| By Bill Bonner, Chairman, Bonner & Partners BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – The Dow hit 29,000 this morning. Wow! The president tweeted yesterday: 
We don’t know what we’re doing wrong… but we’re going to sign up for a 409K… whatever that is. The Trump Pattern What a market! And this was just after President Trump showed how easy it would be to cause a real disaster, by provoking Iran to fire missiles at U.S. bases in Iraq. But then, he also showed how easy it was to avert a disaster. The pattern is, by now, very familiar. Mr. Trump uses it in all his celebrity squabbles, trade wars, and political brawls. He says or does something outrageous… then, he backs away. Gold, the ultimate disaster meter, shot up on news of the killing of Iranian General Suleimani. Then, it too quickly backed off. Gold stocks lost 5% almost immediately. And finally, Mr. Trump signaled “all clear.” But “all clear” is just what the stock market… and the U.S. economy… ain’t. Herewith… a short history of the early 21st century… and where we stand now. | Recommended Link | | Watch Teeka Tiwari’s FREEDOM 2020! Before you cast your ballot this November, there’s an even more important decision heading your way. A small group of Americans will be exposed to a pre-IPO deal that could literally change their lives, overnight. The chance to make $250,000 – even $500,000 to $1,000,000 or more – is definitely there. | | | -- | The Age of Descent The Age of Descent began at the end of the 20th century. Then, four decades of bad money, bad policies, and the badass Deep State caught up with the U.S. By 2016, the War on Terror – designed to transfer wealth from the public to the armed wing of the Deep State – had already been going on for 15 years, funded by debt. And for the most recent six years, the Federal Reserve had conducted a war against normal business and economic cycles – preventing normal corrections – in order to keep the wealth flowing to Wall Street and the richest 10% of the population. It was then, in the election of 2016, that voters faced a sour choice. There was the devil they knew, Hillary Clinton. And there was the one they didn’t know, Donald Trump. Given what they knew at the time, they seem to have made the best choice; they voted, by a hair, to get to know the devil Trump. At the very least, he promised something new. He said he would end the foreign wars… and pay off the national debt in eight years. The reasonable voter could say to himself: “Even if he disappoints me, he still seems to want to go in the right direction.” Mr. Trump also promised to call a spade a spade. In that, voters got perhaps even more than they expected. But it soon became evident that the reality TV show star didn’t know what a spade was. His shows had been scripted for him. Deep State Script In the fall of 2018, the Fed was normalizing interest rates and draining away the $3.6 trillion in excess liquidity (new money) it had introduced during the crisis years. This policy was known as QT, or quantitative tightening. But then, with a sell-off in the stock market, and under threat from the Trump White House, the Fed panicked. It promptly ended its “normalizing” of interest rates. A year later, in September 2019 and still under pressure from the president, it panicked again and ended QT. Suddenly, it began flooding the markets with new money again. More spending and a tax cut had increased federal deficits. By that time, foreigners had largely stopped funding U.S. red ink. Americans were reluctant, too. This left only the Fed. It funded 90% of federal borrowing needs by creating about $4 billion per day of new, fake money. But it probably didn’t matter very much who was in the White House. While the president keeps his ratings up with unchecked impulses and improv dialog, the real, important lines are still scripted – by the Deep State. Bitter Catastrophe By the opening of the 21st century, the military/industrial/congressional complex that Eisenhower had warned about in 1961 was a reality. It could not be stopped. Too many powerful people depended on it – for their reputations, their careers, and their wealth. Trillions of dollars were taken from the public in order to reward the Pentagon and its crony suppliers, Wall Street, and all the hangers-on, chislers, and shysters of The Swamp. Nor could the demographic trends be denied. More and more people were leaving productive careers to go into retirement. The over-75 population segment was the fastest-growing of all; it was also the group that needed the most care and attention. Now, with so many older voters, increased entitlement spending could not be stopped, either. And now, despite the irrefutable math and ineluctable financial debacle, the public barely seems to notice. Impeachment. Assassination. Partisan politics. Rising stock prices. Everything seems more important than saving the nation from a bitter catastrophe. Insiders vs. the People The voters take sides. Some are for the president, some are against him. But they square off on issues that have little significance. Good guys vs. bad guys. Rich vs. Poor. White vs. Black. Straight vs. Gay. Red vs. Blue. Even man vs. woman. The Chinese are the enemy one day. The next, it is the Mexicans. And then, the Iranians. The real fight, the Deep State insiders vs. the People, is rarely mentioned. And so the Deep State keeps winning. Debt increases. The wars go on. And while the empire still has its soldiers all over the world… and controls the seas with its heavy ships… and the air with its high-tech airplanes… …and its “409s” rise… and no one laughs at its dollars… …it nevertheless descends, sinks, and slides deeper and deeper into the mud. CNBC: World Bank warns of global debt crisis following the fastest increase in borrowing since the 1970s The current wave – which started in 2010 – is thought to be “the largest, fastest and most broad-based increase” in global borrowing since the 1970s. “The history of past waves of debt accumulation shows that these waves tend to have unhappy endings.” Unhappy? We don’t know. But probably not what most people are hoping for. Regards, Bill Like what you’re reading? Send your thoughts to feedback@bonnerandpartners.com. FEATURED READS The End of Retirement: Conventional Wisdom Is Outdated
When it comes to retirement, wisdom touted by experts is beginning to change. Working for 30 years, earning tenure in the workplace, and retiring at age 65 no longer applies to many Americans. In fact, demographers believe we will start to live well into our hundreds, throwing out the concept of standard retirement altogether… World Bank Forecasts Bleak Global Economic Growth
Despite the mainstream media’s positive economic outlook for 2020, the World Bank released a concerning report Wednesday warning of escalating debt and a possible global debt crisis… The report suggests counter measures such as implementing financial policy improvements, among other actions, to minimize overall risk. Why You Need to Buy Gold This Year
Longtime Diary readers know Bill is a big proponent of gold. Here, Bonner & Partners old-timer Chris Lowe speaks to top experts like Tom Dyson and Doug Casey on the urgency of buying gold ahead of a coming boom… MAILBAG Dear Readers argue that change is necessary as we inch toward the “hellish collapse of American society”… I may not always agree, but your insight can be interesting. I think you are saying that the US of A should pull back from being the policeman of the world, and let the rest of the world figure out what it wants the world to look like without the U.S. interfering. Works for me. I long for the days of fiscal responsibility and protecting the U.S. I hope that day comes soon, we can leave the Middle East to itself, and we can secure our borders the way we should have been doing for years. – Jeff N. I hate to be a pessimist, but I have lived in this wonderful country for 70 years plus. Your comment that we now live in a country that wallows in the mud with fakery, debt, and lies is true. We all know that the debt is so high that we can’t even conceive how much it is, and certainly have no idea how to eliminate it. All a citizen has to do is either read the paper or watch the TV news to know that much of what is said by our elite leaders proves that 90% of what is said is not accurate or true. What I am worried about the most is that the United States we knew no longer exists. What’s more, I can’t believe what we are leaving to our grandkids. I hope they do a lot better than what we have foisted on them over the last few administrations. Rome lasted almost 1,000 years… will we? – Bruce W. While another Dear Reader reminisces on family time over the holidays, as Bill shared his own in “Sic Transit Gloria Mundi”… I so enjoyed your commentary on the family gathering over the New Year’s holiday. I had a good chuckle. It seems that it makes no difference what social group we might be in; we old fuddy-duddies have to be educated by the younger generation on the socially and environmentally acceptable behavior and language to be used in today’s world. My granddaughter was home from law school over the semester break and we ended up having some of the same conversations that your family had. Now I just hope I can remember all the things I should not do that would hurt our ecology, and, more especially, how to address people so as to not offend in the coming year. Your letters are a delight to read each day and I look forward to your humorous take on the world around us. Happy New Year. – Anne M. Should the U.S. stop policing the world, as Jeff believes? Is it up to younger generations to educate others on society’s best practices, as Anne says? Write us at feedback@bonnerandpartners.com. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT… Look Closely at this $100 Million Document Jeff Brown Just Found This is federal document NCT#03872XXX. Outside of government officials and top-level biotech executives, few have seen this before. In fact, he only got his hands on it recently. What is it? It’s an official record of a potential new cure. The breakthrough it details could spark some of the fastest and largest gains in stock market history. 10x gains in one day have happened before. In situations like these, it’s possible to see an extraordinary 3,277%, 5,940%, and 10,645% over the next 12 months. But the clock is ticking fast. 99.99% of investors are about to miss out. Learn how to get in position before it’s too late. 
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