| By Bill Bonner Friday, June 26, 2020 – Week 15 of the Quarantine SALTA, ARGENTINA – We drove up to the capital city to take care of business. Argentina has the toughest lockdown in the world. Regular airline travel to Europe or America, for example, is not expected to resume until September. But there are no cases of the virus in Salta. So it has been allowed to return to normal… almost. It is not a pretty city. The sidewalks are broken and disorderly; we stumble down the streets as if we have a drinking problem. A traditional Salta house Shops are open. Restaurants, too. But there are few shoppers and fewer diners. Last night, at a neighborhood eatery, we were the only customers. As for the tourist shops – selling mostly gaucho regalia – they are almost empty. And even though there is no evidence of active infection in the city, we are required to wear a face mask whenever we go out in public. | Recommended Link | 2 Widely Held Stocks Wall Street Is DUMPING in the Dark Pools I’ve never seen Teeka Tiwari rage against Wall Street like this. He called out the Fed, Ackman, and Buffett for essentially leveraging billions from every Main Street 401(k), IRA, and pension. He showed the PROOF that these titans went on the “fake financial news”… said one thing… and then did the complete opposite. He also revealed 2 stocks widely held by retail investors that Wall Street is secretly dumping. | | | - | Alarming Salta has nearly twice the population of our hometown, Baltimore. And people here are much poorer – with an average wage that is probably only about $15 a day. Still, we see no beggars, no panhandlers, no layabouts or derelicts. In Baltimore, they are as common as rats. Baltimore also has about one killing per day, for a homicide rate (per 100,000) of 56. In Salta, the homicide rate is just 7 per 100,000, which the newspapers here say is “alarming.” But in both Argentina and America, the feds are destroying their economies… even faster here than in the U.S., probably because the gauchos have had more practice at it. Why Did The Wall Street Journal Hide This From You?! Here, employers are required to continue paying their employees during the lockdown, even though they may not be working. This has not been a burden in the agricultural sector – where cows still need to be fed and fields planted. But in many other industries – notably tourism, travel, and hospitality – it is devastating. Already, three of the five airlines servicing Salta have announced that they are either giving up the route, or going out of business entirely. LATAM Airlines, which we normally take from Panama to Salta, has done both. Intentional Damage “It may be intentional,” says a friend, speaking of the damage caused to the Argentine economy by the severe lockdown. “The idea may be to completely wipe out the economy, and blame it on COVID-19. And then, the feds here will nationalize some industries and be able to show improvement as the economy opens up again.” That may be true. But it is more likely that they just don’t know any better. Politicians and government health experts have no idea how an economy works. They think it is just a vehicle to take the deciders where they want to go. This mechanical metaphor leads the simpletons to believe that an economy is something that can be turned on and turned off… sped up… or slowed down. They think they can steer it, or “fine tune” it… and “fix” it when it breaks down. But a real economy is not mechanical at all. It is more like a living thing… made up of billions of other living things, each with its own ideas, skills, and ambitions. The parts are separate, but they work together like the parts of the body. The liver cannot exist without the heart. But neither wants the thyroid to tell it what to do. Trying to fiddle with… or improve… such a complex organism is futile and conceited. We can only improve our little piece of it – say, by repairing the sidewalk in front of our house… or smiling at a grumpy neighbor. We can never improve the whole thing. | Recommended Link | | Protesters Target Retirees? A scary new demand from the social justice movement. One expert explains why retirees (and investors) should beware. | | | -- | Corrupt and Unstable And yet, here come the quacks with their opium and arsenic. They are poisoning the whole of civilization – the economy, the government, and the society, too. In order for people to live together peacefully, they need to share a common understanding – a “social contract” – that the majority at the center believe is fair. But today’s center wobbles. Because America’s “two-tiered” fake-money system is corrupt and unstable. It rewards some and punishes others. It pushes up prices in the financial economy. This top financial expert just returned from a private meeting with members of the Senate Financial Services Committee… But it slows down the real Main Street economy under the burden of more than $78 trillion in debt, fake money giveaways (including $1.4 billion in COVID-19 checks that the Government Accountability Office says were sent to dead people… marked, conveniently, as “DECD”… in case the shades had any doubt about it), and false financial signals. The Argentines lived through a similar period in the 1970s and 1980s… when inflation went to 20,000%. Violence increased and the military seized control. Then, it got worse, as the generals “disappeared” anyone who dared to protest. Long Way to Go But in America, we have a long way to go… First, the Federal Reserve needs to step up its money-printing. This is almost guaranteed. Because if they back off now, the stock market will fall again. Second, the feds need to “stimulate” the Main Street economy, too. They’ve already made a big effort – including the above-mentioned $1,200 checks and a $4 trillion deficit. But they are just getting started. There will be no V-shaped, rocket-ship recovery. This will cause the feds to spend more. Third, the dollar must fall. Eventually, this, too, is almost a sure thing. But it can take time. Fourth, consumer prices need to rise. This will happen slowly, at first. Then, Americans will see prices rising and realize that their dollars are not as valuable as they thought they were. Suddenly, dollars will begin to change hands more quickly. The “velocity of money” will shoot up, as people will no longer be willing to hold dollars in their bank accounts. Then, prices will rise much more rapidly. | Recommended Link | | Have a Visa or Mastercard? Get ready to shred them! A major upheaval is in the works. And, soon, you’ll need to replace your cards with brand new ones… Powered by a hot new technology the World Economic Forum projects will grow 295,762% over the next seven years. Teeka Tiwari, America’s #1 investor based on audited results, just released a video to reveal the single best way to play this coming change… | | | -- | Ka-Boom! Meanwhile, the masses must get restless… sensing that something is very wrong, but not knowing what it is. Rabble rousers on one side will point at “greedy capitalists,” “racists,” and “fascists.” On the other, they will want to call in the troops to restore “law and order”… even if it means giving up on the Bill of Rights. At that point, the center no longer exists. Morons on the Left. Imbeciles on the Right. And nothing left in the middle. The feds will print more and more money… just to try to keep the lid on. But it will go Ka-Boom! anyway. Don’t forget to duck. BS, accusations, plots, and conspiracies – shrapnel will fly in every direction… And then, the results are completely unpredictable. Have a nice weekend… Regards, Bill
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MAILBAG A dear reader makes a parallel with the “bubble market” that Bill mentioned in Thursday’s Diary, “No Market for Old Men”... The bubble economy is indeed like a person in their late 70s taking out a 30-year mortgage to live it up before they’re gone. It’s bad business if the bank bet wrong, but what does the geezer care? In Hertz’s case, it’s more outrageous. Didn’t the execs take millions in bonus money before filing bankruptcy and issuing bonds? Who exactly is running this loony bin? – Michael C. And another believes financial education is crucial... We are financial entities from before we are born, throughout our lifetime, and after we die, sometimes years after. Industry and commerce want the young educated in ways that make them employable, generally citing math and physical sciences. But first, teach them about money. How money came to be, how it is intended to work, and how it can work for (or against) your best interests. Then business. Many people want to own their own business, without a clue in the world what that might entail. They learn about the details of their craft, but not much about how a business supports those efforts. – John L. Meanwhile, one dear reader says he’s been discriminated against as a White man... As a non-privileged “white” male, who grew up an often-shoeless street urchin in an impoverished large family, made poorer by a father medically retired early, in the decades before massive government-imposed “welfare,” I’ve struggled (unsuccessfully) against sexist and racist quotas for a higher education and jobs lost because of my sex and/or race (or lack of veteran status). I was forced to strike out on my own. I attempted to build my own businesses, without investment capital, from scratch (which included commercial/graphic art, photography, entertainment, offline then digital publishing, including numerous magazines and a newspaper, and offline then online ministry). From a non-slave-owning family background, I can say firsthand how it feels to be discriminated against… Hank S. How might financial education benefit the society as a whole? Does a person’s financial background invite discrimination, as Hank says? Write us at feedback@rogueeconomics.com. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT… Tesla Exec Makes Desperate Plea Tesla is facing a shortage of a critical metal… Lithium. CEO Elon Musk is so concerned, he even suggested Tesla might go into the mining business. "We'll do whatever we have to do." Now, there is a massive new discovery of lithium right here in America. It's just 214 miles away from Tesla's giant Gigafactory. And at full production, it could supply Tesla with 46 years' worth of lithium. One tiny $4 company owns the mine. And shares could soar if they sign a deal with Tesla. I just interviewed Dave Forest about this developing situation. And he told me how investors can take advantage. 
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