23 Comments

Wow. The “interview” is shocking. Thanks for posting it. The good news is that almost nobody watches CNBC anymore.

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Fleck: #Bubblevision

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The Dow was at 18 something at the time of that interview…it went to 36 something.

I remember Peter Schiff saying the Dow and an ounce of gold would reach parity.

Yeah it’s gonna happen…and it feels like soon…if we make it past January ‘25 I’ll be surprised.

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We need more podcasts from you, no matter alone or with guests. Love your commentary on anything.

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Aren’t we already experiencing some of the consequences of MMT already, that is the steady devaluation of our currency. The UAW wants a +35% increase in wages. How did they get to that figure, I guess they visited grocery stores and gas station.

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What was the amount of money borrowed a sub 2% for stock buybacks that engorged Mary Barra and her ilk? By being Chazzers, management brought this on themselves. https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-09-20/strike-united-auto-workers-union-stocks

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Some items at the grocery store have doubled.

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author

My normal "basket" of housewares and food is up about 1.75x in 2 years.

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1.75x, wow I need to know where you shop.

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Depending on what the food is, I find that to be true as a minimum. Please note, I buy: beef in bulk (25-30kg at a time), no processed "food" products, butter, cheese, fresh or frozen fruit so no added sugar, fresh vegetables, and no products with seed oils. I cook at home. Even cheap mustard went from 0.19 € to 0.49 €, bananas went up to 1.29 € / kg, milk is 1€ / liter or 3.8 € per gallon.

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My opinion is that the one of the deep roots of this issue is that people love government handouts and hate government spending. You want to fix the problem - it’s going to require a perfectly articulated philosophical system where both internal and external reality can be compared through coherent value-based judgments AND communicated to the general public that continues to gobble up nihilism through school and social media. Keep in mind second order thinking is basically impossible for many Americans, a sizable portion of the population isn’t concerned with the future of humanity and all of those people don’t see the relative truth of tradeoffs and building from first principles. Once Americans hammer down on what actually matters to them the system that’s supposed to arise will - it’s our job as human beings to figure out how to encourage others to take control of their lives and steer it in a positive direction. The longer we keep talking past one another, the longer the looters keep pillaging.

On a separate but related note, this is something I’d like to figure out but I have trouble getting through writers block and my internal critic. Do you have any advice for staying the course through adversity and learning how to identify real victories while pursuing a writing/career/life goal?

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The finance chart above should be something shown to every Politician - but now add projected interest expense.

Fed still wants to shed $4-5 Trillion off their balance sheet - but who is going to want to purchase the new bonds? If the government has to sell their debt on the OPEN market - where are rates going to go? If the government was a corporation, it would be a JUNK bond. Jamie Dimon's 7% fed fund rate projection might be low.

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If the interest rates hadn't have been artificially lowered to zero but rather remained at the historical average of 4.5-5.5, then we might possibly have been forced to deal with out-of-control social programs and special interest spending by now.

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author

Yeah, exactly. Would have been dealt with years ago (decades probably).

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We have "kicked the can" solely for political reasons - nothing more. The cycle WILL be complete.

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If we have economic calamity and the Feds once again rescue the wealthy class the next civil war won't be Dems vs Repubs, it'll be the poor burning down elitist's mansions...if history is any guide.

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Probably in the 'Rat-run big cities.

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I'd like to see an updated financial chart showing up to 2023, but it might be too big to post.

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outstanding grab. thanks

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The worst second order consequences to the Fed and Government actions over the past 15 years has been:

1) people like Bill are now holding back their warnings for fear of being wrong.

2) they try more of a "birdshot" approach with their forecasting which dilutes their message.

Inflation, demographics, and huge amounts of debt have made things WAY different than 2016 and 2008.

People are holding back right when they are needed the most.

It's starting - NOW and, like the GFC, it will be Consumer defaults that cause it.

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Bill Fleckenstein is older & smarter than Tim Seymour, a "reporter" with no real world experience - like most of the fools you see on TV. If everything wasn't so clearly manipulated by the Fed, everything that Bill has said would've already happened.

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Love the blather of all the CNBC talking heads. Kevin Bacon “All is Well”. Strikes ‘appear’ to be working. I’m not sure if every service industry will soon be in the crosshairs.

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