| By Bill Bonner Wednesday, May 20, 2020 – Week 10 of the Quarantine SALTA, ARGENTINA – Yesterday, we decided to take the five-hour drive up to the city of Salta. After 10 weeks of Deep Freeze, things are beginning to thaw. Salta province has no active cases of the coronavirus. It – along with a few other adjoining provinces (remote… with low population density…) – now allows you to move around. But you need face masks… and a written authorization. And you have to go through roadblocks every 20 or 30 miles. It feels a little like a rehearsal for a police state. You can be stopped at any time. “Where are you going? Why are you going there? Where did you come from? How long have you been in this country?” they ask. But yesterday, only one gendarme made us produce our permisos. The others just waived us through, after seeing that we were wearing our face covers. Here in Salta, people seem to be going about their business in a restrained way… A few restaurants are open. Many shops are open, too. But if the police catch you without a mask on, you will have to pay a fine. We were the only diners in a restaurant last night. At 8 p.m., the owner closed the doors and the shutters. “We’re not allowed to serve anyone after 8 p.m.,” he explained. “If the police see you in here, they might arrest us both.” | Recommended Link | Bill Bonner's must-see announcement Tonight, at 8:00 pm ET… New York Times bestselling author and multimillionaire investor and businessman Bill Bonner will step forward… He'll air a startling new announcement that could have a bigger impact on your wealth than anything he's shared in decades… If you watch one event this year, let this be it. The man whose research firm predicted 9/11… Black Monday 1987… the dot-com meltdown… and the 2008 and 2020 Crashes… will broadcast an urgent new warning from his secluded ranch in Argentina. | | | - | Dr. Feelgood Back in the USA… Necessity may be the mother of invention. But it is the deadbeat dad of intervention, too. The authorities use “necessity” to meddle, control, tax, and spend… while providing no real support. They are like dangerous quack doctors… promising fantastic elixirs that will grow hair on a billiard ball… and cause 90-year-olds to jump and twitch like teenagers. Then, when the patients get worse, they come up with even quackier remedies – such as printing $10 trillion in fake money. In an era of disease, this "new cure" could be one of the most powerful medical technologies of our time. Yes, Dear Reader, welcome to the feds’ treatment center, where they’re prescribing Clorox Chewables for the economy. Just take as directed… and die! The S&P 500 is trading near the top of its range, as if investors could expect growing earnings and dividends in the years ahead. But anticipated earnings are going down, not up. Go figure. What we figure is that stock prices reflect something else altogether – more intervention. That is, stock market speculators know Dr. Feelgood is on the case. And they’re betting that the worse the ailment gets, the more funny-money he’ll administer, much of which will go into the stock market. Federal Reserve Chairman Powell says as much: [We will] “use our tools to their fullest until the crisis has passed and the economic recovery is well under way.” | Recommended Link | | This weird painting hides a trillion-dollar secret (can you spot it?) It looks like a painting you might see at the Metropolitan Museum of Art… or the Louvre. But the "artist" who created this portrait is not a name you'd recognize. That's because it isn't a human at all. It is an AI "robot." And the technology behind it is growing at an incredible pace. More than 75 billion devices worldwide could access it by 2025. And according to PricewaterhouseCoopers, more than $15 trillion in wealth is up for grabs. That means you need to know the right stocks to buy now. Silicon Valley angel investor Jeff Brown has three companies at the top of his list. He predicts these three companies could one day be worth 15x more than Apple. | | | -- | Dark Days And, by the way, the “recovery” is a long way off – and everybody knows it. Instead, like Midland, Michigan, we know the dam is busted. Now, we await the flood. But we’re not talking about an ordinary, run-of-the-mill spell of rainy weather. We’re talking about a wall of water that is about to wash over Main Street. At least, that’s what the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta expects. It provides a “nowcast” (rather than a forecast) for the U.S. economy. And it is showing a drop in GDP of 42.8%, based on second-quarter readings. Amazing 17-second Video Reveals Key to Tech Fortune… And here’s CNBC reporting on the latest projections from the Congressional Budget Office: In its latest projections, the CBO sees GDP capsizing 38% on an annualized basis… The total loss of GDP during the three darkest years of the Great Depression was 28%. As we previously reported, one survey showed that about half of all U.S. small businesses said they might be out of business within six months. Already, the National Bureau of Economic Research says 100,000 small and medium-sized businesses will give up the ghost. And one quarter of all restaurants say they will never re-open. Included in the second-quarter GDP numbers are huge declines in manufacturing and retail… not to mention leisure and hospitality. The former could be cut in half before this crisis passes. The latter – based on airline ticket sales and restaurant reservations – is down as much as 90% or more. | Recommended Link | | Urgent: Cell Phone Owners Beware If you own a cell phone, then mobile service providers hope you never get to see this video going viral. It was shot in downtown Denver by a multi-millionaire, who exposed sensitive truths about cell phones and 5G. His experiment will strike a bad chord with cell phone companies. But you've got to see what this man "leaked," and what it means for phone users in the weeks ahead. | | | -- | Bad News And look at unemployment. More than 36 million people have applied for unemployment benefits – the biggest deluge of joblessness in history. This is more than twice the number of people unemployed during the Great Depression. As a percentage of the workforce, it is about even. But some data nerds – such as those at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago – put the actual number even higher, as high as 30%. And ShadowStats says real unemployment is as high as 36%. The worst of the job news seems to have fallen on the people least well-prepared for it. Well-paid “knowledge workers” can continue doing their jobs, high and dry on their home computers. But lower-wage earners in the service sectors – including many “gig” and part-time staff – are going to have to put on their hip boots. One report showed that among households with an annual income of $40,000 or less, unemployment has reached 40%. And another study figured that 42% of the job cuts will never be restored. This is all very bad news. Count on the feds to make it worse. ‘til tomorrow… Regards, Bill Like what you’re reading? Send your thoughts to feedback@rogueeconomics.com. MAILBAG Dear Readers reflect on Monday’s Diary, “Back to School – Part II”... Bill, I just wanted to thank you (again, I have emailed in the past) for your wonderful, insightful, and entertaining daily emails. What particularly inspired me to write today was your last two sentences: “This is a formula for disaster. You’d have to have a PhD in economics not to see it.” You certainly have a knack for pithy one-liners that cut to the core of the madness we are currently living through, and this is a perfect example. That was just a joy to read, thank you! – Malcolm P. There is no real money (only a little petty cash). All other “money” is a string/chain/cable of promises. The cable holding a suspension bridge has many fine strands working together so that a few failures do not pose a danger. But if many are cut close to each other, you have complete failure. Likewise, in the cable of finances, every promise is based on other promises being fulfilled. Seemingly, just a few breaks in the form of bankruptcies, defaults, worthless collateral, and so many more weaknesses will start an avalanche of failures, until the digital money and all that it supports like pensions, jobs, and savings must default. Let's hope not. – David H. Meanwhile, another Dear Reader thinks we are all zoo animals, after Brian B. said: This lockdown is madness. The government is treating us like we are zoo animals and they are not particularly skilled keepers. – Brian B. I have truly enjoyed your writing the last several years I have subscribed. I very much appreciate the candor – and have been attempting to determine which type of zoo animal I am. I am more of a “flight” than “fight” person – so I’m hoping it is one with wings, and I can escape the madness of our government (of all governments)! – Janna H. Is “money a string of promises,” as David believes? Do you agree with Brian and Janna, that governments are treating their citizens like zoo animals? Write us at feedback@rogueeconomics.com. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT… Why I'm "all in" on gold right now I recently put $1 million into gold. But you'll be surprised by why I did it… a situation that is now creating what I consider the biggest money-making opportunity of the next 20 years. You see, I don't consider myself a "gold expert." But last year… while traveling the world with only a suitcase… I made a nasty discovery about the U.S. financial system. Tonight, I'm revealing the full story in public… And why it could make you a fortune if you take action immediately. Click here. 
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