American Consequences - June 2020

By Bill Bonner

We read the news. We are appalled.

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On that same day – as on every day for the past three months – the Federal Reserve has passed out $1.5 billion worth of them. And now, fueled by the pure oxygen of $3 trillion in new counterfeit money, the S&P 500 Index has been boosted back up over 3,000. Meanwhile, the U.S. economy in which Mr. Floyd tried to make a living has been struggling for air. The Fed’s giveaways to Wall Street – including its artificially low interest rates – discouraged saving and stifled the kind of real business investment that might have created good- paying jobs. Instead, corporate boards decided to borrow... pay themselves bonuses... and buy their own shares to jack up their prices. Often, in times of war, counterfeiters will print up billions in fake currency to try to destroy the enemy’s economy and promote civil unrest. Now, we do it to ourselves. In short, the feds are operating the biggest, most destructive counterfeiting ring in all of history.

Last week we saw that, soon, it may not be only Blacks who want to set fire to police stations. Since the bottom of the 2008-2009 financial crisis, the 20% of the population at the bottom of the heap – largely young and/or Black – has lost 25% of its wealth. The next and biggest group, those with more than the bottom 20% but less than the top 40%, is essentially even. That is, this group hit bottom in March 2009... and never recovered. That makes 60% of the population worse off than it was in 2007. Meanwhile, the top 1% has seen an increase in its wealth of nearly 150%. Were these developments just the free market at work? Did they “just happen”? Is this “okay”?

COUNTERFEIT ECONOMY

According to press reports, poor George Floyd was handcuffed... and then killed... because he tried to pass a $20 bill that was counterfeit.

American Consequences

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