In brief, six states are currently in outright depopulation.  Another sixteen states are experiencing declining under 65yr/old populations only offset by surging 65+yr/old populations, and somewhere between 2/3rds and 3/4ths of all counties in America are likewise suffering one or the other. 

America is in the midst of an ongoing and accelerating shift in demographics and population growth.  These trends, long in place, are at a tipping point that are simultaneously driving urban economic growth (plus associated asset bubbles) and rural economic declines (plus associated asset collapses).  The spin up and spin down are mutually interconnected, the result of movement in a zero sum game.  But for select regions (and rural America in general), there is a surging quantity of sellers and a dwindling quantity and quality of buyers that will result in the primary asset of most Americans, their home, transitioning from an asset to an outright liability.

Many will point to record stock market valuations as an indicator of positive economic and/or business activity to refute my claims.  Instead, I argue it is the Federal Reserve and federal government policies, in place as a quasi “life support” for the negatively affected regions and rural America at large, that are driving the asset valuation explosions of equities (chart below, representing all stocks publicly traded in the US) and urban housing.  I will outline why the situation in the affected regions will only get worse and thus the Fed believes its hands are tied.  Why any amount of normalization will only induce localized collapses across much of the nation.  The total market capitalization ($ value) of the Wilshire has nearly doubled the acknowledged “bubbles” of 2000 and 2008 and is likely to continue rising further, precisely due to the worsening issues I detail below.

….continue reading HERE

Since the ballot in Catalonia over a week ago, which the Spanish authorities, contrary to the spirit of democracy, did their best to disrupt by the use of brute force, as any good old fashioned fascist State would, by sending in the “Brownshirts”, the mainstream media have gone to work in an effort to present the pro-independence Catalans as a bunch of fringe wing nutters trying to turn the clock back to the Middle Ages. The pro-Spain demonstrations at the weekend were given big media coverage and made to look like an overwhelming endorsement of the Spanish State, rather like the “huge crowds” when Saddam Hussein’s statue was pulled down in Iraq after the invasion, which turned out to be just a few hundred people herded into a square and then orchestrated and made to look like a large crowd by the careful use of camera angles. Of course, the pro-Spain crowds were big – what do you expect in a city the size of Barcelona even if only 30% of population are in favor of continued union with Spain? Having sent in the police with orders to act as thugs to disrupt the vote, the Spanish parliament than arbitrarily dismissed the vote as invalid because “only” 45% or so of the population voted, which was of course the result of their interference, and you don’t have to be a genius to extrapolate that if about 90% of those who did vote were in favor of Catalonia becoming a separate State, if even 80% of citizens had voted, there would still be an overwhelming majority in favor of separation. 

The Spanish parliament invoked the constitution in an attempt to deprive Catalonians of their democratic rights, and have used it as justification for violent suppression with the thinly veiled threat of the further use of force if the Catalonians persist, such as the arrest of their leader, cutting off of banks etc. The Spanish King and the European Union weighed in on the side of the Spanish government, as one would expect. 

It is easy to explain what is going on here and what is likely to follow if the Catalonians do not back down. The Spanish government, having power over Catalonia, the richest region is Spain, does not want to lose a valuable part of its constituency or the tax revenues it generates, ditto the Spanish royal family. As for the European Union, they don’t care about the ordinary citizens of Europe and simply want to maintain and expand their power over them, and continue to live the high life on their taxes, with their massive salaries and privileged shopping areas etc. They therefore don’t want countries leaving the EU, or regions breaking off and forming separate countries, over which they might exert less or no power – they are doing their best to scupper the Brexit, by procrastinating and exploiting weak politicians who are possibly being bought off to water it down. A big reason that the Brexit vote was allowed to proceed at all was that the pro camp were not expected to win – but they did and the margin of victory was much less decisive than the Catalan vote.Catalan independence – which way will it go?…

What we can therefore expect to see if the Catalans go ahead and declare independence is that the full force of the Spanish State – and the Spanish royal family and the European Union – will be brought to bear on Catalonia to make it regret that it ever tried to go it alone. They are going to make an example of Catalonia as a warning to the many other regions in Europe that are thinking of taking a similar line to Catalonia of what is likely to happen to them if they try it. Thus we can expect them to possibly try to arrest and imprison the Catalan leader, or perhaps arrange an unfortunate accident for him, and crush any revolt that follows by means of brute force – sending in the Brownshirts again. If they decide to adopt a softer approach, they will resort to blockading Catalonia and tearing it down economically – either way they are determined to make Catalonia pay a heavy price if it goes ahead and declares independence. Big banks, in league with the elites, will make problems for Catalonia and France has already stated that it will not recognize Catalonia – so much for democracy! Knowing this, it is possible that Catalonia will kneel before the powers in Madrid at the 11th hour and sue for compromise, meaning that it won’t fully leave Spain. Whichever way it goes, both Madrid and the EU will be able to proclaim “Behold, the price of Treason!” and other States and regions will think twice before they dare to challenge the status quo as Catalonia has done. They haven’t spent decades or even centuries gaining power over the local peasantry to go handing it back without a fight, and in the last resort they are much more heavily armed, although that doesn’t necessarily guarantee victory as the Vietnam War amply demonstrated. Thus what happens in Catalonia has major implications not just for Spain but for Europe and for the entire world. Barcelona photos by Maund. 

Posted at 10.35 am EDT on 10th October 17.

1. The Wall Street Journal Called Him The Highest Paid Economic and Financial Forecaster in the World – he’s here for you right now.

   by Michael Campbell & Martin Armstrong

The World’s top forecaster tell you what keeps him up at night. Hint: it will impact you

…read more HERE

2. Mr. Market, what are you telling us about the dollar?

 by Jack Crooks

I have a few different scenarios in my mind and find all of them plausible (see, Orwell’s Doublethink lives in the minds of traders). My continuous question as I watch currency price action: Mr. Market, what are you telling us about the dollar?

Three simple scenarios now rattling in my head:

….continue HERE

3. Marc Faber Warns of Another Market Crash

Peter Schiff touches on a key point the feel-good-investor must now consider: we have never seen a Federal Reserve try to unwind a balance sheet of this size before, no less against the backdrop of robo-trading and real-time news.

….read it all HERE

Highlights

• Bob Hoye of Institutional Advisors rejoins the show with an update on the Bitcoin phenomenon. 
• For the first time in economic history, the masses have a chance to grab the reigns of the money supply, central banks are no longer required. 
• While institutions such as JP Morgan spread negative rhetoric on the cryptocurrencies, many continue to secretly accumulate vast stockpiles. 
• Elliott wave analysis suggests that Bitcoin (BTC) should retrace from the recent $5,000 peak to at least $2,600.
• Still, the BTC rocketship could continue unabated skyward to $10,000. 
• The PTB will continue to struggle against cryptos as their system unravels at an increasing pace. 
• The Greenback is now jeopardized by the introduction of a gold backed petrol contract in China. 
• The petrol-dollar arrangement of 1974 must now compete in the East with a petrol-gold-Yuan alternative. 
• Financial bubbles are now the new norm, including junk bonds, US equities, domestic real estate in Canada and even some cryptocurrencies. 
• A few legendary technophiles, such as John McAfee and Marketwatch.com are suggesting that Bitcoin could climb to a peak of at least $500,000.
• The S&P has eclipsed year 2000 bubble levels by many metrics, including P/E ratios and Bob Hoye’s top indicators. 
• The credit spread and yield curve remain positive, so equities could continue to surprise on the upside, but the risk offers a meager expected return.