Steve Bull's Blog, page 201
August 13, 2022
It’s Game Over for the Fed—Expect a Monetary “Rug Pull” Soon…
You often hear the media, politicians, and financial analysts casually toss around the word “trillion” without appreciating what it means.
A trillion is a massive, almost unfathomable number.
The human brain has trouble understanding something so huge. So let me try to put it into perspective.
If you earned $1 per second, it would take 11 days to make a million dollars.
If you earned $1 per second, it would take 31 and a half years to make a billion dollars.
And if you earned $1 per second, it would take 31,688 years to make a trillion dollars.
So that’s how enormous a trillion is.
When politicians carelessly spend and print money measured in the trillions, you are in dangerous territory.
And that is precisely what the Federal Reserve and the central banking system have enabled the US government to do.
From the start of the Covid hysteria until today, the Federal Reserve has printed more money than it has for the entire existence of the US.
For example, from the founding of the US, it took over 227 years to print its first $6 trillion. But in just a matter of months recently, the US government printed more than $6 trillion.
During that period, the US money supply increased by a whopping 41%.
In short, the Fed’s actions amounted to the biggest monetary explosion that has ever occurred in the US.
Initially, the Fed and its apologists in the media assured the American people its actions wouldn’t cause severe price increases. But unfortunately, it didn’t take long to prove that absurd assertion false.
As soon as rising prices became apparent, the mainstream media and Fed claimed that the inflation was only “transitory” and that there was nothing to be worried about. Then, when the inflation was obviously not “transitory,” they told us “inflation was actually a good thing.”
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
August 12, 2022
“Nothing Left In Pipes”: French Towns Rely on Water Truck Deliveries For Survival
Severe drought conditions affect about 60% of the EU, and in France, dozens of municipalities have run out of water and relied on a fleet of trucks hauling fresh water for survival.
At least 100 towns and villages have run out of fresh water. The French government has stepped in to support these drought-stricken areas.
French environment minister Christophe Bechu said in dozens of municipalities, “there is nothing left in the pipes,” referring to freshwater systems that have run completely dry. He said the ‘historic’ crisis has resulted in the deployment of a fleet of trucks delivering water to areas in need.
Besides France, Spain, Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands are all facing water shortages and falling water levels on inland waterways (the situation on the River Rhine is one to follow). Drought conditions across 60% of the EU could have severe economic consequences, affecting energy production, agriculture, and river transportation.
Record heat across Europe has fueled “increased fire danger due to the lack of rain and the resulting dry vegetation, combined with high temperatures,” the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service noted.
In southwest France, a massive wildfire has scorched 14,000 hectares in just a few weeks, forcing the evacuation of thousands of people.
We’ve pointed out that French utility Electricite de France SA had to “reduce or halt nuclear output” because record-breaking heat on the Rhone and Garonne rivers made the water too hot to circulate through condensers and discharge back into waterways.
Meanwhile, French power prices are at a new record of over 600 euros per megawatt hour amid grid strains thanks to the lack of nuclear power generation amid heightened demand during heatwave.
The bad news is the persistent heat wave is forecasted to continue in parts of western and central Europe through the second half of August.
August 11, 2022
We Should Aspire to be Peasants
Painting by Johann Ludwig Ernst Morgenstern – Public Domain
Rising food prices — as the USDA has forecast for 2022 — may seem like a good thing for farmers.
After all, who wouldn’t like to see some more cash? Farmers, like everyone else, have been through a lot lately. Years of stagnant or falling farm income in many ways paralleled the stagnant wages of so many Americans. The COVID-19 pandemic sent shockwaves through our supply chain, crashing farm prices and disrupting markets.
But the story is not so simple.
Inputs – that’s where the problem lies. Whether it’s fertilizer, seed, machinery or fuel, farmers are having to pay more to grow our nation’s food. The war in Ukraine has led to fuel and fertilizer shortages, another component of the soaring input costs.
Clearly, corporations are also price gouging. With every aspect of agriculture being highly consolidated, it’s easy for companies to do as they wish, as just four firms control over 60% of our seed, another four determine what happens with 75% of fertilizer in the U.S., and still four others set the terms for over 75% of grain sales. Meanwhile, some corporations, instead of allowing farmers to repair their own machinery, require them to seek out pricey company-authorized technicians when things break down.
Corporate agribusiness controls the food system, racking up profits while farmers and consumers dance to their tune.
So, what’s the answer, who should we look to in times like these?
Peasants, that’s who. Peasants actually produce food for their families and communities, not commodities for the global economy.
Most American farmers probably think it laughable to see peasant farming as a model. American farmers are told that they feed the world, while peasants work small acreages and think in terms of food diversity and food sovereignty, not mono-cultures and global markets.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Let Them Eat Bugs
Let Them Eat BugsA study earlier this year from four prestigious institutions proclaimed that you should eat bugs and spiders.
And not only that. The study — conducted by BI Norwegian Business School (BI), Chuo University, Miyagi University and Oxford University — also said that the way to convince people to do this is to have celebrities do it on YouTube videos.
Like clockwork, they are suddenly everywhere. You are welcome to look them up. I personally find them revolting. As in they make me want to revolt.
These are the same folks who pushed for lockdowns, masking, jabs and a war with Russia. Now they say we have to get used to eating bugs because all the other policies they pushed have dramatically increased world hunger. Indeed, it is reaching a crisis point.
For many people, bug eating will soon be the only answer.
One Step Before Cannibalism
I’m going to take it as a given that the evolution of society selected against bug eating. It is not something people prefer over, for example, eating chicken, fish, beef and vegetables. I would further postulate that most people, in general, would not eat bugs unless they had to.
I’m sure there are many venerable bureaucrats at the UN who would dispute the above, but I don’t care.
There is a name for bug eating: entomophagy. Sounds fancy, but ultimately it means living as if there is a famine going on. It is one step before cannibalism and finally eating tree bark.
Sometimes it happens. We call those periods of history deeply tragic. It’s not what we want. The difference this time is that entomophagy is being pushed by top Hollywood influencers.
When it arrives, the famine will be celebrated on social media.
Food Is Already Scarce
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
OPEC Sets The Stage For Output Cuts, Sees Oil Market Tipping Into Surplus In Clash With IEA Forecast
Biden’s “hard-won”, post Saudi fist-bump OPEC output boost of 100K barrels may end up being not only the smallest on record, but also the shortest.
In its latest monthly report, OPEC revealed that it expects global oil markets to tip into surplus this quarter as it downgraded the outlook for demand and bolstered estimates for rival supplies. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries cut forecasts for the amount of crude it will need to pump in the third quarter by 1.24 million barrels a day to 28.27 million – according to Bloomberg, that’s about 570,000 barrels a day less than OPEC’s 13 members pumped in July.
The surprising revision, which comes at a time of unprecedented pressure by western nations in general and the US in particular on the non-Russian countries in OPEC+, conspicuously diverges from that of the International Energy Agency, which boosted its demand forecasts on Thursday as soaring natural gas prices compel companies and refiners to switch to using oil, in effect confirming what we said two days ago when we noted that Europe’s aggressive gas-oil switching amid US oil exports to Europe likely set the lows for US gasoline prices.
Specifically, in its own monthly report, the Paris-based IEA forecast that world oil consumption will increase by 2.1 million barrels a day this year, or about 2%, up 380,000 a day from the previous forecast. The extra demand that prompted the revision is “overwhelmingly concentrated” in the Middle East and Europe.
At the basis of the IEA’s upward demand revision is a surge in gas-to-oil switching. Bloomberg explains:
Natural gas prices have surged this year as Russia restricts gas flows to Europe, a move that is widely seen as retaliation for sanctions imposed over its invasion of Ukraine…
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
A third of Brits face poverty with energy bills set to hit $5,000
London (CNN Business)
Nearly one third of households in the United Kingdom will face poverty this winter after paying energy bills that are set to soar again in January, campaigners say.
About 10.5 million households will be in fuel poverty for the first three months of next year, according to estimates from the End Fuel Poverty Coalition (EFPC) published on Tuesday — meaning that their income after paying for energy will fall below the poverty line.The UK government defines poverty as household income of less than 60% of the UK median, which stood at £31,000 ($37,500) in 2021, according to official statistics.The predictions are based on new estimates from research firm Cornwall Insight, also published Tuesday, which show that the average household energy bill is expected to hit £3,582 ($4,335) a year from October, and £4,266 ($5,163) from January — equating to about £355 ($430) a month.January’s forecast represents a 116% increase in energy bills from current levels. As fuel prices surge, estimates are having trouble keeping pace. Just last week, Cornwall Insight predicted January’s prices would rise by 83% from current levels.The research firm said it had revised its figures because of a jump in wholesale prices and a change in the way the UK regulator calculates its price cap. But there could be relief on the horizon: Cornwall Insight expects bills to start falling in the second half of 2023.Fuel bills started rising last year as a global natural gas supply crunch pushed wholesale prices up to record levels. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February has only exacerbated the situation.The average UK household bill has already risen 54% this year, exacerbating a cost-of-living crisis that has forced many Britons to choose between “heating and eating.”…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Food – are we facing a Crisis or an Opportunity?
Image by author Home/General/Food – are we facing a Crisis or an Opportunity?Food – are we facing a Crisis or an Opportunity?This post shares four things. The one that takes up the most space is about those two little words “food crisis” that are starting to make headlines. There’s a reason they’re making headlines, and it might not be the reason you think.
The other items in this post are two tips for ethical buying/browsing choices, and a little piece of wisdom about the language we use.
Ethical internet searching
Ecosia.org is an internet search engine (like Google) that plants trees (unlike Google).
Image by Rommel Diaz from PixabayThey do a lot of other things unlike Google, too. In their words:
“We dedicate all our profits to the regeneration of the planet. We even signed a legal contract binding us to our not-for-profit purpose forever. Ecosia can’t be sold … and we can’t take money out of the company.”
Also in their words:
“… if everyone switched from Google to Ecosia, we could plant 300 billion trees — every year.”
Google offers so many free tools in addition to its search engine that it’s hard to go past them for sheer convenience. That’s one of the reasons they’re so influential and powerful.
What might a company like Ecosia achieve in the next 10, the next 20, 30 years… if enough people supported them to enable them to start offering other services the same way Google did?
You can read their manifesto here.
Ethical undies
Do you wear socks or undies? Me too. And the other day I finally found a socks ‘n’ jocks company that I feel good about buying from. I was so excited, my kids rolled their eyes. What’s Mum on about now.
Image by jerabkovamartina from Pixabay…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
The Big Green Lie Almost Everyone Claims to Believe
Wind turbines are silhouetted against the sun at Black Law wind farm, in Black Law, Scotland, on Jan. 29, 2010. (Jeff J. Mitchell/Getty Images)The Big Green Lie Almost Everyone Claims to Believe Almost every member of Congress, Democrat or Republican, pays homage to the Big Green Lie. So do all the past and remaining Conservative candidates vying to be prime minister of the UK and every candidate currently vying for the leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada. So does virtually all of the mainstream press.
The Big Green Lie—that carbon dioxide is a pollutant—is so pervasive that even those considered skeptics—including right-wing NGOs and pundits—generally adhere to the orthodoxy, differing not in their stated belief that CO2 is a pollutant but only in how calamitous a pollutant it is.
Because everyone now participates in the “CO2 emissions are bad” lie, the debate over climate policy hasn’t been over whether a CO2 problem exists but over how urgently CO2 needs to be addressed, and how it should be addressed. Do we have eight years left before Armageddon becomes inevitable or decades? Do we get off fossil fuels by building nuclear plants or wind turbines? Should we change our lifestyles to need less of everything? Or should we mitigate this evil—the view of those deemed climate minimalists—by shielding our continents from a rising of the oceans by enclosing them behind sea walls?
With almost everyone across the political spectrum publicly agreeing that curbing CO2 is a good thing, the debate has been between those who want to do good quickly by reaching net-zero in 2040 and sticks in the mud who want to slow down the doing of a good thing. With discourse careening down rabbit holes, almost everyone gets lost pursuing solutions to Alice-in-Wonderland delusions—and wasting trillions of dollars in the process.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
WEF Playbook: Collapse Sri Lanka Today, the West Tomorrow?
Unless you’re reading this from Belarus or North Korea, safely outside of the WEF clutches (for now), your state is losing its sovereignty right in front of your eyes.
Here’s a perfect case study from Sri Lanka.
You might’ve seen sensationalist coverage of the riots in Western media, but likely none that deeply explores the underlying cancer that’s metastasized on the island.
Social unrest is the symptom; technocratic social engineering is the disease.
Sri Lankan gas prices are through the roof; food is scarce; the government has defaulted on its crushing debts; the ruling fat cats, who drink and gamble while the country crumbles around them, have only gotten richer in the interim (sound familiar?).
In response to the crisis, the overlords have opportunistically treated Sri Lankans to digital fuel passes via QR codes to ration supplies:
The economy didn’t magically implode on its own. Rather it’s the culmination of years of self-serving mismanagement by the ruling family and intentional, calculated manipulation from the global technocrats at the WEF and its appendages.
Before the pandemic, tourism accounted for 12% of Sri Lanka’s GDP. Millions of Sri Lankans depended on the influx of visitors for their livelihoods. Brutal COVID-19 lockdowns eliminated essentially that entire economic sector overnight.
To compensate, the proposed solution – at the behest of “Sri Lankan NGO society and civil society” – was to eliminate imports of foreign agricultural fertilizer and pesticides. President Rajapaksa, of the ruling family, forced a sudden switch to all-organic farming.
Organic farming is optimal for human and environmental health – but, in this case, the government made no effort to train farmers or to provide viable alternative natural fertilizers.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
August 10, 2022
Phase Shift — Part 2
Putting tipping points into context
Image credit: Pawel Czerwinski via UnsplashWhen you start to see the world as a massively complex self-adapting system with its innumerable actors and all its tipping points — as discussed in Part 1 of this essay — you start to see phase transitions everywhere.
The world as we know it is about cross several tipping points as we speak. We are amidst a massive sea change, triggered unwillingly by human activity, and controlled by absolutely no one. We have started to rock the chair, and now we are about experience what the world looks like on the other side.
We have entered a forest packed full of booby traps, tripwires and snares, where hitting one could offset ten other in a rapid chain reaction. The issues we think of as unrelated are in fact part of a much larger story. Resource depletion. Wars. Deforestation. Drought. Dependence on fertilizers. Ocean dead zones. The list goes on.
In this sense, it is both frightening and entertaining to see monkeys dressed up in a suit and tie, with all their diplomas from law, political ‘science’ and neoclassical economics, trying to act like they had an idea on where things are going… and see how they are making things only worse by doing so.
Much worse, much faster than it would otherwise had to be.
Near the tipping point any system’s ability to bounce back from hardships — aka its resilience — diminishes (be it the global climate, or the human economy) besetting the system with ever longer recovery times and a heightened sensitivity to even the smallest of disturbances. Just like in our chair-rocking example: it gets harder and harder to maintain your balance as you approach the point of no return.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
