Tag: COVID19

Ep. 565 – Milgram Experiment + Global Authority

The Kapital News

Ep. 565 - Milgram Experiment + Global Authority

00:00 / 00:32:23

As the saying goes, never let a crisis go to waste. Now while we may never know the true origins of Covid-19, we do know the actions and rhetoric that have been undertaken since the pandemic began. The Milgram experiment is one that seeks to study how people respond to authority figures. In essence, it was attempting to look at how obedient people are when given instructions by an expert. The Kapital News has been noting the similarities between the Milgram experiment and what has been taking place globally with respect to the actions taken and orders given by health officials and politicians. Governments by their very nature are institutions of force and are viewed by the general public as authority. Therefore, once one understand the Milgram experiment, it becomes rather easy to make the connection that what is being undertaken right now on a global scale, is a massive Milgram experiment.

In the actual study, test subjects are led to believe that they are administering electric shocks to another participant, should that participant answer a question incorrectly. And as more questions are missed, the higher the voltage of the shock. In reality there was no shock. The purpose was to see how far the test subject would go in shocking the other participant, simply because the participant answered incorrectly, and/or was told by the authority figure, someone in a white lab jacket, to continue administering shocks. Taken to the last and largest level of voltage, if actually given, would have killed the participant! And to the surprise of Milgram, his colleagues, and students, they found that most people would simply continue to follow the orders of the authority figure, even if they wanted to halt the experiment. Now while it is a good thing that no one actually died during this experiment, because most test subjects would administer the lethal shock, the same cannot be said today.

This is because this is the real world and the lockdown and restrictions have permanently destroyed businesses of all sizes, especially small firms. Furthermore, the mental health of people being locked down and restricted for one year, is deteriorating. What effects, short and long-term may this have on society and the economy at large? In addition, the narrative continues to change as to wearing one mask or two, how far to sit or stand from one another, whether schools can reopen or remain closed, same for businesses, who gets the vaccine and when and where, and on and on. Then take into consideration the constant bombardment from various media outlets that talk non-stop about the pandemic and bring one “expert” after the next onto the airwaves to tell people what to do. Starting to get the picture? Especially when one understands the data around Covid-19 and that the survival rate is near 99.5 percent. Something just does not add up, until you connect the dots and ask yourself, might this just be a global Milgram experiment? Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Pandemic #MilgramExperiment #Control #Economy #Protests #Liberty #USA #Leadership #FireCongress

Ep. 544 – Insanity x A Trillion

The Kapital News

Ep. 544 - Insanity x A Trillion

00:00 / 00:34:05

With the $1.9 trillion monstrosity set to be passed by Congress, just in time as the benefits are about to expire from the Nobody CARES Act 2.0 passed last December, we continue to witness the insanity of our politicians and the weakness of our economy. With several hundred thousand Americans continuing to file weekly initial jobless claims to the rising prices across commodities, one thing is certain – we are far from a real economic recovery. So in order to mask this reality, politicians are attempting to do what politicians do best, and that is spend money that we do not have and to kick the can down the road. These policies have proven and will continue to prove destructive. We are in the land of trillions and there is no end in sight as to how much more spending will be coming down the pike. This measure continues to pertain to the pandemic (or so we are told). What is next on the block is likely infrastructure spending, and measures dealing with the environment and healthcare. We are just getting started. Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Economy #Debt #Inflation #Gold #Silver #Jobs #Bailouts #USA #Liberty #Spending #EndTheFed #bananarepublic #Markets #Leadership

Ep. 532 – No Savings, No Problem?

The Kapital News

Ep. 532 - No Savings, No Problem?

00:00 / 00:32:35

The financial situation for many Americans and their families were in dire straits even prior to Covid-19 and all of the subsequent ill-effects. However, we must note that the broader economy was weakening before the pandemic arrived. So, with the reality of restrictions and lockdowns, this has placed further strains on household finances. Although, it must also be noted that in a typical recession or economic downturn, it is common for incomes to decline. Yet, due to the passage of the Nobody CARES Act and other fiscal and monetary measures, incomes in aggregate actually increased. It must be stressed that this was not the result of productive economic measures, but rather due to inflationary policies – printing money and throwing it into the system in various ways. This is not free and it will prove to be extremely expensive. It will come at the cost of suffering the affects of inflation and with it the loss of savings and purchasing power.

In today’s podcast we highlight a survey that was conducted in the late summer of 2020 that focused on savings in the US. This survey can serve as a timely benchmark as it was conducted during the ongoing pandemic restrictions, but also overlaps some of the fiscal and monetary policies that were implemented. We refer you to the link above to read the article that discusses the findings, yet we will mention a few key points. The median savings balance is $3,500 and the average is $26,619 according to the 2,000 survey respondents. The article also notes that 39 percent of Americans do not have enough money saved to cover a $400 emergency. Further, with respect to retirement, nearly 50 percent of families do not have anything saved for retirement. In what is supposed to be the wealthiest and most prosperous nation on Earth, it sure looks more like a tale of two cities.

It is such inequality that has driven us to economic, political, and social decay and decline. This reality exists due to the flawed and fraudulent fiscal and monetary policies that have been enacted for decades and continue to be implemented on an even larger scale. No proactive measures have been taken nor proper reactive measures. Therefore, the net result will be that the system continues onward on its faulty path until exhaustion. This will end in blood and tears around the globe. Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Economy #Jobs #Savings #Markets #Liberty #USA #Gold #Silver #Inflation #Recession #Depression #Recession #Depression #EndTheFed #bananarepublic #FireCongress

Ep. 530 – January 2021 Jobs Report

The Kapital News

Ep. 530 - January 2021 Jobs Report

00:00 / 00:31:22

The official unemployment rate in January fell to 6.3 percent after seeing an increase of 49,000 jobs. Unfortunately, however, the main driver for the decrease to the unemployment rate is people leaving the labor force. This is likely the result of the following options: fewer jobs are available and thus people become discouraged, or the government checks are having behavioral effects and people are growing complacent with these funds. The Kapital News believes it is more so a function of job availability and the long-term unemployed. There is chronic and structural unemployment and underemployment throughout the economy. We continue to witness weekly jobless claims north of 700k, which is higher than during the depths of the GFC. Those figures for the GFC were for a few short weeks, around 650k. The 700k and above has been occurring for almost a year now. What is worse, is that politicians, and policymakers continue to call for more spending. If everything was getting better, then there would be no reason for additional fiscal and monetary measures.

Looking deeper into the report, permanent job losers remains around 3.5 million, which has not been seen since 2013, following the effects of the GFC. The labor force participation rate also remains stubbornly low at 61.4 percent. This is a level not seen since 1976 and went as low as 60.2 percent in April of 2020. The latter being a level last witnessed in 1973. Further, with respect to the employment-population ratio, at 57.5 percent, another level that was last seen in 1983 following a back-to-back recession. This figure hit a low of 51.3 percent in April of 2020. These figures addressed herein, in conjunction with the high weekly initial jobless claims data, continue to point to a weak jobs market. Printing presses may be able to print currency, but they cannot print jobs. Throwing trillions of dollars into the system will give the appearance of an economic rebound, but it is a mirage. It is short-lived. And it will ultimately make things much worse as we move ahead. Updates for the December and November jobs reports were revised lower by a combined (-159,000). Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Economy #Jobs #Debt #Markets #Inflation #Gold #Silver #Spending #EndTheFed #USA #Liberty #Revolution #bananarepublic #FireCongress #Recession #Depression #Bailouts

Ep. 529 – Jobs Slide, Market Highs

The Kapital News

Ep. 529 - Jobs Slide, Market Highs

00:00 / 00:28:50

While the initial jobless claims figure came in better than expected, 779,000 remains stubbornly high. This is still well north of the 650,000 figure seen during the depths of the GFC. Since the restrictions and lockdowns, we have not seen a weekly jobless claims figure below 700,000 – almost a full year ago. This has been truly destructive and devastating. For the week ending 16 January, 17.8 million Americans continue to claim some form of unemployment insurance.

Despite these dizzying jobless numbers, the stock market’s major indexes all hit new closing highs. This has become par for the course with a deteriorating jobs markets and yet equity markets continue to rally. Just last week, amidst the trading frenzy in a handful of stocks, we also witnessed the worst week for Wall Street since last October. Yet fast forward only one week, and we are at new all-time highs. The equity markets remain well disconnected from the underlying economy. This is a central banker’s world for the time being and liquidity rules the roost. There will come a day of reckoning due to market forces that are greater than all central banks and governments, and when this occurs, it will be truly devastating and historical.

Speaking of liquidity, the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet remains near all-time highs around $7.4 trillion. The Kapital News believes this figure will near or exceed $10 trillion by the end of this year. M1 money stock hit a new all-time high and now stands at $6.9 trillion, representing a week-over-week increase of nearly $150 billion. Perhaps this is the accelerant for the markets moving higher? M2 saw a slight reduction week-over-week, but remains well within all-time highs that were hit last week.

Lastly, government regulators joined forces today to discuss last week’s market mayhem in GameStop Corp, AMC Entertainment, and others to determine its cause and if necessary take action. What these actions will be is for anyone to guess, but it should be understood that the authorities are more likely than not going to implement some sort of action. Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen, needed to receive a waiver from the Treasury Department’s ethics office, due to the fact that Secretary Yellen received $700,000 from hedge fund Citadel LLC, for a speaking engagement, following her departure from the Federal Reserve. Citadel is front and center with last week’s episode as they are one of the largest customers of online brokerage and trading app, Robinhood. This is the fox running the henhouse and then once the hens go missing, the fox and his buddies conduct the investigation. Our markets are broken and have been for quite awhile and the policy measures underway now and the regulations about to come down the pike, are not the solutions. In fact, they are a major part of the problem. The January jobs report will be released tomorrow morning. Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Economy #Jobs #Markets #Debt #Inflation #Gold #Silver #USA #Liberty #Revolution #bananarepublic #EndTheFed #Recession #Depression #Bailouts #Protests #FireCongress

Ep. 525 – Weekly Wrap Up

The Kapital News

Ep. 525 - Weekly Wrap Up

00:00 / 00:26:10

Another wild week in politics and the markets as the “GameStop” et al frenzy continues onward. Yesterday, the Department of Labor informed us that another 847,000 Americans filed for initial jobless claims during the prior week. There was also an upward revision to last week’s figures, which now stands at 914,000. All in for all programs gives us nearly 18.3 million Americans claiming benefits. Roughly speaking, this translates into an unemployment rate of nearly 13 percent, which is much higher than the official stats. A slight decrease was witnessed with respect to the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet and M1 money stock, both of which hit record highs last week. However, M2 money stock continued its ascent and hit a new all-time high at $19.56 trillion. The Fed concluded their first FOMC meeting of the year and remain on guard to do what it takes to lend support to the economy. The Fed continues to make calls for further fiscal policy measures from the Congress and is an advocate for everyone getting vaccinated against Covid-19. Despite the dovish stance from the Fed, the markets suffered their worst week since October. This may very well be a typical market correction in the making, which is usually defined as a drop in prices from recent highs of 10 percent. Or, perhaps this is the start of a bigger sell-off. Time will tell, but on a valuations front, the stock market is at or near all-time highs across several metrics. Earlier discussion this week focused on “The Great Reset” and the IMF’s world economic outlook, so be sure to check out those podcasts as well. Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Economy #Markets #Fraud #Jobs #Liberty #Revolution #Justice #Inflation #Gold #Silver #USA #Debt #EndTheFed #bananarepublic #FireCongress

Ep. 521 – The Great Reset

The Kapital News

Ep. 521 - The Great Reset

00:00 / 00:34:29

Something tells us that we will be seeing “The Great Reset,” more and more over the coming months as 2021 is now underway. It is something that has been discussed since last year during the pandemic and is becoming more mainstream by the day. The theme of this year’s World Economic Forum summit, in Davos, Switzerland, is The Great Reset and it reads like another utopia. While it is big on bullet points and general ideas, it is short on details. However, the devil is in the details and The Kapital News is concerned that the same people who led us into this economic, political, and social quagmire, are not the ones fit to get us out of it and to rebuild from it. Even within the article(s) we cover during today’s discussion, there are contradictions as to what the “right” policies should look like. These contradictions and hypocrisies will become the common theme amongst these “ideas” and the people advocating on their behalf. So in short, it is nothing new.

Another key phrase that is likely to gain some traction is “stakeholder capitalism.” While this too may sound good on paper, it is really nothing more than an attempt to centrally plan and control governments, economies, societies, and the environment. The author and authors of The Great Reset fail to understand, as so many do, that if what they say and write is really what they want, then they should know there is already a system that can achieve such growth, innovation, opportunity, and collaboration, and it is called free-market capitalism! Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Economy #Liberty #Markets #USA #Revolution #Inflation #Recession #Depression #Gold #Silver #Jobs #EndTheFed #bananarepublic #FireCongress

Ep. 520 – Weekly Wrap Up

The Kapital News

Ep. 520 - Weekly Wrap Up

00:00 / 00:32:37

An outgoing Trump administration, an incoming Biden administration, executive orders, another 900k Americans file jobless claims, all-time highs hit in the markets, the Fed’s balance sheet, and in M1 and M2 money stock. We also learned that the impeachment process will be continuing, however, there will be a slight delay as it will not begin until the week of 8 February. Just because there is a new administration in office, does not mean that all of the political division has gone away or that it will go away. Most likely, it will be quite the contrary. There will be more spending, more money printing, and more politics to be played. The end result is a declining nation that is going the way of a banana republic. The solution is freedom and the restoration of our constitution and free-market capitalism. Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Economy #Liberty #Jobs #Markets #FireCongress #bananarepublic #EndTheFed #Inflation #Gold #Silver #Debt #Bailouts #Protests #USA #Recession #Depression #Revolution

Ep. 519 – Jobs Bite The Dust, Again

The Kapital News

Ep. 519 - Jobs Bite The Dust, Again

00:00 / 00:25:51

Another week and another 900,000 Americans filed an initial jobless claim for the week ending 16 January. This puts that prior two initial claims reports at 900k and above. For context, during the depths of the GFC, claims peaked around 660k. We have not seen a number in the 600k range, since last year when the pandemic led restrictions were put into place. This is a major structural problem with respect to the jobs markets and will take years to work itself out. There will be behavioral and spending changes once the economy is “re-opened.” In turn, this will affect the economy and old correlations may break down and new correlations and patterns established.

It is difficult to believe that with so much uncertainty that remains, that the markets are accurately capturing all of this as reflected in current prices. With respect to US equity markets, we are witnessing one valuation method after the next that is in the 95th to 99th percentile. These are ranges not scene since 1929 and the “Roaring 20’s,” the dot-com era, and in the lead up to the GFC. Some metrics are even at all-time highs. And another tidbit of information that came across the wires today is that insiders, such as CEOs, are selling their company shares at an all-time high rate, meanwhile, retail investors have never been so bullish. Something tells us that this is not going to end well. Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Economy #Jobs #Liberty #Revolution #Inflation #Gold #Silver #Recession #Depression #EndTheFed #bananarepublic #USA

Ep. 517 – Farewell President Trump

The Kapital News

Ep. 517 - Farewell President Trump

00:00 / 00:32:37

President Trump gave his farewell address to the nation this afternoon, via a videotaped speech. It was more or less a Trump campaign speech, with a much better tone and delivery. He highlighted what he believed to be the achievements of his administration, thanking his staff, and wishing well the incoming administration. As The Kapital News has stated for months, had President Trump carried himself as he did today, and maintained such composure over the last four years, he very well would be the one being sworn into office tomorrow, and not Joe Biden.

In today’s discussion, we note how the Trump administration did not embark upon a policy pathway much different than any other Republican president. He and his team attempted and/or did the following: tax cuts, regulation cuts, trade deals, build up of the military, international agreements, various social reforms, saber rattling with various countries, and undoing what Democrats had previously implemented. Now while people will disagree with certain policies, this is more about politics than anything else. There was not anything major and structurally reformed. There was no draining of the swamp. It was a continuation of the status quo. A military-industrial complex that received more money than ever before; an out of control Federal Reserve, trillion dollar deficits, and several trillion added to the national debt; a national security state that is still alive and well; no structural reforms to Medicare/Medicaid and Social Security; continuation of the two-tiered justice system; and no major investment to the nation’s infrastructure. And yes, the President’s rhetoric, style, and behavior were often unorthodox and proved to be counterproductive, and served to further divide the country. But it must be understood and understood well that people tolerated these actions because of their distrust and frustrations with the status quo. And that says something as to where we are as a people and as a nation…

The incoming Biden-Harris administration are not going to fix or solve any of these structural issues and failures. In fact, they are all but guaranteed to make them worse. The same people who were a part of previous governments and administrations are now prominent members of this team. A classic case of, “meet the new boss, same as the old boss.” The Kapital News highly suggests that the people leave the two-party system and change your voter registration to Libertarian, Independent, unaffiliated, et cetera. The point is to send a message that the people no longer support the status quo – and this is a peaceful step in that direction. Farewell President Trump and Godspeed to you and yours. Stay diversified, stay vigilant, and stay with The Kapital News. #Trump #Biden #USA #Vote #Liberty #Revolution #EndTheFed #bananarepublic #Inflation #Gold #Silver #Economy #Peace #Recession #Depression #Protests #FireCongress

keeping you ahead of the curve