COMMENT: Are we really in a free world? Or is it just a subjective assumption. I have asked myself many times that question. Today’s interview with the Russian ambassador and his revelation that he does not have a very cordial relationship with either the Dutch media nor the government officials -such a hypocrisy they give Zelensky the voice, the screen time, and meanwhile Russia is constantly demonized. We have the useless youth on speed dial to attend any protest to victimize Hamas! How utterly stupid society has fallen?
You, Mr Armstrong, are breaking all the records in my book of the person that is on a mission to get the truth out. I just hope it is not putting you in any danger or affecting your health – your well being has to come first!?
As always, you are in my thoughts.
Ps. I am watching your interview for coffee and a Mike and without trying to be impertinent, I am concerned that you look exhausted. You, my dear sir, are burning the candle at both ends. As someone who appreciates you, I can only wish that you find the balance for work and unwind -maybe a nice Thanksgiving turkey dinner with a mouth watering pumpkin pie ?could be a propeller to self care. As they say, good food and good company are two of life’s greatest pleasures.
REPLY: Thank you. We have to stand for something. They have done their best to silence me over the years. They even tried to kill me, but after a coma, I awoke to their dismay. Yes, I was exhausted. I was up all night fielding questions from many overseas. I didn’t get to lie down until 3 pm. It’s been crazy, to put it mildly. The downside of having offices around the world is that someone is always awake. Many are concerned about Trump’s Tariffs. It will send the world into a depression like the 1930s. They call me because, as a friend in Washington said, I yell at them. Since I refuse to accept money from any government, they tend to trust me more because I will not say what they want to hear just to keep a job.
The causes of the Great Depression have been debated for decades. The problem with all of the analysis is this same attempt to reduce the cause to a single event. In school, we read The Great Crash by Galbraith. He was a socialist, so he blamed the corporations and never bothered even to mention the Sovereign Defaults of 1931, for that would have accused the government instead of the private sector. Then there is the argument that the tariffs at least “contributed” to the Great Depression if they were the leading factor, again disregarding the Sovereign Debt defaults.
Smoot-Hawley wasn’t signed into law until June 17th, 1930, when stocks had already taken a nose dive from the 1929 September high. The market had already turned down, and by early 1930, politicians failed to comprehend that the rise in the dollar had made foreign imports cheaper. As European governments were suffering from a debt crisis, the Fed lowered US rates in 1927, trying to deflect capital inflows back to Europe.
1927 was the first G4 when the US lowered rates at the request of Europe, hoping that capital would return to Europe for a higher rate. It backfired, only proving that there was a European debt crisis. History has an uncanny way of repeating because human nature never changes. Once again, with war on the horizon, capital flows to the US, as was the case with World War I.
Those advising Trump on this tariff nonsense are way too conflicted and fail to understand history, no less how the world economy functions since we are all connected. I am not interested in some positions. I will not surrender my independence or my company for some appointment. I have no problem meeting or offering advice. But I also cannot accept any money from ANY government for advice because the laws then make me an agent of such a country. I cannot accept any money, even from our own government.
I have always tried to defeat my own computer. I have yet to win a single battle. As the French say: ce qui sera sera
Those advising Trump are idiots. They do not understand how the world economy functions. We cannot have a boom time here when the rest of the world is contracting/ The world economy and peace survive on free trade. The sanctions against Russia blackballing it from the SWIFT system led to BRICS as other nations rejected this authoritarian policy from American Neocons. This was the warning I emailed yesterday to both Trump and RFK:
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