Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, announced today that the company purchased $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin in attempts to diversify their cash position. It was also noted that the company would be open to purchasing gold bullion and gold ETFs. This may be all fine and well as the company is at liberty to invest and diversify as they see fit, however, it is kind of ironic because in the view of The Kapital News, both Tesla and Bitcoin will be known as the posterchildren of this bubble era when the music stops playing. What is concerning, is the fact that Elon Musk announced such measures over social media as well, that caused a frenzy of buying for Bitcoin, which hit an all-time high today above $46,000 per coin. Mr. Musk knows very well that when he says something on any media platform that it will have an impact on markets, especially with respect to this topic. Knowing he has this power has him straddling a very thin line that neighbors market manipulation. The SEC may be well served in looking further into this matter. If the layman had this type of ability to sway markets, the SEC would probably already have him in handcuffs. Talk about little guys versus the big guy…
The Congressional Budget Office, (CBO), came out today with their analysis on the proposed minimum wage hike to $15 per hour, and concluded that while 900k may be lifted out of poverty, 1.4 million job losses will occur. At a time of chronic and structural unemployment and underemployment, the Biden administration and Democrats believe now is the time for such a policy. Are they trying to be stupid? There should not even be a minimum wage. This is to be negotiated between employee and employer based off of experience and responsibilities of the role, and the supply and demand of labor thereof. The government has no business in this transaction, just like they have no business in most other areas across the economy and society. The unfortunate thing in all of this is that the very people who think they will benefit the most from such an increase in the minimum wage, will be the ones most adversely impacted. They will be replaced by touchscreen monitors, robots, and other technologies. They will have their hours reduced so that employers’ operational costs do not balloon. This could have the impact of going from full-time to part-time, which may impact health insurance and/or retirement benefits. Of course, none of this is mentioned by the proponents of such a policy. In their view, it must be better to let the people find out the hard-way, even though the Democrats pretend to be the party that cares for the little guy.
Other items discussed during today’s podcast pertain to the potential executive action to forgive student debt. This may be as high as $50,000 per student. This is a travesty and the President does not have the authority to legislate via fiat, a.k.a Executive Order. Such an act, whether at the executive or legislative level is wrong. It is immoral, unethical, and un-American. What of those people who sacrificed to pay their loans off? What of those people who never went to college, never wanted to attend, and never will? Why should all of these people now bear the costs of paying off these debts of others? The argument is that if such debt is “forgiven,” then the money used for debt payments can now be used to spend into the economy. If this argument were true, then why stop at student debt? What about mortgages, auto loans, credit cards, personal loans, and others? Such forgiveness would add nearly $1.7 trillion to our national debt instantly, which is already nearing the $28 trillion level. Letting everyone else pay for the debts and/or mistakes of others is no way to run a government or society. The moral hazard that this creates will last generations. And who does the government pick and choose as the “winners” of such a policy? Only for those with outstanding debts or also those who will be entering college this year, next year, for how many years forward or otherwise?
And lastly, the second impeachment trial of former President, Donald J. Trump commences tomorrow. This is a constitutional act, period. Whether or not you believe this issue is an impeachable offense is another matter entirely, but the Congress has the authority to do so. Otherwise, there would be a loophole within the constitution that would allow for a President on his last day(s) in office to commit an impeachable offense and suffer no consequence for such action(s). Nonetheless, the trial will resemble another circus – a circus that never seems to leave town. Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Economy #Tesla #Bitcoin #Markets #Fraud #Jobs #USA #Liberty #Bailouts #Bubbles #Recession #Depression #EndTheFed #Debt #Spending #bananarepublic #Inflation #Gold #Silver #FireCongress