It was the Fourth Quarter of 2019…..
Right before the pandemic would hit a few months later…. Despite two years of doomsayer predictions from Wall Street’s professional punditry, all of them saying Trump’s 2017 steel and aluminum tariffs on China, Canada and the EU would create massive inflation, it just wasn’t happening!
Overall year-over-year inflation was hovering around 1.7 percent [Table-A BLS]; yup, that was our inflation rate. The rate in the latter half of 2019 was firmed up with less month-over-month fluctuation, and the rate basically remained consistent. [See Below] The U.S. economy was on a smooth glide path, strong, stable and Main Street was growing with MAGAnomics at work.
A couple of important points. First, unleashing the energy sector to drive down overall costs to consumers and industry outputs was a key part of President Trump’s America-First MAGAnomic initiative. Lower energy prices help the worker economy, middle class and average American more than any other sector.
Which brings us to the second important point. Notice how food prices had very low year-over-year inflation, 0.5 percent. That is a combination of two key issues: low energy costs, and the fracturing of Big Ag hold on the farm production and the export dynamic:
(BLS) […] The index for food at home declined for the third month in a row, falling 0.2 percent. The index for meats, poultry, fish, and eggs decreased 0.7 percent in August as the index for eggs fell 2.6 percent. The index for fruits and vegetables, which rose in July, fell 0.5 percent in August; the index for fresh fruits declined 1.4 percent, but the index for fresh vegetables rose 0.4 percent. The index for cereals and bakery products fell 0.3 percent in August after rising 0.3 percent in July. (link)
For the previous twenty years food prices had been increasingly controlled by Big Ag, and not by normal supply and demand. The commodity market became a ‘controlled market’. U.S. food outputs (farm production) was controlled and exported to keep the U.S. consumer paying optimal prices.
President Trump’s trade reset was disrupting this process. As farm products were less exported the cost of the food in our supermarket became reconnected to a ‘more normal’ supply and demand cycle. Food prices dropped and our pantry costs were lowered.
The Commerce Dept. then announced that retail sales climbed by 0.4 percent in August 2019, twice as high as the 0.2 percent analysts had predicted. The result highlighted retail sales strength of more than 4 percent year-over-year. These excellent results came on the heels of blowout data in July, when households boosted purchases of cars and clothing.
The better-than-expected number stemmed largely from a 1.8 percent jump in spending vehicles. Online sales, meanwhile, also continued to climb, rising 1.6 percent. That’s similar to July, 2019, when Amazon held its two-day, blowout Prime Day sale. (link)
Despite the efforts to remove and impeach President Trump, it did not look like middle-class America was overly concerned about the noise coming from the pundits. Likely that’s because blue-collar wages were higher, Main Street inflation was lower, and overall consumer confidence was strong. Yes, MAGAnomics was working.
Additionally, remember all those MSM hours and newspaper column inches where the professional financial pundits were claiming Trump’s tariffs were going to cause massive increases in prices of consumer goods?
Well, exactly the opposite happened [BLS report] Import prices were continuing to drop:
This was a really interesting dynamic that no-one in the professional punditry would dare explain.
Donald Trump’s tariffs were targeted to specific sectors of imported products. [Steel, Aluminum, and a host of smaller sectors etc.] However, when the EU and China respond by devaluing their currency, that approach hit all products imported, not just the tariff goods.
Because the EU and China were driving up the value of the dollar, everything we were importing became cheaper. Not just imports from Europe and China, but actually imports from everywhere. All imports were entering the U.S. at substantially lower prices.
This meant when we imported products, we were also importing deflation.
This price result is exactly the opposite of what the economic experts and Wall Street pundits predicted back in 2017 and 2018 when they were pushing the rapid price increase narrative.
Because all the export dependent economies were reacting with such urgency to retain their access to the U.S. market, aggregate import prices were actually lower than they were when the Trump tariffs began:
[…] Prices for imports from China edged down 0.1 percent in August following decreases of 0.2 percent in both July and June. Import prices from China have not advanced on a monthly basis since ticking up 0.1 percent in May 2018. The price index for imports from China fell 1.6 percent for the year ended in August.
[…] Import prices from the European Union fell 0.2 percent in August and 0.3 percent over the past 12 months.
If the media is for something I’m against it. They are aiding the government to impoverish us and enslave us. Journalists are the dumbest of the dumb….talking head bimbos and buffoons. It’s time to switch them off and switch America back on.
Khassoggi them all would be the best thing.
I’m glad Sundance brought that name up again. The same thoughts have entered my mind but I couldn’t recall the guy’s name.
Yep if you see them pushing a narrative you better pack up your tent and haul ass. When you get far enough away you would be wise to reverse engineer their doctrine to understand what it is being said. You should never simply ignore it because the answer lies in reading between the lines.
To the 2nd part of your comment I suspect journalists are a certain type. There’s a few great ones but most are cowards by nature. It’s in their blood. They understand these traits and the journo schools like Columbia etc pre vet them for the gig. I doubt you will get thru that place unless you are a certain way IDK.
This is where Globohomo’s plan to control media has been a success. They use all aspects of thought to corral the people. China/USSR had a state run media. Ours gives off the appearance of choice in the matter. The good news is that this system has its problems too. Things like the Covid vax crap can eventually seep through as the headlines shift.
We are also fortunate that we still have free speech to communicate. Shortly after the election I thought as did many of you that was over forever. Parler was pulled the Treehouse was toast. I commend all the players who fought for alternative routes. Not to blow air up your skirt SD but you might have played a part in saving the Republic. That’s gonna take years to sort out tho and after reading you for many years you don’t strike me a guy looking for credit much like myself.
I CUT THE CORD!! in 2015!! Do the same!!
Me too, same year. Quit Hannity in 2010.
We’ve been without mainstream media for 20 years and are WAY more informed than anyone else I know. I’ve about given up trying to convince people.
We went from being a country of innovators and over achievers to being a country of almost destitute people who have to worry about how they will afford the basics like everyday food and gasoline. The Communist Biden regime are using every tool in the Dictator shed against us.
Absolutely. Stop buying their technology.
You even have so called preppers buying Teslas! A car with several cameras, microphones, tracking your every move and facial expression, penalizing you for using the hands free system, and passing the info to insurance companies.
Stop taking part in your own demise!
Yes, and actively support other patriots who are fighting the regime on all fronts. We can’t do it alone. I understand though. People are afraid to become a J6 statistic, afraid to be bankrupted by the corrupt legal system, afraid to be killed by the regime’s enforcers. That makes sense.
Take a clue from the history of the French Underground in WW2. Citizens matter. They can win a war. Identify the enemy, gear up and move out.
Along the lines of your suggested resistence, I haven’t bought ‘new’ for a long time. The device this post is typed on is now a decade old. Its backup, yes backups are important in war, not just in the information area, is two decades old.
Learn to fix stuff. I taught myself, starting at around age seven with a chemistry and electronics set. Don’t let age, gender, educational level or any obstacle impede that process. Everyone has some aptitude.
It’s easy to become isolated. No man/woman is an island. Vet carefully and remain skeptical but develop alliances with like-minded humans whose aptitudes complement one’s own. Join the alternative economy and stop contributing to the enemy’s war fund.
We can do it.
Wilbur! Love him. That was our dream team, Ross, Lighthizer, Navarro (can’t say much about Kudlow to be honest). Every once and a while I still replay Wilbur at Davos speaking that very soft voice, explaining to the globalist parasites that they were no longer going to get a free pass with US tariffs. Their faces- that was utterly classic!
I had forgotten the pleasure and reassurance of hearing the sane/sage voices of the best of Tump’s support team. Thanks for the memory. With the clanging idiot chorus of cancel culture ringing in our ears, it’s hard to catch even the echoes of the last rational era before the blitzkrieg of Leftist surrealism obliterated it.
It mattered not that the real President Trump, had the economy humming. And that he had some of the best financial advisors, that enhanced his business acumen. The deep staters/globalists, were never going to align with the administration’s successes. Globalists have always favored corruption and failure for this country. A weak United States, equates to a weak world.
They don’t want the average person being successful which is why they tax us to hell and attack the common family at every juncture. They indoctrinate our kids to hate our values and turn them against their parents, etc.
They have the Soros point-of-view: “somebody is going to get all that stuff; so it might as well be me”.
Demonic level greed and envy that feeds the reasoning of “the end justifies the means”.
nearly 2/3 of Slo Joe’s “economic” team has ZERO business experience….little wonder they do not know what they are doing and the Left mind set is never to admit you are wrong so that makes it difficult to change course when you make a stupid move
I don’t believe they are making stupid moves, they are being told exactly what to do. These freaks are following the plan davos and wef have laid out. Seems klaus shwawb is running the world him and the other global freaks.
I think it is BOTH….they do not know what they are doing but their major moves are a part of the master plan
this is a planned marxist takeover. Not by accident and not because of no business experience. It is because they see Americans as evil and they want to destroy us and our civilization. They hate western civilization. Their aim is to destroy our country and turn it into a 3rd world totalitarian dystopia.
And they are doing a damned good job of it thanks to DC
Fascist takeover.
The Covid op really pointed up clearly the fascist relationship between government and corporations/business, particularly the global corporations and the medical industrial complex. Like a hand in a glove.
These people run the world. They just conveniently throw out “anti Semitic” to shut you up.
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/authors/lynn-forester-de-rothschild
https://www.weforum.org/organizations/edmond-de-rothschild
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rothschild_family
Evil incarnate pretending to be respectable.
This family member knew what they were
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/rothschild-heir-probably-killed-himself-say-police-1.66457
Navarro was a Buchananite and my favorite on the Trump team.
We all know that all these claims of a “recession” are simply Russian disinformation spread by Putin agents like Sundance.
We all remember how it was done. We can do it again.
I believe that was one of President Trumps biggest threat to them; he showed us how to be successful, he showed us what they were doing. They couldn’t afford to allow that success to continue.
Ever notice when you attempt to explain to a Libtard with facts and detail what has happened to our government. They come back with, “I wish Trump would tone it down”.
LOL….never try to confuse a Leftist with facts…..it twists them in knots then angers them
Like teaching a pig to sing 😂
Ever wondered that if the whole world had not gone nuts due to Trump how he might have acted on the stage would have been kinder and more fun without being witch hunted your entire term. He never had the chance to be anything other than on offense. Sad almost to see him try it again. He was great but no one needs that kind of treatment for doing great things for your country.
One of Sundance’s most memorable pieces at the time, was the comparison between Main Street and Wall Street economies. The term “Trillions at stake” couldn’t have been more accurate. If all of the noise, lies and outright garbage drooled by the pundits during that 2018-2019 time period didn’t exactly reflect the opposite of reality, simply look at the wealth transfer out of America’s middle class since then. Mega-nomics was great for America, that’s why both the scamdemic from China who was getting crushed by America, and the stolen 2020 election probably saved PDTs life. Not a chance the globalist multinationals, the WEF, China, Iran, and the US left wouldn’t have done everything possible up to and including an attempt on the life of the man causing America to prosper at their expense. Hard to think all of these enemies of the American people will in anyway allow him to rightfully regain the WH? This is all good vs evil stuff.
Yes, how Sundance explained the “exfiltration of wealth” out of the U.S., “lemons and widgets”,…I read that the first time, and he lost me at the second paragraph. Read it again, maybe got to forth paragraph,..kept reading it until finally a lite went on in my head, and I yelled “I GOT it!”
And PDJT reversed that “exfiltration of wealth” out of the U.S.
Just imagine if the evening news had honestly reporting on PDJT,…
Just imagine if McConnell and Ryan had supported what PDJT was doing, instead of working 24/7 to destroy him,…
Just imagine!
They’re also the same ones who said 2020 was the most fair and safe election EVER. 🤔🤣
We need rope and lots of it.
don’t forget the tar and feathers
If we use the rope, no need for tar and feathers.
Not so. FIRST you T&F, cause it is mainly a punishment of HUMILIATION, and subjects them to public embarrasment and derision,…THEN you hang them,…then you set them on fire.
These punishments are in no way mutally exclusive.
I’ve found wire rope lasts longer than the hemp and sisal kind, if a bit less environmentally friendly.
Send the message. A bunch of my dad’s buddies died to send this message, one of the few messages tyrants apparently understand….
PT45 & the Wilburines 🙂 America First! MAGA is for everyone!
Thank you for this post, Sundance. It felt good remembering what it was like just a mere 3 years ago.
I miss Wilburine
Me too. Smooth cat that guy…. smooth cat.
Of all the advisors, he was unflappable. And nobody even seemed dare to try f’ing with him. I think he was right with God, and it intimidated the “resistance.” And no way they could compete on his level of intelligence.
Bring right with God has that effect on demons! How soon we forget that Satan is a chained dog that can only bark, snarl, and growl but nothing else! and that we have great power at our disposal to bring His will to Earth.
Free trade is a lie.
ARBITRAGE.
Cheap Chinese junk is of no use to one who has lost his job to outsourcing.
Yep.
I would add that that Chinese junk is really no longer cheap.
Yes, reflective of the burgeoning Chinese middle class and comensuritely rising production costs. I figured the Chinese would be outsourcing to Mexico and Africa now, or soon, if not for current events.
Also, another factor is ‘Chinese junk’ is often manufactured in China by American companies to American corporate specs. It doesn’t have to be junk; it’s that the corporation makes that decision. It can be quite high quality too.
Chinese made anything is junk out of the box!!
God! I so miss Wilbur Ross!!!
He could set the record straight and glue those lyin’ bastards butts in their seats for the rest of the day with his facts, figures and the real economics of running our great country.
Man…times were really good back then…
Ohhh…and remember: Wilbur Ross: “Underestimate Donald J. Trump at your own peril.”
Best. Sentence. Evah!!!!!!!!
I remember it well loved it then still do have a great night abigail and thanks for the fine memories
R.D.
Ross is an example of when Yale and Harvard could still turn out people of positive force for the country. How far they have fallen.
I gotcha’. Basically, the pundits are lying the asses off. They were never on our side since, at least, NAFTA. And, they certainly hate our children since they have been poisoning them with various vaccines since the mid 80’s according to Robert Kennedy, Jr. And, that does not include the poison from covid vaccines.
They hate us. They rob us. They poison us. They drive us from our jobs. They import workers during a downturn to take our jobs and depress our wages. The illegal aliens bring their drugs, rob us, and murder us. And, we pay for their EBT cards, education, and healthcare. I actually do not blame the illegal aliens for this because they are incentivized. We fight their pointless wars for their literal profit. They hate us.
And, then, they rig election.
That is pretty clear now.
Yet, they cannot understand why we must remove them from polite society.
In my lifetime, at least since the 1960’s, which I believe is WAY before NAFTA.
Truth is, as soon as the new Constitution was signed, and when Franklin said “if you can keep it”, forces aligned to try to subvert it.
There have always been, and will always be those who crave power over others.
Our Founders KNEW this, it was their constant focus as they tried to create a system which could withstand and thwart the efforts of those power cravers.
Yes, it requires a moral people, but additionally it requires an engaged citisenry, understanding THEY have the ultimate responsibility for aggressively defending their liberty, by being actively engaged.
They can NOT ‘farm out’ these responsibility to others; certainly not to political parties, nor organisationd or institutions.
WE, the People failed to meet our responsibilities and duties, as citisens to aggressively fight to preserve liberty for ourselves and prosperity.
Fortunately, it is still not too late to take up those responsibilities and duties.
Just need to get off our *sses, and DO it.
We’re the ultimate enforcers of COTUS.
The
SpiceDollars must flow…Book learning vs. school of hard knocks and common sense. Common sense is a very rare asset these days, as is honor, truth and a moral compass. Trump has all in spades. MAGA ON!
sign petition to force pelosi to cut their ill gotten wealth in half support daca so we can lower inflation, then reduce it further by cut warfronts to by 2/3rd so minimum wage regain value
https://chng.it/Wvc4xQ767F
I’m old enough to remember when Trump’s tweets were going to get us all killed.
My favorite “unpresidential” tweet was when he said his button was bigger than Kim Jong Un’s and actually worked.
The ‘Rocket Man’ tweets and comments were epic.
And, once again, after a brief light was shone upon them by PDJT, our MIA in Korea are once again lost. I noticed the new circle of remembrance is now open at the Korean War Memorial. Still, there are families without closure. PDJT tried, one of numerous efforts on many fronts.
Excellent artwork. I’m sad seeing Shizu Abe….
Media(D) lie because there is never any accountability for lying. Calling them (with full accuracy) the Enemy of the People does no good if their enemy actions go unpunished and they are handsomely paid to continue. The 1st Amendment does not protect the “right” of paid, enemy Media(D) to slander, libel, propagandise for Marxism (cultural or economic), or cover-up crimes against the Constitution. Yet, that is exactly what every politician and judge in DC, on both sides of the Isle of Corruption, is spinelessly allowing the Media(D) to do. In fact, they are allowed to get away with more than ever before. No one will stop them, and they know it.
I DID!!
CUT THE CORD!!!
Smith-Mundt Modernization act….government propaganda. Check it out.
When the enforcers work for the enemy, punishment is up to us.
I predict Don Jr is going to run for POTUS not Trump Sr
^ a real Nostradamus there ^
he is NOT eligible….read and KNOW the US Constitution
Junior was born in the US, father a US citizen, 44 years old. He qualifies.
mother was NOT at birth……..he does NOT
So born in America, father is American, just not good enough to you.
Can you point out where this is explicitly laid out? A legal reference? Supreme Court decision? A reference showing what was meant at the time the founders required a President be a natural born citizen?
SCOTUS are cowards and have never ruled on the matter…..Read Vettel’s “Law of Nations” which the Founding Fathers used as reference when writing the US Constitution, you know that dusty old tome, some people used to know a thing or two about……a “natural born citizen” is a SEPARATE class from a citizen otherwise they would not have differentiated it in the Constitution…..the HISTORICAL and ORIGINIALIST definition is born of TWO citizen parents ON the soil…do some research…I have ….YEARS
More broadly, look at how such a “Constitutional requirement is actually er,…NOT enforced.
Technically, STATE Governments have complete authority to control the process of selecting electors to the electoral college.
As has been pointed out, States COULD (and in the past HAVE!) had the State Legislature select electors for their State,…no elections at all.
Anyway, the SoS is responsible for running actual elections in their State.
They are responsible for detirmining that any Candidate on the ballot, meets the Constitutional requirement to serve the elected office.
And, how do they fulfill this obligation?
The National Party (R, D, Libertarian etc.) sends them a letter, affirming that parties candidate meets the requirements.
They recieve and file the letter, and put the name on the ballot.
Other than POSSIBLY prosecuting the National Party Chair, who signs the letter for fraud or perjury, IF the Candidate was later found to be inelligible, its not clear there would be ANY legal consequence for a party submitting a candidate they knew to be ineligible.
And with both parties actually run by like minded leftists, highly unlikely such a fraud would be exposed, let alone prosecuted.
State Government political positions are VITAL to our Republic.
To focus your attention on Federal Govt positions (Potus V-Potus and Congress) AT THE EXPENCE of paying attention to State and local races is a BIG mistake, as recent events have demonstrated.
The Covid scam and the Steal could NOT have been successful without active participation of STATE Gov. officials.
The most onerous Covid mandates were enacted and enforced by,…….?
STATE and Local governments.
Raffesburger, etc. made the steal possible.
Antifa riots were encouraged by State officials who didn’t call out the guard, as any GOVERNOR can do, and lical officials who ordered local Police to stand down.
And, it is MUCH easier to get control of local and State Gov’s, and to hold those officials at the State and local level accountable, than it is to have influence on the Fed govt.
SotH is required by LAW to attest to the fact that POTUS and VP are constitutionally eligible to serve…..I know in Ozero’s case she used modified declaration forms that eliminated this requirement but I have not seen if she did the same for KamelToe….she would have had to have done something similar however
Lol…lol…lol…
Look a Leftist troll….they are the first to discount the US Constitution
And here’s a new narrative:
Marketwatch: July 29 – Mark Weisbrot –
Opinion: It will be the Fed’s fault if the economy crashes into recession
Bitcoin.com: July 29 –
Jamie Redman – Fed could cause a Recession
Same people who said Trump’s tax cuts would only benefit the rich, too…..
Our government, media, academia, multinationals, globalism, all have evolved seemingly with the same goals, ideology and command structure. Not at all to the benefit of the serfdom.
The question remains regarding why anyone in this country would vote against their own interests? It is inarguable that the overall quality of life in the US is rapidly declining for almost all as a direct result of the implementation of leftist/liberal policies. Again, why vote to continue this?
Almost no one voted for this. If they did vote for Biden it is because they bought the CNN narratives. And those narratives have been radically proven false by common experience. This is why FJB’s approval is at about 25%.
This is what happens when you have an actual businessman making business decisions, rather than a bunch of ideologues and lawyers who have never been in any kind of economic platform.
Tariffs: The Taxes That Made America Great
https://buchanan.org/blog/tariffs-the-taxes-that-made-america-great-136986?doing_wp_cron=1659273326.4451560974121093750000
Historically, until recent times, tariffs were the primary method of financially supporting the government, even as we developed into a world leader in industry.
Private and religious enterprise generally handled whatever ‘social programs’ existed, or we struggled with adversity on our own, without government to bail us out. Business owned things and built things using local labor. Commerce was asset-based. Imports were important, primarily raw materials, and tariffs were paid and passed on to local customers in the price of goods.
Informative article, thanks.
Glad you enjoyed it. FYI, I try and always read your posts and respect what you say. I believe we share some things in common sir.
Is Thomas Donahue (fmr pres, US Chamber of Commerce) enjoying his retirement, after all those years selling out Americans?
If Wiki it to be believed: “His grandfather worked for New York City and was a member of the Tammany Hall machine.“
I’m having “Yield Curve!!!” flashbacks, lol.
I am by nature skeptical of authority, but two of my more recent experiences have solidified my outright distrust of big government and big business (am I repeating myself?) The food pyramid was the first giant whopper I could put my finger on. When I saw how much healthier I felt when I was eating a low carb, virtually grain free diet, I realized the food pyramid was a big lie and probably responsible for more early deaths and suffering than Chairman Mao. The food pyramid was the direct result of McGovern and Big Ag. And then COVID hit and I discovered that a lot of states’ policies were being written by 25 year old consultants who went to business, not medical school. These are kids I know. It’s no leap to extrapolate that the COVID craziness is the result of Big Pharma wanting to rid itself of Trump and then the Big 3 accounting firms riding that gravy train for as long as it can.
This is my life time, I’m talking about, there has never been a President who did more for the people and their wallet, than President Trump. NONE!
Just wish he would have kept the snakes in the grass out of his Administration.
If the DemonRats are trying to show how wrong Trump was on everything, their not doing a every good job of it! What they are showing, just how much they hate the United States of America. The D on the voting card says Traitor. And some R’s too.
As events have unfolded, even the ‘snakes in the grass’ have been used to serve Gods ends.
Remember when many were decieved by those snakes? First Sessions, then Barr, then Durham?
As each was exposed, they also exposed how we have been deluded, by these snakes SAYING what we SO WANT someone to say, that we unconsciously transfer our feelings for what they SAY, to those that SAY them.
I LOVE what Graham said, at the end of Kavanaugh hearings, and even AGREE with it, 100 percent.
But I DESPISE Graham, and what he says can not, in any way change that.
Anyway, at the start of PDJT’s first term, we loved many of those ‘picks”; now we are wiser, having learned painful lessons.
Its now MUCH easier to discern traitors, and boils down to ONE question.
And no, its not even “would you support PDJT for another term?” as they can LIE about that.
It is; “Do you maintain the 2020 election was legitimate, or do you think it was stolen?”
Snakes can’t hide, wiggle, squirm or spin, and at least at this point, I don’t believe their are too many fake MAGA candidates, lieing to pass this question.
Point is, the snakes edumacated us, to the permanent detriment of our enemy.
I think PDJT clarified the breadth and power of Branch 4 and any apparent mistakes along the path became more examples to clarify the Branch 4 reality for us.
As canaries go, he was world class, not to mention a pretty darned good POTUS. Perfect? Nope. Human, fallible, mortal. I think, all said and done, we are better, more informed, wiser people for his service to us as POTUS.
This all proves that the goal is continually to hobble America and at the same time rob her blind. These people know how economy works. They just don’t want America to succeed.
IMHO this is tied to the fact that CHRISTIAN America is also the biggest funder of missionaries in the world.
So these demons will kill the goose that lays the golden eggs in order to stop the spread of the Gospel.
Would you buy a used car from Manchin?