Obama-Stop Helping Us!

by Alfred Adask

A recent article in The New York Times ("Obama Will Seek Broad Expansion of Overtime Pay") reports that,

 "President Obama this week will seek to force American businesses to pay more overtime to millions of workers, the latest move by his administration to confront corporations that have had soaring profits even as wages have stagnated.

"On Thursday, the president will direct the Labor Department to revamp its regulations to require overtime pay for several million additional fast-food managers, loan officers, computer technicians and others whom many businesses currently classify as "executive or professional" employees to avoid paying them overtime, according to White House officials briefed on the announcement."

The rationale for this increase is probably the belief that if people's incomes rise, they spend more and theoretically stimulate the economy. 

But, on the other hand, if corporate labor costs rise, either corporate profits fall and/or prices go up.  If prices rise, the economy slows. 

So what will happen?  By raising some employee's incomes will we stimulate or slow the economy?

Answer:  That's the wrong question.

Of course, raising or lowering any individual's income makes a difference to that individual.  But, one way or another, Obama's plan to raise the income for some corporate employees will be achieved by lowering the incomes of other corporate employees and/or raising costs for consumers.  It's like squeezing a balloon.  We can make the balloon bulge larger at one end if we squeeze the other end smaller. 

But in the end, we still have the same amount of air in the balloon.

The only way we can really stimulate our "balloon" economy is by increasing the amount of "air" in the balloon.  

From a national or economic perspective, it doesn't make any difference if we raise some employees' incomes by lowering other employees' incomes.  We still have the same sized "balloon"-the same total income for the entire economy.

The primary solution is not to simply increase some people's incomes at the expense of other people.

The solution is to increase productively so there's more "air" in the economic balloon. 

The fundamental problem is not that some people are paid too much and others are paid too little.  The fundamental problem is that we don't produce enough goods and services to allow everyone to have a decent income.

If so, then who/what is the biggest cause for our stagnate or declining productivity?

A:  Government

Six months ago, I reported on a study by two economists who calculated that American productivity was being crushed by government regulations.  Their study concluded that if today's level of government regulation was the same as in A.D. 1949, the median income per household would rise from $53,000 (today) to over $300,000. 

In other words, government regulations have reduced your potential income by about 80% over the past 65 years.   In the name of "regulation," government has prevented our "balloon" economy from growing as large as it might've.

So, let's just suppose that the "several million additional fast-food managers, loan officers, computer technicians and others" (who President Obama proposes to help by raising overtime pay) were living in an economy that was regulated at the same level as A.D. 1949.  They wouldn't need Obama's assistance.  They might already be earning four times as much as they're currently paid.

  In truth, we want a lot of the regulation government has enacted. Our food and drinking water needs to be pure.  Our automobiles need to be manufactured so as to be safe to drive.

So, if we had to choose . . . if we could choose . . . I'll bet that Americans might vote to keep half of the existing governmental regulations.  But I'll also bet that Americans would vote to eliminate the other half of today's regulations.

If the regulatory burden were cut by half, and if the economists' study on the effect of government regulations is true, then we might expect our incomes to be at least double what we currently earn. 

How many problems do Americans have that couldn't be solved if their incomes were doubled?  Not many.

Implication:  If President Obama really wants to raise Americans' incomes, if he really wants to "stimulate" the economy, all he needs to do is cut government regulations by half.  Do that, and this economy will roar like a lion.

But does President Obama really want to raise Americans' incomes?  Does he really want to "stimulate" the economy? 

Obama's actions-and those of the past few presidential administrations and congresses-suggest that their real objective is not increased American wealth or a stronger economy.  Instead, their objectives appear to be increased power for the government and diminished wealth and fewer rights for the American people.

Want to help the economy, Mr. President?  Get off our backs.   If we don't have to carry you and all the other parasites who populate our bureaucracies, if we don't have to be restricted in our own freedoms to ensure the prosperity of major multi-national corporations, financial institutions that are "too big to fail," and the New World Order-we can support ourselves just fine.

Our nation and our individual prosperity is being destroyed by our own, unlimited government.  If anyone wants a chance at rising prosperity and the American Dream, they'd better grab hold of the fundamental idea of the Constitution of the United States:  LIMITED GOVERNMENT.

Put the constitutional limits back on government, and our incomes can once again become almost unlimited.

On the other hand, if we allow government to keep growing in power and regulatory breadth, I will guarantee that 90% of the American people are headed into an impoverished, third-world future.

Defining "Hyper-inflation"

By Alfred Adask

Last December, John Williams of Shadowstats.com wrote an article that predicted the onset of "hyper-inflation" in A.D. 2014.

I recently wrote an article about Mr. Williams' prediction and one of my readers wrote back to asked if I could define "hyper-inflation".

It was a good question.  I thought about a reply and in doing so, I discovered a plausible definition for hyper-inflation that I've never before heard:

I can't define "hyper-inflation".  So far as I know there is no absolute definition that's universally accepted-other than "a lot".  I know that some economists say hyper-inflation means a rate of inflation that's over 50% per year.  I'd be inclined to view any rate of inflation that exceeds 25% as "hyper".

I initially supposed that "hyper-inflation" really meant:

1) any rising rate of inflation that the government and/or Federal Reserve is unable to control;

2) A significant loss of confidence in the fiat currency by the general public.

But, on reflection, I realized that the two meanings I'd proposed were actually synonymous-much like two sides of the same coin 

Therefore, I proposed that, in combination, a single definition of "hyper-inflation" might be: 

"A rising rate of inflation caused by a loss of public confidence in a fiat currency that the government and/or central bank is unable to control."

Thus, hyper-inflation might be any rate of inflation not caused by government, and more, beyond government's capacity to control.

In the end, my definition of hyper-inflation isn't based on a particular number or "rate of inflation" so much as any rising rate of inflation (caused by the public rather than the government) that the government is unable to resist or control.  

Under my proposed definition, "hyper-inflation" is not about the rate.  It's about the control.

*  We've had persistent inflation for most of my lifetime that probably averages out to around 2% per year.  This "inflation" has been caused and controlled by government rather than the people and/or the free markets. Thus, we might define "inflation" (but not "hyper-inflation") as a reduction in the purchasing power of the fiat dollar that's been intentionally caused by government but is also controlled and limited by the federal government.

We might therefore avoid defining "hyper-inflation" as anything over a specific rate of inflation (like 25% or 50%). 

Instead, we might define "hyper-inflation" as any rate of inflation that is:   1) caused by the people's loss of confidence in the fiat dollar; and 2) beyond the control of the federal government and/or federal reserve. 

Thus, my proposed definition for hyper-inflation is not about a particular rate of inflation, but is instead based on a non-governmental cause and government's inability to control.

Whatcha think?  Does that make any sense?

Promises, Promises

by Alfred Adask

According to Reuters ("Crimea Votes To Join Russia, Accelerating Ukraine Crisis")

"The EU summit in Brussels seemed unlikely to adopt more than symbolic measures [against Russia] . . . .  The European Commission has announced an aid package of up to 11 billion euros ($15 billion) for Ukraine over the next couple of years provided it reaches a deal with the International Monetary Fund, entailing painful reforms like ending gas subsidies."

The Russian's will take Crimea by implied force and the West will take the western Ukraine by monetary subjugation. The eastern Ukraine's fate remains to be discovered.  Either way, the former Ukraine will lose some or all of its former sovereignty. 

The major powers of the world have allegedly promised to "help" the Ukraine, but no one will truly help the Ukrainians remain independent or sovereign.  Instead, the big predators will carve up the Ukraine like a dead water buffalo. 

"France has a deal to sell warships to Russia that it is so far not prepared to cancel, London's banks have profited from facilitating Russian investment, and German companies have $22 billion invested in Russia." 

Those facts indicate that while right and wrong may be noble concepts, when it comes to geopolitics an in general and the Ukraine in particular, it's all about the money.  Insofar as France, England and Germany are making more money off their relationship to Russia than they are off their relationship to the Ukraine, they will not impose any serious sanctions against Russia.

*  Last week, Mish Shedlock reported in his Global Economic Trend Analysis that Russian President Putin had said,

 "The tense situation in the Crimea, associated with the possible use of the armed forces, just dissipated, the need for that did not arise. The only thing which was necessary, and which we did, was to strengthen the protection of our military installations. Therefore I believe that it will not be necessary for us to do anything like that in eastern Ukraine."

Translation?  The "war" in the Ukraine is about over.

Russia has annexed the Crimea and will hold it.

Russia won't go further into the Eastern Ukraine-at least, not for now.

Six months from now, a year from now, maybe two years from now, Russia will take the Eastern Ukraine and once again, the world will do nothing but wring its hands.

Putin got away with "half a loaf" today.  He'll take the other half, tomorrow.

*  The Israeli newspaper Arutz Sheva which published in article entitled "Ukraine's Lesson for Israel: 'US Guarantee Worthless":

"Ex-Member of the Knesset Aryeh Eldad notes that in 1991, the US and Britain guaranteed Ukraine's security in exchange for nuclear disarming."

But as we can see, the US and UK promises of 20 years ago are no longer worth as much as they were then.  The Ukraine, relying on US and UK protection against Russia, gave up its nuclear arsenal in the 1990s.  However, Ukraine now finds itself unarmed in a face-off with Russia (which has the world's largest arsenal of nuclear weapons) and unprotected by the US/UK.  

Result?  The Ukraine is out-gunned and can therefore kiss the Crimea goodbye.

The Arutz Sheva article continues:

"The lesson for Israel from Ukraine's current plight, according to ex-Member of the Knesset Aryeh Eldad, is that Western guarantees of Israel's security must never be trusted.

But that's not exactly true.

That lesson isn't a result of the "Ukraine's current plight"-it's the result of the US government's financial plight.  Our government is insolvent and can't afford to keep the treaty promises it made to the Ukraine. 

On the face of it, our inability to make good on treaty obligations to Ukraine may not seem so important.  However, our government's inability to keep its treaty promises in the Ukraine implies that it might also be unable to afford to keep its treaty promises made to Israel or Japan.

If our government fails to honor treaty obligations to the Ukraine, we can reasonably suppose that some middle-eastern countries will be encouraged to step up their attacks against Israel.  Likewise, we have to believe that China will view the US failure to back the Ukraine as evidence that the US might also fail to fully perform its treaty obligations to defend Japan.   China must be at least slightly encouraged to step up pressure on Japan over the Senkaku islands.

The drama in the Ukraine will ultimately affect geopolitics far beyond the Ukraine, itself.

Given its financial plight, the US government may not only be unable to keep all of its treaty obligations to foreign countries.   It may also be unable to keep its retirement promises to So-So Security beneficiaries, pension promises to former government employees, promises to repay the National Debt, or even the implied promises to maintain some fairly stable value of the fiat dollar.

Because our government is broke, a lot of promises made in the past will go unkept.

Our government's abandonment of the Ukraine is simply one concrete instance of many such abandonments that may be headed our way. 

*  If foreign nations see that the treaty promises made by the formerly mighty U.S. government can't be kept, those nations will stop relying on the bankrupt US government and start seeking security from other sources like Russia and China that are not insolvent.

It may seem odd, but a primary casualty of the Russian annexation of the Crimea could be the fiat dollar's status as World Reserve Currency.  Insofar as the foreign public and foreign governments lose confidence in America's military power and ability to keep former treaty promises, foreign confidence in the fiat dollar will also wane.  As foreign public confidence in the dollar wanes, the dollar's status as World Reserve Currency will also wane, and the fiat dollar's purchasing power will fall.

I doubt that the loss of confidence reflected in the Arutz Sheva article will be critical.  But I also doubt that such confidence, once lost, will be easily regained.  If so, our Ukrainian adventure may result in a small but permanent devaluation of the dollar.  Similar instances of government's inability to keep its promises in the future will also tend to devalue the dollar.  Each devaluation may be small, but their effects may be cumulative.

If government can't keep its promises, the public won't maintain their confidence in the government, the economy or the fiat currency.  Without public confidence, the entire Ponzi-scheme will collapse.

Got gold?

John Hummel, managing principal of AIS says their firm did not initiate the lawsuit against the five banks for price manipulation of gold. 

Hummel now wants to correct the perception that the firm instigated the class action against the five banks; Barclays PLC, Deutsche Bank, HSBC Holdings PLC, Bank of Nova Scotia and Société Générale SA, over allegations that they conspired to manipulate the price of the yellow metal on the London gold fix. 

Hummel said the idea for the lawsuit did not come from AIS, but was initiated by the law firm Hausfeld; however, Hummel added that AIS has agreed to participate in the class action suit.

"Our response has always been to participate in class action suits if we think they have any merit. We have a fiduciary responsibility to our clients to participate," he said.

For its gold portfolio, AIS invests mostly in gold-mining stocks, which lost ground in 2013 as the price of gold ended the year down 29%. 

The London gold fix has been under intense scrutiny since the start of the month when a preliminary report was released and alleged the gold price was being rigged during the process.

     Jeff Christian Comments On Gold Fix Manipulation Allegations: PDAC 2014

The report was co-authored by Rosa Abrantes-Metz, New York University's Stern School of Business Professor and Albert Metz, a managing director at Moody's Investors Service.  The report, which has not been published, said there were "unusual trading patterns" around 3 p.m. London time during the teleconference between the five major banks involved in the price-discovery process.

The report looked at trade data from 2001 to 2013 and it noted that from 2004 there were frequent spikes in spot gold prices during the afternoon call. These spikes weren't seen in the data prior to 2004 nor during the morning fix.

The report added that the structure of the gold fix process is "certainly conducive to collusion and manipulation," and that there is likely cooperation between participants.

_________________________________________________________

ECONOMIC REPORTS TO BE RELEASED THIS WEEK......

MONDAY, March 17  WASHINGTON  - Treasury releases foreign holdings of U.S. debt for January, 9 a.m. Eastern;

Federal Reserve releases industrial production for February, 9:15 a.m.; National Association of Home Builders releases housing market index for March, 10 a.m.

TUESDAY, March 18  WASHINGTON - Labor Department releases Consumer Price Index for February, 8:30 a.m.;

Commerce Department releases housing starts for February, 8:30 a.m.; Federal Reserve policymakers begin a two-day meeting to set interest rates.

WEDNESDAY, March 19  WASHINGTON - Commerce Department releases current account trade measure for the fourth quarter, 8:30 a.m.;

Federal Reserve policymakers meet to set interest rates; statement and projections due at 2:00 p.m

THURSDAY, March 20  WASHINGTON - Labor Department releases weekly jobless claims, 8:30 a.m.;

National Association of Realtors releases existing home sales for February, 10 a.m.;

Conference Board releases leading indicators for February, 10 a.m.

________________________________________________________________________

Boehner raises questions about Senate deal renewing benefits for long-term unemployed

WASHINGTON (AP) - House Speaker John Boehner said Friday he thinks a bipartisan Senate deal to renew expired benefits for the long-term unemployed isn't feasible, a remark that suggested the agreement is in trouble in the Republican-run House.

Asked Friday by The Associated Press what he thought of the Senate compromise, he said, "You mean the one that can't be implemented?" Asked if his comment meant he didn't like the measure or that he wouldn't bring it to the House floor for debate, Boehner, R-Ohio, said, "I didn't say that." He gave no details about what the problem might be.

An aide to the speaker later said that Boehner believes making the jobless benefits retroactive to when that program expired in late December, which the Senate deal would do, isn't workable.                    

Nuclear Regulatory Commission: Western Pa. nuclear dump may have more waste than thought

PITTSBURGH (AP) - A nuclear dump in western Pennsylvania could contain far more waste than originally thought, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's inspector general said in a new report.

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey on Thursday released the report, which found that missing or incomplete records make it impossible to know how much nuclear material is buried at the site about 30 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

The NRC said the former president of a company that made nuclear fuel at the site believes that the documents used for the current cleanup plan "grossly underestimate" the material buried there.

Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corp., or NUMEC, made nuclear fuel for submarines at a nearby plant and owned the dump site from 1957 until the 1980s. Shallow trenches were used to dispose of radioactive wastes.

________________________________________________________________________

Quiznos files for Chapter 11 protection as sandwich chain tries to reduce debt by $400M

DENVER (AP) - Denver-based Quiznos has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to reduce its debt by more than $400 million.

The toasted sandwich chain said Friday that it voluntarily filed to reorganize to implement a pre-packaged restructuring plan. Quiznos says the move won't affect its customers. The company only owns and operates seven of the nearly 2,100 Quiznos restaurants.

The rest are owned operated by franchisees and aren't part of the bankruptcy proceedings. It also says its distribution centers are open and fulfilling orders.

What is your level of frailty

by Herbalist Wendy Wilson 

What is your level of frailty? This is the question scientists are asking. What they are looking for is the human body's weakest link and to see how that translates into longevity. It looks like science wants to know when you'll be literally "checking out." Can you imagine if they proclaim they have discovered a way to determine how much time you have left to live even if you are not ill and what that will do to society? Life insurance or health insurance may not be obtainable for folks who have "frailty." And what if the science is inaccurate and people are told they have zero time left to live? The checks and balances in something like this seem to have their own frailty.  Federal health regulators are possibly moving forward with baby engineering by removing defective DNA cells from mothers and replacing them with someone else's DNA to supposedly prevent birth defects. We have to ask where will the modification of creation end? If there is no line that can't be crossed, we can expect devastating fallout from human experiments. Let's see what science is up to and what power we have to combat it.

YOUR BIOMARKERS

Scientists are claiming that within a five year window they will be able to tell a healthy person when they can expect to die. Can you imagine the psychological impact that would have? It is scientific knowledge that emotions can either elevate or suppress the immune system, which is needed to protect the body from diseases like cancer. So, the experts are saying that our longevity can be predicted by four blood biomarkers. What are biomarkers? They are biological molecules in the blood, body fluids and other tissues. Science says they can signal if there is disease.  So, according to this new research from Finland, a blood test can indicate when someone would die from an illness in the future. These four biomarkers seem to score the body's level of frailty. Scientists have called this "the Death Test." Apparently they look at the biomarkers to see if they are out of sink or off kilter and if they are, they are saying that our level of demise is magnified five times. Scientists report that these biomarkers can indicate the way in which a person will die in the future such as from; heart disease or cancer. According to Dr. Johannes Kettunen of the Institute of Molecular Medicine in Finland, your biomarkers are now a medical crystal ball.

"We believe that in the future these measures can be used to identify people who appear healthy but in fact have serious underlying illnesses and guide them to proper treatment." Dr. Johannes Kettunen, Institute of Molecular Medicine in Finland

THE FLIP SIDE

Ok, so science thinks they can tell healthy people, "Hey look your blood work says that you are a prime candidate for bypass surgery somewhere in the future. Why not take these heart drugs now so you can avoid that." The people who don't do their homework might take heart medications, which weaken the heart and cardiovascular system promoting heart disease. So, when they eventually do have heart failure doctors can say their prediction was right. The same thing can be said for cholesterol medicines and other drugs. Or what if doctors tell young women that they will have breast cancer in the future so why not get a mastectomy now and avoid that. Has anyone considered the cost of treatments when there are not symptoms of official illness? Insurance companies won't approve the treatments.

WHAT SCIENCE CAN DO?

Up until now we're told there have been no tests to indicate when a person may become ill with a disease. The biomarkers science was using did not indicate a level of frailty. However, now researchers in Finland state that they have found the four important biomarkers to reveal a person's future health risk. Most folks would agree that our diet dictates a lot when it comes to our health. So, let say a person is marked by medicine to die from a specific disease and let's say hypothetically the person does not know about this and changes to a healthier lifestyle and the biomarkers are rebalanced. Will that person's medical record be corrected so he can get insurance or will the future death sentence of old biomarkers shadow him indefinably? These and other ethical questions need to be addressed. 

THE MIGHTY FOUR

So, what are the four biomarkers out of hundreds of biomarkers that science says assess our frailty? According to the Finland research they are; albumin, alpha-1 acid glycoprotein, citrate and low-density lipoprotein particles. We are also told that these are linked to liver and kidney functions, inflammation, immune system (infections), metabolism energy and the vascular system. We should point out that researchers in Estonia were skeptical on this research and new studies were done supposedly with the same findings. So, now science and Dr. Markus Perola of the Institute of Health and Welfare are claiming that they can "predict mortality independent of disease." Do you suppose that science and soon medical doctors will be saying that nearly everyone is sick with an under developed disease that needs treating? So, let's say you are a high school or college student trying out for football, track or some other sport and your biomarkers indicate that at some time in your future you might have a heart attack. Do you think government run schools or college institutions will take that liability and allow you to play? I highly doubt it. If there is any good news in this it is that folks who are given "The Death Test" can instead of taking toxic drugs or invasive surgery can change the course of their frailty with changing their lifestyle and using powerful organic medicinal sources to defeat future disease.

"This (Death) test is surely something we will see becoming widespread." Dr. Markus Perola of the Institute of Health and Welfare

WHAT'S NEXT?

According to Dr. Johannes Kettunen their next step is to quiet ethical concerns with more of their research by finding the identifying links between these biomarkers to see if people could influence them and avoid the future health risk. This could be interpreted several ways. I tend to think that science may use this future research to convince patients that their health risk cannot be addressed by natural means and their only hope is to use drugs or surgery. The Finland research was published in PLOS Medicine.  

BIOMARKER SECURITY

Is there a way for you to defend your biomarkers from being off kilter? Since biomarkers are not suppose to be off kilter to begin with what could be messing them up? According to one study in 2007 posted on PubMed.gov, biomarkers which are off balance are really oxidative stress, which can produce inflammation. It was recommended by the researchers that vitamin C-rich foods and foods with lycopene (tomatoes) be used to reduce biomarker stress. Researchers found that this healthy nutrition can make dramatic changes in the biomarkers within two weeks. Another study on PubMed.gov showed research from 2008 in which the oxidative stress was involved in some of your major disease epidemics such as; heart disease, diabetes, neurological disease and cancer. So, the answer was to beef up on your foods with antioxidants and this would also encourage healthy enzymes. You will get that in your whole foods containing minerals, vitamins and phytochemicals (polyphenols and carotenoids). The biomarkers will show the wear of free radicals in the body and this affects the cell lipids, proteins and nucleic acids. This particular study found that certain foods and beverages influenced the biomarkers and they produced oxidative stress. The conclusion was a healthy diet of wholesome foods helps to prevent oxidative stress on the biomarkers and therefore prevents disease.

AVOID WISHY-WASHY BLOOD CHEMISTRY

If eating healthy foods is a challenge then the next best thing in order to avoid oxidative stress of the biomarkers is using supplements. Make sure your supplements are not synthetic and contain no GMO's. Whole food supplements can be found but you have to look for them. A majority of supplements found it stores contain GMO and synthetic ingredients, so read the product labels. If you are searching for protection against a myriad of diseases including oxidative stress of your biomarkers then look no further than Apothecary Herbs. They have certified organic herbal products such as Milk Thistle for the liver (full of antioxidants) and herbs to support healthy kidney and bladder function. Try their natural Pain and Anti-inflammatory formula and their array of immune boosting products. For more energy and stamina try the Ginseng formulas and to strengthen the heart look for their Heart/Cholesterol/BP formula. Don't neglect to check out their Blood Cleanser sure to get biomarkers back on track. Say goodbye to biomarker stress and hello to your own empowerment. Call Apothecary Herbs toll free 866-229-3663, International 704-885-0277 http://www.thepowerherbs.com, where your healthcare options just became endless.

Sources:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/10661269/Death-test-predicts-chance-of-healthy-person-dying-within-five-years.html

http://www.myfoxny.com/story/24804604/fda-weighs-risks-of-3-person-embryo-fertilization

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17640421

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19165292 

COMING UP ON HERB TALK LIVE

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