French President Emanual Macron is encouraging the boycott of US-made products. Although he is speaking to EU leaders about US-made defense products, Macron is clearly in favor of the growing calls around the EU to boycott all American-made goods. “My intention is to go and convince European states that have become accustomed to buying American,” he said on Saturday after declaring that he would visit other European leaders to urge them to discontinue purchases of US defense equipment.

“Those who buy Patriot should be offered the new-generation Franco-Italian SAMP/T. Those who buy the F-35, should be offered the Rafale. That’s the way to increase the rate of production,” the president said. Macron wants to send his troops to Ukraine’s frontline immediately and has become outraged with the US for electing a president who supports peace. “This [sending troops] would mean a partial invasion of Ukraine and a freeze on the conflict, without offering any security or guarantees for the future,” Macron said.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also stated that new defense loans should go to European manufacturers and has proposed a €150 billion ($163 billion) loan for member states.

This goes far beyond defense spending as European leaders are outraged by the United States backing away from the war, the Paris Accord climate agreement, the World Health Organization, and every other globalist policy that was ruining the nation.

French MEP Raphaël Glucksmann, of the Socialists and Democrats group recently demanded that the US return the Statue of Liberty. “We’re going to tell the Americans who have chosen to align themselves with tyrants, who have dismissed researchers advocating for scientific freedom: ‘Return the Statue of Liberty to us.’ We bestowed it upon you as a present, yet it seems you hold it in contempt. Therefore, it would be better suited here at home.”

The European Union has a common enemy—Donald Trump—who they will blame for all of their woes. “Look, let’s be honest, the European Union was formed in order to screw the United States,” Donald Trump once said. Macron has had it out for Trump since his first presidency. He would like to transform France into the EU’s primary defense system with its nuclear capabilities now that the US is no longer leading this proxy war.

Perhaps Macron would reconsider his position if Trump agreed to extradite his number one American foe—Candace Owens.

Americans believe their country is on the right track, according to a recent NBC poll. President Donald Trump received a higher favorability rating than any other time during his two terms at 47%. Americans have not had this much confidence in the direction of their nation since 2004. The media claims the people hate the current administration and disagree with their efforts to undo the past four years of politics. Yet, it is extremely rare to see any president receive over 50% support.

Securing the border seems to be the most popular policy, receiving a 56% approval rating, followed by government cuts that 47% of Americans agreed are necessary. DOGE received 46% favorability, and even Elon Musk saw a 39% approval rating. Around 41% of Americans agree with Trump’s handling of the Ukraine war and NATO, while 40% do not. Overall, 40% of respondents believe the Trump Administration is having a positive impact on the economy compared to the 30% who disagree.

Obviously, this is widely skewed as 90% of Democrats support Donald Trump compared to a mere 4% of people still backing the Democratic Party. NBC noted that this is the largest gap in approval in the past 80 years. We are living in highly divided times.

On the other hand, the Democratic Party’s favorability hit a record low at 29%. Elon Musk has a higher approval rating than the entire Democratic Party. Even Democrats can no longer support their own party. Only 63% of Democrats and left-leaning independents back their own party. No one seems to know what the Democratic Party stands for, as it is now split between the far-left progressive extremists who openly want a socialistic society and the power-hungry neocons who are desperate to virtue signal any cause that would lead the US into a conflict.

Everything comes down to the economy. If the cost of living continues to rise, the people will blame those in charge. The Republicans are united as a party on every issue besides the Ukraine war. The Democratic Party has completely fragmented and cannot last. The growing divide between establishment and neocon Democrats (corporate-backed politicians) and the progressive left (socialist policies, climate agenda, and social justice movements) has led to internal conflict that will eventually lead to the death of the Democratic Party.

COMMENT: Thank you for your honest analysis of gold. Whenever someone talks about gold and inflation, they are not accurate analysts but mouth the same propaganda that has been prevalent since the fall of Bretton Woods. I discussed this with our economics department, and they said you are correct. The quantity of money theory has become irrelevant. Gold has rallied into March, as Socrates projected.

Well done.

Dirk

REPLY: Yes, I am getting more and more requests from universities around the world that they know what they teach no longer works. It may be easier to explain how things work than it is to get people to disregard what they have been taught. I have proposals now. They want to translate the books I have written into Italian, German, and Spanish, just for starters, to be taught in schools around the world. The gold-only crowd constantly preaches the same thing. Oh, the debt is rising, and the money supply is expanding, so buy gold.

Well, gold reached $875 in 1980, and the National Debt was $1 trillion. If gold responded to debt or inflation, why is it not at $30,000 instead of testing $3,000?  When will they start to report the truth behind what gold is all about? They burn so many people because what they put out is a religion, not analysis.

Nothing goes up forever, and nothing goes down forever. There is NO STORE OF VALUE because everything rises and falls. They do not even understand that when gold is money, it too rises and falls because it is on the opposite side of the scale with assets on the other side. All markets move like a pendulum – back and forth. The majority MUST always be wrong at both extremes for that is the energy that propels the make to move in the opposite direction.

Just look at the all the panics during the 19th century. Gold declined in purchasing power into the booms and rose during the declines, just as the dollar does today. We call it cash is king.

PRIVATE BLOG – Gold into March

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Except from my Letter to Attorney General Bondi

The press continues to put out fake news to protect the Neocon coup that is determined to create World War III.

…

Some Canadians are outraged at US President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to annex Canada. Some Canadian consumers began boycotting American products and are now boycotting America in general as tourism sank by nearly a quarter this February. Statistics Canada reported a 23% decline in trips via car from the US this February, marking the second consecutive monthly decline, while trips to the US by air declined 2.4%.

Based on personal conversations with Canadian friends, I do not believe this decline is simply correlated with the falling Canadian dollar or unfavorable exchange rate. The US was the top travel destination for Canadian tourists, and many state and local economies depend on those tourism dollars. Canadian license tags nearly equate to US tags in the spring and summer months down here in Florida. Yet, Canadians are genuinely outraged by Trump’s comments on their nation becoming a US state and want to boycott the US and anything manufactured here. I have even heard of companies canceling conferences in the US due to tensions.

Hotel reservations near the Canadian border have seen notable decreases as well. Niagara Falls, New York, reported a 8.1% decline in Saturday night bookings and Bellingham, Washinton, recently saw a 10.8% dip. Canadian travel agency Flight Centre rang the alarm that booking to the US in February plummeted an alarming 40% YoY.

There were over 20.4 million visits to the US from Canada in 2024, aiding in $20.5 billion in spending. The US Travel Association believes a 10% decline in Canadian tourism could shed $2.1 billion from the US economy and cost up to 14,000 jobs. The association noted that if the current trend continues, the US economy will lose at least $4 billion in tourism. Tourism states like Florida, New York, Nevada, Texas, and California will experience the worst repercussions of this travel boycott.

Canada is a sovereign nation, and the people wish to keep it that way. We had an excellent relationship with our neighbors to the north despite political warfare. Now, it seems as if anti-American sentiments are growing across Canada since President Trump has been keen on potentially annexing it.

For our Canadian readers— as you know with Trudeau and now Carney, our leaders do not always speak on behalf of those they claim to represent. Americans have no desire to annex Canada. In fact, the majority on both sides of the political spectrum thought Trump was simply mocking Trudeau when he proposed making Canada a state. The majority of Americans respect Canada’s sovereignty and wish we could lay this topic to rest already.

I have met more Canadians here in Florida than ever before. The common complaints are taxes and the inability to vote for the head of state. After Trudeau, more and more are complaining about the Parliamentary System.

American households have been unable to pay off their debts. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York recently reported that household debt has reached a new all-time high at $18.04 TRILLION.

Americans acquired an additional $93 billion in outstanding payments during Q4 of 2024, with half of this debt finding its way onto high interest credit cards. Credit card debt has also reached a record high at $1.21 trillion. I reported in January that credit card defaults his a 14-year high after skyrocketing by 50% in a one-year period.

Donald Trump said during his campaign that he would like to cap credit card interest fees at 10%, perhaps for a temporary period. There are now bipartisan calls for companies to lower fees, with Congresswomen like AOC and Anna Paulina Luna both championing a 10% credit card cap.

Prior to the pandemic, Americans paid $120 billion annually in credit card interest fees from 2018 to 2020, amounting to $1,000 annually per household. In 2022, consumers were paying $105 billion in interest as it has become the main cost behind having a credit card. Rates on credit cards have doubled in a mere decade from 12.9% in 2013 to 22.8% in 2023.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s February 2025 Survey of Consumer Expectations also found that Americans are highly concerned about missing payments, falling into delinquency, or losing their livelihoods. Consumers foresee inflation spreading across the board. In February 2026, the general public believes gas will rise by 3.7%, food by 5.1%, rentals by 6.7%, and medical costs by 7.2%.

Then, around 14.6% of Americans said they believed they would miss a minimum debt payment over the next three months. Americans have not expressed this much concern about missing payments since the early pandemic days of April 2020, when the mainstream media insisted the world was coming to an end.

Aggregate delinquency rates rose 0.1% over a one-quarter period. Mortgage balances increased by $11 billion, hitting $12.6 trillion by December 2024. When choosing between home or auto payments, consumers are prioritizing shelter. Auto loan balances also experienced an $11 billion increase, rising to $1.66 trillion in Q4 2024, but serious delinquencies on auto payments have risen substantially.

Student loan balances increased by $9 billion, and now sit at $1.62 trillion. Students who once thought their loan debt would be forgiven have been notified that their future social security payments will be garnished by the government if they fail to pay.

Most households are a few missed payments away from financial ruin. In fact, 47%, nearly half, of American households currently live paycheck to paycheck. Americans are in an extremely delicate financial situation right now, and this looming debt crisis will not disappear.

COMMENT: Martin, I just had to commend you on your capital flow models. Anyone who does not acknowledge that is a fraud and not trustworthy. As your clip showed from 1991, everyone knew you invented that analysis. While others claim that capital is fleeing from the United States to Europe, they are fake news and inaccurate analysts. They do not understand how things work. You are correct about European intimidation to bringing cash and investments home. However, that is only among the regulated institutions that can be threatened. As your computer tracks, capital is being withdrawn globally in preparation for war.

We could not make decisions in our boardroom without consulting Socrates anymore. It is unbiased and that is the most valuable asset in times of such uncertainty.

God bless.

EKL

REPLY: Yes, you are correct. We are watching capital contracting into both the United States and Europe. It is even leaving Canada and Mexico. When Claudia Sheinbaum, a leftist, became president on Oct. 1, the first woman to ever govern Mexico, many had their doubts about how she would handle the relationship with the United States, especially if Trump won the election. She has stood up to some Americans calling to enter Mexico and destroy the drug cartels. She opposes that idea, but some believe that there could be a war with Mexico over the drug issue. We see the capital fleeing Mexico based on those rumors right now.

In Canada, there is both capital fleeing and Canadians. This newly unelected PM Carney is only talking about RESIST while he distracts the people from the economic issues. So, exactly what does “resist” mean?  More tariffs? Some Canadian politicians are claiming Trump will annex Canada to keep the Liberal Party in power with scare tactics. That is simply impossible under US or International law, as well as in Canada. Trump would not do that. Economically, this does not bode well for the future. Resist rather than negotiate?

Tariffs are on, tariffs are off, tariffs are delayed—the confusion surrounding world trade has Americans on edge. The University of Michigan’s sentiment survey for March shows a massive plunge in consumer confidence  “across all groups by age, education, income, wealth, political affiliations, and geographic regions.”

Consumer sentiment dipped 11% for the month to 57,9, marking the third consecutive monthly decline and the lowest level since historically high inflation in 2022. Americans believe inflation will soon rise to 4.9%, an increase from the 4.3% predicted last month.

“Many consumers cited the high level of uncertainty around policy and other economic factors; frequent gyrations in economic policies make it very difficult for consumers to plan for the future, regardless of one’s policy preferences,” Joanne Hsu, the survey’s director, said in a release.

Spending patterns mimic this drop in confidence as consumer spending declined in January 2025 for the first time in two years. There is far too much uncertainty in terms of policy, but worse, there is extreme uncertainty surrounding the current cost of living that does not seem to be easing for the average person.

We are in a period of stagflation. During periods of stagflation, the prices of goods and services increase while buying power decreases. Consumers end up spending more on less. Some people have a tough time understanding that we are in a massive deflationary spiral; they think that rising prices mean inflation and not deflation. Then, they mistake stagflation for deflation and wonder why people are spending more on less. They only see prices, not disposable income, and indeed not economic growth and unemployment.

Most expect to see higher prices with tariffs. Then the lack of confidence becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy where we do not see growth as businesses and consumers refrain from investing. It is all about CONFIDENCE.