apparent downside. Get it while you can.

Lost decade ahead

Our guess is that they are going to pass out a lot more. Here’s CNN with a report on a ‘lost decade’ ahead:

The CBO [Congressional Budget Office] warns in a new analysis that the pandemic will reduce cumulative economic output over the next 10 years by $7.9 trillion, or 3% of GDP during the decade, compared to its projections from January. Without accounting for inflation, the damage totals $15.7 trillion, or 5.3% of GDP.

Recent legislation, which includes more than $2 trillion in stimulus, will only partially mitigate the economic fallout caused by the pandemic, the CBO said.

Lost decade? What can the feds do, but print up some more money?

And who will suffer most? Guess what…the same people the feds have been ripping off for the last 10-20 years!

The young, the poor, the uneducated. The George Floyds of America. The Washington Post looks at just one segment:

After accounting for the present crisis, the average millennial has experienced slower economic growth since entering the workforce than any other generation in U.S. history.

Millennials will bear these economic scars the rest of their lives, in the form of lower earnings, lower wealth and delayed milestones, such as homeownership.

Unluckiest generation

Naturally, the Post has no idea what is really going on and no interest in finding out why. It merely observes that young people are getting screwed.

‘The unluckiest generation,’ it calls them.

They have more debt than any previous generation (not even including their share of the ‘national’ debt).

They have fewer good jobs…lower earnings…and are unlikely to ever catch up to their parents, in terms of wealth.

They are the ones most damaged by the COVID-19 shutdown…because they were among the 60% of the population that never recovered from the ’08-’09 crisis. And they tended to be in the ‘gig’ or service sectors…where revenues evaporated almost overnight.

They were locked down at the most important time in their lives — when they were just starting businesses, careers, and families. And this was despite the fact that they were never really at risk from the virus.

And now, they’re locked up again…among the 60 million Americans under curfews.

Not just bad luck

But it’s not just a matter of bad luck.

Millennials, Blacks, Whites, the middle classes, as well as the poor — all have been cheated in a way the Post doesn’t even begin to understand. So, we’ll spell it out:

The counterfeit dollars — given out by the central banks — go mostly to older, richer people who own financial assets.

Young people, Blacks, and less-educated people typically don’t own stocks, bonds, or real estate. They sell their time. By the hour. And the real hourly rate has scarcely changed since 1975.

The rich get richer. The poor and middle classes get poorer.

And just wait. Now, the feds are ‘printing’ money like never before.

Expect more corruption, more dependence, more unfairness, and (sooner or later) runaway inflation, depression, riots, (maybe ‘civil’ war)…poverty, chaos…

…the victims will put up a fight…the feds will get tough…

…and then, the knee will be on all of our throats…

Stay tuned…

Regards,

Bill Bonner