Many Kentucky farmers are turning from tobacco to hemp, but the market could get crowded.
— Read on www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2019/02/27/farmers-hope-for-hemp-riches-despite-risks
This gives me encouragement for our farmers.
GDP Rose by $1.0 Trillion in 2018, US Gov. Debt by $1.3 Trillion | Wolf Street
— Read on wolfstreet.com/2019/02/28/gdp-rose-by-1-0-trillion-in-2018-us-gross-national-debt-by-1-3-trillion/
Trump is just like Obama and Bush when it comes to the debt. They are spending us into economic failure.
QUESTION: Mr. Armstrong; Thank you for explaining the difference between a public employee pension and those we have in the real world. The fact that the bulk of these people never contributed to a pension was shocking. How is this going to be resolved? GH ANSWER: It will not end well. Government employees have the defined-benefit (DB) while we get the defined-contribution (DC) plans. Most state and local government employees, actually 87% of those working full time, participate in a defined benefit (DB) pension plan. They contribute NOTHING but are guaranteed a pension on top of what they earned, plus free healthcare for life. The vast majority of those in government have NEVER had to save anything. They are there now demanding that our futures be stripped. We are to be taxed until we die, and upon death, they want what is left. This situation cannot end nicely. It is the same way that Rome collapsed. When the government could no longer afford to pay the army, it began sacking Roman cities that opposed their general. They turned inward and cannibalized their own cities, weakening the entire empire, thereby allowing the barbarians to come through the gates. We have followed the very same mistakes as Rome. This is just how empires always end. We are no different. How can someone working for the government negotiate their own pension? This entire system is flawed and we are paying the price of civil unrest.
— Read on www.armstrongeconomics.com/world-news/pension-crisis/the-public-pension-crisis-is-our-undoing/
I agree. Kick the can politics.
Oops, Imports by China, Emerging Asia Plunge Most Since 2008 | Wolf Street
— Read on wolfstreet.com/2019/02/26/imports-by-china-emerging-asia-plunge-most-since-2008/
The Best in uncensored news, information, and analysis
— Read on www.blacklistednews.com/
Inventory Pileup Sounds Alarm for Goods-Based Economy | Wolf Street
— Read on wolfstreet.com/2019/02/25/inventory-pileup-sounds-alarm-for-goods-based-economy/
A reliable indicator
The growth of corporate credit in China has been excessive in the last five years. This credit boom is related to a substantial increase in investment after the Great Recession.
— Read on mises.org/wire/chinese-bomb-are-we-really-threshold-another-global-financial-crisis
The debt contagion goes to China 🇨🇳
COMMENT #1: Hey Marty, I’ve never written you in this vein, but (always extremely talented) rich guys saying “Let the chips fall, free market capitalism” are gonna get washed away by this wave and we both know it. When the mass of people don’t even own a vegetable plot despite working their rears off for the dream, you know socialism is here however bad (Marxist) it is. If “capitalism” can’t offer a life (a living wage and a damn plot to park your ass on, not mountains of debt and stress, unless you happen to be born with a certain set of Republican talents) then “capitalism” is out however great it really and truly is. I will never mention politics again but revert to philosophy which is where we really live, and the only thing I really know anyway. RF COMMENT#2: Are you blind, Mr. Armstrong? Don’t you see, that wealth equality is going out of hands? It cannot be, that a 8 people control (Oxfam 2017) as much wealth as 50% of earth’s population and it get’s more extreme each year. All life is one and it is a responsibility of the heart to share. Capitalism has failed as the majority is not benefitting anymore from it. REPLY: You are confusing capitalism with oligarchies. Disposable income has been declining because of taxes. Under Marxism, we pay between 300 and 800 times more than previous historical periods of taxes. The Roman Empire had taxes that would rise from 1% to 7% — not 50%+. ALL Republics collapse into oligarchies because once one person pretends to represent many, they will NEVER put the interests of the many before themself. The lack of term limits means these politicians need money to sustain their position and therein allows the oligarchy to grow with power and influence. CAPITALISM is the freedom to decide your own fate — not that oligarchies get to own everything. Under a Greek Democracy, only the head of the household voted. They were the Congressman representing everyone in that house. Under SOCIALISM, income taxes were invented meaning every person had to account to the government for what they earned. Women, who didn’t previously vote, suddenly were entitled to vote because they were being held accountable for their individual earnings and government began passing laws to protect people which then dictated things such as abortion or whatever. So do not confuse an oligarchy with capitalism. They’re on opposite sides of the table. As for the disparity in wealth, I volunteered in Washington to convert Social Security to a wealth fund during the ’90s. The Democrats would not vote for it because they wanted to change the fund manager when they came into power. The wealth disparity is NOT created by income but by investment. The government regulations restrict investments for the private citizen. The reason there are hedge funds offshore is very simple. We are over-regulated, so a fund manager who complies with the SEC goes to jail with the CFTC. You cannot hire a fund manager to make the decisions for you, so you have to decide between all the various investments yourself. Hedge fund managers make all those decisions but they cannot raise money domestically.
— Read on www.armstrongeconomics.com/armstrongeconomics101/economics/capitalism-oligarchies-socialism/
Great job and historical perspective. We have crony capitalism not free market capitalism.
After two years of a lot of aggressive-sounding talk about reducing the Fed’s balance sheet and raising the target interest rate, the Fed in recent weeks has reversed itself, and declared that now’s a time to take things more slowly. At the January FOMC meeting, officials:
— Read on mises.org/power-market/central-banks-get-scared-forget-about-promises-reduce-balance-sheets
The entire AUSTERITY policy of Germany is really oppressing its people to the point that their assets rank nearly the lowest in Europe and below that of even Italy. A German earning just $75,000 annually ends up in the 50% tax bracket. The economics of Europe is really reducing the standard of living and this is really behind the Yellow Vest uprising. Germany has imposed its AUSTERITY economic philosophy upon the whole of Europe. This is coming to a head with the clash over the Italian budget. This May we will see major elections in Europe and there is a rising tide against austerity. We are holding our WEC in Rome this year May 3-4, because this is an EXTREMELY IMPORTANT turning point for the entire world. The stock market rally in the USA from December was driven by capital pouring into the USA as Europeans bought what the Americans were selling. While retail participation is still at 50% of 2007 levels, brokerage houses are reporting that clients have record high cash in their account post-2009. The impact of the May elections will set the tone not just for Europe, but for the entire world.
— Read on www.armstrongeconomics.com/world-news/taxes/germany-brags-it-has-record-surplus/
This is the real Merkel legacy.
John Barleycorn 
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