The Armageddon Gang Rides Again

Those who die off while the world keeps going (sic)… ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ April 26, 2024 The Armageddon Gang Rides Again “The people who tell you the world will end are the ones who die off while the world keeps going.” – Arnold Van Den Berg [Reminder: In case you missed [our announcement]( The Essential Investor has merged with legacy contributors to Agora Financial. The new, larger, more inclusive project is called The Grey Swan Investment Fraternity. If you’re interested in the scope and benefits of our new endeavor, please see what prompted us to merge [here](. If you’ve been a member of The Essential Investor, keep an eye out for your new benefits.] Dear [Reader], April 26, 2024 – “When talking about inflation,” writes John F. in response to yesterday’s parade of media stories downplaying inflation, “No one seems to mention its compounding.” John then cites Einstein’s famous quote about compounding being the 8th wonder of the modern world. The less famous addendum to Einstein’s quote goes like this: “He who understands it, earns it. He who doesn’t, pays it.” We were tipped off to the better part of the quote by our friend and comedian from the UK, [Dominic Frisby](. “So what if inflation is down to 3.7%?” reader John sums up. “It doesn’t feel like it did 5 years ago… because it isn’t.” Hear, hear. From whatever recess in our mind, John’s email recalled an interview we did a number of years ago in the New York HQ of TIME magazine with financial writer Justin Fox. Peter Schiff was also interviewed. When Justin filed his report, the editors of TIME thought it appropriate to label the lot of us [The Armageddon Gang](. Even going as far as publishing this photo of Peter from his backyard in Westport, CT: After reading the story again, we realize Mr. Fox may have actually been paying attention. He described the economic predicament as we saw it then: Mr. Fox then summarized our view: Forecasting, as we were at the time: As we readily admit in the forward to the [3rd edition of Empire of Debt]( there were two things we didn’t anticipate prior to the Global Financial Crisis of ‘08. First, we didn’t see the decade-long lengths that Ben Bernanke, followed by Janet Yellen, would go to goose the money supply, first with zero interest-rate policy (ZIRP) then as an added measure, quantitative easing (QE). The second was Donald Trump, a reality TV host, who would be elected  president… and his peculiarly draconian response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Both events prolonged and deepened the inflationary crisis John F. refers to in Einstonian terms above. Below, we revisit the good ol’ days with an essay from Peter Schiff, published yesterday in his new venture [Schiff Sovereign]( which he co-founded with another friend James Hickman. (How did we get here? Read the financial, economic and political history of the United States up to this point in our collective history: [Demise of the Dollar]( through [Financial Reckoning Day]( and on to [Empire of Debt]( all three books are available in their third post-pandemic editions.) (Or… simply pre-order [Empire of Debt: We Came, We Saw, We Borrowed]( now available at [Amazon]( and[Barnes & Noble]( or if you prefer one of these sites:[Bookshop.org]( [Books-A-Million]( or [Target]( CONTINUED BELOW... >>ADVERTISEMENT<< “Unprecedented” demand to send gold high One Wall Street trader just made [a big new gold prediction]( "Pay attention to physical demand for gold... the interest seen over the last week has been unprecedented." In fact, investors are now flooding into gold at a pace not seen since 2020. Keep in mind, that level of demand sent gold soaring above $2,300 for the first time ever. And yet our research is pointing to [an even bigger gold story](. CONTINUED... Stagflation Is Here, But They’re Still Clueless Peter Schiff, [Schiff Sovereign]( According to this morning’s dismal publication from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, US GDP growth crashed to just 1.6%, while inflation keeps rising at a 3.4% rate. And “core” inflation, which excludes food and energy, was up even higher at 3.7%! All of these numbers are much worse than expected… and frankly Americans should be outraged. Think about it: the United States is home to the world’s largest and most successful companies, many of which are on the bleeding edge of technology and productivity. America’s labor market is filled with talented workers. The country is teeming with abundant natural resources. Capital markets are the deepest and most attractive in the world. And yet despite so much potential, this economy could only eke out a miserable 1.6% growth… with inflation continuing to persist. This is not an accident. It is a result of blatant mismanagement, naivety, and even incompetence, at the White House, Congress, and the Federal Reserve. It also proves how they STILL don’t understand the basics of inflation. CONTINUED BELOW... >>ADVERTISEMENT<< The truth about Biden’s “digital dollar” will shock you Chances are, you’ve heard a million different warnings about the US dollar in recent times… Like the Biden administration’s plan to make the dollar fully digital… or ban cash altogether. But what’s really going on is something else entirely. It’ll surprise you… and could blindside millions of people. [Get the full story here while there’s still time.]( CONTINUED... Just think back to the pandemic. We all remember how they were paying people to stay home and not work. Gee what a surprise: with fewer people working and producing, supply, i.e. overall availability of goods and services, fell. Meanwhile they shoveled money into the economy at an unprecedented rate with Paycheck Protection Program “loans,” stimulus checks, and bailouts galore. And with absolutely nothing to do but sit at home and spend money, demand went through the roof. The end result was not only the worst inflation in decades, but full-blown shortages ranging from microchips to baby formula. We’re obviously long out of the pandemic. However, the fundamental supply and demand conditions have hardly changed. Relative to supply, this White House never misses an opportunity to frustrate business in every way possible. The FTC goes out of its way to block every value-creating, efficiency-inducing business merger because it thinks all mergers are bad for unions (which is absurd). These mergers could ultimately save consumers money and provide more value in the economy, but the FTC tries to kill every deal it can. Despite rising energy prices, the Biden White House prevents energy producers from drilling for more oil. It refuses to lease federal lands to energy companies, even though it’s required by law. Cheaper energy makes the economy more productive and reduces inflation. But the White House goes in the opposite direction and drives prices higher. Now Biden wants to raise the capital gains tax to nearly 45% — the highest level in history. Higher taxes are clearly bad for productivity because they create penalties and disincentives to invest in new businesses — which create new products, new supply, and new jobs. The Biden people also have a fanaticism about the environment, and nearly everything they do to address climate change further disrupts business productivity. Their Byzantine rules create additional business costs, reduce productivity, and at the end of the day, have very little positive benefit for the environment. The cost/benefit is totally out of whack. Similarly, the demand side is little different than what it was during the pandemic. Interest rates are much higher, and though consumer and business demand has cooled, government demand hasn’t cooled at all. It keeps going up. The budget deficit was nearly $2 trillion last year, which was all paid for by borrowing against future prosperity. And if they keep doing that, there’s not going to be any future prosperity left to borrow against. CONTINUED BELOW... >>ADVERTISEMENT<< Biden RETIRING August 19th? If you’re one of the people who believe Joe Biden isn’t up to the job… You need to see [this shocking retirement announcement]( Louis Navellier is expecting on August 19th. And, before you cheer… What’s waiting in the wings is far, FAR worse… [Click here to see his warning]( and the steps he recommends every American take right now. CONTINUED... All that excess deficit money is dumped into the economy, and it has a similar effect to when the Fed prints money… except that it’s worse in many respects, because government spending is allocated by politicians who have an unblemished track record of waste. So even though they spent trillions in the economy, the economy is not getting trillions in benefit because so much of it is wasted. You see the trend — reduced supply, increased demand, higher inflation, slower growth. But even after seeing the same story repeat for years, they still don’t get it. The “experts” are still talking about WHEN the Fed is going to cut rates. And even after releasing these horrible numbers today, people still think that the bad news is only going to delay the Fed cutting rates. Hardly anybody is saying that the Fed shouldn’t cut at all, and almost no one is saying they should RAISE rates. Inflation is never going away unless all three pieces are working in sync: The government has to stop the deficits. The White House has to stop its jihad against capitalism. And the Fed has to get real about interest rates. But we don’t see any of these three things happening. Not one. So, most likely, we’ll continue to see more of the same story. In fact, we can’t even call this story inflation anymore. This is already becoming stagflation. I’ve been very clear that gold is a great asset to own during inflation… and stagflation. It wasn’t long ago that some idiot Wall Street firm downgraded gold mining giant Newmont because they “didn’t see any upside in gold.” Boy, were they wrong. Newmont stock has soared since then. It goes to show you how people still believe in these fairy tales — that inflation is going to end, that the government can keep deficit spending indefinitely without consequences, and that the dollar is going to be just fine. These are utter fantasies. The balance sheets of BOTH the US government AND the Federal Reserve are both catastrophes already, and that spells serious trouble for the dollar, and for inflation. Gold is a fantastic antidote to these troubles. And it’s extraordinary how few people understand that. ~ Peter Schiff So it goes, Addison Wiggin, The Wiggin Sessions P.S. We note Schiff has been in a lengthy gold vs. Bitcoin debate with some haters on his X feed. To which we add: “Just because we love gold… doesn’t mean we hate Bitcoin.” – [Matt PiepenbergÂ]( Cheers. (How did we get here? Read the financial, economic and political history of the United States up to this point in our collective history: [Demise of the Dollar]( through [Financial Reckoning Day]( and on to [Empire of Debt]( all three books are available in their third post-pandemic editions.) (Or… simply pre-order [Empire of Debt: We Came, We Saw, We Borrowed]( now available at [Amazon]( and[Barnes & Noble]( or if you prefer one of these sites:[Bookshop.org]( [Books-A-Million]( or [Target]( Please send your comments, reactions, opprobrium, vitriol and praise to: addison@greyswanfraternity.com. The Daily Missive from The Wiggin Sessions is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. We do not rent or share your email address. By submitting your email address, you consent to The Wiggn Sessions delivering daily email issues and advertisements. To end your The Daily Missive from The Wiggin Sessions e-mail subscription and associated external offers sent from The Daily Missive from The Wiggin Sessions, feel free to [click here.]( Please read our [Privacy Statement.]( For any further comments or concerns please email us at feedback@wigginsessions.com. 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