Sun, sand, relaxed beachfront charm

[Bill Bonner’s Diary]( Sun, Sand, Relaxed Beachfront Charm By Bill Bonner, Chairman, Bonner & Partners [Bill Bonner] CANCÚN, MEXICO – We’ve come up to Cancún to take a look at the future. Our first visit to the area around Mérida and Tulum was about 40 years ago. At the time, Cancún barely existed. And the beaches – except for a few naked hippies – were largely deserted. We guessed then that the place wouldn’t remain undiscovered for long. It didn’t. Now, Cancún gets millions of visitors per year. The bay around Akumal is now dotted with houses, restaurants, and bars. And last night, they were full, with mostly older people from north of the Rio Grande. “What brings you here?” we asked one of them. “It’s safer, cheaper, and no snow… just nicer than back home,” came the answer. Some 11,000 Americans retire every week. Three out of 10 of them have no savings. What are they going to do? Where are they going to go? Developers down here have found they can provide what mature Americans want – sun, sand, relaxed beachfront charm – for a fraction of the price in Florida or Arizona. “Yes, an American can live well down here on Social Security alone,” says a developer friend. It appears to be true. Once in the development, a cup of coffee is $1. A massage is $5. Medicines, yoga, dance, language lessons – all are cheap. “They’re delivered at cost,” he explains. “We make our money by selling condos,” our friend explains, “not selling coffee. We want to make the whole experience pleasant and affordable.” Recommended Link [A “Black Swan” Event is Coming. Melt-up or Crash?]( [image]( Music has Mozart… Physics has Einstein… [Investing has Andy Krieger](. He’s been called the “most aggressive trader in history”… DESPITE his extreme aversion to risk. Why? Trading legend Andy Krieger… Has made as much as $100 million profit on one trade… and $300 million profit on another. Fellow trader Paul Tudor Jones says… “If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to trade a billion dollars… nobody knows better than Andy Krieger.” And on Thursday, February 20th, 2020… after 33 years… he’s breaking his silence. He sees a “black swan” type event coming soon. It’s a market event that will create massive winners… and losers. [Which one will you be?]( -- Calm and Prosperity This is the east coast of Mexico. Driving down the highway, you might think you are in Florida. Same cars. Same gas stations and strip malls. And the people speak the same language as they do in Florida – Spanish. It’s cheap because Mexican wages are low and the logistics are easy – with flat, wide open roads providing easy access. [image]Growing food in the jungle Already, more than a million Americans are retired in Mexico – including, notably, Linda Ronstadt. Our guess is that many more will join them. In the world of the future, more and more Americans may want to leave behind the chaos, crime, and inflation of a failing, degenerate empire. [image]Cenote Who knows? Mightn’t they cross the Rio Grande and drive down to the relative calm and prosperity of the “Riviera Maya”? Recommended Link [“This CANNOT Wait” (The Most Important Briefing of Jeff Brown’s Career Is Live)]( [image]( Tech savant Jeff Brown has a golden wand when it comes to predicting moneymakers. His win rate is 93%. He even picked the #1 stocks for 2016 and 2018. And now he’s uncovered a wealth-creation event unlike any other. A special situation that can send shares soaring… with gains of up to 1,000%… over the course of one day. The gains are even more extraordinary over the course of a year. For example: - TGTX: 3,277% - CURA: 5,940% - AXIM: 8,948% - TXMD: 10,645% - CURE: 32,700% According to Jeff, a small-cap is about to make history. And it could happen as soon as 9:30 AM tomorrow. [Watch his urgent briefing before the world knows]( -- Peak Glory We’ve been exploring the many disappointments of the 21st century. By our reckoning, the U.S. empire hit the peak of its glory in 1969, and then a final peak in its power and prestige about 30 years later. That was when its fake money and bad policies caught up with it. Since then, the economy kept growing, but like the fingernails of a dead man. Technology did not save it. Wars made it worse. And MAGA isn’t going to happen. America is doomed by human nature and the life cycle of empires. People are always greedy… for power, money, and status. As an empire matures, the worst of them capture the government… and use it for their own ends. But we’ll see that more clearly tomorrow. Today, let’s stick with the money. Since 1999, in real terms, both capitalists and the proletariat have taken a hit. The rich saw their stocks fall in half, as measured by the old, reliable pre-1971 gold-linked dollar. It took over 40 ounces of gold to buy the Dow stocks in 1999. Now, it takes fewer than 20. The wage earners took an even bigger hit. According to a tweet from commodities expert Josh Crumb, the minimum wage before 1971 was 1.42 grams of gold per hour. Now it’s only 0.32 grams. People who sell time now get only a quarter as much real money for it. And by the way, real money and the fake stuff are moving farther and farther apart. This week, gold hit a new high over $1,600 per ounce. It’s signaling that, in real terms, almost everyone who counts his wealth in new dollars is getting poorer. Recommended Link [[LIMITED RELEASE] Millionaire Makes Wild 2020 Gold Prediction]( [image]( A man who once turned $1,875 into $1.2 million just made a MAJOR 2020 gold prediction. It’s so outrageous, it was nearly not published… Then he agreed to go on camera.. [Watch the Video Now]( -- Great Economy But wait. What about that great economy we keep hearing about? If you listen to the mainstream media, you might think the economy is doing great. And you’ve certainly heard that Donald Trump is likely to be re-elected “on the strength of the economy.” Which just goes to show how our expectations have fallen in line with the real decline of the U.S. As they say on Wall Street, markets make opinions. After so many years of claptrap, if we were to get sensible policies and real growth it would seem unhealthy. The January new jobs numbers, for example, showed 225,000 new jobs were created. It was greeted as a “blockbuster”… as if the economy were “firing on all cylinders.” But, as Emil Kalinowski from Enterprising Investor points out: If we define “blockbuster” as results in the top 90th percentile, use the 1990s and 2000s as our control group, and adjust for today’s larger US labor force, then we would need between 317,000 and 433,000 jobs a month. And that’s if we’re being conservative. The 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s saw much bigger job gains as a proportion of the labor force. Silent Depression The most important indicator in a modern economy is the rate of industrial production. It’s the backbone of the economy, where the goods come from. How’s that doing? Kalinowski again: The index of industrial production was reported to be 109.7 [in December 2019]. That is only 4.1% higher than in December 2007. US industrial production has grown 4.1%. Not per year. But in 12 years. Total! Taking a slightly longer view, growth remained on an upward, steady trend until 1999. Then, it flattened out, with little gain since then. Since the crisis of ’08-’09, says Kalinowski, the U.S. has been in a Silent Depression – the third longest, weakest growth period in its history. It began in the Obama years. And it continues today, with no material change in the trends. U.S. manufacturing got famously “hollowed out” because of low wages overseas and funny money at home. Foreigners exported products to the U.S. America exported dollars to pay for them. And the trend is so far advanced that many ordinary items are no longer made in the U.S. at all. Recently, financial author Matt Stoller reported: The head of the American Bridal & Prom Industry Association said, “we can’t make wedding gowns and prom dresses in the United States.” Stoller goes on to quote Stan Jantz, representing the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association: Chinese printers have developed the technology and the artistry to produce the kinds of bibles people want which is why over 50 percent of the bibles published by ECPA members are printed in China. In fact, more bibles are printed in China than any other country on earth. The fake-money-for-real-stuff trade is alright as long as it lasts. Eventually, though, the foreigners will want real money. And then, even U.S. retirees in Mexico will be in trouble. Regards, [signature] Bill Like what you’re reading? Send your thoughts to feedback@bonnerandpartners.com. FEATURED READS [Billionaires Are Funding Democratic Presidential Campaigns]( Americans often help fund political campaigns. According to Forbes, almost 20% of American billionaires have contributed to a Democratic candidate’s 2020 run for president. But contributions don’t necessarily guarantee victory… [Doug Casey on the Dangers of Technology]( longtime friend Doug Casey believes tech is a liberating influence. But he has concerns… He shares a pertinent warning from President Eisenhower, and explains what is corrupting the industry… MAILBAG Dear Readers comment on Bill’s link between politics and gender identity, and his Nicaraguan chapel dedication in yesterday’s Diary, “[Assigned Democrat at Birth]( Bill must have a tad of Irish ancestry. Why else could he master the art of satire? The barroom dialog is a good example. It takes a stretch of logic to relate gender identity to political identity and get away with it. I do have a suggestion for improvement I learned from Jewish historians. If you must write about a controversial subject, attribute it to someone else, preferably dead. – Roger O. Everyone is born a Democrat, then some of us mature. Of course, it implies that you become a Republican. I have grown to hate that title, so I switched to identifying as a Libertarian now. I just don’t like titles at all. – Mark D. Dear Bill, is this your version of Jeff Bezos’ $10 billion, save everyone gift? Kidding aside, Bezos’ gift, a likely self-help tax dodge, pales in comparison to the renewed life a place of spirit can bring. Kudos. May they remember you well, or at least be grateful for the chapel. – Miguel C. While others share Bill’s sentiment in Monday’s essay about America’s 29th president – the [last man in the Oval Office who dealt with a financial crisis honestly]( That was, by far, the best account of merit in economics I have read. Ever. If only it could be disseminated as widely as leading equity-based analyses – from Marx and Keynes, to Piketty – Western cultures and civilization might yet stand a chance. – Peter F. I loved "The Last Honest President." I have recently started back to college in an effort to better myself and understand the world around me before I leave this planet. This includes our history, governments, cultural differences, and, hopefully, the psychology of it all. But I never thought of President Harding as such a resourceful, impactful force on our economy. My studies are now only at the birth of our nation when Hamilton and Jefferson were establishing platforms to further economic growth, and were reportedly at odds on their ideas. Seems to me from my reading, Hamilton’s National Bank and support of a type of credit system (even way back then) was believed to be a way to strengthen and grow the new economy. Jefferson, however, was reportedly seeking a more agrarian society rooted in the country’s humble beginnings that had led to the fight against the Crown. Of course, Harding was not fighting the Crown but inflation and false promises of credit that could not withstand the country’s overall income-to-debt ratio. This guy should have been the model for presidents to come. I can’t help but wonder if Harding (aside from his common sense values) might have gone back to have a look at Hamilton and Jefferson’s tug-of-war over the economy. – Bobbie S. You should send this to every congressman, including all the state legislatures. Shrink the federal government to the size during the Harding administration… Or did you do this and everyone ignored you? Certainly it will be painful, but wow, we may at least start shrinking the federal debt. – Kenneth K. Is everyone “born a Democrat,” as Mark says? Were you surprised to learn about President Harding’s economic legacy in Monday’s Diary, like Bobbie was? Write us at feedback@bonnerandpartners.com. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT… [Massive disruption in Washington, lawmakers freaking out]( A new, competing financial system is taking root… This could be the biggest disruption to the U.S. dollar average Americans have seen in a century… And the technology behind it will change the world in ways you can’t imagine. [Click here for more info.]( [image]( [Bonner and Partners]( Bonner & Partners 55 NE 5th Avenue, Delray Beach, FL 33483 [www.bonnerandpartners.com]( [Share]( [FACEBOOK]( [Tweet]( [TWITTER]( This editorial email containing advertisements was sent to {EMAIL} because you subscribed to this service. To ensure our emails continue reaching your inbox, please [add our email address]( to your address book. To stop receiving these emails, click [here](. Bonner & Partners welcomes your feedback and questions. 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