Slow news days
Have you noticed the news has been relatively slow lately?
What is conventionally thought of as “news,” that is. There’ve been no significant rumblings of revolution in still another Middle East country and calls to war. No oil spills. No earthquakes or tsunamis. No legislators caught with their pants down (literally).
But sometimes the news that ends up making a difference slips in under the radar of most people. We just don’t know what it will be. For example, will the current story that Standard & Poors has said that the US could lose its AAA rating end up being exceedingly significant? James Saft at India’s Economic Times certainly thinks it may:
Firstly, if the U.S. loses its AAA rating it could prove to be the turning point in a loss of confidence that starts a debilitating move out of not only Treasuries but dollar assets. After all, the U.S. won’t default on debts which it can erase with the flick of the switch on the printing press, but it may well inflate its way to making dollar holdings very bad investments.
Secondly, the lack of alternatives means that a move out of Treasuries, if it ever came, would be hugely distorting for the rest of the world’s debt ecosystem. There simply aren’t enough “safe” alternatives.
But others think the story’s so ridiculous it’s to be laughed at. Here’s James Fallows at the Atlantic, among others:
What I’d really like to know is who S&P likes in the Hornets-Lakers series, or this season of American Idol. Their views would carry just as much weight.
Har de har har har. Fallows also describes James K. Galbraith’s response as a “derisive guffaw.”
This derision is based at least in part on their very correct observation that S&P hasn’t exactly covered itself with glory in its predictions and ratings in recent years. Then again, as Haft points out, S&P’s problem was not jumping the gun, it was the opposite:
One argument advanced for why we shouldn’t care about the threatened downgrade is S&P’s (and other ratings agencies’) track record of being spectacularly wrong, first in various emerging market sovereign crises and then during the housing bubble.
I’d argue the opposite; ratings agencies have a reputation of being timid and late, and are also beholden to government-granted status as Nationally Recognized Statistical Ratings Organizations for much of their business. That one of them steps up and threatens the U.S.’s rating is a sign that cannot be ignored.
A worrisome and highly related issue that been on many minds for quite some time is the deficit. But it’s only a biggish story when something new happens: Paul Ryan’s plan comes out, Obama makes a speech, Congress tackles the budget. But we can always speculate on how big it will become in the future, and what we might need to do about it:
..[T]he best back-of-envelope estimate is that meeting this unfunded portion of our Social Security and Medicare commitments would require roughly an immediate 80 percent increase in federal income taxes, sustained forever.
That is one end of a spectrum. The other is to cut out $100 trillion of present value of anticipated entitlement spending.
I was at a dinner last year with about 15 well-known Washington think-tankers, academics, journalists, bloggers and budget experts, entirely focused on the question of where on this spectrum we will end up. What was striking to me was that as we went around the table, the majority of these people asserted confidently what would be politically feasible or infeasible positions. Many of these equally confident-sounding assertions were contradictory and, not shockingly, tended to line up roughly with each speaker’s political inclinations.
It would be simple for me as an economic conservative to dismiss the idea of a tax increase equal to an 80 percent increase in income taxes as politically unrealistic, but I’m not so sure about that. In the event of a crisis, I could easily imagine “emergency” income taxes on the “most fortunate among us” plus some increases in middle-class tax rates, plus the introduction of a VAT, amounting to something like that.
If you had asked me at a New Year’s Eve party in 2006 what I thought the odds were of the U.S. government taking a controlling interest in the largest bank, the largest car company, and the largest insurance company in America, I would probably have laughed at you. Yet within 36 months, this is exactly what had happened.
My friends who are more liberal than I probably should not make the analogous mistake of imagining that benefit reductions that seem absurd politically right now might come to seem less absurd, and surprisingly quickly.
If you think about it, any real solution to the federal deficit problem is currently politically impossible; yet we know mathematically that, barring a productivity miracle, the situation cannot persist indefinitely. Therefore, we know that some change that currently seems politically impossible is all-but-certain to happen sooner or later.
Prognostications have a funny way of not panning out. Yes, a few people always manage to have been right, or nearly right, about a future event. But are they consistently and reliably right? Those would be the people to listen to. But who are they?
One of the reasons for the apparent slow news is the unwillingness of the MSM to cover news that reflects badly on Obama. Heard much about Libya lately? Gas prices? limits on oil drilling in the Gulf and in Alaska?
I read a commentator yesterday who claimed that indeed, rating agencies are “the last to know”.
This morning’s Salon has a piece by Michael Lind who describes four different plans to fix the economy – none of them working. It begins with the customary claim that cutting taxes favors only the rich and government investment in R&D, infrastructure and training are essential to long-term productivity improvements.
He also says not to worry – there’s no place to which investors can move their money.
He lumps Clinton and Obama into the category of center-left. When are the members of the cognoscenti going to realize that Obama isn’t that smart?
http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/index.html?story=/politics/war_room/2011/04/19/economic_recession_liberal_conservative_plan_obama&source=newsletter&utm_source=contactology&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Salon_Daily%20Newsletter%20%28Not%20Premium%29_7_30_110
One thing that will certainly affect investors and debt holders is the response of the people to the budget problems. If we stick our heads in the sand or go Greek with protests, we will make things worse. But if we show American can-do spirit, perhaps people will remember that we get things right only after we have tried all the alternatives.
He also says not to worry – there’s no place to which investors can move their money.
Not exactly a ringing endorsement, is it?
Also, probably untrue. If they need to, investors will find another place to move their money.
God, I’m depressed. The country in general, and my state in particular, are in a power dive to perdition, and there’s nothing I can do about it. It’s like being financially prudent but married to a spendthrift.
IMHO everyone is missing the point of the S & P warning. If such an actual downgrad occurred, the question to be asked is “where else would any other country go?” (see Mohammed El Erian)
http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/maelerian2/English.
Business with the U.S. would not go elsewhere, there is no elsewhere to go. There is no SINGLE economy to replace ours, and it would be virtually impossible to cobble together an economic union that was up to the task (ever hear of the European Union?). Business would, however, be globally constrained and global economies would begin to grind to a halt.
The purpose of the S & P threat is to serve as a shot across the U.S. bow. This is a good thing. Hopefully it scares the Hell out of our elitist ruling class, convinces them that this uncontrolled debt is a real problem requiring real solutions and catalyzes some tangible action to remedy the situation at least in part.
I WANT to see our financial institutions and decision makers running scared right now. Yes there are current repercussions in the markets, but these are part of the pain of solving the upcoming crisis. They are nothing compared to a potential global mercantile meltdown; we got just a small taste of that in 2008, and I like to think that we will all consider it a “no thank you” helping.
OB,
While you’re correct, there’s nothing you can individually do to alter the grand scheme, you can work to protect yourself. Contrary to Joe Biden, I suggest that it is every American’s patriotic duty to arrange your affairs so as to pay the absolute least amount of tax. This includes not only arrangements for minimizing federal/state income tax, but also includes reducing discretionary purchases to avoid paying sales and excise taxes as well. Starve the beast.
If the “spouse is a spendthrift,” don’t give her/him any cash or credit. If the crisis can’t be averted, then hasten it; deal with the crisis at a time of YOUR choosing rather than have it indiscriminately dumped upon you at a time when your least capable of dealing with it.
The Gods of the Copybook Headings always turn out to be right.
1. Fallows also describes James K. Galbraith’s response as a “derisive guffaw.”
Fallows and Galbraith claim that we can’t default on dollar-based bonds because we can print more dollars. This is astonishing–the words in my mind are a lot less civil than ‘astonishing’–because the whole point is that the world may stop accepting dollars, not just for new and rolled over government debt, but for trade.
2. George Soros made a billion betting against the British pound; John Paulson made 15 billion betting against the housing bubble. (The foregoing numbers are anecdotal, but Soros’s bet against the pound was accepted as the ultimate modern speculative coup until Paulson eclipsed it.) If things continue as they’re going, someone may eclipse Paulson by betting on the collapse of the dollar.
3. Manzi: What was striking to me was that as we went around the table, the majority of these people asserted confidently what would be politically feasible or infeasible positions.
In other words, the Washington elites who put the country in this untenable position reamain entrenched, smug, and unaffected by the consequences of their irresponsibility.
“”The country in general, and my state in particular, are in a power dive to perdition, and there’s nothing I can do about it.””
OB
You have to wonder what exactly is it giving us this feeling of inevitability of things coming apart. What i see different from 1980 is the incidious moral component now hardwired into liberals that our demise is really right and just. Their own demise! We’re talking brainwashing on a scale i never thought even possible, much less would see in my lifetime.
T, thanks. We’re doing everything we can in this regard. Fortunately, the whole family is on board with this.
You have to wonder what exactly is it giving us this feeling of inevitability of things coming apart.
For me it’s the fact that galloping stupidity is rampant in the country, shows no signs of abating, and we’re running out of time. The magic of compounding is working against us, yet idiots are not the slightest bit alarmed.
Have you noticed the news has been relatively slow lately?
Semi OT: when’s the last time you heard a peep about Iraq?
. . . or Libya, or Afghanistan, or . . . .
“Have you noticed the news has been relatively slow lately?”
I agree that it is an unwillingness to cover stories that reflect badly on Obama. The key to news these days is to knowing what they’re not covering.
When the news is on, my 8 yr old son has started asking me “Why is that on the news?” While I can explain the importance of covering the recent earthquake in Japan, there are a lot of stories that I have a hard time justifying to him, such as the “controversial” Lady GaGa song, or those weird local news stories that get picked up by the 24hr news channels.
“”there are a lot of stories that I have a hard time justifying to him,””
Libby
My favorite lately is tornado stories with a woman always crying in them. What the hell happened to mamas and grandmamas who were tough as s***? My grandmother would have taken the stupid reporters microphone and beat him with it.
“”there are a lot of stories that I have a hard time justifying to him,””
Libby
As indicated a while ago, my favorite was the Katie Couric’s hard-hitting story on seniors knitting caps for toddlers. Fully worth the five minutes (ca. one-quarter of the “news” cast) she spent on it.
Guess what, folks? The market is gonna resolve these problems, “political possibilities” to the contrary notwithstanding.
May be damned painful though.
May do some damned severe realignment of people’s value systems too. People will be retaught that our needs are oxygen, water, food, shelter, and clothing in that order. All else is wants, not needs.
OB…try to make sure you have a place to grow food, get water, and a way to protect it.
The US emerged from World War II as the only viable military and economic power in the world. Those of us lucky enough to have been born and lived here since have enjoyed a level of prosperity unknown and undreamed of in human history.
We knew that real estate ALWAYS increases in value.
We knew that wages and salaries always increase.
In the nineties we learned that we could throw money at almost any mutual fund and expect a minimum 10% return on investment.
We could afford a generous welfare state and large deficits because there would be plenty of money next year or next decade to make things right.
Well welcome to the “old normal”. We have some painful lessons coming. How painful those lessons will be is dependent on how soon we recognize our position and begin to make the adjustments necessary. It would seem that Obama and company are determined to keep all of the balls in the air until election day 2012. With just a little luck and the cooperation of the media they just might be able to do it. But we must realize that the longer we postpone dealing with reality the more painful those lessons will become.
Now would be a good time to study how the people of Argentina managed to survive during their fairly recent economic collapse.
kaba,
I grew up after the war, but we were far from rich. However, my parents showed remarkable ingenuity in making the best of what we had. To this day, I prefer rescuing a shoddy house or apartment with a few yards of inexpensive fabric, some paint, and used furniture to sterile McMansions or architectural masterpieces. There is something wonderful about being surrounded by evidence of your own successful efforts. And although I play with certain foodie trends, I really enjoy the basic down-to earth cooking of my mom. I can do quite a bit with a head of cabbage and some potatoes. It’s really liberating to know what you don’t need and to identify your own wants beyond those basics. So while cutting back my be difficult initially, I think people can learn. Family, friends, and community play a bigger role in happiness than many now realize, and they don’t cost a thing. I realized even as a kid that every extra I had came because of my parents’ efforts and love. We can do it.
Promethea,
See http://www.survival-spot.com/survival-blog/argentina-collapse/
Get a copy of “When Money Dies” by Adam Fergusson, a history of the German hyperinflation of 1918-1923 and the sociopolitical consequences. First published in 1975, recently re-issued, available from Amazon. It is overweight in German details, but the message still keeps me awake at night, months after reading. The reparations mandated at Versailles are in effect akin to our mandated Federal entitlements; the mandated spending of assets we simply do not have.
The problem with the Argentine model is that its economy was/is trivial to the rest of the world, as compared to us. The true message of Argentina is that 100 years ago it was one of the 10 biggest world economies, but politics, particularly Peron and Evita ruined it, as Baraq and Michelle intend to ruin us.
If the world is a tub full of water, Argentina is an pebble being dropped in from on high; the US is a boulder.
S&P is simply telling us what some of us already know, in hope more of us will notice. That its release caused a big market down-day worries me all the more…These sellers didn’t know, save for S&P? What are they all smoking?
Texexec, thanks. Tough advice to implement here in SoCal, with small yards and precious little water.
expat,
I understand what you are saying. I was born in a little farm house that didn’t have indoor plumbing. Growing up we grew, gathered, or hunted for probably 90% of our diet and ate really well at that. I will survive just fine.
But a large percentage of our population has no idea how to feed themselves if it doesn’t come from a can or can’t be found on a menu. And far, far too many are completely dependent on government at some level providing for their every whim.
I can’t help but think about New Orleans post Katrina. I think we may very well be looking at a scenario like that multiplied by 10,000 or so.
http://www.politico.com/politico44/perm/0411/nobody_interrupts_potus_480c750d-358b-487e-8416-24b1e907c727.html
I think the reporter will still have his job long after Obama is voted out of his.
I heard a McDonalds’ spokesman say McDonalds is committed to employment.
So, I guess it’s not only George S. who has been co-opted.
. . . committed to employment.
It’s our money-printing/ hyperinflation of the USD that is the issue.
The Fedsury is bailing out Congress at the expense of our reserve currency status.
The end game is always very, very ugly.
When Weimar Germany blew up it started Hitler on the road to ruin — and the worst to happen was a world war and genocide.
So what could go wrong when a nation 25 times as important as post-war Germany blows up the liquid savings of the planet?
( Hyperinflation has two phases: narcosis — where the money drug induces a euphoric political state; this is followed by blow-back — the public comes to understand the con and drops everything to hand the confetti to the next sucker before suffering lethal damage. Ramping prices only occur in the blow-back phase of hyperinflation. The early narcosis is when the damage is really being done; when wealth is being re-vectored towards cronies and dependent voting blocs.)
BTW, Red China is exponentially slumping in her real estate market. Trading prices are off 25% in the last 30 days in Beijing! The PBoC took away the punch bowl: no more hyper-easy credit.
blert:
That sounds like they might actually be learning from our mistakes.
Lots of great comments. My baseline commit is forget about ‘too big to fail’ and start thinking about ‘too big to save’.
The first to be brutalized by hyperinflation are those on fixed incomes; the second are the savers, the prudent folks, since their money is depreciating. Next is the middle class, the docs, the other professions, all small businesses, all lacking the time, the data, the smarts and the opportunity to escalate their fees and prices to match rising costs. The German union workers that still had jobs did pretty well.
Those who borrowed to invest in equities did very well for a time in Germany (the euphorics, per blert), as did the wealthy. But in 1923 an American shareholder in a German firm refused his dividend payment because the cost of shipping all that paper, billions upon billions of marks, to the US exceeded its value in dollars. Wire transfers did not then exist, and the mark declined literally every hour. Germans tried an alternative currency for a time, tied to bread instead of gold. That became unworkable because German farmers held wheat off the market; it became more valuable stored than sold to feed the citydwellers.
The retired American who today subsists on limited pension/savings and really depends on SS is estimated to spend ~50% on food and energy(primarily utilities). How very odd that the official “core” CPI excludes those , but is used as the basis for calculating once-yearly SS increases. There have not been any SS increases for the past two years. Your benificent gov’t looking out for ya.
Real inflation presently approaches 10% in the good ol’ USA.
Occam,
maybe you should move east a ways….
The progressives reaction to all this has been the Michael Moore mantra. “We’re not broke, the money is just in the wrong pockets!” Yep, gotta get that money from the Man and put it in the right pockets.
I expect they will soon come up with the one that was used during the Carter administration. “We’re not broke, look at all the buildings and land the government owns. Sell some if those assets and, poof, the debt is gone. Party on!”
The one thing I am absolutely sure of is that increasing taxes is not a solution. It is, instead, like giving more booze to an alcoholic. The best way to deal with the deficit is to decrease spending and increase economic growth. Just the opposite of what Obama and company are doing. Paul Ryan has a plan that does just that. Yes, it may be a bit timid – no change to Medicare for 11 years, measured cuts in programs, jiggering with SS around the edges – but it is politically possible. Give us a conservative Senate and President and bolder changes could be made.
IMO, we must put every department of the Federal government under the micrscope and subject them to an effectiveness test. By that yardstick, Education and Energy should be abolished. Neither has improved the education or energy posture of this country, in spite of trillion$ $pent. Others are just as worthless and could be abolished or downsized.
Tom says, “How very odd that the official “core” CPI excludes those..”
Not odd, on purpose.
And Tom says, “Real inflation presently approaches 10% in the good ol’ USA.”
True, and real un/underemployment is 20+%.
kaba says:
“I understand what you are saying. I was born in a little farm house that didn’t have indoor plumbing. Growing up we grew, gathered, or hunted for probably 90% of our diet and ate really well at that. I will survive just fine.
But a large percentage of our population has no idea how to feed themselves if it doesn’t come from a can or can’t be found on a menu. And far, far too many are completely dependent on government at some level providing for their every whim.
I can’t help but think about New Orleans post Katrina. I think we may very well be looking at a scenario like that multiplied by 10,000 or so.”
Are you from Kentucky? I am. Although we had indoor plumbing when we moved to southern Iowa. Nothing against outhouses, but in winter I prefer to do my business indoors. 😉
Growing up in the 50’s & early 60’s we fed ourselves. All we bought at the store was sugar, salt, baking soda, coffee, and in season, oranges. For me, oranges and orange juice are a luxury items I enjoy and appreciate to this day.
kaba, you have stated the truth: If/when TSHTF 90+% will not have the slightest idea of how to provide for themselves. I’m glad to be in fly over country.
“Country folks can survive. Because you can’t starve us out and you can’t make us run, cause we’se them ole boys raised on shotguns.” — Hank Junior
Tom, acting as an accurate historian, notes:
“Those who borrowed to invest in equities did very well for a time in Germany (the euphorics, per blert), as did the wealthy. But in 1923 an American shareholder in a German firm refused his dividend payment because the cost of shipping all that paper, billions upon billions of marks, to the US exceeded its value in dollars.”
Indeed! Go tangible and invest in commodities: grains, precious metals, and energy futures. And the other tangibles: food in the pantry and ammo in the closet.
Without a significant change in course within the next 2-3 years, all bets are off. It will be every man for himself, government against all.
There should probably be across-the-board cuts in all government agencies, but entitlements are the really unsustainable expenditures. The welfare state needs to go away. We can’t afford it. It’s time to stop subsidizing the underclass, with all of its pathologies.
The two most important things to remember in economics:
1) Incentives matter,
2) There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch
(TANSTAAFL)
Big gov’t liberals policies are as if both are false: they reward failure AND punish success (terrible incentives), and want gov’t programs like they’re a Free Lunch. Of course, everybody has had a lunch somebody else pays for — that seems like a free lunch, to them.
Big, but probably not Hyper, inflation is coming to the USA, and to the World: EU; China, India; Brazil. Even the Middle East.
The USA will, for one time, be able to inflate its debt obligations away, because it has been the world’s reserve currency, and there is still no substitute.
Because of American farmers, the food crises of many other countries will be less of a problem.
(It would be great for Republicans to scrap all agro-subsidies now. Get rid of market distortions and reduce spending, both. Also sugar tariffs.)
S&P is right about US debt; wrong about Mortgage Backed Security debt.
It would be better to print money to pay debts than to raise taxes.
The desire to raise taxes “on the rich”, is a similar sentiment as to hate the rich, the desire to burn the rich. To kill the rich. To commit genocide against the rich. Envy against the rich.
Against rich Jews; against rich, or educated, or foreign contacting Cambodians; against rich Tutsis.
The immorality of ever-increasing levels of “taxing the rich”, so as to allow mostly middle class to enjoy gov’t provided free benefits, is the terrible legacy of far-left cultural propaganda.
The MSM is too full of leftist ideology and PC junk.
Well, it looks like it’s gonna get far worse before it really starts to get better. Tea Party small gov’t type people need to find more ways to take back the culture from the Leftists who now occupy the institutions.
The worst states will be first, so how they are handled, like CA (and Wisconsin???!!!), will continue to be good predictions of the future. Dem dominance in CA predicts a terrible future.
Suggestion in any budget deficit:
1) Fix as an amount the median taxpayer’s prior year income (ranked order, not summed average). About $40 000.
2) For all gov’t workers, and retirees, reduce their pay benefits above this amount enough to balance the budget, without raising taxes.
3) Make this calculation, and allow 60 days to make other budget cuts before a re-calculation is done and implemented.
You want to know how bad it was in Argentina, in a big, modern city like Buenos Aires?
Check out Fernando Ferfal Aguirre’s “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse” (you can order it on Amazon.com for $25 bucks, and it is well worth it) about his and his family’s experiences when everything–the banks and currency, food availability, employment, law and order–just collapsed in that city, and he had to arm up, set up a defensible dwelling and, somehow, keep his wife and child safe and find enough to eat. His book has some suggestions that might, unfortunately, come in very handy for city dwellers here in the U.S. if things get as dicey as they could very well get.
My Central European grandparents got through WW2 better than most of their fellow city dwellers because my grandmother had stocked up on things that farmers would barter for.
It would be better to print money to pay debts than to raise taxes.
Tom Grey
You are advocating hyperinflation, then.
Money printing IS taxation. Now the tax is on liquid financial assets: cash, short term credit instruments, debt-assets…
Really anything denominated in USD.
We are hyperinflating right NOW. Taxes have EXPLODED upwards. But like any embezzlement, the victim at first does not realize the theft/ tax.
Right now that means YOU.
You, like most Americans, figure that the Fedsury can print money out of thin air and there will be trivial impacts.
My friend, check your food bill, your local gas pump and witness the chaos in the mortgage market.
The Fedsury is gaming the markets by intervening all over the place: System Open Market Account ( SOMA ) activity is run through the markets by JP Morgan Chase.
That ONE institution is insanely over represented in the derivatives market for one reason: SOMA.
Very much like AIG FP — which famously blew up — the Fedsury is writing protection derivatives in box car quantities that it can’t possibly ‘cover’ solely to permit further issuance of paper at nil interest rates.
Instead of paying for liquidity — as interest expense — our Fedsury is paying for liquidity by absorbing risk — in effect running AIG FP gambits/ interest rate risk underwriting on a magnum scale.
The end game MUST be a crack-up; this time taking down the Fedsury and the US Government with it.
When Weimar Germany imploded she was forced to yield her sovereignty in financial affairs: an international team of bankers came in and forced a massive, traumatic reduction in state expenditures, layoffs and tax hikes. The national legislature stood by helplessly as it happened.
Hyperinflation in NO WAY is like inflation+. Inflation, classic, is caused by easy money and the growth of bank lending — which causes credit-priced assets to rise. ( Think real estate and any other thing that is only purchased if credit is to hand. ) In short, inflation is a market driven euphoric leveraging up of collateral-assets.
Hyperinflation — seen in the War of Independence and the Confederacy — is raw state sponsored money printing. It’s the same con as counterfeiting. It is paper without any collateral.
The only reason that this process has been drawn out this far is Red Chinese manipulation of international trade. It has blown up on her as she is caught in a trap. Purchasing USD financial assets to hold the yuan down in a time of hyperinflation means that China is paying America a staggering tax. Namely, her holdings of confetti.
The Communists have finally realized that the only way to win is to not play. There is a rumor that the yuan is to be revalued over this weekend. It’s high time.
Should such a bold stroke occur the USD will be hammered. So, too, will be Walmart and kin. Our import tab will explode. A lot of the stuff China exports now has no alternate vendor. It will take a while to change that.
The talk is 10%. The need is 50%.
This move has been a long time coming. China had to un-dollarize her economy first. Obviously, that has finally been accomplished.
Congress’s ability to get foreigners to pay our taxes by way of the reserve currency is coming to an end. With that, it’s going to be Madison all over.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/118170/the-weather-underground
china doesnt care if it gets hammered…
what you care about they dont have to care about..
we act like a boxer who will nto take a punch…
so we cringe from many options.
they dont mind if they lose a million people or more, they can take a punch, if it means it opens an oppoenent to a strike…
so if you sit there and assume your enemy wants simlar things to you, your going to be VERY mistaken, as that will give them advantage if your wrong.
any country willing to ahve a one child policy to create an asymetry of 30 million troops with no future – and murdering 100 million of its own…
is not going to care much about being hammered if after the day is done, only one remains standing.
they have factories, they have infrastructure, capital, etc..
all we have are the things progressives werent able to remove
blert gets it; Tom Grey needs to look out.
Artfldgr is right as usual about the Chicomms, who like the oil sheiks have long done, are buying up the USA bit by bit.
Why, yes. Yes, I have noticed that about the “news.”
Even when it’s on the news it’s not on the news:
My husband had PBS news on a couple of days ago and one of their stories was about Syria. The story was announced as “The Syrian government today lifted its longstanding state of emergency….” Then they cut to some visuals of public violence, which had a soundtrack with a British voice commenting; it wasn’t clear where the footage came from (my understanding is that they have expelled the journalists from Syria–I guess it was brave citizen footage), but the story was accurate, the British voice (which as far as I could tell was not explained or credited) was giving the actual news, that the protestors are still being mowed down mercilessly by the Syrian government. I was pleasantly surprised to see the truth being broadcast–and couldn’t believe it when they cut back to the host who summarized the story again as “Syrian government lifts state of emergency.” That was the frame every time at PBS person touched the story during that show–before and after the story, and at the beginning and end of the broadcast. The truth was hidden in plain sight!