which noted that “Northrop Grumman (NOC) and Lockheed Martin (LMT) were big winners in Friday’s stock market trading, along with Raytheon stock.” Citigroup analyst Jonathan Raviv wrote Friday that “if Middle East conflict were to ratchet up... we think it could be tougher for Democratic Party electoral candidates to argue against a stronger defense budget in 2020.” WAR BUSINESS = BAD BUSINESS War is a business. Some people make fortunes from it. And when it is funded by fake-money inflation, everybody seems to come out ahead. Except the victims, of course. But it is always a bad business... a win-lose business, one where there are few winners, and a lot of losers. The army is corrupted – as it is put to use conquering and occupying foreign countries. Then, the homeland is corrupted too – as money, status, and power flows to war industries, rather than those that produce the genuine goods and services that people want. The same can be said of the Feds’ domestic boondoggles. Marc Faber: The impact of free money on the proliferation of socialist policies is exacerbated by next-to-zero or even negative interest rates. This is so because all kinds of government-sponsored programs, including some sort of basic income, can be financed at no cost.
LIKE ROAD KILL AND MAGGOTS Fake money and forever wars go together, like road kill and maggots. The War on Terror so far has cost $6 trillion – about $50,000 per family. Imagine how long it would continue if Americans were sent a bill each year! But no bills have been sent. Instead, the War on Terror seems to be free. The war goes on. Military spending goes up. And citizens actually got a tax cut. Some people are doing even better. Forbes reports: In the wake of U.S. air strikes that killed Iranian General Qassem Soleimani last week, ‘war stocks’ – companies in the defense industry – have climbed: Over the last five days of trading, the SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF (XAR) rose almost 4%, while the iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF (ITA) was up 2.5%. Big-name defense stocks are rising, with Northrop Grumman leading the rally last Friday. Northrop has risen 8% in the last five days, while Lockheed Martin and Raytheon have jumped around 4% and 2%, respectively. And from CommonDreams.org comes this commentary: The surge in defense stocks was readily highlighted on corporate television programs like Fox Business and in publications like Investor’s Business Daily ,
American Consequences
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